TH E C R O S S O F

C H RI S T

Jack Sequeira

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 Chapter 1

Crucify Him!
The greatest event that has ever taken place in
the history of mankind is the death, burial, and
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. As one well-
known writer put it, “The sacrifice of Christ as an
atonement for sin is the great truth around which
all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly
understood and appreciated, every truth in the word
of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be
studied in the light that streams from the cross of
Calvary.” (Gospel Workers, Ellen G. White, p.
315.)

The cross of Christ and the events surrounding

it are recorded for us in the first four books of the
New Testament, known as the gospels of Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John. Approximately one third of
these writings are concentrated on what is called
the passion week.

The preaching of the cross was also the central

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message of the New Testament. Listen to what the
great apostle Paul had to say about the cross of
Christ: “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:17, 18; see also
2:2)

Please note that to Paul the preaching of the

gospel is synonymous to the preaching of the cross;
and it is the cross of Christ that is the power of God
unto salvation. No wonder Paul refuses to glory or
boast in anything else but the cross of Christ. (Gal.
6:14) This being the emphasis of the New
Testament writers, we must likewise put as much
emphasis on the cross of Christ as they did.

Since the birth of the Christian Church there

have been several views or theories presented to
Christianity concerning the atonement or the cross
of Christ. Accordingly, we have the substitution
theory, the satisfaction theory, the ransom theory,
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the moral influence theory, the governmental
theory, and so on; each claiming to be the truth
concerning the cross of Christ. But the cross is too
big an event to fit into any one theory. All these
theories have an element of truth. However, some
of these theories become heretical not because of
what they teach but what they deny. A good
example is the moral influence theory, which
denies the legal or forensic necessity of the
atonement.

To appreciate the full significance of the cross

of Christ, we will divide our study of this crucial
and vital topic into three chapters. In these three
chapters we will look at the cross from three
different angles, each of them extremely important
to us as Christians. In this first chapter we will look
at how the crucifixion of Christ exposed Satan as a
murderer and how it reveals to us the true character
of sin; that even the smallest sin, at its very core, is
crucifying Christ.

In the second chapter we will look at the cross

in terms of what Paul said in Romans. 5:8—how it
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demonstrated the unconditional and self-emptying
love of God. The third chapter will deal with the
cross as the power of God unto salvation; how it
redeemed humanity, not only from our sins (plural,
i.e., our acts of sin which condemn us), but also
from sin (singular, i.e., the law or principle of sin
in our members).

Finally, after we have taken a good look at the

cross of Christ, we will consider the resurrection.
The resurrection of Christ does not only play an
important part in our redemption but is also the
source of our blessed hope as Christians. It is the
greatest proof that Christ has conquered sin and the
grave, both of which are crucial to our salvation.

As mentioned above, in this chapter we will

turn to the cross of Christ and look at how it
demonstrated, revealed, and exposed Satan as a
murderer, and at the same time how it reveals to us
the true nature of sin. In John 8:40-44, Jesus made
a statement to the Jews. He said: “You are of your
father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will
do.” By this He simply meant that, “You are
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controlled by the devil and his desire you will
perform.” Then Jesus added, “He was a murderer
from the beginning.”

The question we must ask ourselves is what did

Jesus mean by, “He was a murderer from the
beginning.” In order that we come to grips with the
full import of this statement, we must answer two
further questions: 1. Who did Satan murder? 2.
What did Jesus mean by the word “beginning”?
Did He mean from the time Lucifer was created or
from the time Lucifer became Satan?

Before we can answer these questions we first

need to define the word murder. To human beings
murder is the act of killing somebody. But in God’s
eyes murder begins with a cherished desire or
unwarranted hatred, as shown in the Sermon on the
Mount. Jesus made it clear, if you are angry with
somebody without a cause, or if you hate
somebody without a reason, you have already
committed murder in your heart. (Matt. 5:21, 22)
So, according to God’s law, murder doesn’t have to
be an act. Murder is a cherished hatred against
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somebody else.

With this in mind, turn to Ezek. 28:15. In verse

14, Lucifer is described as “the anointed cherub.”
In this chapter, the fall of Satan is linked with the
fall of Babylon, because Babylon represents
Satan’s kingdom. In verse fifteen we read these
words concerning the anointed cherub, which is
Lucifer: “Thou was perfect in thy ways from the
day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found
in thee.” Now the Hebrew word, “iniquity” means
“crooked” and when applied spiritually means “to
be bent towards self.” Sometime in the history of
Lucifer his mind became perverted. Instead of his
love going toward God and toward his fellow
angels it made a U-turn towards himself.

In Isaiah 14:12-14, the prophet Isaiah describes

to us what was the essence of that iniquity.
Summarizing these verses, this is in effect what
Lucifer said in his heart, “I am going to get rid of
God and take His place.”

Now you cannot take the place of God unless

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you first get rid of God. It is in this sense Lucifer,
turned Satan, was a murderer from the beginning. I
remember when we were in the mission field it was
quite an experience traveling by taxi. Taxies here
in the United States give individual service, but in
some countries taxies are more like mini buses and
they can squeeze more people into one taxi than
you can imagine.

For example, if the middle seat can

accommodate three people comfortably, they will
squeeze in nine people. They put three people on
the seat and three people on top of them and three
more people on top of them and that’s a full seat. I
remember one day traveling in one of these taxies
and we were packed. Being the top person, it was
not too bad in terms of no weight on me, but I
could not sit properly because of the number of
people and my head kept hitting the roof every
time we hit a bump. As the taxi driver sped along,
there was a person who wanted a ride and the taxi
stopped. I said to the driver, “There is no room.”
The driver replied, “Move closer, we will make
room.”
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 Now Satan did not say to God, “Move, I want a
place with you.” That is not what Satan desired. He
desired to get rid of God that he could have His
place instead. It is because of coveting the place of
God in his heart that Lucifer, turned Satan, desired
to murder God.

Addressing the Jews, who were victims of

Satan, Jesus one day told a parable, recorded in
Matthew 21. In this parable there was a man who
had a vineyard and he went off to a far country. He
left his vineyard in the care of his servants. Every
year he would send a man to collect the profits.
Each time the person he sent was either stoned or
kicked out, and so the owner got nothing.

Finally the owner said, “I will send my son. At

least they will respect him.” But, as it turned out,
they did the very opposite. Instead they said, “We
will get rid of him. Then we can take all that he
will inherit for ourselves.” So they decided to kill
the son. Jesus, of course, was talking about Himself
and the Jews. Remember that the Jews were to do
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the lust of Satan. Satan wanted the place of God.
He had never told anybody this. That would be
foolish. What he probably told the angels was, “If I
was in the place of God I would make life
wonderful for you. You can have anything you
like, enjoy anything you want without any
restrictions. You can eat, drink, and be merry.”

Unfortunately, one-third of the angels fell for

his lies. Satan thought that was enough to begin a
revolution. Then the first war took place in heaven
and is described in Revelation 12:7-9. If you read
this passage in Rev. 12, you will discover that
Lucifer, or Satan, was defeated in that war. But
God did not destroy him at that time, for the simple
reason that nobody knew what was in the heart of
Satan. The only means by which God could expose
Satan was to let him have his own way.

So, instead, God cast him out of heaven.

Following this incident, Satan came to this world
and deceived Eve, and through Eve he brought
about the fall of Adam. Since God gave our first
parents dominion of the world (Psalms 8:4-8), by
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defeating Adam and Eve Satan gained control of
this whole world. Satan then established his
kingdom here on earth, under his own system, the
system of self.

Everything, therefore, in this fallen world is

based on three fundamental drives found in 1 John
2:15,16, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life.” Underlying these three basic
drives of sinful man is the principle of self, the
very essence of Satan’s kingdom.

But one day, many centuries later, Satan heard

some beautiful singing. It was, “Glory to God and
peace to men on earth.” (Luke 2:14) The Son of
God, his bitter enemy, had come to this world to
redeem the human race from his hands. In
response, Satan said, “I am not going to wait till
you grow up.” Satan doesn’t believe in fair play.
“I’m going to get you the first chance I have.”

Recorded in the New Testament are many

incidents of how Satan’s many attempts to kill
Christ failed. The first attempt recorded was the
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destruction of the babies in Bethlehem by Herod’s
army. Herod the great was a victim of Satan who
was simply using him as a tool. This familiar story,
as we all know, ended in failure as far as getting rid
of Christ. Incidentally, all of Satan’s agents are
“great.” That is what he promises, “If you follow
me, I will make you great.” But remember, he is a
liar. What he really desires is that by following him
you will join him in the lake of fire.

We read this in Matthew 25:41. Christ will say

to the those who took Satan’s side, the unbelievers:
“Depart from me into everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his angels.” The eternal fire was not
prepared for mankind but Satan has deceived
many. They believed him, chose his way, and now
will have to join him. I hope nobody reading this is
in that condition.

In Luke 4:9-17 we have recorded another

attempt of Satan to murder Christ. It is in
connection with the temptations of Christ in the
wilderness. In one of them the devil took Christ to
the top of the temple tower. He said, “It is
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wonderfully high here. Why don’t you jump?”
That was one way of getting rid of Him. That is
what Satan had in mind but he failed again.

Again, in John 10:31-59, we see how the devil

used the Jews to try to stone Jesus to death. The
word “again” in this passage indicates that this was
not the first time he tried it. As we read these
verses we will discover that Satan failed again. We
must ask ourselves why. Why did Satan fail? Here
are two texts that will help us realize why all these
attempts of Satan failed. The first one is in John
7:30, which records one of the instances where
Satan tried to destroy Jesus through human beings.
“Then they sought to take Him: but no man laid
hands on Him, [John tells us why] because His
hour was not yet come.”

Keep that in mind because God is sovereign

and nobody ever touches us if our hour has not yet
come. In chapter eight, verse twenty we find the
second text: “These words spake Jesus in the
treasury as He taught in the temple: and no man
laid hands on Him; for his hour was not yet come.”
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In other words, God would not allow anyone to
touch Him until His hour was come. His hour did
come in Gethsemane.

In Luke 22:53, when Jesus was in Gethsemane,

the priests brought the soldiers and they took Jesus
captive as if He was a criminal. Listen to what
Jesus tells them: “When I was daily with you in the
temple, you stretched forth no hands against me:
[we know why—his hour had not yet come] but
this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

This “power of darkness” is Satan. In other

words, God said to His Son at Gethsemane, “Son, I
am going to remove my protection from you and
let Satan do with you what he wanted to do to us
from the beginning.” This was the only way that
God could expose the secrets of the hidden heart of
Satan to the universe.

On one occasion, we had a problem in the

mission field that clearly illustrates the exposure of
Satan’s heart. Some of our workers had turned
against the denomination over the policy book.
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They had taken us to court and we were facing
some serious problems. Two of them were
ministers and their credentials were removed.
Naturally, they lost their jobs. They went back to
their homeland and one of them told the church
members in his home area that he was mistreated
by the brethren.

He spread all kinds of terrible lies about the

brethren. Having convinced the church members,
he turned them against the leadership of the church.
They stopped sending their tithe and offerings.
They said, “We will now be an independent
Church.”

But some of the elders and leaders of that

church insisted, “Before we do that, let’s be fair
and give the brethren a chance.” So they wrote to
the union office and said, “We want the president
to come here and explain to us why they removed
the credentials of this man.”

The president came to me and said, “You know

the language and the people. Can you join me?” I
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said, “Yes.” What we did not know is that some of
the members, who were sympathetic towards the
defrocked minister, had gathered a whole pile of
stones to stone us with after they had caused a stir
among the rest of the members. However, we had a
president who was very meticulous and very
deliberate about explaining the events that took
place. Some sympathizers who were in the back
tried to stir up the members but this president
wouldn’t allow it and continued in his slow and
deliberate way, saying, “Wait a minute, I am not
finished.” When it was all over they had failed to
stir the people to throw the stones at us. Instead
they said, “We will evaluate what you have told us
and we will make a decision.”

So we went back home in one piece. Soon after

the church board had a committee meeting and
they decided that they should at least write a letter
of appreciation for our coming there. They wrote a
very nice letter thanking us for coming. They gave
it to the pastor and said, “Please take this to the
union president.” They were located about a
hundred and fifty miles away from the union office
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and the postal system was not very good at that
time.

The pastor was a friend of the defrocked

minister and told him of the letter. He in turn said,
“What did the board write?” It so happened that the
pastor was not present at this board meeting and
therefore did not know the contents of the letter. So
they took the letter and, by placing it over a
steaming kettle, opened it up to see what the
contents were. They were unhappy to discover it
was such a nice letter. So they rewrote the letter,
making terrible statements about the brethren, and
forged the six signatures of the officers of the
church. They sealed it and the pastor brought this
letter to the president.

The president was very hurt that they would

write such nasty things after he had gone out of his
way to show them the problem. He showed the
letter to one of the men from the union office, who
belonged to the same area where this church was.
He naturally was upset that his people would write
such a letter. He got into his car and drove all the
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way, one hundred fifty miles, to the head elder’s
house and placed the letter on his table, and
demanded, “What’s the meaning of this letter?”

The head elder was surprised at that remark. “I

thought we wrote a nice letter,” he said. The union
man replied, “Really, do you call this nice?” The
head elder read the letter and you can imagine his
horror. He said, “These men are of the devil. They
are liars. They have written this letter and forged
our signatures.” Their pastor and his defrocked
friend were exposed now. The union president did
not have to convince the church any more why they
had fired this minister.

In the same way, the cross has exposed Satan.

No longer does anyone in the universe, the
heavenly angels or the unfallen worlds, have any
more sympathy with Satan; because on the cross he
revealed his true heart. He’s a murderer of God.
Satan had kept his hatred for God so long hidden in
his heart that when the opportunity was given him
he could not help himself but, through the Jews,
did what he really intended from the time iniquity
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entered his mind. Thus, that which was hidden in
his heart was now brought out in the open.

With regards to Satan using the Jews, a very

important truth to remember is found in 1 John
5:19. There John divides the human race into two
camps. John says the believers belong to God but
the rest of the world, the human race, “are all under
the evil one.” The KJV says “under wickedness”;
the Greek actually says “under the wicked one” or
“the evil one.” What John is telling us is that there
is no human being that is truly independent. Either
you are controlled by God or you are controlled by
Satan. These are the two forces that are in our
world.

It was because the Jews rejected Christ that

they came under the power of the evil one. They
listened to his deception and his lies and they
rejected the Messiah. Now Satan was going to use
them.

When he discovered that the Father had

removed His protection from His Son by hearing
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the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 22:53, he said to
himself, “I am not just going to kill you. I am going
to give you the worst kind of death that has ever
been invented in this world—crucifixion.”

You need to read some of the Roman

historians’ accounts of the cross. It’s the worst kind
of death ever invented by men. It is not only a very
shameful, but also a very slow, painful, lingering
death. Some years ago a BBC commentator wrote a
book on the cross of Christ from the Roman point
of view. The book, Watch With Me, gave a most
graphic description of Roman crucifixion. It is hard
to imagine how men could stoop so low in their
inhumanity to their fellow men.

Books by the historians Cicero and Celsus also

describe the cross to us. In reading their accounts
of the cross, it is amazing that anyone could go
through it. It takes between three to seven days to
die on the cross. Gangrene is formed in your hands
and your feet where the rusty nails have pierced.
You have splitting migraine headaches. Every joint
of your body feels torn apart and the pain is
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excruciating. You have cramps everywhere. In the
night you are exposed to the cold and in the
daytime you are exposed to the heat, and you were
always crucified naked. So when our wonderful
artists put a loin cloth around Christ they are being
kind. I believe Christ was crucified naked, too,
because that was the custom. And behind all of this
was Satan.

As Christians we must remember that we

belong to Christ. We are citizens of heaven but still
living in enemy territory, a territory where Satan
has much control, even though he’s a defeated foe.
There are five important lessons that we Christians
can learn from this truth that exposed Satan and
sin. Here are the lessons:

(1) The hatred that Satan and the world

manifested against Christ on the cross will be
repeated when the world sees Christ manifested in
us. This hatred, instigated by Satan, will be
projected on the Christian who is living for Christ.
In John 15:18,19 Jesus says to his disciples: “If the
world hates you, know that it hated me before it
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hated you.” Christians are part of Christ. If the
world hates Christ, it will hate us. Verse nineteen
goes on to say: “If you were of the world the world
would love his own: but because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you.” Remember that
Christ went about doing good. There was no reason
for them to hate Him. Yet the hatred that was
revealed at the cross against Him was unbelievable.
The same will be true of every genuine Christian.

Now you may say, “But the world doesn’t hate

us today,” and that is true. We have no real
persecution in America or much of the western
world. The world around us—the unbelievers—
don’t hate us. Have you ever asked the question,
“Why?” Is it because Satan has changed or that the
world has changed? No. Let the Bible tell you why.
The world will hate us only when they see Christ in
us. If they don’t see Christ in us, then we are still
one of them. “Yea, and all that will live godly in
Christ Jesus [not “may” but “will”] shall suffer
persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:12)

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 In John 7:7 Jesus told the Jews why they hated
Him. His works proved that their works were evil.
When you let Christ live in you, Christ will do
something in you that can never be done by the
world. That’s the problem. As long as you are
doing good things that they can do, there’s no
problem; but the moment you love your enemies
and you are revealing Christ’s unconditional love
in you, something that they can’t generate, they
will get mad because you’re putting them to shame.
So Paul tells us, “If you live godly in Christ, the
cost of that is being persecuted.”

Don’t be surprised if you have to suffer

persecution. Don’t say, “Why should they
persecute me. I’ve been a good person.” They will
persecute you because you are a Christian. “Marvel
not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” (1 John
3:13) When you see this in reality, it’s terrible.
When you see father and mother give up their
children, hand them over to the Marxist
government because their children are Christians
and they are not, or visa versa, you will realize that
it is possible for the devil to divide the family into
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believers and unbelievers, and hand one over to the
cross of Christ.

In Gal. 5:11 Paul calls this “the offense of the

cross.” What Satan and the world did to Christ they
will do to you, and this is called the offense of the
cross. In other words, if you preach Christ, it you
stand up for Christ, if you let Christ live in you, be
prepared to face the offense of the cross. The
disciples counted it a privilege to suffer for Christ.
(Acts 5:41) May the same thing be true of us.

(2) As God’s children, Satan or the world

cannot touch us unless God permits it. All power is
given to Christ. “Greater is He that is in you than
he that is in the world.” (1 John. 4:4) If God says,
“No,” nobody can touch you. They tried to touch
Christ, but as long as His hour had not yet come,
nobody could touch Him.

Now, I’m saying this because God has a work

for each one of us. That work may take you into
places of danger. Remember this, if God doesn’t
want you to die nobody can touch you. It He wants
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you to die, thank Him, for all your worries will be
over. You will go to sleep until He comes. Hence,
we can say with Paul, “For me to live is Christ and
to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21)

When I was in Ethiopia, during the Marxist

revolution, one of the Marxists said to me: “You
will leave this country in four days without your
children.” Wouldn’t that scare anybody? He
threatened to kill my children. They were just
small, helpless children at that time. I said to him,
“Go and find somebody else to scare. If God
doesn’t want my children or me dead, neither you,
nor your government can touch us.”

He said, “You will see.” I did see. I left five

years later with my children. Apparently God did
not want me or my children to die then. Remember,
nobody can touch you if your hour has not yet
come. This is our victory, even our faith, for Jesus
said, “I have overcome the world. I have overcome
the evil one.”

(3) The cross revealed something that, humanly

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speaking, is impossible. Satan took the Jews who
were divided into two camps—Sadducees and
Pharisees. He then took the Jews combined, whose
bitter enemies were the Romans, and he joined all
of them together into one camp against Christ. If
you were living in those days you could never
dream that the Romans and the Jews would be
united or that the Jews would say, “We have no
other king but Caesar.”

The United Nations has failed to unite this

world of ours, and every human effort will fail. Our
world today is divided into all kinds of camps with
racial and political barriers. We have all kinds of
divisions today. We speak of east and west and the
two shall never meet. But Satan has the power of
uniting this world against God’s chosen ones when
he wants to, and when God allows it. Revelation
13:2 and 3 tells us that the whole world will be
united and will follow the beast who has been
given power by the dragon, who is Satan. The cross
proves that Satan can do that. What will you do
when the whole world is united against you? At
that time, please remember that you are a Christian
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and that you belong to Christ and that He has
defeated Satan.

(4) When given a choice between the worst

criminal and the most insignificant Christian, the
world will always choose the criminal. Remember
the statement in Matthew 27:21. Pilate brought the
worst criminal, Barabbas, from the Roman jail and
he said to the Jews, “It is our custom to release one
of them. Here is Barabbas, the worst criminal that I
can find in my jail and here is Jesus, King of the
Jews, who has done nothing wrong. Which one do
you want me to release?”

This is one time that the Jews did not have a

committee meeting. They did not say, “Well, we
need to discuss this.” At that time the people who
claimed to be the children of God were under the
control of Satan and their choice was immediate.
“Give us Barabbas. He’s one of us. Yes, he may be
a terrible criminal but he is still one of us. This
man doesn’t belong to us.”

And that’s exactly what will happen in the last

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days. It is not because you have done something
bad but it is because you are a Christian that the
world will release the criminals and put you in their
place. Are you willing to die for Christ? That’s the
offense of the cross. Read Mark 15:6-15 and notice
the choice the people made. Peter, preaching in the
name of Christ, about his own nation says: “The
God of Abraham and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the
God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus;
whom you delivered up, and denied him in the
presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let
him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just,
and desired a murderer to be granted unto you.”
(Acts 3:13-15) That will take place again in the
great tribulation, but Jesus says, “Fear not, I am
with you, unto the end of the world.”

(5) The final point is that the unconscious sin

behind every sin is crucifying Christ. This needs
clarification. We usually look at l John 3:4, to
define sin: “Sin is the transgression of the law.”
The problem is that we look at the text at its face
value and make the same mistake as the Jews. We
look at the law in terms of rules and when we break
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a rule we call that sin. We need to go further and
look at the spirit of this text because Jesus did not
define the law in terms of rules. He defined the law
in terms of an attitude, a relationship; the spirit of
the law. He said, “Love for God and love for man.”
That is the law. The fundamental principle of the
law of God is love.

1 John 4:8,16 tells us that God is love.

Therefore, sin is transgression against God, who is
love. Therefore, sin is putting Christ on the cross.
In Romans 8:7, Paul tells us that the carnal mind,
the mind controlled by our sinful nature, the flesh,
is enmity with God, therefore it is not subject to the
law of God which is love. Now what do you do
with your enemy? If you hate somebody without a
cause, what do you do with him? You murder him.

Then how does every sin become an act of

crucifying Christ? How many sins do you have to
commit for the law to condemn you? Just one. It
doesn’t have to be a big sin. Therefore, in order for
Christ to save us, He had to bear every single sin
that you and I have committed and will commit.
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Without the cross, even the smallest sin would
condemn us. In other words, under the law, the law
condemns the sinner. But we Christians are not
living under the law. We are living under grace. It
is grace that took the punishment of our sins. Do
not look at a small sin and say, “What’s wrong
with that?” If you allow that sin to develop to its
full fruition it will end up crucifying Christ. At the
heart of every sin is self. When is self satisfied? It
is not satisfied until it gets to the top, to the very
place of God.

Before I entered the ministry I was an architect.

I was working for an Italian architect, on the sixth
floor of Mansion Building there in Nairobi, the
capital of Kenya. At the entrance of the building
was a leper. He was always there in rags, begging
day in and day out. His family brought him there in
the morning and took him back home in the
evening. His job was begging.

When you are working as an intern you don’t

get too high a salary. I was getting approximately
two hundred dollars a month when I began, which
30
in those days was not too bad. I said to myself,
“When I get rich, I’m going to buy him a suit.” Of
course, my idea of “rich” was getting five hundred
dollars a month. Three months later, my salary
jumped to five hundred. Did I buy him the suit?
No. Not that I broke my promise. My definition of
richness changed to nine hundred dollars a month.
A few months later it jumped to a thousand a
month. Did I buy him the suit? No. Two months
later it jumped to two thousand dollars a month.
Now I was really rich, but did I buy him a suit? No.
Not that I broke my promise but my definition of
richness had changed even then. You ask
Rockefeller, “Are you satisfied with all the money
you have or are you still trying to make some
more?”

Man is never satisfied. He always wants to

climb up and up, until he reaches the top. If God
had put no restrictions to sin, man would want to
take the place where God is, because that is the
highest point. To reach that point you have to get
rid of everyone who is in your way. So the smallest
sin allowed to develop to its ultimate fruition will
31
end up crucifying Christ. That is what God
revealed on the cross. It is true that every time you
fall you don’t become unjustified, but remember
that sin was implicated on the cross of Christ.
Therefore, we must hate sin not for what it does to
us but for what it did to our Savior.

If I told you sin is breaking a rule, that’s not so

bad. But if I told you what the Old Testament told
the Jews in the sanctuary service, that sin is putting
a knife into Christ the Lamb, sin becomes
murdering God. In the Old Testament, every time a
sinner brought the lamb to the sanctuary, the priest
gave him a knife and the sinner had to kill that
lamb! Every time that you and I sin it is implicated
in the cross of Christ. Therefore, we must hate sin
for what it did to our Savior and what it does to
Him.

Sin is saying “Crucify Him!” and that is what

was revealed on the cross. That is why I hate sin;
not because I become unjustified or am pulled out
of Christ. The Bible does not teach that. But I hate
32
sin because it crucified my Savior. And if I sin
deliberately then I am doing what Hebrews 6:4-6
says: “If you Christians give up Christ and go back
to the world, you are doing two things. You are
now deliberately crucifying Christ afresh and you
are putting Him to open shame willfully.” May
God forbid that we will ever do that.

It is my prayer that you will know the truth

about the cross in terms of Satan and sin, and that it
will do two things for you:

It will cause you to realize that Satan is a

murderer from the beginning. Not only did he
murder Christ on the cross but he wants you to join
him in the lake of fire to die with him. Misery
loves company. Don’t you ever believe his lies
when he offers you the trinkets of this world.

Do not treat sin lightly any more. Don’t say,

“This is such a small sin.” There is no such thing as
small sins and big sins. That is Roman Catholic
theology which teaches venial and mortal sins.
Every sin, the “smallest” sin, given the chance, will
33
end up crucifying Christ.

May God bless us that this truth of the cross

will give us a new view about sin, and about Satan,
and that we will be loyal to Jesus Christ who loved
us and endured the cross for us (Heb 12:2,3).

34
 Chapter 2

Forsaken of God
What is it that makes Christ’s death the
supreme sacrifice above all other human deaths?
Many martyrs have suffered horrible deaths, some
in ways that at least outwardly appear more
agonizing than the death of the cross. Again, have
you ever wondered why the cross made such a
tremendous impact on the disciples and the early
Christians? The disciples spent almost three years
with Christ. They traveled with Him, slept where
He slept, and heard Him preach. They were taught
by Christ and they witnessed His tremendous
miracles. In spite of all this, three years later, at the
Lord’s supper they were still a group of greedy,
self-seeking men.

Then came the cross and it completely

transformed them. They gave up all self-interest.
Now they were willing to be spent and to die for
Jesus Christ. Why? Look at the early church. They
turned the world upside down because of what the
35
cross meant to them. Why did Paul say, “I want to
glory in nothing else but Jesus Christ and Him
crucified” (Gal. 6:14). And, “For I determined not
to know any thing among you, save Jesus and Him
crucified” (1 Cor. 9:9). What is it that made the
cross the central theme, and the central subject of
New Testament preaching?

I believe that if we find the answer to that

question the church will never be the same again.
The problem is that the devil knows that too and he
has done his best to enshroud the truth of the cross
in darkness. He is quite happy to have our
churches, our books, our bodies, decorated by
crosses. He is even quite happy for us to spend
hours discussing which day Christ died,
Wednesday or Friday. Or he is even not one bit
concerned if we get involved in a discussion about
whether the cross was two pieces of wood or a
stake. He doesn’t even care if we preach about the
cross, as long as our eyes are not opened to the
truth of the cross.

If we are to experience Pentecostal revival, we

36
must remove the darkness that has enshrouded the
cross of Christ since the dark ages. We must look
at the cross as the disciples did, as the early
Christians did, and as the New Testament writers
did. The question is, “How did they look at the
cross?” They looked not with Roman eyes but with
Jewish spectacles. The cross meant something very
different to the Jews than to the Romans. The devil
has the Gentile Christian Church looking at the
cross from the Roman perspective and, by doing
that, he has robbed the cross of its true glory.

Let us put ourselves in the shoes of the

disciples and look at the cross, not as we see it
today but as they saw it. This means that we have
to think like the Jews. To do that we need help
because we are not naturally Jews. But first, here
are just a few facts about the Roman cross.

The cross was invented approximately 600

B.C. by the Phoenicians who are the modern day
Lebanese. The Phoenicians believed in many gods
and one of their gods was the earth. When they
executed a criminal they did not want his body to
37
touch the earth when he died because they believed
it would desecrate the earth. They invented the
cross so that the criminal would die above the
earth.

Then the Egyptians borrowed the idea of

crucifixion from the Phoenicians and the Romans
took it from the Egyptians. The Romans refined it
and used it to execute their runaway slaves, which
were in abundance in the days of Christ. They used
it also to execute their worst criminals. It was a
very slow, painful, lingering death. As mentioned
in the previous chapter, there are many historical
records of the cross by the Roman historians
Cicero and Celsus.

One day, on the way to the prison ministry, I

turned on the radio and heard a sermon on the cross
by a well-known theologian. He was very
accurately and graphically describing the terrible
pain that results from hanging on the cross:
gangrene in the hands and feet, the body exposed
to extreme temperatures, cold at night and hot in
the daytime. And he mentioned how it takes
38
normally three to seven days for a crucified one to
die. The main problem that eventually kills the
person is suffocation. You can’t breathe out or
exhale without raising the body. So the body has to
be heaved up to keep exhaling, and so every time
you do it terrible shocks of pain go through your
body. It was a true and terrible account of the cross
this preacher was describing yet it was no different
from that of the thieves that were crucified with
Christ. What then made Christ’s death on the
cross—which, incidentally, lasted approximately
only six hours—the supreme sacrifice?

Why are we making such a big issue over this

matter? Because the devil has enshrouded the truth
of the cross in darkness and so the only thing we
can emphasize is the agony of the cross, which was
not unique to Christ. In fact, the thieves on the
cross suffered longer than Christ, plus they had the
added pain of their legs being broken while they
were still alive. During the Jewish revolt in 70
A.D., the Romans were crucifying anywhere
between fifty to seventy Jews a day. So what is
there about the crucifixion of Christ that makes it
39
unique?

Let’s go to the Bible and see how the Jews

looked at the cross. This, in turn, will help us to
realize why the death of Christ on the cross was
very different. Turning to John’s record of the
crucifixion in chapter 19, we discover that Pilate,
who represented Rome, realized that as far as the
Roman law was concerned Jesus did not qualify for
crucifixion. He was neither a runaway slave nor
was He a criminal.

However, to please the Jews he had Christ

flogged. “Then came Jesus forth, wearing the
crown of thorns (which the Roman soldiers put
there out of mockery), dressed in a purple robe.”
And Pilate said to the Jews, “Behold the man!” (As
much as to say, “I think this is as much as He
deserves.”) “When the chief priests therefore and
officers saw Him, they cried out saying: ‘Crucify
Him, crucify Him.’ ” And Pilate responded, “Take
you Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in
Him” (John 19:5,6). What he was saying was
simply, “As far as Roman law is concerned, this
40
man does not deserve crucifixion.” But the Jews
had to give a reason, so they responded: “The Jews
answered him, ‘We have a law, and by our law He
ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of
God’ ” (John 19:7).

They were referring to the law of blasphemy. It

was God who gave them that law through Moses.
If Pilate had known the law Christ may not have
been crucified. The law does not only condemn a
blasphemer to death but it also stipulates how that
person should die. In the book of Leviticus we are
going to look at the law as God gave it through
Moses. Remember that Jesus claimed to be the Son
of God. The Jews rejected Him as the Messiah and,
therefore, when He claimed to be the Son of God,
to them it was blasphemy. This is what the law of
blasphemy says: “And he that blasphemeth the
name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death,
and all the congregation shall certainly stone him”
(Lev 94:16, emphasis mine).

Crucifixion was not a Jewish method of

execution. The Jews did not practice crucifixion;
41
on the contrary, they detested it. The stipulation in
the book of the law was that a blasphemer should
be stoned to death by the congregation. Didn’t the
Jews know that part of the law? Yes. Were they
ignorant about that part? No. If they knew, why did
they insist on crucifixion? Were they afraid that
Pilate would have said, “No, you can crucify Him
but you can’t stone Him”? The answer to that
questions is also no. Because crucifixion is a far
worse way of dying. It is, in fact, the most painful,
the most shameful, the most cruel death that man
had ever invented and practised. Pilate would have
been happy to say, “You can take Him and stone
Him.” Then why did the Jews insist on crucifixion?

I want to make it very clear that the Jews knew

what the law said in regard to how a blasphemer
should die. In John 10:30, Jesus makes a statement
that to the unbelieving Jews was blasphemy: “I and
My Father are one.” Listen to what the Jews did in
verse 31: “Then the Jews took up stones again to
stone Him” (emphasis mine). Look at the word
“again.” This was not the first time they had done
it. Why did they take up stones to stone Him? In
42
their thinking, they were obeying a law given by
God. They thought that what Jesus had said was
blasphemy. Why then did they cry out to Pilate,
“Crucify Him. Crucify Him”? Why were they
adamant about His crucifixion, especially when we
realize crucifixion was not the Jewish method of
execution? There was a reason and it is important
that we know that reason.

We will find the reason in Deuteronomy 21.

The Jews did not want Jesus just to die, when they
insisted that he be crucified. They had something
worse for Him than simply dying on a Roman
cross. And they had this passage from
Deuteronomy 21:22, 23 in mind when they cried
out, “Crucify Him.” What does this text say? “And
if a man have committed a sin worthy of death,
(and blasphemy is one of them) and he is to be put
to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body
shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou
shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is
hanged is accursed of God).”

Do you know what that meant to the Jew, that

43
statement in brackets? If a Jew had committed a
crime worthy of death and the judge sentenced him
to death, that man still could go on his knees before
he died and say, “God, Jehovah, please forgive me
for what I have done.” He would have forgiveness
and hope. But if the judge said, “After you die you
are to be hung on a tree,” that meant to the Jews the
irrevocable curse of God, which to us would be the
unpardonable sin or the second death, “good-bye”
to life forever.

Remember, the Jews did not believe in an

immortal soul. That is a Greek concept that crept
into the Christian church and which unfortunately
has robbed the cross of its glory too. The reason is
that, if you believe in an immortal soul, then death
only means the separation of body and soul. That’s
all it is. But to the Jews death was good-bye to life.
The unpardonable sin or the curse of God was
good-bye to life forever, because in the curse God
abandons you, and when God abandons you, He
who is the Source of life, the Source of hope, the
Source of security is gone. That is what the curse
means, and the Jews knew it.
44
 When they cried out “Crucify Him,” they were
not only asking for Christ to be killed; more than
that, they were asking God to bring His curse down
upon Him. Maybe they were thinking of a text in
Isaiah 53:4. This, of course, is the chapter on the
cross in the Old Testament: “Surely He hath borne
our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did
esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”
(emphasis mine).

Yes, God afflicted Christ on the cross. Look

again at verse ten of Isaiah 53: “Yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise Him.” This has nothing to do with
what the Romans did, nor has it anything to do
with what the Jews did. It has nothing to do with
even what the devil did. We saw how the cross
exposed Satan as a murderer. It exposed that sin, at
its very core, is crucifying Christ. Now look at the
cross from a different angle; turn to Romans 5:23:
“While we were yet sinners God demonstrated His
love toward us, that Christ died for us.”

There are many texts in the Bible giving us

45
examples of the curse of God mentioned in
Deuteronomy 21. A good example is Joshua 10.
Read the whole chapter to get the full picture.
However, this chapter must be read in the context
of Genesis 15:13-16, because it is in this context
that we see the real reason why God commended
the destruction of the Canaanites. If you don’t have
that context you get the idea of God being a very
revengeful and merciless God.

God called Abraham out of Ur of the

Chaldeans and said to Abraham, “I want you to
leave your country. I want you to leave your people
and I want you to go to the land I give you for your
own and for your family, your children.” That land
we know was Canaan, modern day Israel.

But we must not forget that Canaan was

already occupied by what we call the Canaanites.
The people in those days called themselves
Amorites. The word “Amorites” is just an ancient
word for Canaanites. What was God going to do
with the Amorites? Was He going to destroy them
so that He could give the land to the Jews? No.
46
That was not God’s plan. God’s plan was for
Abraham to witness to the Amorites that they, too,
may be part of God’s kingdom.

God said to Abraham in Genesis 15:

“Abraham, I’m going to take your children out of
Canaan after you have witnessed Me, the true God
and creator of all the earth, to the Amorites and I’m
going to take your children to Egypt where they
will be slaves. I’m going to give the Amorites four
hundred years of probation. In that period they will
have time to accept or reject me.”

We read in Gen. 15:16: “But in the fourth

generation (at the end of the four hundred years)
they (your children) shall come hither again (back
to Canaan): for the iniquity of the Amorites is not
yet full.” In other words, “When you come back
and all of the Canaanite tribes still deliberately, or
willfully, reject Me, then probation has closed for
them. They have reached the point of no return.”

When the Jews returned under Joshua (Moses

died before they entered the promised land), any
47
tribe of the Amorites who attacked Israel, fighting
in the name of their god, were saying, “We reject
your God.” Remember that the greatest nation at
that time was Egypt. God had liberated the Jews
from Egypt. His victory over Pharaoh and his army
was the greatest evidence He gave to the other
nations that He was greater than the gods of any
other nation.

In Joshua 10 we are told that when Israel

entered the promised land the king of the Gibeons
agreed that the God of Israel is the true God and
they joined hands with Joshua and the Jews. Five
other kings refused and said among themselves, “If
we join hands together we are stronger than those
two nations, the Gibeonites and Israelites.” So they
attacked Joshua and Gibeon. Naturally, the Jews
won the war because God was on their side.

Notice what Joshua did to the five kings that

were captured. He took them and presented them
first before the congregation, both the Jews and the
Gibeonites. He made this statement to them. Notice
that it is in harmony with what God had told
48
Abraham, that the probation of the Amorites would
be closed when his descendants returned. These
five kings had reached the point of no return. They
had willfully turned their backs to God. And
Joshua said to the congregation: “Fear not, nor be
dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus
shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom
ye fight” (Joshua 10:25,26). Those who were
attacking Israel were fighting against Jehovah. This
is what God will do to them.

“And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew

them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were
hanging upon the trees until the evening” (Joshua
10:26). This was what the law in Deuteronomy
21:23 said would symbolize the irrevocable curse
of God.

What was Joshua telling the people? “Anyone

who attacks Israel now has deliberately and
ultimately rejected the God of heaven, and
therefore willfully reached the point of no return.
The curse of God is upon such a person.” Now the
Jews wanted that same curse to come upon Christ.
49
That is why they cried out, “Crucify Him,” for
crucifixion in Christ’s day was synonymous with
hanging on a tree, the equivalent of the second
death.

The question is, did God comply? Did God

fulfil their request? Did He bring His curse upon
His Son? And the answer is “Yes.” Romans 8:32
says, “God spared not His own Son.” But God did
not bring His wrath or curse upon Christ for
blasphemy but for another reason.

Here it is. In Galatians three we have recorded

the New Testament interpretation of the cross.
Remember that the New Testament writers were
Jews, except for Luke. See how the Apostle Paul
defines the cross, not with Roman eyes, even
though he was a Roman citizen, but from a Jewish
perspective. “For as many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse” (Gal. 3:10). The
phrase, “works of the law,” in the New Testament
is equivalent to our English word, “legalism.”
There was no Greek word equivalent to our word
“legalism” so when you come across the phrase
50
“works of the law” it always means, keeping the
law in order to be saved, not as the evidence of
salvation or the fruits of salvation but as a means of
salvation. Keep that in mind.

So Paul is saying to the Galatians, “Anyone

who tries to go to heaven by keeping the law is
under the curse.” Why? Because the law says this:
“Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all
things which are written in the book of the law to
do them” (Gal. 3:10). In other words, it you want to
go to heaven through the law you have to observe
it in every detail and continually. You miss on one
point and you come under the curse.

But the fact is that “all have sinned” (Romans

3:93). There is not a single person who has kept the
law perfectly—not one, apart from Christ. All
Christians are sinners saved by grace. Why?
Because “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of
the law being made a curse for us” (Gal 3:13).

Who made Him a curse for us? It wasn’t the

devil, because the devil can’t punish sin, he’s a
51
sinner himself. It wasn’t the Jews, even though
they demanded God to curse Him. Who then made
Him a curse for us? It was the Father. He “spared
not His own Son.”

Three times Jesus pleaded with the Father:

“Father, Father, if it is possible remove this cup.”
What was the cup to which Jesus was referring? It
was certainly not the cross. He hardly felt that pain.
Not because it was not there, but because there was
another pain far greater than the pain of the cross.
It was the curse of God against your sins and mine.
That is what Jesus pleaded to God for. He knew
what it meant to be cursed by God.

And God said, “No. I cannot remove the curse

from you.” Do you know why? Because He loved
us. “He spared not His own Son but delivered Him
up tor us all.” “Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is
written: (now he quotes Deut. 21:23) Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree” (Gal 3:13).

Whenever you read in the New Testament

52
about the cross being equated with the tree,
remember: those Jews did not mean a stake. When
the Jews mentioned that he hung on a tree they
were not referring as to whether it was a stake or
two pieces of wood. That was not the issue in their
thinking. They had one thing in mind — Deut.
21:23. To them hanging on the cross was
equivalent to hanging on a tree, which was
equivalent to the curse of God.

In Acts 5:30 the disciples were taken by the

Sanhedrin. They were punished, flogged, and told
to no longer preach in the name of Christ. Notice
what Peter said in verse 29: “Then Peter, and the
other apostles answered and said, ‘We ought to
obey God rather than men.’ ” Here are the disciples
willing to die for Christ. The same Peter who
denied Jesus before the cross now is willing to die
for Him. That is how much the cross transformed
him. Now consider verse 30: “The God of our
Fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and
hanged on a tree.”

What did Peter mean by that phrase? He was

53
thinking of Deut. 21:23. “You brought God’s curse
on Him, but God raised Him up because he did not
commit blasphemy; He did experience the curse for
our sins. Christ died that He may save us from our
sins. He rose that He might justify us.” Romans
4:25 is a good example: “Who (Jesus) was
delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for
our justification.”

Peter explains what he meant when he said He

hung on a tree for us in 1 Peter 2:24: “Who his own
self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.”
Why did he use the word, “tree” and not the
“cross”? Because he was thinking about the curse
of our sins and not simply the sleep death that
every one dies.

But some will argue, “How could Christ die the

second death? He predicted His resurrection, and
He actually rose the third day. How could He
experience it?” First of all, the Bible says so. Heb.
2:9: “He tasted death for all men.” It could not be
the first death because believers who accept Christ
still have to die the first death. Then look at what
54
Paul says in 2 Tim. 1:7-10. He says that Christ,
through the cross, has “abolished death.” If He
abolished death why do Christians die? Because He
abolished only the second death, not the first death.
Rev. 20:6 tells us that those who have part in the
first resurrection, i.e., the believers, on such the
second death has no power. Why? Because there
was One who was willing to go through it for us, to
taste it.

The thing that we need to realize is what we

call in theology, “the kenosis doctrine,” based on
Phil. 2:6-8. When Christ became a man in the
incarnation He had to give up not His divinity, but
His divine prerogatives, in other words, the
independent use of His divinity. Even His God-
consciousness had to be given up. Jesus discovered
He was God only by revelation. He was not God-
conscious as a baby. He had to grow up in
knowledge. He had to grow up in everything
because He had given up the independent use of
His divinity and was made in all things like unto us
(Heb. 2:17).

55
 Therefore, He was totally God-dependent all
through His earthly ministry. John 5:30 says, “I can
do nothing of myself.” John 6:57 says, “I live by
the Father.” See also John 8:28 and John 14:10. All
these texts state very clearly that Christ was totally
God-dependent. Then read Rom 6:4; Acts 2:24, 32;
Eph. 1:20. All of these texts clearly tell us that it
was the Father who raised Christ from the dead.
Keep these two things in mind: Christ was God-
dependent, and He was dependent on the Father for
the resurrection. Don’t ask me what happened to
His divine consciousness when He was in the
grave. Where was His divine life? I don’t know.
It’s a mystery. We will spend eternity studying
that, but I do know one thing, it was the Father He
was depending on for the resurrection just like
everything else.

Do you know what the Father did on the cross?

Christ cried out: “Father, Father why have you
forsaken me?” What He meant is not “Why are you
leaving me for three days?” but, “Why have You
abandoned Me?” Do you know what that meant to
Christ? It meant that the hope of the resurrection
56
went with that abandonment. When the Father
forsook Him in terms of Christ’s feeling, then the
hope of the resurrection went with it. Jesus was
now “treading the winepress alone.” He could no
longer look on the Father with hope and assurance
as far as His feelings were concerned. He felt the
agony of God-abandonment, exactly what the
wicked will feel when mercy no longer pleads with
the guilty race.

Here is a key passage from Desire of Ages, by

E.G. White, p 753: “He could not see through the
portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him
the coming forth from the grave a conqueror or tell
Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He
feared that sin was so offensive to God that their
separation was to be eternal.” Do you realize what
Christ was tempted to do on the cross as He hung
there? The Father had forsaken Him. But
remember, He was still God. He could have taken
hold of His divinity independent of the Father,
against the Father’s wishes, and come down from
the cross to save Himself.

57
 That is exactly what the devil tried to get Him
to do. In Luke 23:35-39, at least three times the
devil approached Christ—once through the Roman
soldiers, once through the priests, and once through
the thief on the left-hand side. Then, in Matt.
27:35-46, the people also added to that temptation.
The temptation was the same, “Come down from
the cross and save yourself.” Can you imagine
what that temptation was like? We can’t. I’m glad
Desire of Ages makes that clear: “The temptation
that Christ experienced can never be fully
understood by men.... The withdrawal of the
Divine Countenance from the Savior in this hour of
supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow
that can never be fully understood by man.” Ibid.

Do you know why? Because there has been no

human being in this world who has really, fully,
experienced the wrath of God as Christ did. He is
the only man who has experienced the fullness of
God-abandonment, which is the equivalent of the
second death. Christ was tempted to come down
from the cross and save Himself. Can you
understand the temptation? The issue He faced was
58
not to screw up His will power and say, “I’ll hold
on for a few hours or for three days.” That is no
sacrifice for a God who lives in eternity. The issue
was good-bye to life forever, never again to see His
Father, never again to go back to heaven. It meant
to give up His glory, to give up His life. That was
the issue. That is the curse of God.

As He hung on the cross experiencing God’s

curse for our sins, Jesus had to make a choice. He
could not save Himself and the world at the same
time. And He did make the supreme choice. He
chose to die eternally that you and I may live in His
place. That is what transformed the disciples. They
were so shocked! They had not understood such
love before as this. It is this concept of agape that
turned the world upsidedown, that God not only
came down for thirty-three years, but Jesus their
Savior was willing to say good-bye to life forever
that they may live in His place. “But God
demonstrated His love that while we were still
sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

In other words, the supreme sacrifice is that

59
Jesus was willing to accept our curse and give us
His life in exchange. It was not a question of
saving Himself and the world. He could not do
that. He had to make a choice between the world
and Himself. Do you know what Christ was saying
on the cross? I hope you will never forget this; He
was saying that He loves us more than Himself.
That is God’s agape. When you realize that is how
much God loves you, can you be the same again?
We talk of giving a little money for the needs of
others. But God emptied heaven for us! How can
we hold back? Look at the early Christian Church.
They did not hold on to anything, land or houses.
They gave it all to the body of Christ, the church.
That is what will happen in this church when we
see Christ crucified, as the early Christians saw it;
and then we won’t need any more promotional
programs. I get tired of promotional programs. I
am sorry that we have to do it because if we don’t
promote nothing gets done. It is terrible that we
have to keep on this egocentric approach for
raising funds. Why can’t the love of God constrain
us? In 2 Cor. 5:14, Paul says what the cross did to
him and to the Christian church and what it should
60
do to us. When we reach this condition; when the
church manitests the love of Christ because of what
the cross means to them, then our 20th Century
world will be turned upside down, too.

We read in 2 Cor. 5:14, 15: “For the love of

Christ constraineth us because we thus judge that if
one died for all, then were all dead. And that he
died for all, that they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him
which died for them, and rose again.”

In Heb. 2:9 we read, “He tasted death for every

man.” The Greek doesn’t say “every man.” It goes
beyond that, it actually says “everything.” Jesus
tasted death for everything. When Adam sinned,
not only did the curse come on the human race but
on the plants and on the animals and everything:
“And unto Adam he (God) said, cursed is the
ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall
it bring forth to thee” (Gen. 3:17, 18).

When the Roman soldiers put that crown of

61
thorns on Christ’s head, they were doing it out of
mockery. But God takes the foolish things of man
and converts them into the truth. For God said to
Adam after he sinned, “Cursed is the ground.”
Those thorns and thistles which were placed on the
head of our Savior symbolized sin’s curse on this
world.

“And He died for all, (says Paul) that we which

live (because of the cross) should not henceforth
live unto themselves but unto Him which died for
them and rose again.” Back in 1961, while I was
studying at Newbold, the college took the choir to
Scotland for a program. My wife-to-be, Jean, was
part of that choir. The choir sponsor was kind
enough to include me on that trip, even though I
did not sing. While there, we went to visit the
birthplace of David Livingstone, the greatest
missionary Africa has ever seen. The people of that
area had built a chapel, constructed like an African
hut, in honor of David Livingstone. As you entered
in, your eye immediately noticed two inscriptions
on the bare walls. On one side was the inscription
of Paul from 2 Cor. 5:14: “The love of Christ
62
constraineth us.” On the other side was an
inscription from the diary of David Livingstone,
“The love of God compelled me.”

Having caught a glimpse of God’s self-

emptying love, Livingstone could no longer hold
onto his lucrative profession as a doctor in
Blantyre, Scotland. He gave that all up to be a
missionary in Africa. And in those days there was
no freight allowance, no missionary outfit
allowance, and there were no furloughs. He went
there as a missionary ready to die for his Savior.
And he did die there. The British government gave
him a hard time when he was alive but when the
British discovered he had died they said, “Well, he
deserves a decent burial.” We always praise people
after they die. So they decided to bury him in
Westminister Abbey where the great British people
are buried.

But he died four hundred miles inland in

Africa. The problem was how could they bring his
body to the coast from four hundred miles inland.
There were no planes, trains, or cars in those days.
63
The only way was to carry him on a stretcher. They
couldn’t do it themselves, so they asked the
Africans “Will you do it?” And the Africans said,
“Yes, he deserves a great burial, but you cannot
have his heart.” So they cut him open, pulled out
his heart and buried it in Africa where he gave it.
Then, after embalming him, they carried him on a
stretcher four hundred miles, through swamps,
facing wild animals, disease, and hostile tribes.
They carried him to the coast so the British could
take him by ship and give him an honorable burial
in England. That is how much appreciation they
had for the greatest missionary in Africa. It is my
prayer that you and I will appreciate Jesus Christ to
the point that we will give everything for Him.
Then God will use us to turn this world upside
down with the glory of the cross of Christ.

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 Chapter 3

Born Crucified
As already mentioned, the cross of Christ was
at the heart of New Testament preaching. This is
especially true of the greatest preacher, evangelist,
and theologian of the New Testament, the apostle
Paul. As an introduction to this chapter, let us look
at one of those sublime statements he made about
the cross: “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to
preach the gospel; not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the
power of God” (1 Cor. 1:17, 18).

I want you to notice two things that Paul says

in this passage just quoted:

To Paul, preaching the cross and preaching the

gospel are synonymous. We need to remember this,
because we preach many things in the name of the
gospel that are really the fruits of the gospel or the
65
hope of the gospel. Important as these things are,
the gospel is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Paul teaches here in this passage that the cross

is where the power of God is. In Romans 1:16 he
said: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for
it is the power of God unto salvation.” The power
is in the cross. “But we preach Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the
Greeks (the philosophers) foolishness; but unto
them which are called (those who have accepted
Christ, those that are being saved in Him), both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the
wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23, 24). Again, “For I
determined not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
Turning to the book of Galatians, we read: “God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14).

So far we have covered two vital truths

concerning the cross of Christ. In our first chapter
we saw how the cross exposed Satan as a murderer.
Every Christian needs to know that, so that we are
66
not deceived by him. He is a murderer and a liar.
We also saw in that first study that sin, every sin,
even the smallest sin, at its very core is crucifying
Christ. This means that we need to look at sin and
hate it for what it is—putting Christ on the cross.

In the second chapter we looked at the cross as

it demonstrated to us the self-emptying, self-
sacrificing love of God. “While we were yet
sinners God demonstrated His love toward us in
that Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Never forget
that. There will come times that you will be
discouraged, especially when Satan has knocked
you down and he tells you that God doesn’t love
you because you are a sinner and a failure; remind
him what took place on the cross “while we were
yet sinners.” You may quote to him what Paul says
in Romans 8:35 and onward: “I am persuaded that
nothing in heaven, nothing on earth, nothing in my
experience, nothing in the world, nothing in the
devil’s kingdom can ever separate me from the
love of God which was demonstrated in Christ
Jesus and Him crucified.”

67
 Now we will look at the third important truth of
the cross. We read in Corinthians that the cross of
Christ is the power of God to save us from sin. The
New Testament teaches that the cross is where God
saves us from sin. It is in the cross that we have
redemption from sin. But in order to appreciate this
truth fully we must first of all come to grips with
sin.

Sin to many is limited to “the transgression of

the law.” Yet in Scripture sin is more than that. In
fact, it is not a single problem but a dual problem.

The first definition of sin is that it is an act. The

act may be defined as “missing the mark,” which is
the New Testament word for sin. Or the act may be
defined as violation ot God’s law, which the Bible
defines as transgression: the deliberate, wilful
violation of a law. Sin begins with the mind
consenting to a sinful desire and is followed by the
act. The devil or the flesh comes to you in terms of
a temptation and your mind says, “Yes.” That’s sin
conceived in the mind. Then follows the act
(James. 1:14, 15). Looking at sin as an act, in the
68
light of the law of God, results in two things: guilt
and punishment.

In the New Testament sin is also a power, a

force, a principle that dwells in your nature and
mine. We were born with it and we will die with it.
In Romans 7, Paul defines that as “the law of sin.”
This is what most Christians are ignorant of.
Hence, when they struggle in their Christian
experience and they fail they say, “Maybe I’m not
a Christian.” We need to be aware that sin is not
only an act, it is a force and a power that has you
and me in its grip.

Here are two statements that will help us to

understand this problem. One is from the Lord
Jesus Christ and the other from the Apostle Paul. In
John 8:32; Jesus is talking to the Jews who had
failed to see that sin is a power, a force, that had
them in its grip. This is how Jesus explained this to
the Jews: “You shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free.”

If you are questioning what Jesus meant by the

69
word “truth,” read verse 36. By the word “truth”
He meant Himself for he says: “If the Son,
therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free
indeed.” What kind of freedom was Christ talking
about? He made this statement to the Jews and the
Jews failed to understand Him. In verse 33 they
answered Him: “We be Abraham’s seed and were
never in bondage to any man.” They thought Christ
was talking about political freedom, but they
themselves were lying because they knew that they
were under the yoke of Rome. They said, “We are
Abraham’s seed. How can you say we shall be
made free? What do you mean?”

“Jesus answered them, ‘Verily, verily (which

simply means truly, truly) I say unto you,
“Whosoever committeth sin (that is the act) is the
servant of sin.’ ” The KJV says “servant” but the
Greek word is “slave.” There is a world of
difference between a servant today and a slave. A
servant today is somebody who has a certain
amount of freedom. We have civil servants. If they
don’t like the job they’ll give it up. But a slave has
no freedom. It is this that Paul is discussing in
70
Romans 7.

The issue that Paul is dealing with in Romans 7

is the incompatibility between the flesh or sinful
nature and the law. Incidentally, the nature of a
believer and the nature of an unbeliever are
identical, so that the question that is often raised
about whether Paul is referring to his preconverted
or postconverted experience is really meaningless.
No change takes place in your nature when you
accept Christ. It is one hundred percent sinful and
still a slave of sin. That is what Paul is discussing.
He makes this statement in Romans 7:14: “For we
know the law is spiritual but I am carnal, sold
under sin (i.e., sold as a slave to sin).” Then he
proves it in verses 15 to 23 which state: “I see
another law in my members (he’s talking of sin as
a law, as a principle, as a force) warring against the
law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members.”

Everyone of us, believers or unbelievers, have

the law of sin in us. This is the problem that makes
it difficult for us to live the life that we want to.
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Paul says, “I want to do good but I find that I
can’t.” Why? In the last part of verse 25 Paul is
using a very strong statement which unfortunately
our English Bible does not quite bring out. What he
really said is, “left on my own, apart from grace,
apart from God, apart from the Holy Spirit, on my
very own the best I can do is serve God and His
law with my mind. But with my nature it is
impossible. I serve the law of sin.” Then in
desperation he cries out: “Who will set me free
from this slavery?” And the answer is: “I thank
God through Jesus Christ.”

Now God does not hold you guilty for the law
of sin that dwells in your members. You were born
with it. You are not guilty of it. So the force of sin,
the power of sin doesn’t involve guilt, but it does
disqualify you and me from heaven. In 1 Cor.
15:50 we read, “Flesh and blood,” and by that Paul
means: “sinful human nature cannot inherit the
kingdom of God.” Why? Because “corruption
cannot inherit incorruption” (1 Cor. 15:50).

Now, what solution does God have for the dual

72
problem of sin? Does He have only half a solution
for the sin problem? The answer is no. God has a
dual solution for the dual problem of sin and we
need to know that. What is His solution for our sins
(plural, i.e., acts) which bring guilt and
punishment? His answer for that is the blood of
Christ. In Heb. 9:22 we read that: “Without
shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”

In Matt. 26:28, Jesus is in the upper room

where He instituted the Lord’s supper. He takes the
cup and says to the disciples: “For this is my blood
of the new testament (or the new covenant) which
is shed for many for the remission (forgiveness) of
sins.” In other words, my death on the cross will
pay the price for your sins and becomes the basis
of forgiveness that will be acceptable to the law.

Now what does the New Testament mean by

the word “blood”? Please remember that the New
Testament was written by Jews, except for Luke.
The Jews understood blood to symbolize life. Shed
blood is life that is laid down in death for our sins,
because the blood of Christ represents the justice of
73
the law met at the cross in the death of Christ. 1
John 1:7-9 says: “If you walk in the light the blood
of Christ will cleanse you from all sin.” That is
good news! But while God can forgive us for our
acts of sins because of the blood of Christ,
sinfulness, which is the principle of sin, cannot be
forgiven. You can’t forgive sinfulness. God can
forgive what you have done, but God can’t forgive
you for what you are. There is another solution for
that. That is the cross of Christ.

Let me explain the difference by an illustration.

In my backyard there is an apple tree. It was there
when I came. When it produced its first apples I
picked one ripe apple to eat. It was sour and unfit
for eating. So I picked all the apples and threw
them into “Yellow Creek,” which flows through
my backyard. Now, had I solved the problem? Yes,
for the time being, but next year the tree will
produce sour apples again. As long as the apple
tree is not dealt with the sour apple problem is not
really solved. If before the next season comes I dig
around the roots and I feed it with six pounds of
sugar, hoping that the tree will absorb some of that
74
sugar and produce sweet apples, will the problem
of sour apples be solved? You know as well as I
do, the answer is no. Why not? What is the
problem? It is not in the soil. It is not in the
nutrients that it absorbs. The problem is in the tree
itself.

We need to realize the real sin problem of man.

Sin and crime are increasing in this country and in
the world. What is the solution to the problems? If
the gospel only removes the fruits of our sin
problem, which are sinful acts, through
forgiveness, I have solved the problem only for a
season. My sinful nature will produce sins again.
Forgiveness, wonderful as it may be, is not the full
solution to my sin problem. Forgiveness is
wonderful; I thank God for it because it gives me
peace. But, at the same time, I am unhappy with
the vicious circle of sinning and forgiveness,
sinning and forgiveness. Is forgiveness the only
hope of Christianity? Is that the limit of the power
of the gospel?

Modern man has tried all kinds of human

75
solutions to solve our sin problem. Education,
stringent laws, incentives—all have failed to curb
sin and crime in this country. There is no solution
in humanistic ideas. Take Marxism, for example. It
claimed to be a scientific solution to man’s sin
problem. It sounds good and wonderful, but it was
a hypothesis that needed confirmation. Russia tried
it for some 75 years and has failed miserably, and
so has China failed. No human solution can solve
our sin problem.

The question therefore is, “What is the solution

to our sin problem?” Is it changing the political and
economic environment? If I pluck an apple tree and
plant it in an orange grove, will it produce oranges?
No. Some years ago a movement tried to do that
very thing. It was called “The Moral Re-
armament.” In other words, arm yourselves with
love, purity, and honesty, and the world will
change for the better. It promised we would have
no more wars. That movement is dying out because
it hasn’t worked.

The reason why the Christian church also has

76
failed is because it has failed to see the dual answer
of the gospel to the sin problem. The power of the
gospel is not only in the blood of Christ but also in
the cross of Christ. Sinful acts God can forgive
because of Christ’s shed blood, but sinfulness
cannot be forgiven; it must go. One of the mistakes
we make when we become Christians is that we
think that through the help of God we can change
our sinful natures. Well, I have bad news for you.
Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:6: “That which
is born of the flesh is (always) flesh.” God’s
answer for the sinful flesh is not making it better.

Do you know what God’s answer is to the

flesh? Do you know what God’s verdict is on the
flesh? Crucifixion. The flesh must die. That is His
solution. God forgives you for your acts through
the blood of Christ but for sinfulness He doesn’t
forgive you. He strikes the tree down. The apple
tree that produces sour apples must be cut down
and a new apple tree must be planted. 2 Cor. 5:17
tells us what the cross does: “If any man be in
Christ he is a new creation, the old has passed
away.” The formula of the gospel is not changing
77
the environment. The formula of the gospel is not
making you good. The formula of the gospel is
“NOT I, BUT CHRIST!”

That is why a French theologian in the 19th

Century made this statement: “Every Christian is
born crucified.” The famous modern martyr who
died in Germany at the age of 39, Deitric Bonhofer
said, “When God calls you, He calls you to die.” If
you have not died, if you were buried alive by your
pastor when you were baptized, you are not a
Christian; because the gospel demands that you die
in exchange for the life of Christ. That is God’s
answer to our sin problem.

The death of Christ was not one man dying

instead of all men. The Bible doesn’t teach that.
Yes, Christ did die tor us, in the sense that He
tasted death instead of all men. You and I as
Christians will never have to experience the second
death which Christ tasted on the cross. Thank God
for that. But when He died it wasn’t just one Man
dying instead of all men. That is illegal. No law,
God’s or man’s, will allow it. According to the
78
New Testament teaching, it was all men that died
in one Man. The death of Christ was a corporate
death.

When an American wins the Olympics, who is

happy, who rejoices? Not just one person but the
whole nation rejoices because that one man
represents America. So when Christ died, He died
as “US.” 2 Cor. 5:14 (NIV): “Because we are
convinced that one died for all, and therefore all
died.” Just as all men sinned in Adam, so also all
men died in Christ, the second Adam.

What did Christ say concerning the cross in

John 12:31? “Now is the judgment of this world.”
When Adam sinned his condemnation came upon
all men because all men were implicated in his sin
(Romans 5:12, 18). Since the human race is the
multiplication of Adam’s one life, we were all in
him when he sinned. Likewise, the same human
race was put into Christ at the incarnation so that
when He died, we died in Him. This is the truth of
the cross in which the whole world was judged in
Christ.
79
 Hence, when you accept this truth by faith, the
cross of Christ becomes your cross. Jesus says,
“When you follow me you must deny self and take
up your cross daily” (Luke 9:23). The problem is
that many have defined the Christian cross as
individual crosses separate from the cross of
Christ, because Jesus said, “Take up your cross.”
So we say that God has given every one of us
individual crosses.

And because we have identified the believer’s

cross with the hardships of life, each of us have
different crosses. Some have big crosses and some
have small crosses. Some have heavy crosses and
some have light crosses. Consequently, when we
go through difficult times we say, “The Lord has
given me a very heavy cross.”

Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that. God

doesn’t give each of us individual crosses. There is
only one cross that saves. It is the cross of Christ,
and that cross is a corporate cross. When you
become a Christian, the cross of Christ becomes
80
your cross. Hardships of life is not the cross since
unbelievers also have to face hardships of life.
Christians are not the only ones who have to face
problems in this life. The cross of Christ is what
you have received as your cross when you accept
Christ and Him crucified. The cross of Christ
becomes my cross and your cross the moment we
join ourselves to Him by faith.

The thief on the cross, who will be saved,

literally carried his own cross but that cross won’t
save him. It is the cross of Christ that saves him.
Remember that the believer’s cross is the cross of
Christ which means that His death is your death
and He died to sin (Romans 6:10, 11).

After illustrating our sin problem in the seventh

chapter of Romans the apostle cries out in Romans
7:24, “Who will deliver me from this law of sin
and death, this body that is pulling me down to the
grave because of the law of sin in me.” His
triumphal answer is, “I thank God through Jesus
Christ.” Then in Romans 8:1 he says, “There is no
condemnation for those who are in Christ.” Even
81
though you still have the law of sin in your
members you are qualified for heaven because in
Romans 8:2 Paul says: “The law of the Spirit has
set me free from the law of sin and death.”

In Christ I have freedom from not only sin’s

condemnation, but also its power. That is Paul’s
statement in verse two of Romans eight. Then in
Romans 8:3, he tells me how this was
accomplished: “For what the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending
His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for
sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”

Notice two things in this statement. First, Christ

identified Himself with our sin problem by being
made in all points as we are (see also Heb. 2:14-
18). Secondly, he solved our sin problem by
condemning sin (singular) in the flesh. The word
“sin” is not referring to our acts of sin but the
principle of sin that resides in our flesh. In John
1:29, John the Baptist, in introducing Christ said:
“Here is the lamb of God who taketh away the sin
of the world.” Here the word “sin” is in the
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singular. Jesus did not come simply to forgive you.
He came to take away the sin of the world. And, on
the cross, according to Romans 8:3, “He
condemned sin (singular) in His flesh.” He
condemned the law of sin. He executed the law of
sin that the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in you and me who walk no longer after
the flesh but after the Spirit (Romans 8:4).

In other words, the solution that God has for us

in regard to the dual problem of sin is found in
Christ and Him crucified. Because He accepted the
wages of sin, our sins, His blood cleanses us from
all sins. But because we died in Him, God struck at
the very foundation, at the very root of the sin
problem—the power or principle of sin. According
to 1 Peter 2:24, “He (Christ) bore our sins on the
cross that we being dead may live unto God.”

Now let us sum up this glorious truth of the

cross. Our death in Christ is essential for two
things because sin is a two-fold problem. In the
first place, our death in Christ is essential for
justification to be legally acceptable. It is true that
83
objectively all men died in Christ; but if you reject
that death as yours, if you refuse to identify
yourself with the cross of Christ you are refusing
your death in Christ, and that means the blood of
Christ cannot lawfully forgive you. That is why 1
John 1:7-9 says: “If you walk in the light, which is
the truth of the cross, then the blood of Christ will
cleanse you from all sins.” But, secondly, our death
in Christ also strikes at the root of our sin problem.
It brings to an end the law of sin which is in my
members.

Have you ever taken a can of beer to a funeral

of an alcoholic? As you pass by his casket at the
funeral service you take this can of beer and say,
“Look, why don’t you have one tor the road?”
Would he accept it or has he finished with alcohol?
Because he is dead he is no longer alive to alcohol.
God’s solution for the sin problem is not making
you better. God’s solution for the power of sin is to
strike it at its very roots by the cross of Christ. The
cross of Christ, therefore, becomes the power of
God unto salvation.

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 In Gal. 5:24 we read: “We who belong to
Christ have crucified the flesh.” That’s where the
flesh belongs with all its desires. Romans 13:14
says: “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will
make no provision for the flesh.” Gal. 5:16 says:
“Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfil the
desires of the flesh.” Do you want victory over the
power of the flesh? It is in the cross of Christ, not
in your promises, not in your resolutions. They are
like ropes of sand. Christ says in John 12:24:
“Verily, verily, (verily means “truly” and said
twice indicates emphasis) I say unto you, except a
kernel of wheat fall to the ground and dies it
abideth alone (a seed cannot bear fruit until it falls
to the ground and dies), but if it die it bringeth
forth much fruit.”

That is the message of the cross in agriculture. I

enjoy gardening but I know that keeping the packet
of seeds on my shelf will not produce anything.
That seed has to fall on the ground and die. When
it dies it sprouts up, not as a seed but as a shoot and
it grows and produces life. When I chop that sour
apple tree down and plant a new sweet one, it may
85
take five years to produce apples but it will
produce sweet apples because it is the right tree.

When you and I die in Christ and accept His

life of righteousness in exchange for our life of sin,
we shall bear fruits. As Jesus declared in the
parable of the sower—some thirty fold, some sixty
fold, and some one hundred fold. The amount
doesn’t matter. That is the message of the cross for
today. It is the power of God unto salvation from
sin.

We conclude this chapter with John 12:25: “He

that loveth his life (i.e., the life of sin) shall lose it.
(If you cling to your Adamic life you will lose it
one day forever and you will get nothing in
exchange.) But he that hateth his life in this world
(the life of the flesh) shall keep that life that Christ
has given him for eternity.”

The greatest truth the world needs to know is

that Christ shed His blood for their sins. That’s
what the unbeliever needs to know. The greatest
need of the Christian who is already forgiven, who
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has peace, who is standing justified, who is
standing before God as if he had never sinned, is
not that Christ shed His blood for him. He knows
that already. He needs to know that he died in
Christ that he might bear fruit. God’s method of
bearing fruit is not making you better. God’s
method is doing away with your life and giving
you the life of His Son in exchange, a life that is
well-pleasing to God.

It is my sincere prayer that you will accept the

cross of Christ now. The cross of Christ says, “I am
crucified with Christ but I am still living. It is not I
but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Christ was
willing to go anywhere His Father sent Him, do
anything He said, even go to the cross for our
salvation. May His love constrain us so that we
may be willing to die in order that He may live in
us; so that no longer does the world see us but
“Christ in you the hope of glory.”

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 Chapter 4

The Resurrection
Any study on the Cross of Christ is incomplete
without touching on the resurrection. Not only was
the resurrection of Christ everything to His
disciples, but it plays a vital part in our redemption
and, in this concluding chapter on the Cross of
Christ, we will see four important reasons why the
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is significant
to Christians in terms of our salvation.

But first let us look at the resurrection through

the eyes of the disciples. Remember, these
disciples were Jews. They were victims of Judaism.
They were raised up with the idea that the Messiah
was not to be a suffering servant but a conquering
king. He would destroy the Roman Empire,
establish His kingdom. The disciples had this hope
as they accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

In spite of the fact that the disciples were told

more than once by Jesus Christ Himself about His
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death and resurrection, they were so much
engrossed in their preconceived ideas of the
Messiah that they failed to see the significance of
His death and His resurrection until after the event.

After Christ arose from the dead, you will

notice that the first disciples to see Him besides
Mary were the two men walking to the village of
Emmaus recorded in Luke 24. Beginning with
verse 13, we are told that these two men traveling
to Emmaus, which was approximately seven miles
from Jerusalem, were very discouraged men. They
were so discouraged that when Jesus joined them,
they did not realize who He was. When He asked
them the question, “What is this communication all
about? What is this discouraging talk I hear from
you?” they responded by saying, “You mean to say
you don’t know what has happened? This man,
Jesus of Nazareth, we thought He was the one, the
Messiah, the One that the prophets spoke about.
But our rulers crucified Him and our hopes have
been dashed to pieces. And indeed, what has
happened has taken place about three days ago.”

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 Then Jesus, as they drew towards the village,
began to expound to them. Listen to what He says
to them in Luke 24, verse 25-27: “Then He [that is,
Jesus] said to them, ‘O foolish ones and slow of
heart to believe in all that the prophets have
spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these
things and to enter into His glory?’ And then,
beginning with Moses, going through all the
prophets, Jesus expounded to them in all the
Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

In other words Jesus was telling these two

disciples: “Look, it’s all there in Scripture. Why
haven’t you seen it?” And the reason they had not
seen it was because they were blinded by their
preconceived ideas, a problem that we also face
today in terms of learning about truth. Later on at
the table, when they were having their supper,
when Jesus raised His hands to bless the food,
when they realized who was talking to them, they
became extremely excited.

We are told in Luke 24:23-33 that they rose up

that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. They
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returned back seven more miles and found the
eleven and those who were with them gathered
together, saying: “The Lord has risen indeed and
has appeared to Simon.” Then they told about the
things that had happened on the road and how He
was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Imagine these discouraged, disappointed disciples,
their hopes dashed by the Cross, and suddenly the
resurrection changed the situation. They realized
that this was the Messiah, that Jesus had come not
to conquer the Romans but to conquer sin and to
deliver them from the grip of death.

With this in mind, let us now turn to the four

important reasons why the resurrection is
extremely significant, important, vital, and crucial
to Christians. The first one is that the resurrection
of Christ vindicated Christ’s righteousness which
He obtained for us so that we may be able to be
qualified tor heaven. In Romans 1, in his very
introduction, see what Paul has to say about the
gospel and about Jesus Christ. Having introduced
himself in Romans 1:1 as the apostle called by
God, separated to preach the gospel to the Gentiles,
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in verse two he tells us this gospel was promised
beforehand through their prophets, through the Old
Testament, but now it is no longer a promise
because it is the reality. And the reality concerns
Jesus Christ, the Son of man according to the seed
of David and the Son of God according to the life
of holiness he lived. In other words, Jesus Christ
was both man and God so that He might be the
Savior of the world. By his humanity He joined
Himself to us, the human race that needs
redeeming, and through His divinity He joined us
to the Father who is in heaven.

Then, having declared the righteousness of

Christ in verse four, he gives the reason of the
proof of that righteousness. Romans 1:4 says: “And
declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the spirit of holiness by the
resurrection from the dead.” Now what did Paul
mean by that? What has the resurrection of Christ
to do with the spirit of holiness or righteousness
which was revealed in the life of Christ? If Jesus in
any form had sinned either in thought, word, or
deed, the Father would have had no right to raise
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Him up from the dead. The ultimate power of sin is
death. In Romans 6:23 Paul says: “The wages of
sin is death.” The law says the soul that sins, it
must die. Christ did bear the sins of the world but
He Himself had no sin.

When He died, when our sins put Him into the

grave and He paid the price for our sins at the
Cross, sin could not keep Him in the grave because
He Himself had lived a perfect, sinless life. He rose
from the dead to prove that He had obtained perfect
righteousness in His earthly mission. If Christ had
sinned in any way, thought, word, or deed, God
would have no right legally to raise Him up. But
the fact that God raised Him up f rom the dead
proved that the righteousness that Christ had
obtained in His earthly mission, in His humanity
during those 33 years that He was here before the
cross, was perfect.

For example, Paul, speaking about Christ in

Romans 4:25 says: “Who [that is, Christ] was
delivered up because of our offenses.” On the cross
He bore the guilt and punishment of our sins and
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was raised because of our justification. In other
words, God delivered Christ to bear the wages of
our sins so that we could be justified from our sins.
Then He raised Christ up as evidence that that
justification was perfect. He was raised because of
our justification. The price for sin was totally paid
on the cross and, therefore, God had the perfect
right to raise Him up from the dead since He
Himself had no sin.

Number 1. The resurrection of Christ vindicates

Christ’s righteousness which He obtained for the
sinful human race.

Number 2. The resurrection of Christ

guarantees our resurrection. You know, it is
important that we become very clear that every
subjective experience that we Christians will
experience in this world and in the world to come
is based on a perfect and finished work in Jesus
Christ. In other words, there is nothing that you and
I will experience as Christians, whether we think in
terms of the new birth, or our standing before God
as justified, that brings us peace and joy and hope
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and assurance. Whether we think in terms of
Christian living, holy living, all the blessed hope
which is the resurrection from the dead and the
ascending into heaven where Christ is, all of this is
based on the fact that we have already received this
in the holy history of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In other words, in Christ Jesus, God has

redeemed the whole human race. We were in Him
by the incarnation. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
1:30 that it was by His [God’s] will that He put us
into Christ and made Christ to be our wisdom, our
righteousness, our redemption, our sanctification,
our everything. Therefore, since Christ is the
source of our Christian experience, His resurrection
guarantees our resurrection. In other words, we
shall experience the resurrection because in Christ
we have already been raised from the dead. In fact,
Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:6 that we are already
sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

But now turn to 1 Cor. 15:12 and notice Paul’s

argument in this passage. In verse 12 Paul exposes
a theological problem that was being experienced
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by the church members in Corinth. There were
some in the Corinthian church who questioned the
resurrection of the believers. This is how Paul puts
it: “Now if Christ is preached that He has been
raised from the dead, how do some among you say
that there is no resurrection of the dead?” Can you
imagine believers without a hope of a resurrection?
But listen to Paul’s argument. He does not defend
the resurrection of the believer by using the proof
text method. His proof that the Christian has the
hope of the resurrection is the resurrection of
Christ Himself.

Look at verse 13 onwards: “But if there is no

resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen.
And if Christ is not risen then our preaching is vain
and your faith also in vain.” In other words, if the
source of our resurrection, which is Christ, did not
rise from the dead, then there is no hope for us. But
if Christ rose from the dead then we have a hope.
To go one step further, Paul goes on to say: “If
Christ did not rise f rom the dead, then our
preaching is a lie, but if Christ rose from the dead
then our preaching is true and the Christian has
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hope.”

In fact, in 1 Cor. 15:19 Paul says: “If in this life

only we have hope in Christ we are of all men the
most miserable.” Why? Because the Christian hope
is not in this world, it is in the world to come. And
the beginning of the world to come is the
resurrection of the believers.

“But now,” says Paul in verse 20, “Christ is

risen from the dead and has become the firstfruit
[or the prototype] of those who have fallen asleep.”
And then in verses 21,22 he makes those
tremendous statements about in Adam and in
Christ. “For since by man came death, by man also
came the resurrection of the dead.” Please notice
that the word man, used twice in this verse 21, is in
the singular. Who are these two men, one bringing
you death and the other bringing the resurrection?
The answer is found in verse 22: “For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”

Now please remember the context. Here Paul is

not discussing the whole human race in Christ. In
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other words, he is not dealing with the objective
truth of the gospel. He is dealing with the
subjective experience of the believer. Do Christians
who have accepted the truth as it is in Christ have a
hope of a resurrection? And the answer is Yes.
Why? What is the guarantee of our resurrection?
The resurrection of Christ. Look at verse 23: “But
each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits,
afterwards those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

The resurrection of Christ is the guarantee of

the resurrection of every believer. To bring this
out, listen to 1 Thess. 4:14 where Paul tells the
believers in Thessalonica, “For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again....” Paul is not using the
word “if” as if to doubt the resurrection of Christ.
What Paul is really saying is: “In view of the fact
that we believe Jesus Christ died and rose again,
even so God will bring with Him those who sleep
in Jesus.” In verse 15 onward he goes on to explain
that the Lord Himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and the
dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are
living will be transformed by the twinkling of an
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eye from corruption to incorruption.

But the fact is that, because Jesus conquered

the grave, we believers have a hope of the
resurrection. Just one more text, 1 Peter 1:3:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ who, according to His abundant mercy, has
begotten us again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” In
other words, the resurrection of Christ is our hope.
Our hope is not in this world. Our hope is in the
world to come. Yes, we stand perfect in Christ
today but because we have a mortal body all of us
are subject to death—what the Bible calls the first
death. But, to the Christian, that death is not the
grim reaper, it is simply sleep and sleep means
resting.

A Christian who dies is resting in Christ and

when Christ comes from heaven and He makes the
tremendous cry at the trump of God and says “Let
the dead in Christ be raised,” all the believers who
have died in Christ will conquer the grave because
their victory is the result of the victory of Jesus
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Christ who conquered the grave.

And so, Peter is saying, “Blessed be the God

and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who, according
to His abundant mercy, has given us a hope
through the resurrection of Christ.”

Number 3. This brings us now to our third

position, a third reason why the resurrection of
Christ is important to us. The resurrection of Christ
makes Christ’s intercessory ministry in the
heavenly sanctuary possible. When you and I
accept Christ we still are sinners saved by grace.
The acceptance of Christ, the new birth experience,
does not change our nature one iota. We are still
potentially 100 percent sinners. Therefore, as long
as we are living in this world, as long as we are in
this world, condemned by sin, we need a mediator,
we need an Advocate, Christ the righteous. As long
as we are sinners, we have a Mediator, because
Jesus conquered death, went to heaven, and is now
sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us.

Notice what Paul says about this wonderful

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gospel in Romans 8. Paul spends several chapters
in Romans discussing the gospel from every
conceivable angle. He begins in chapter 3, verse
21, and he ends in chapter 8 verse 30. Then, having
done that, he concludes this exposition of the
gospel in chapter 8, verse 31, by asking a question:
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is
for us, who can be against us?” Oh, what a
tremendous statement. If God is on our side, it
doesn’t matter who is against us.

Yes, the devil can accuse us day and night as

Revelation 12:10 says, but we have an Advocate,
the righteous. Look at Romans 8:34: “Who is he
who condemns?” Yes, it is the devil who
condemns, but listen to the good news: “It is Christ
who died.” Remember, He died to remove our
condemnation, “And, furthermore, is also risen
who is even at the right hand of God who also
maketh intercession for us.” Jesus was raised for
our justification, says Paul in Romans 4:25. In
Romans 8:34 he says: “Christ who conquered the
grave is now sitting at the right hand making
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intercession for us.”

In 1 John 2:1 the apostle John says the gospel is

good news but please don’t allow the good news of
salvation, which is a free gift to sinners, lead you to
cheap grace to condone sin because the gospel does
not give us license to sin. But John realizes that we
are still living in a sinful world; we still have sinful
natures.

Because of our inability to have learned to walk

fully in the Holy Spirit, we will fall, and so he says
in 1 John 2:1: “My little children, I am writing this
good news to you not that you may condone sin [he
uses the word sin in the present continuous tense
the first time] but if anyone sins [this is in the aorist
tense, the past historical tense] then we have an
advocate, Christ the righteous.” So the resurrection
of Christ makes it possible for us to have an
intercessor, Jesus Christ, at the right hand of God
who is representing believers.

One more text regarding this is in Hebrews 7.

Now Hebrews was written or was addressed
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primarily to Jewish Christians who were in danger
of turning their back to Christ and returning to
Judaism. The writer of Hebrews, whom I believe is
Paul, is making it very clear in this wonderful
epistle that Christ is the reality of everything that
was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. And
because He is the reality, He is better than all that
was given to the Jews in the Old Testament, the old
covenant.

Now look at Heb 7:24, 25 in this context: “But

he, because he continues forever, has an
unchangeable priesthood. Therefore, He is also
able to save to the uttermost those who come to
God through Him since He ever lives to make
intercession for them.” The Levitical priest in the
Old Testament could not really intercede for the
Jews in the true sense of the word. Why? Number
one, because they themselves were sinners. You
remember on the day of Atonement they could not
enter the Most Holy Place without first offering a
sacrifice for themselves and for their family. Jesus
did not have to offer a sacrifice for Himself
because He had overcome sin. He had not even
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sinned by a thought and, as we saw earlier, it is
because of this God had the legal right to raise Him
up from the dead. But Jesus Christ is a priest who
has never sinned, who has conquered sin and
conquered the grave.

The second difference is that the Levitical

priests were limited in their intercession because
they were human beings that were not only sinners
but who were also mortal. That means their life
span was no different from the life span of the
average human being at that time. But Christ, when
He rose from the dead, rose never to die. And
because He is now an everlasting Savior, He is able
to intercede for us from the time of His ascension
right up to the time of His Second Coming. We
have an Advocate; we have a Priest Who is able to
save us to the uttermost not because we are good
but because He is our Righteousness and He is at
the right hand of God, vindicating, defending His
believers.

Jesus Christ is our Advocate, our Savior, and

He is able to save to the uttermost, anyone who
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comes to God through Him because there is no
condemnation for those who are in Christ. In
Christ, as Jesus Himself said in John 5:24, we have
already passed from death to life.

Number 4. And now this brings us finally to the

fourth important reason why the resurrection of
Christ is crucial to the believer. The resurrection of
Christ proved once and for all that God’s power
manifested in Jesus Christ is greater than all the
power of sin that Satan can muster through sinful
flesh. We have a tremendous passage in the book
of Romans that expounds our sin problem:
Romans, chapter 7. In Romans 7:14, Paul tells us
our predicament. He says the law is spiritual but
we human beings, believers or unbelievers, are
carnal, sold as slaves to sin and, because of this, it
is impossible for human beings, irrespective of
whether they are believers or unbelievers, in and of
themselves, to live a holy and righteous life. Yes,
they may desire to do that which is good. They
may choose to do the will of God, they may delight
in the law of God, but how to fulfill that desire,
how to perform that which they have chosen—
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impossible.

Remember, in Romans 7:14-25 Paul is not

discussing the Christian controlled by the Holy
Spirit. It is clear he is talking about the believer but
he is talking about the believer who is trying to live
a holy life in and of himself. How do we know
this? Because at the very end of Romans 7:25, the
second part of this verse, Paul makes it very clear:
“I myself.” The Greek is much stronger than the
English translation. What he actually said is, “Left
on my own, independent of God’s Spirit, I can
serve the law of God only with my mind. I can
choose to obey the law of God, I can choose to
make resolutions, I can make promises to the law
of God but my flesh will not allow me to do what I
have chosen to do.” That is why every promise we
make to God is like ropes of sand. Why? Because
the law of sin is in my members and I am a slave to
it.

Is there no hope of conquering the flesh? Paul

says in the beginning part of verse 25, after crying
out his wretchedness in verse 24: “I thank God
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through Jesus Christ.” Oh, what a wonderful Savior
we have. Not only do we have a Savior Who saved
us from our sins, but we have a Savior Who saved
us from sin itself—sin as a power; sin as a force.
Jesus Christ not only bore the sins of the world but,
as Paul says in Romans 8:3, He condemned sin in
the flesh.

What is the greatest proof that He condemned

sin in the flesh? The resurrection. When Christ rose
from the dead He proved that His power over sin is
greater than the power of sin in us. Let me explain
how this is true. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Cor. 15.
We looked at it a few moments ago but now we
will turn to verses 55 onwards. What does it say
here? “O death, where is your sting? O Hades,
where is your victory? The sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God,
Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.”

What Paul is saying here is that the ultimate

power of sin is to put you and me into the grave. If
you or I can conquer the grave that is evidence that
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we can conquer sin. And no person apart from
Christ has conquered the grave in and of himself.
Yes, Moses was raised from the grave and many at
the resurrection of Christ were raised from the
dead, but none of them were raised because of their
own righteousness. They were all raised because
they were believers in Christ. They were raised by
the power of Christ Who is the conqueror of the
grave. Let me put it this way. Sin, our sins, your
sins and my sins, were allowed by God to put Jesus
into the grave. It was not His sin that put Him into
the grave because He had none. It was our sins that
put Him into the grave. But our sins could not keep
Him down. And thus Jesus manifested His power
against sin.

Let me read 1 Cor 15:58: “Therefore, my

beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that
your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Here is an illustration that may help you to

understand what I am saying here. When we were
in the mission field there were times when my
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family was isolated from society. I had to spend
quite a bit of time with my children so that they
would not feel left all alone. One of the games we
played was this. I would lie on the floor and I
would make my son hold my feet down and my
daughter my hands down. And I would say to
them, “Let us see who is stronger. If you are
stronger you will keep me down here. If I am
stronger I will conquer you and get up.” And of
course they were determined to keep me pinned
down on the floor. So I would say, “Are you
ready?” and they would say, “Yes.” You could see
them exerting themselves with every bit of strength
they had to keep me down. But I would push my
son to one side, push my daughter to the other side,
and get up.

That was many years ago, but recently my son

said to me, “Dad, why don’t we play that game?”
Now, of course, he is taller than I and young and
very muscular and my daughter is also quite strong
and I said to them, “Remember, those were
childish games; now you are grown up you should
put childish games aside.” And, of course, they
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laughed, knowing that I could not conquer them
now that they are grown up.

Well, our sins pinned Christ down into the

grave but our sins could not keep Him down there.
Through the Spirit of Christ He was raised from the
dead. Thus, through the Spirit that dwelt in Him is
revealed the power of God against the power of
sin. In Romans 8:2, Paul tells us that the Spirit of
Life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the power
of the law of sin and death. In other words, in
Christ these two forces met, the Spirit of Life in
Christ and the spirit of sin that was residing in our
humanity that He assumed. These two forces met
in Christ and God allowed our sins to take Christ to
the grave but our sins could not keep Him there.
The Spirit of life raised Him up from the dead.

In view of this, Paul makes a very wonderful,

powerful statement in Romans 8:11 which we must
apply to our Christian living: “But if the Spirit of
Him who raised Jesus from the dead (or, in other
words, the Spirit of Christ that conquered sin from
the grave) dwells in you, He who raised Christ
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from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” That
is why Paul says in Romans 8:4 that when a
Christian walks in the Spirit, the righteousness of
the law will be fulfilled in us not because we are
able to do it in ourselves but because the Spirit of
life which proved its power against sin through the
resurrection of Christ dwells in you. It is able to
mortify your sinful body and, in exchange, produce
the righteous character of Christ.

Therefore, a Christian has not only the hope of

a resurrection and a ticket to heaven but the
Christian, through the indwelling Spirit, has a hope
of reproducing in his and her life the righteous
character of our Lord Jesus Christ. But this, of
course, is realized only as we learn to walk in the
Spirit.

One of the last letters Paul wrote was

Philippians and in chapter 3:10-14 of that book
Paul makes a very interesting statement concerning
himself and this should be the goal of every
believer who is struggling with the flesh and with
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the sinful nature. First of all, Paul has told the
Philippian Christians in verse 9 that he is resting in
the righteousness of Christ for his salvation. That is
what every believer should do. Then in verse 10 he
goes on to say, “That I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His
suffering being conformed to His death if by any
means I may attain to the resurrection from the
dead that [what does he mean by that?] I may attain
the victory of Christ in my life.” And then he goes
on, “Not that I have already attained [He is not
claiming to have totally overcome the flesh or is
already perfected] but I press on that I may lay
hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid
hold of me. In Christ I am victorious. I have
already conquered sin in Christ.” Now, in
experience, Paul is saying: “That is my mark, that
is my goal.” “Brethren, I do not count myself to
have apprehended but one thing I do; forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching
forward to those things which are ahead, I press
towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus.” One of those prizes, one of
those upward calls is victory over the flesh.
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 But having said this, I need to say a couple of
words of warning. Victory over sin or victory over
the sinful nature is not the same as sinless
perfection. You see, God gives us victory over sin
while we still retain our sinful nature. It is only at
the second coming of Christ that we will
experience sinless perfection when this corruption
puts on incorruption. In other words, we will
always remain sinners on this earth until we die or
until Christ comes. Therefore, we must never look
at our subjective experience for peace and for
assurance. Justification is by faith alone in the
doing and dying of Christ.

Victory over the flesh—the purpose of it is

witnessing to the world the power of the gospel in
our lives. When the world sees in us the character
of love that Jesus manifested on this earth, this
unselfish self-emptying love, unconditional love;
when the world sees that, then they will realize that
the gospel is not just a theory but a power of God
unto salvation. Jesus Himself said in John 13:35:
“By this shall all men know that you are My
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disciples when we have love one for another”—the
kind of love that He manifested towards mankind.
This He brings out in verse 34.

Secondly, victory over sin or holiness of living

does not contribute one iota towards my
justification or towards my ticket to heaven. We
stand complete, we stand perfect only in Jesus
Christ. That is the basis of our assurance of
salvation. We must never look at ourselves or our
experience or our victory through the power of the
Holy Spirit for our assurance of salvation. Because
even though the Holy Spirit gives us victory, we
will never know it fully.

This brings us to point number three. Victory

over sin is God’s part because you and I still have
sinful natures and in and of ourselves, as Paul
brings out in Romans 7, we cannot overcome the
flesh. When God gives us the victory we may not
know it all the time. Our part from beginning to
end is faith and this is our battle. Paul, at the end of
his life, told Timothy, “I have fought the good fight
of faith.” That is the battle that you and I have to
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fight.

In Luke 18:1-8 Jesus is describing a parable

concerning those people who are weak in faith. He
says, “Men ought not to faint but to remain
persevering in their faith.” He then gives the
parable of the unjust judge. In verse 8 He ends up
with this question, “When the Son of man comes
will He find faith on this earth?” Can God produce
a people whose faith is unshakable, whose faith in
the Word of God is immovable, whose faith in
Jesus Christ cannot be shattered even though the
heavens fall? Because when that takes place, when
God produces a people who are walking by faith
alone, then the door is opened for Him to produce a
people whose lives will perfectly reflect the
character of Christ.

So we rejoice in the resurrection of Christ

because it vindicates Christ’s righteousness which
justifies us; it guarantees our resurrection; it makes
it possible for Christ to be our Intercessor so that
even though we are sinners we can look men and
ourselves in the face and know in Whom we
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believe; that He is able to save us to the uttermost.

Finally, the resurrection of Christ gives us the

hope of conquering the flesh and living a life that is
pleasing to God. And this is my prayer for each one
of you. Amen.

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