Because of the Cross なぜなら、十字架

Cross Centered Worship 十字架中心の礼拝：

The Cross of Jesus: a place of death…to bring life to mankind! イエスの十字架...死の代わりに......人類に生命をもたらす

There are many symbols in our culture that are recognizable at first glance.

Coke    Toyota    Honda

KFC    Apple    ICCS

UN    YMCA     P&G

$/¥    Giants    BBC

Of course, The Cross is both the symbol of Christianity, but it is also the very heart of what Christianity is all about.  The Cross has been misunderstood by many in the world and has been taken for granted by still another great group of people.  At the turn of the 1900’s Oswald Chambers said: All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning. 

      What does the Cross mean? 十字架とは何を意味するのでしょうか？ We will be looking at that question as we finish our series of Four In-Workings of the Local Church.  In review: レビュー： Week one: The early church KEPT to the Teachings of the Apostles.  They remembered the Lord by breaking bread with each other (Communion) and their emphasis on Prayer as being central to their community.  In week two: we saw that they spent time with each other…not only on days of worship but every day—as they lived their lives in the city.  They became very active in their community/society—meeting needs as they come up and that their worship was very alive, fresh, and real.  Last week, we saw that they were Working in the Harvest with a definite CALL, they had STABILITY based on the teachings of the Faith and they had a PLAN to carry the Message of God’s love to the ends of the world—not just because they wanted to do so, but that it was a Mandate from God: “Go and make disciples of all peoples.”

Society and esp. in the Arts, have been open to the Christian message and that of the Cross.  I call to mind, Rembrandt's painting of The Three Crosses.

If you were to look at Rembrandt's painting, your attention would be drawn first to the center cross on which Jesus died. Then as you would look at the crowd gathered around the foot of that cross, you'd be impressed by the various facial expressions and actions of the people involved in the awful crime of crucifying the Son of God. Finally, your eyes would drift to the edge of the painting and catch sight of another figure, almost hidden in the shadows. Art critics say this is a representation of Rembrandt himself, for he recognized that by his sins he helped nail Jesus to the cross.

So, why all this concern for the Cross? なぜ十字架のためにこの懸念？

During the Polish struggle with Soviet leadership, the Prime Minister had ordered Crucifixes removed from all classrooms as they have been already banned in workplaces, hospital and other public institutions.  The Church protested and the government agreed not to press the issue.  But one zealous Communist school administrator felt the Law was the Law.  He removed seven large crosses from the lecture halls during the evening of one of his schools.  A few days later, parents came and hung more.  The administrator took them down too.  Soon 25 hundred students from nearby schools came to support the protest.  Soldiers surrounded the church.  The media picked it up and this was seen worldwide.  A minister told the crowds: “There is no Poland without a Cross.”   Chuck Colson, Kingdoms in Conflict, pp. 202-03.   

How important is the Cross to you? あなたとって十字架はどれだけ重要ですか？

Some will wear crosses on earrings, pins, around the neck, on rings.  All these are fine and certainly have their place in our society but when someone wears a cross that is upside down, some fear.  A Satanist attempt to discredit the Cross of Jesus.  While driving on a highway in the LA area a number of years ago, I was so shocked to see a bumper sticker that was made of a cross with a line thru it.  “Not a cross for me!”  Meaning: I am against the cross!  I felt uncomfortable. 

What does the Bible say about the Cross? 聖書は十字架について何を言っていますか？

· The reproach of the cross Galatians 3:13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”  Deut 21:23  cursed is any one who is hung on a tree.

Romans 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. —The Cross dealt with the Death of Jesus-it held Him there—our sins pinned Him to the Cross.

5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. —A place of death to the old ways of thinking—a renewal of the mind!

Paul says in Galatians 6:14 - "May it never be that I would boast, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." —Once and for all death to the old ways of thinking that used to guide and hold us.

It was once said: Christ came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay. キリストは、我々が支払うことができなかった債務を負っているため、彼は借りなかった債務を支払うようになった—What debt was paid?  Our sin—our unrighteousness!

Hebrews 1:1-3 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. (—God of creation)  ³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. —same as God Himself.  After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. —By His Death—WE are made pure!

 2:9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the Grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

     14-18 ¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of Him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels He helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ For this reason He had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.

     9:22-28  In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

     ²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵ Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But He has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

This speaks to the efficacy of the Cross. 十字架の効果Or the effectiveness, worth, value, usefulness of the Cross.

The Cross is therefore not only a tool of death and torture but also THE way to show God’s Perfect Plan for Mankind.  Let me read from: The Truth of the Cross by R. C. Sproul:

The word VICARIOUS is extremely important to our understanding of the atonement of Christ. “In behalf of” の代わりに"身代わり.  Jesus’ atonement has been described as a work of Satisfaction. In other words, He made satisfaction for our debt, our enmity with God, and our guilt.  Jesus satisfied the ransom demand for our release from captivity to sin.  However, there is another significant word that is often used in this case: substitution. 置き換わる When we look at the biblical depiction of sin as a crime, we saw that Jesus acts as the Substitute, taking our place at the bar of God’s justice.  In other words, the act on the Cross would be called the substitutionary atonement of Christ—not to satisfy God’s justice for His own sins, but for the sins of Mankind.  He became or stepped into the role of the Substitute representing His people.  He died not for Himself but for us.  He laid down His life for His sheep.  He is our ultimate Substitute. 

Remember the verses found in John 1:29?  “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  Jesus came to bear our sin on Himself.  The lamb of sacrifice was substituted by the Lamb of God. 

A little later it was NECESSARY for John, the Baptist to baptize Jesus.  Jesus was representing Himself at the start of His ministry as THE substitute.  It was fitting.  He was asking John to baptize Him not because He needed to be cleansed; He wanted to be baptized so that He could be obedient to His Father in EVERY detail. 

And can this be?   We know that Jesus was sinless: He never sinned.  He is Purely God-man, He was part of the God-head—the Trinity.  And being Who He was, was the only qualified sacrifice that could to offer Himself as the ransom for our sins.  One of my favorite Hymns by John Calvin (1509-1564) asked the great question: “How can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me?”  In reality, God did not die—He is eternal but it was the God-man Who dies.  Death is something that is experienced only by the human nature, because the divine nature isn’t capable of experiencing death. But the Hymn goes deeper: listen to the words…

He left His Father’s throne above So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense  & free, For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free, For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay, Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray-I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

     It was because of the Cross! In truth, the Gospel is a cross-shaped message.  The Cross stands at the very center of our Christian lives. 

       As a Church—we represent Christ to a fallen world. The Cross needs always to be central to the Message—our Message should always be based on the Cross.  Plain and simple message that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that who ever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 

AS A CLOSING THOUGHT, WORDS FROM JOHN PIPER:

"To state it positively: Only boast in the Cross of Jesus Christ. It is a single idea. A single goal. A single passion. Only boast in the Cross. 十字架においてのみ誇る！ The word “boast” can be translated 'exult in' or 'rejoice in'. Only exult in the Cross of Christ. Only rejoice in the Cross of Christ. Paul says let this be your single passion, your single boast and joy and exultation. In this great moment called ONE DAY let the ONE THING that you love, the one thing that you cherish, the one thing that you rejoice in and exult over be the Cross of Jesus Christ." – Amen.