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Understanding the Cross of Christ (1 Peter 3:18)
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As we near the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, some around us may not understand why Jesus had to die on the cross. For them, the horrible suffering and the gruesome death of Christ seems unnecessary.
When Jesus told His disciples that He must die for the sins of the people, even they did not understand what He meant.
God’s holiness and justice demand the punishment of sin. Jesus took our place and bore our punishment. The cross of Christ is the intersection of the just penalty for sin with the mercy of Christ’s sacrificial death. Since His offering was sinless, His death atoned for our sins.
In this one verse the Apostle Peter was inspired by the Holy Spirit to give us five biblical keys that will unlock the mystery of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can use this verse when explaining to family and friends why Jesus willingly came to lay down His life.
Key # 1: The Pain of the Cross
“For Christ also suffered once for sins…”
Key # 2: The Pardon through the Cross
“…the righteous for the unrighteous…”
Key # 3: The Purpose for the Cross
“…that He might bring us to God…”
Key # 4: The Price of the Cross
“…being put to death in the flesh…”
Key # 5: The Praise after the Cross
“…but made alive in the spirit.”
--
Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Introduction to First Baptist Church
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message.
00:00:22
Speaker
If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org. And now, take your copy of God's timeless Word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Understanding the Cross: Core Message
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace. I wanna talk today from 1 Peter 3, verse 18, just one verse. You know, you may have a friend who doesn't understand the cross, who doesn't understand the suffering that Jesus went through. And so if you were to take one verse and try to introduce them to what the cross was all about, what his passion and suffering was all about, which verse would you choose?
00:01:14
Speaker
For me, i would choose 1 Peter 3.18. You know, we're nearing the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And some people around us may not understand why Jesus had to die on the cross. For them, the horrible suffering and the gruesome death of Christ, it probably all seems unnecessary.
00:01:38
Speaker
When Jesus told his disciples that he must die for the sins of the people, even they did not understand what he meant. But God's holiness and justice demands salvation.
00:01:52
Speaker
the punishment of sin. Jesus took our place and bore our punishment. The cross of Christ is like an intersection, an intersection of the just penalty for sin with the mercy of Christ's sacrificial death.
00:02:12
Speaker
Since his offering was sinless, his death atoned for our sins. In this one verse, the Apostle Peter was inspired by the Holy Spirit to give us five biblical keys that we will unlock the ministry of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:02:34
Speaker
We can use this verse when explaining to family or friends why Jesus willingly came to lay down his life. Let me read that verse and unpack it for us.
00:02:47
Speaker
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.
Five Biblical Keys to the Crucifixion
00:03:04
Speaker
I want to give you five keys that I feel will help you if you're struggling, trying to understand what you know the crucifixion was all about, or if there's someone else in your life.
00:03:15
Speaker
And perhaps right now, it's ah it's a very difficult time in your life. So I want to begin where the verse begins, with the first key, the pain on the cross.
00:03:27
Speaker
It does say in our text, "...for Christ also suffered once for sins." Let's talk about that for a moment. How did Jesus suffer?
00:03:38
Speaker
Maybe you've never um studied the Passion Week and all the things that Jesus went through as he went through the week or toward the end of the week. But let me just kind of summarize some of the last things that the Bible tells us that Jesus went through so that you and I could be forgiven for our sins.
00:03:59
Speaker
I would say first comes to my mind is that Jesus was betrayed by a friend named Judas, but also he was denied by the leader of the disciples.
00:04:11
Speaker
His name was Peter. He's the one that's writing this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we're reading today. So he denied the Lord, but Judas betrayed the Lord.
00:04:23
Speaker
but also Jesus was arrested on false accusations. He was interrogated all night by the Jewish religious authorities. Jesus was spat upon, beaten with fists, slapped in the face, and made fun of by Jewish officers.
00:04:42
Speaker
After having been up all night, Jesus was then taken to the Roman authorities to be questioned by Pilate. Pilate could find no wrong with Jesus, so he had Jesus sent to King Herod, the political ruler of the Jews, who mocked and made fun of Jesus.
00:05:02
Speaker
He was then sent back to Pilate, where he was scourged. Scourged meant he was whipped 39 times with a leather whip that had small iron balls and bits of bone tied into the end of the whip.
00:05:20
Speaker
After he had given the sentence to die on a cross, the soldiers mocked him by dressing him up like a king and putting a crown of thorns on his head, beating him with a rod, spitting upon him and mocking him.
00:05:37
Speaker
They tried to make Jesus carry the cross beam of his cross up the hill, but it simply weighed too much. Remember, he's not had any sleep. He's already been beaten.
00:05:48
Speaker
That cross beam weighed between 75 to 125 pounds. He fell down exhausted beneath its weight. Jesus was then nailed to a wooden cross by five to seven inch spikes, driven into his wrists and into his overlapped feet.
00:06:10
Speaker
As he hung there on the cross, he was mocked. He was insulted. He was ridiculed by the crowd who were watching him die. If you've never read it, i encourage you to read the Journal of the American Medical Association dated March 21st, 1986. It's dated, but what they said and what they discovered is still pertinent to understanding the suffering that Jesus experienced.
00:06:39
Speaker
They reported in the article from a medical standpoint that The two most painful things about Christ's death would not have been the blood loss or the emotional humiliation of all these people mocking him, but rather the fiery bolts of pain in his nervous system that would have shot through his arms and legs due to the nails.
00:07:04
Speaker
But there was something else that these medical professionals highlighted. They also highlighted the difficulty of breathing. he was hanging in the inhale position.
00:07:17
Speaker
So in order to exhale, he would have had to push himself up with his feet and pull up with his arms and his hands, causing more pain from the nails and the nerves would have been going crazy inside his body.
00:07:33
Speaker
Maybe you're asking, why? Why such suffering? Why such pain? Well, the question is answered with key number two, The answer is for me and for you.
00:07:47
Speaker
You see, the second key is the pardon through the cross. In order for us to be forgiven of our sins, someone who was righteous, someone who was just, someone who was sinless would have to die in our place.
00:08:04
Speaker
That's exactly what he did. And that's exactly why he came. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous, For the unrighteous.
00:08:15
Speaker
If you want to know who the unrighteous would be, just put my name there. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Have you ever told a lie?
00:08:26
Speaker
Have you ever lost your temper, gotten angry? Have you ever been, well, let's say prideful? Have you ever stolen anything? Have you ever committed sexual immorality of any kind?
00:08:38
Speaker
Have you ever worshiped an idol? You see, the Bible says that all of us need God's pardon for our sins.
Illustrating Jesus' Sacrifice: The Story of Barabbas
00:08:48
Speaker
This is why Jesus died on the cross as our substitute, or as it says here, the righteous for the unrighteous.
00:08:56
Speaker
Jesus was righteous, and we we are unrighteous. There's a verse that is in the the narrative surrounding Christ's death on the cross that always seems to connect with me I don't know. There's something there in Luke 23, 17, where it just speaks to my heart.
00:09:17
Speaker
It speaks about a pardon.
00:09:20
Speaker
You know, each year during the Passover feast, the Roman ruler named Pilate had a tradition to pardon one prisoner of his crime and let that one prisoner go free.
00:09:35
Speaker
On that particular year when Jesus died, he wanted the crowd that year to let him release Jesus since he could find no evidence for the death sentence.
00:09:48
Speaker
But the crowds asked for another man, a man named Barabbas, to be pardoned instead of Jesus. Luke 23, 25 says that this man was a rebel and a murderer.
00:10:02
Speaker
There was lots of evidence of this. I wonder if perhaps, I'm just speculating, but I wonder if perhaps on Barabbas' way out of prison, one of the prison guards said to Barabbas, Barabbas, we know you're guilty.
00:10:21
Speaker
You see that man hanging on that cross up there on that hill? We made that cross for you. That should have been your cross. You deserve that cross.
00:10:33
Speaker
But that man took your place. Jesus died on the cross that should have had your name on it, Barabbas. So you go on home, you can go free.
00:10:47
Speaker
I don't know how that makes you feel, but it brings across my heart a deep sense of genuine humility when I realized that Jesus, he'd only loved people.
00:11:00
Speaker
He had only obeyed the Father. He didn't deserve a cross. I deserve the cross. That cross should have had my name on it.
00:11:11
Speaker
But you see, Jesus took it in my place as my substitute. That cross also should have been for each one of you as well.
Purpose of the Cross: Reconciliation and Relationship
00:11:22
Speaker
You see, we deserve punishment for our sins, but Jesus died there for us so that we could have a pardon from the penalty, the just penalty of our sins.
00:11:36
Speaker
The substitute that God would accept had to be perfect and without sin. And that's why this verse says to us, the righteous for the unrighteous.
00:11:49
Speaker
But it does go on beyond that. You see, if God was only interested in forgiving our sins, then we still would feel so ashamed that we would not be able to approach him for, let's say, friendship or fellowship.
00:12:05
Speaker
But this verse also tells us what God's real motive was behind the cross. I think the purpose for the cross was that he might bring us to God, that he might bring us to God. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the andru unrighteous.
00:12:26
Speaker
Why? That he might bring us to God. I believe that's the motive. That's the real motive behind the cross. See, the purpose of the cross of Christ was to bring us into a close, personal relationship, into fellowship with the Father.
00:12:46
Speaker
Have you ever heard about what took place at the 1992 Olympic Games Barcelona? olympic games in barcelona There was a runner named Michael Diedrich.
00:12:57
Speaker
Oh, he had trained so hard to just be there that day, to be in that race. And he was running the track as best that he could when suddenly he pulled a hamstring in his left leg.
00:13:12
Speaker
He tried to finish the race, but it was difficult for him. It was so painful. But just when he was about to give up, His father jumped out of the stands and came alongside of him and put his arm around him to support him.
00:13:28
Speaker
His father said, son, you don't have to do this. But Michael Diedrich said to his dad, yes, dad, I have to finish the race.
00:13:40
Speaker
I've trained and worked so hard just to get here. i have to finish. His dad said, okay, son, I understand. Okay. Then let's finish the race together.
00:13:53
Speaker
Together, the son and the father finished the race. That father shared his son's pain. That father wanted a close relationship with his son.
00:14:05
Speaker
So he jumped out of the bleachers and ran onto the track to walk with his son for the rest of the race. Friend, if you don't know him,
00:14:16
Speaker
God is like that father. Oh, he loves you. He sees your pain. He wants to help you finish the race that is before you.
00:14:28
Speaker
i know things are hard perhaps in your life. God wants to forgive you of your sins. God wants to give you heaven when you die, but he wants to give you more than this.
00:14:41
Speaker
He wants to give you love and friendship each step of your life, each step of your race. This is why I say that Christianity, it's not a religion.
00:14:56
Speaker
Christianity is a relationship, a personal relationship with the true and the living God. It's not just a list of rules. It's a person.
00:15:09
Speaker
It's a wonderful person. I served for 12 years in Japan as a missionary, and I remember the custom that some still practice there today, arranged marriages.
00:15:23
Speaker
I remember studying in language school the word for the person who introduces the husband and the wife to each other. You see, this person is a mediator. that is bringing together two people who were living separate lives. But now, because of this person's intervention and effort, they will become one and enjoy each other's fellowship on a daily basis.
00:15:49
Speaker
Did you know that according to 1 Timothy 2.5, Jesus is called the mediator, He's a mediator. He brings God and man together in a sweet relationship.
00:16:03
Speaker
You see, this was the purpose of the cross, that he might bring us to God. God's still wanting to bring others into this relationship.
00:16:14
Speaker
How about you? Will you receive Jesus Christ today? He went to the cross just so that you and God could be friends, not enemies.
00:16:25
Speaker
The Bible calls this reconciliation. The only way that sinful man can be reconciled to a holy God is through the perfect sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
00:16:40
Speaker
Your sin debt has been paid. And now all you have to do is enjoy the relationship. Wow, isn't that amazing? You know, I also learned when I was in Japan, the importance of building the relationship first.
00:16:56
Speaker
You know, if you're ever going to do business with the people of Japan, you'll have to spend time getting to know the person that you would like to have that relationship with, even if it's a business relationship.
00:17:10
Speaker
Have you taken time to build your personal relationship with Almighty God, your Creator, through Jesus Christ? If not, this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between you and God.
00:17:27
Speaker
Well, let's review. Thus far, we've seen the pain of the cross, the pardon of the cross, and the purpose of the cross. But now we need to take a brief look at the hardest part of this event, the price of the cross.
00:17:45
Speaker
Looking at the price tag is always the hardest part, isn't it? If you were to go to a car dealership, sometimes there's a car you'd really like to get, But when you look at the price, oh my goodness, it's just out of your reach.
00:18:00
Speaker
Well, heaven is going to be far nicer than a new car or a new house or a new computer or a new cell phone. Happiness in life and eternity has a price tag.
00:18:15
Speaker
The price is so high that no human being can afford it.
Significance of Jesus' Sacrifice and Resurrection
00:18:20
Speaker
Even Elon Musk, There's only one person who can pay the price for our sins to be forgiven, for us to enter into a close relationship with God, for us to go to heaven, and that one person is Jesus Christ.
00:18:36
Speaker
But look at what it cost him. It says here in our text, for Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh.
00:18:52
Speaker
Wow. It cost him his life. He actually died. He died. He poured out his last breath for you and for me.
00:19:05
Speaker
Can you imagine if we were to go to a restaurant to eat out together, to have dinner together? And just imagine if you tell me that you are not eating, that you're just there for the fellowship with me.
00:19:19
Speaker
And after the meal, I discovered that I forgot my wallet. I can't pay the debt that I owe. But in kindness and love and friendship, you say to me, that's okay, Victor.
00:19:32
Speaker
Even though I didn't eat anything, I'll pay the debt that you owe. Let me pay it. But then you look in your wallet and realize it'll cost you everything to pay for my meal.
00:19:48
Speaker
But because of love, you pay it anyway, giving the cashier all the money you have. Jesus paid our sin debt, even though he didn't owe a thing.
00:20:02
Speaker
Man, it's just amazing when you think that Jesus died on the cross just for me and just for you. Well, I want to go to the final key, and this may help you because people struggle with it since it's so final that someone would actually die on the cross, that he would suffer so many things and then actually breathe his last breath like it describes in Scripture. The gospel writers are so clear about this.
00:20:32
Speaker
But that last part is the best part. the praise after the cross. Why would I say such a thing with such a gruesome sight?
00:20:43
Speaker
Well, because of what our text says at the end. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.
00:21:01
Speaker
let that sink in, but made alive in the spirit. Wow, that's great. Do you know why Jesus was raised from the dead?
00:21:13
Speaker
There's a very logical reason why he was raised from the dead. Acts 2.24 gives us a clue. That verse says, and God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for him to be held in its power.
00:21:35
Speaker
You see, Jesus rose from the dead because it was impossible for death to hold him in its power. Why? Because when Jesus died on the cross, he said, it is finished.
00:21:50
Speaker
That's found in John 19, 30. You see, Jesus had completely lived for God his whole life without ever sinning or disobeying the Father.
00:22:02
Speaker
Thus, when he said, it is finished, what he meant was, i did it. I lived a perfect life. I now can die as an appropriate substitute for the sins of the whole world so that they will not have to pay for their own sins in hell.
00:22:25
Speaker
But then the father stepped in after Jesus died on the cross and said something like this. I accept that. the sacrifice that my son has made on behalf of the human race.
00:22:41
Speaker
I will pardon their sin and invite them into a personal relationship with me. But wait, I'm not done yet. My son perfectly obeyed me, so he does not to deserve death.
00:22:57
Speaker
My son deserves life. Death, loose my son. And let him go free. You have no right to hold him in your power for he is sinless.
00:23:15
Speaker
He didn't take life. He gave life. He didn't hate. He loved. He didn't get angry at those who hurt him. He forgave them.
00:23:25
Speaker
He didn't lie to men or try to please men. He spoke the truth boldly. Son, come forth to life, eternal life at my right hand.
00:23:40
Speaker
You know, if you've never taken the time to read through the Gospels and put together all of the different resurrection eyewitness accounts, you should do that.
00:23:53
Speaker
i I really think it will be an inspiring endeavor for you. You'll love this study. But I did it some years ago. i just put it all together. I thought, okay, who all were eyewitnesses that actually saw Jesus after He rose from the dead.
00:24:12
Speaker
You're not going to believe what the scriptural record, the biblical record assures us of. I counted 518 different people who saw Jesus after he arose.
00:24:30
Speaker
You know, if it was just one person, then maybe someone would dismiss it as a hoax. but not 518 eyewitnesses.
00:24:41
Speaker
In addition to this, many saw him at the same time. i mean, the exact moment that one sees him, another sees him, and sometimes several others see him.
00:24:55
Speaker
Thus, it wasn't just a dream. It wasn't just someone's imagination. The eyewitness accounts also get this.
00:25:06
Speaker
They didn't all happen on one particular day. No, the eyewitness accounts cover a period of about 40 days, 40 days, and were reported from different places. So that they he wasn't seen only in one location, only in one room or in one place.
00:25:30
Speaker
No. in several different places. But what it truly amazes me is that the people who lived in that day could not disprove the eyewitnesses who gave their account.
00:25:48
Speaker
They couldn't disprove it. You see, it's one thing to say, okay, today in 2026, how many eyewitnesses do we have that saw Jesus ah risen from the dead?
00:26:01
Speaker
Well, I'm sure we'd have none. But here's the thing. The people back then knew there's too many of them. I saw him here. I saw him here.
00:26:12
Speaker
We saw him here. There were several of us together. And so it's just amazing when you put all of these together. i mean, to convince us today would not be difficult.
00:26:27
Speaker
But to convince the people in that day, that would have been significant. That's why there have been scholarly men through through the years since Christ's resurrection who have tried to disprove the resurrection of Christ with all of their speculation, with all of the biblical accounts,
00:26:48
Speaker
And you know what they come back doing?
Call to Accept Jesus and Conclusion
00:26:51
Speaker
They come back believing. They come back assured that whenever you say, i believe that when he died on the cross, I believe that when he was placed in the tomb,
00:27:03
Speaker
I believe that three days later, he was raised from the grave because it's something that has the evidence of biblical eyewitnesses behind it.
00:27:17
Speaker
And so there's so much credibility there. So all I'm encouraging you to do is to simply look and see he is alive. He did die on the cross. He did pour out his life.
00:27:29
Speaker
Why did he do it? I hope you understand now. He did it to forgive us of our sins, but he also did it to bring us into a personal relationship with the Father.
00:27:41
Speaker
And the Father was willing to go along with it because he knew. my son will not sin, and he didn't. And so that's why the father raised him from the dead, because the Bible says the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
00:28:03
Speaker
Hey, let me close our time together in prayer. Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for a passage like this. There's so much truth, Father, that's just packed into that one verse.
00:28:16
Speaker
I know that your Holy Spirit helped fish ah that old fisherman, ah Peter, to be able to write those things down because in one succinct place, We have so much that would help us to truly understand.
00:28:31
Speaker
So if there's someone out there and they're just honestly wrestling with this whole idea of why Jesus had to die, they don't understand, then I pray you would take this set of keys that are found here in 1 Peter 3, verse the and unlocked Unlock the prison of unbelief and release them, Father. Help them understand that Jesus is alive and that he can change their lives and that all of those sins that they still are carrying around, that guilt, they can all be forgiven.
00:29:07
Speaker
And that's why you died, to forgive us of our sins as the righteous one, dying for all of us who are unrighteous. Thank you, Lord, for the cross of Christ.
00:29:18
Speaker
I pray during the Easter season and during any season of the year that we would be grateful for our Savior. As that song says, hallelujah, what a Savior.
00:29:30
Speaker
In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Thanks so much for listening today. I pray that God will bless you as you go through the rest of this day.
00:29:52
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.