Getting to the Power of the Cross part 2
By Ian Goligher
To make the cross effectual you must grasp the Biblical meaning of the cross.
Preaching is more than giving out facts. To preach the cross is to expound and explain the events surrounding the cross in light of what God has revealed in His word regarding the death of His Son.
Paul said he was come "to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect" (lCor 1:17). He had God's good news to declare: The good news is that Christ died as a substitute. The innocent Saviour took the place of guilty men and women to render payment to God on their behalf. In his letter to the church in Galatia Paul explained that on the cross Christ became a curse for us. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree ... " (Galatians 3:13).
This is most important to remember for it was man's sin that brought the curse of God upon the whole human race. Men will happily accept that Jesus died as a martyr - this is agreeable with nobility and with conventional wisdom. But to state that the Lord Jesus died as a substitute in the place of sinners is as foolishness to the wisdom of this world.
Yet as he wrote to the Corinthian Church Paul insisted that Christ died as a substitute in the place of sinful men, and he further insisted that "unto us which are saved it [the cross] is the power of God" (lCorinthians 1:18). This explanation of the cross demands that we make a confession of our sin before God. Such a costly plan coming from the heart of God shows us how lost and totally condemned our souls really are.
The cross calls us to acknowledge that we are hopelessly guilty before God's holy law. The cross also demands that we confess that we are helpless to save ourselves. God saw men perishing when He planned the cross and sent His Son to die as a curse for their sin. God saw that there was no hope and no other help for lost souls. God knew the soul that sinneth, "shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17) and "the wages of sin is death ... " (Romans 6:23).
It is by confessing your helplessness and acknowledging the cross as God's plan to save your soul that you will discover its power in your life. You must surrender to the wisdom of the cross as God's great plan of mercy and seek His pardon. The cross is the vindication of the righteous mercy of God toward fallen men. It is by the cross that a perfectly holy God can forgive the sins of His people. (" ... to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:25,26).
To believers this is the wonder of the cross. It is the power of God the good news of the gospel. It Canadian Revivalist, November 2006, Page 9 cancels out our sin. It answers our helplessness and it bestows God's pardon upon our souls while God remains just and holy. This is the proper exposition of the cross. Paul said that the cross bestows every gospel benefit. It is "made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (l Corinthians 1: 30).
The death of Christ is made over unto us. All the value of the cross work of Christ, all the victory of it and all the virtue of it is made over to us when we believe. All these are made over to the account of each believer. They are gifts to us because Christ died not for His own sins but for the sins of His people. The meaning is clear, "Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Thus to make the cross effectual in our souls we must accept that Christ died for us, "For Christ hath also once suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened in the Spirit" (IPeter 3;18).
For the cross to be made effectual a personal application of its power must be made to the soul.
A particular and personal application of the gospel is imperative to your salvation. The gospel that remains mere words is as powerless to save as medicine that stays in the bottle is to heal. The Holy Spirit calls sinners to faith in the cross. He calls you to put your faith in the bleeding wounds of Jesus and believe they were borne for you.
The Lord calls you to bow your knee to Him as He calls you to be saved through the work of His cross. It is a call to trust in the wisdom of God's plan leading you to rely on the power of the cross to save you. You are to trust in the power of the Saviour's blood to wash away your sins.
You must answer the call of the Lord to wholeheartedly trust in the power of His cross-work to save your soul. The cross is the instrument of God that unites the soul of the believer to the Lord. It is the means of reconciliation whereby true union with Christ is experienced. Without the cross work of Christ souls are outside the promises and covenants, but through the cross we are made "nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:13).
This union is as real as that of the branch to the vine and of the body to the head. There is no other way to know the life of God in your soul. This union can only begin when you come to the cross to be reconciled to God through the death of His Son. It is imperative that you have a saving interest in the cross-work of our Lord Jesus. You must submit to the facts of Calvary. Facts are stubborn things; they will not change to suit your tastes in life. You must surrender to the sovereign purpose of the cross knowing that the Son of God suffered and died as a substitute for sinners.
You must also welcome the Christ of the cross into your life as the power of God to reconcile you to Himself. Let there be no distance between your soul and the God of glory. Come to be at peace with the Lord through His cross - His instrument of power to draw you to a right relationship with Himself. Come as a sinner and trust in the power of the cross to work God's miracle of salvation in your soul and you will discover that the cross of Christ is indeed the power of God.
The Cross Was His Own
They borrowed a bed to lay His head,
When Christ the Lord came down;
They borrowed the ass in the mountain pass For Him to ride to town;
But the crown He wore And the cross he bore Were His own.
He borrowed the bread when the crowd he fed On the grassy mountain side;
He borrowed the dish of broken fish With which He satisfied;
But the crown He wore And the cross he bore Were His own.
He borrowed the ship in which to sit To teach the multitude;
He borrowed the nest in which to rest,
He had never a home so rude;
But the crown He wore And the cross He bore Were His own.
He borrowed a room on the way to the tomb The Passover lamb to eat;
They borrowed the cave: for Him a grave;
They borrowed the winding sheet.
But the crown He wore And the cross He bore Were His own.
The thorns on His head were worn in my stead,
For me the Saviour died.
For guilt of my sin the nails drove in When Him they crucified;
But while the crown He wore And the cross He bore Were His own.
They rightly belonged to me.
Selected.
Next week "The benefits of being a Christian"
Printed by permission from the Editor of the Canadian Revivalist.
