https://youtu.be/hh2c6ypGpck

The Power of The Cross

Have you ever been offended by what someone said or did?? Upset at what was said?Maybe they made fun of you- or spoke against something you believed in- double crossed youAn offense is something that makes you feel uncomfortable. Often- its offensive because its true- One time I walked into my grandmas house and she said I was portly. I was offended, but it was true. What do we celebrate on Easter 1 cor 15:3-8 READChrist rising from the Dead is not just why we celebrate Easter- its why we celebrate every Sunday and every other day of the yearIF this isn’t true. Its all a waste. We are still in our sin. We’re stupid and we’re wasting our lives1 Cor 15:12-19I’m not going to argue with you whether or not the resurrection of Jesus is true or not today. I know its true. Volumes of books have been written proving this fact. Its futile to argue. Its true. It demands a response.  You’ve responded. You’re here today. You are living for Jesus, or you are not. Make a decision to  Either to Live for Jesus or reject his claims that he was God, but you need to respondThe dividing line between living for Christ isn’t the truthfulness of the claim, but the Cross of ChristWhy? Because the Cross is an offense. Most people have an opinion about the Cross. 1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,If you don’t believe in the cross of Christ you think that those who do are fools and it’s an offense to you that they do- What is the cross? The cross is the short description of Jesus Christ of Nazereth being crucified on a wooden structure in the shape of T- a cross- usually a 100lb beam on their backIn ancient Rome- Crucifixion was the most publicly excruciating (ex-cruciating- crucified) humiliating way that a person could dieThe goal was simple- make a public display of the person so bloody and humiliating that it would punish the wrongdoer and at the same time discourage anyone from committing the same crimeThey would strip them naked in the public square, beat them to the edge of death, nail them to the cross by their hands and feet. Often times they would put a small shelf at the feet or legs to help support the body weight to extend the pain. Legs would be broken and they would try to stay alive by holding themselves up and usually eventually bleed out or asphyxiate.  If that didn’t happen Crucifiers would accelerate the process by stabbing them in the side or genitals and leave them on the cross to die eventually from dehydration or animal attacksHere’s the kick tho- Jesus hadnt done anything deserving of the death he died. He was sinlessJohn 19:4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”Why is this Cross is an offense? Why is it that people get so upset about our Jesus?

It says that we are filled with sinThe bloody horrible public death that Jesus died was because of the sin of you and IWe hadn’t yet even been born, but the penalty of our sin was what sent Jesus to the CrossThis is an offense! If I took someone out in the parking lot and crucified them for your wrong doing, you would  have some sort of an emotional response- or at least I hope you wouldAnd none of that would have happened if we had lived perfect lives- but we haven’tLying, stealing, cheating, lusting, greed, envy, worship of false idols, disobedience, all of itThe Story of Easter is that we were born sinners and needed our sin forgiven before GodRomans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.God loves you when you are sinner. He loved you when you were a sinner. He loves you now. Isaiah 53:5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.