Stand in Awe of the Cross!

 Isaiah 53:4-7

Over the years there have been a number of things I erroneously described as ‘awesome.’ I recall as a young man watching an NBA slam dunk contest featuring people like Clyde the Glide Drexler and Michael Jordan. That day I witnessed Michel Jordan fly from the free throw line to slam a basketball. At the time I was utterly amazed and exclaimed “That was awesome!”

While serving the Lord in Germany as missionaries we witnessed the grand enthusiasm surrounding the FIFA World Cup games (an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams). Quite often Germany is in the contentions for the championship and Germans get more excited about these soccer games than Americans regarding the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl. I recall a few years ago walking out of our rented place into the middle of the street in that small German village while the games were on. I could literally hear my neighbors TV sets playing the game all around me in surround sound as I stood in the middle of our village street!  There were German flags and banners everywhere as they unreservedly cheered on the home team. As I took it all in, I thought this is “awesome!”

Awesome means awe-inspiring, splendid, remarkable, amazing, and overwhelming. Viewing Christ’s Cross as awesome is the complete opposite of esteeming Christ “stricken, smitten of God and afflicted” (Isa. 53:4). Dr. Walvoord explains, “When Jesus was crucified, Israel thought His hardships were deserved for His supposedly having blasphemed God. Actually He was bearing the judgment that their sin required.” Like so many others, Israel failed to see the redemptive value of the death of Jesus Christ.

Many today still view the Cross of Christ as unfortunate, Jesus' punishment, a mistake, or an accident! They say Jesus, the misguided teacher, got Himself crossways with the religious establishment and Roman authorities, which resulted in His premature and meaningless death.

But this is not the picture that Isaiah or the rest of the Bible presents of the death of Jesus Christ. Isaiah envisioned the day when all of Israel will repent recognizing the truth that Christ’s Cross was for the sins of Israel and the world! Note his great profoundly prophetic words,

            He was despised, and we esteemed him not.

            4           Surely he hath borne our griefs,

                        And carried our sorrows:

                        Yet we did esteem him stricken,

                        Smitten of God, and afflicted.

            5           But he was wounded for our transgressions,

                        He was bruised for our iniquities:

                        The chastisement of our peace was upon him;

                        And with his stripes we are healed.

            6           All we like sheep have gone astray;

                        We have turned every one to his own way;

                        And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53:3-6).

Isaiah predicted that the Messiah’s death would be for our “transgressions,” “iniquities” and “the iniquities of us all” (Isa. 53:5, 6). The Suffering Servant was undeniably the Sacrifice of Jehovah for all sin—Christ’s Cross was and is utterly indisputably redemptive!

The Prophet Isaiah is not alone in this colossal declaration! The Apostle Paul exclaimed in Galatians 6:14, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Again in First Corinthians 2:2, he asserted, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Evidently the apostle views the Cross of Christ as something to rejoice in, glory in, trust in, cherish, and proclaim for the salvation of us sinners! Yes, Christ’s Cross is “awesome” in the extreme, because there God the Son took the complete punishment for all sinners! That is correct; God the Son took responsibility for all sin for all time that day on Calvary. God the Father held the Son completely responsible for all sin and poured out His unmitigated wrath on the Son until He was fully propitiated (1 Jn. 2:1, 2). As New Testament Believers, we do not rejoice in our works to earn salvation; no, we rejoice and glory in the finished work of Christ at Calvary! We are saved by God’s pure grace alone (Eph. 2:8, 9)—Hallelujah!!!

Unfortunately, many misguided individuals have wrongly concluded that the death of Jesus Christ was his punishment for his political infractions or an unfortunate mistake altogether (Isa. 53:4). But, the Scriptures insist it was neither. It was not an accident, God Himself planned for the payment of sin before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1)!  No, Christ’s death was not a waste of life either. Christ was crucified that sinners might be saved through His suffering and shed blood. Down through the centuries millions of repentant souls have believed on Him as Savior and Lord becoming His genuine followers. Perhaps the best thing to do is adopt the view of the Scriptures regarding the significance of Jesus’ death at Calvary. Consider the Cross of Christ as the awesome plan of God to redeem us (Isa. 53:4)!

Message: So Why Should We Stand in Awe of the Cross of Christ? What do the Scriptures actually declare?

I.                        Christ’s Cross was the Contemplation of the Old Testament Prophets (Isa. 53:4-7; 50:6)

A.                 Clearly Isaiah was intrigued by the Cross, though he did not fully understand this passage. Yes, God used him to pen this portion of Scripture, but do not make the mistake of assuming he understood all he wrote about (2 Pet. 1:20, 21). Though Isaiah affords us the clearest and most complete Gospel declaration in the Old Testament, he still did not fully understand it. Like many of the other prophets he longed to know these precious prophecies far more comprehensively; therefore, he also meditated on them and compared them with the other prophets.

B.                 For the most part Israel highly esteemed their ancient prophets; they may not have valued their prophetic contemporaries (during their life time), but eventually they did as a nation. Often the prophet’s message was ominous, frightening, and condemning of national sins and certain individuals. Never-the-less they heralded God’s messages boldly, often to their own detriment, and free of any compromise. They also deeply cherished the study of God’s Word and searched the Scriptures diligently focusing on the promises and hope filled messages as well.

C.                 First Peter 1:10-11, records and summarizes their habit of seeking God through the Word stating, Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: ¹¹ Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

1.Accordingly the prophets sought to grasp God’s plan of salvation by His grace crying out to Him for insight and understanding in the Word. Today we take such truth-treasures entirely for granted. What an indictment against our self-centered and carnal generation of Believers!

2.The Spirit of Christ was ministering in them centuries before Christ’s crucifixion date some two thousand years ago. Two things were prominently emphasized” Christ’s sufferings and His glory following His sufferings.

1.      The “sufferings” involved his incarnation, humiliation, and expiation culminating at Calvary.

2.      The “glory” involves His resurrection, ascension, and exaltation, and coronation!

3.The prophets yearned to know these truths deeply, and they worked hard to grasp them. The valued in a huge way the knowledge of God’s Word and will; central to all their interests was the truth of the redemptive Cross of Christ!  

D.                Luke 24:25-27, Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ²⁶ Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? ²⁷ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. (See also Ps. 22:1, 6-8, 16-18).

1.The Lord Jesus expected His followers to not only be interested in His cross and crown, but He fully required them to understand and believe the Scriptures!

2.He sharply rebuked them for their slowness to believe the Word concerning His suffering and glory! Why wouldn’t He? Christ’s cross and glory are biblical themes reoccurring and prominently portrayed throughout the Word!

3.Is it possible that Christ could have devalued the significance of His Cross and no longer requires this of believers today? No, I do not think so! How in the world could we become so distracted by sports, social media, entertainment, and politics that we have unwittingly dismissed any investigative interests in Christ’s Cross? Could it possibly be true that Christians are no longer deeply interested in the very foundation of their eternal hope and salvation?

4.Christ’s Cross was of intense interest to the Old Testament prophets and it should be of even greater interest to us.

II.                        Christ’s Cross was the Conversation of the Great Prophets during a Special Visit from Heaven (Luke 9:28-31).

A.                 Luke 9:28-31, And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. ³⁰ And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: ³¹ Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.

1.Christ our Lord is gloriously transfigured before His disciples appearing in radical and brilliant glory. While it was obvious the Lord Jesus is human, on this mountain it became astonishingly obvious that He is divine also. His brilliance was greater than the noon day sun giving credence to His claims of deity.

2.Moses and Elijah are also there conversing with Christ in a glorified form as well. This is the first time Moses (1,400 yrs) and Elijah (850 yrs) have been back to the earth in hundreds of years. Moses died and was buried by God before entering the Promised Land and now finally He enters the land! Elijah couldn’t wait to leave this world and God took him up in a fiery chariot! Now, they are back and shining just like the Lord Jesus is!

3. They are engaged in conversation with the Lord Jesus; we are correct to wonder what they would have to say to the Lord. Interestingly enough, they came all the way from the presence of God and back to Israel to speak with Jesus of “his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem”! They are talking about the Cross of Calvary! Does this not point to the significance of the Cross of Christ?

4.Furthermore, they describe Christ death as an accomplishment and not an accident! It was not a wasted life, but the redemption of human life through sacrifice. Christ cried from His Cross, “It is finished” which means that He fulfilled the Laws demand for death as the payment for sin. It means that all OT types that looked forward to The Supreme Sacrifice were finally fulfilled in Christ’s work at Calvary! This means that everything that needed to be done for sinners to be saved was accomplished that day two thousand years ago by the Lord of glory! 

B.                 Christ’s Cross is an astounding accomplished! He did indeed make the full payment for all sin—“It is finished” (Jn. 19:30)! My sins are paid for in full! Your sins are paid for in full! Everything necessary for us sinners to be reconciled to God and enter a wonderful relationship with Him was accomplished! Jesus took on all sin and bore it in His body on the tree that whosoever repents trusting Him and His sacrifice will be forgiven and saved!

C.                 Ancient Bible prophecy was fulfilled through Christ’s Cross (Isa. 53:10-12).

1.Isaiah tells us that Christ’s Cross was God’s offering of His Messiah as payment for sin.

1.      Christ’s travail endured until God’s wrath was spent—Christ suffered our hell for us!

2.      God was completely satisfied and propitiated by Christ’s willing Sacrifice of Himself for our sins!

3.      Christ’s resurrection is depicted and anticipated after the sacrifice of His life for sinners (Isa. 53:10).

4.      Sinners are justified through Christ’s Cross and resurrection (Isa. 53:11, 12).

2.Matthew 26:52-56, Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. ⁵³ Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? ⁵⁵ In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. ⁵⁶ But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled. See Luke 24:25-27.

3.Calvary was no accident; it was the direct fulfillment of ancient biblical predictions relative to God’s redemptive plan (Rom. 8:32; 1Cor. 15:3-4). Remember Christ was slain from the foundation of the world:

1.      Consider the insightful words of Peter, Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 19, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 20, Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 21, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. (1 Peter 1:18-21)

2.      The Apostle John is in full agreement with the idea that Christ Sacrifice for all sin was a part of God’s plan even before creation. Note what he said, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:8)

4.Jesus’ death was far from meaningless—He did not throw His life away for nothing! Yes indeed, it was tragic in one regard, but far from being ill-advised. The Cross was not a worthless sacrifice, and it is filled with life transforming meaning. Do not believe the doubters, skeptics, liars, critics, and haters! Note carefully the thoughts of Max Anders,

When Jesus went to the cross, it had every earthly appearance of defeat, but it was actually the very source of victory. Jesus’ death was not only not meaningless, but it also accomplished the most significant thing in the history of humankind since the creation and fall of Adam. It achieved redemption, deliverance from a hopeless destiny. It brought hope for eternal life.

5.Beloved, do you stand in awe of the death of Christ? Or do you view it as merely meaningless and tragic for poor misguided Jesus?

III.                        Christ’s Cross was the Consideration of the Holy Angels.

A.                 Angels were present at many major developments throughout the earthly life and ministry of our Lord Jesus. At His birth a host of angels suddenly appeared and cried, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:13, 14). After His decisive defeat of Satan during His forty days fast, angels came to minister nourishment to Him in the wilderness (Matt. 4:11). Then in the Garden of Gethsemane, where our Lord was under such extraordinary stress that His sweat was as great drops of blood as He prayed, “Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22: 42, 43). In this instance a single angel was dispatched from Heaven to minister to Him in this extremely lonely hour. Only moments later when Peter attempted to protect and defend the Lord Jesus against His arresting party from the Jewish religious officials. Our Lord rebuked Peter’s ill-conceived actions stating, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions [72,000] of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). I imagine armies with thousands of angels waiting anxiously to respond to any hint of the Lord’s call to them. What destruction these angelic commandos could have unleashed on the city of Jerusalem! Our Lord did not require human protection! In all of these passages the Lord Jesus and angelic beings are interacting or at least they are mentioned.

B.                 It is in First Peter 1:12, that we discover angels have an intensely curious interest in the cross of Christ. Peter says, “Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look [inspect curiously] into.”

1.Once again we note that the Old Testament prophets ministered to future generations well beyond their contemporaries. The elements of their message were fully consistent with the Gospel being preached by Peter and his contemporaries. These gospel preachers were empowered by the promised Spirit of God enabling them to articulate the message of hope to the hearts of repentant sinners. This message of grace and salvation hope is of intense interest to the holy angels according to Peter. You see there is no plan of redemption for angels, yet they are intensely interested in the Gospel. Though there is no hope at all of fallen angels being redeemed, the holy angels inspect the gospel of forgiveness, reconciliation, and grace with great curiosity! Should not we be at least as interested as they are?

2.Angels and humans learn extraordinary lessons about God and the Gospel from each other! Angels learn something about God’s grace through Christians; they will never experience God’s grace in the form of redemption. Yet, God teaches them of His grace through His redemption of human beings who believe the Gospel. We human beings learn more about God’s severity, justice, holiness, and choice not to save rebellious angels. We learn that we should never take for granted that God had a plan of redemption for fallen humanity (See also Eph. 3:10). He could have opted to NOT redeem us and leave us to our own doom like He did with the fallen angels. So, God is loving, merciful, and gracious. At the same time He is righteous, just, and holy. Yes, He will redeem the repentant and He will consign unrepentant sinners to hell forever if they reject Him.

C.                 The angels watched their glorious Creator experience the horror of violent slaughter at the hands of wicked scoundrels. No doubt they were horrified, astonished, and outraged by the gruesome scene unfolding before them. God went through all of that to save us sinner! How intriguing this is to the angels, but yet we are so distracted by sports, Hollywood, politics, and social media that we hardly give the Cross a second thought!

IV.                        Christ’s Cross is the Clarification of Man’s Problem and God’s Solution (Isa. 53:4-6)  

We truly are sinful fallen creatures and Christ’s death was indeed the payment for our sins against a holy God! Our problem is sin and the solution is the Savior, Jesus Christ! Since the Cross is truly redemptive, we should stand in awe of it! But what would that “stand” look like today? What do we “Stand” for?

A.                 Since Christ’s Death is Redemptive, we Stand for the fact that any sinner who repents and believes the Gospel will be saved (Jn. 3:16; 1:29; 1Jn. 2:2).

B.                 Since Christ’s Death is Redemptive, we Stand for the exclusion of all religious rituals and worldly religious systems as the means of redemption and salvation (Gal. 6:14; Tit. 3:5).

C.                 Since Christ’s Death is Redemptive, we Stand for the truth that believers are truly New Creations in Christ, not merely reformed (Gal. 6:15; 2:20).

1.What really counts with God is a new creation. He wants to see the transformed life.

2.Findlay writes: “The true Christianity is that which turns bad men into good, which transforms the slaves of sin into sons of God.”  

3.A life of holiness is produced, not by the observance of ritual, but by yielding to Christ and permitting Him to live His life in the believer. The new creation is not an improvement of or addition to the old, but something entirely different. –MacDonald, William

D.                Since Chris’s Death is Redemptive, we Stand for Victory over Sin for all believers as a way of life (Rom. 6:4-6). Know, reckon, yield, and serve (Rom. 6:1-23); through our identification and union with the victorious Christ, we have victory. We are free from the dominance and enslavement to sin in Christ!

We have looked at the redemptive value of the death of Jesus Christ! I challenge you to view the Cross of Christ as redemptive, not a waist, and therefore profoundly awesome because God died for our sins. He redeemed us unto Himself and an eternal destiny of hope and life. Therefore the Cross of Christ is compelling and demands a Cross-centered and Cross-saturated lifestyle. This relates to salvation, victory over sin, our service, and our message to the world.

In light of the Scriptures, there is but one legitimate view of the Cross of Christ—it is redemptive. It was not a waist! In fact, Christ’s died for our sins (Isaiah 53:4-7) that we might live forever with God. Beloved, that is supremely awesome!!

When Ray Stedman pastored the Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, he told the following story in a sermon based on the early verses of Hebrews 10: “I was born on the windswept plains of North Dakota. I remember as a boy sometimes seeing at night the flames of a prairie fire lighting the horizon, sweeping across the grass of those prairies. Such prairie fires were terrible threats to the pioneers who crossed the plains in their covered wagons. Often these fires would burn for miles and miles, threatening everything in their path.

“When they would see such a fire coming toward them, driven before the wind, they had a device they would use to protect themselves. They would simply light another fire and the wind would catch it up and drive it on beyond them and then they would get in the burned-over place and when the fire coming toward them reached it, it found nothing to burn and went out.

“God is saying that the cross of Jesus Christ is such a burned over place. Those who trust in it, and rest in the judgment that has already been visited upon it, have no other judgment to face.”[Ray Stedman, What More Can God Say? (Glendale, CA: Regal Books, 1974)

The Cross Points to the Fact that there is a Savior! As the little chorus goes, “He paid a debt He did not owe, we owed a debt we could not pay.” We have one hope: Redemption and Forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem and forgive you of sin. Turn from your unbelief, rejection of God, freestyle living, and self-willfulness and trust Christ. Oh dear friend, turn from your wicked ways and turn to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord today. He promised to save whoever will repent and believe on Him (John 3; Rom. 10:8-13). No, Christ’s life was not meaningless. His Sacrifice was not the futile eruption of an overzealous optimist. He is God, who came to earth and became a man to die in our place. Because of that, we can know God and be with Him forever. How wonderful! What words can we use to say “Thank You” to God? What can we do to show our appreciation? Giving back to Him the life we owe is the only measure complete enough.

Finally, the Cross of Christ is compelling and demands a Cross-centered and Cross-saturated lifestyle (Gal. 6:14; 1Cor. 2:2; Gal. 2:20; Matt. 16:24; Rom. 6:4-6). How dare we Christians live for ourselves when He died for our sins so that we can live abundantly for Him? How can we keep this message of redemption and hope for sinners to ourselves and not spend ourselves sharing it with the folk across the street as well as across the seas? How can we make light of sin when the price paid for sin was so extremely costly? Why is our service so token/perfunctory and non-sacrificial when Christ gave Himself to death for us? Yes, Christ’s Cross is redemptive and we should stand in utter and profound amazement with what God has wrought on our behalf! Therefore, stand in awe of His cross!

But, His Cross is also compelling in the extreme; surely it lays substantial demands upon each Believer:

·      victory over sin,

·      voluntary and sacrificial service, and

·      our voices lifted to a lost and dying world with the only message of Hope—Christ died, was buried, and rose again for sinners (1 Cor. 15:1-5).

Yes, consider the Cross of Christ as the awesome plan of God to redeem us (Isa. 53:4). Do you know the redeeming power of Christ’s Cross? How will the compelling power of the Cross be expressed through you this week?