Galatians 6:14
June 22, 2014 AM
Pastor Craig
Ledbetter
Bible Baptist
Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I.
Introduction (Galatians 6:14)
A.
The cross means different
things to different people
1.
To some, it is a good-luck
piece they wear, or have hanging around their house
2.
To others it is a religious
relic they honour
3.
To some, it has a man dying on
it
4.
To others, it is empty
5.
To some, it is simple and
smooth
6.
To others, it is rough, and
harsh
B.
But to the Christian, the born
again child of God, the cross is not an object, or a ‘thing’ – it doesn’t hang
on a wall, or get tattooed on your arm
C.
It is an event! Something
spectacular that happened on one particular cross, on a small hill just outside
of a small city called Jerusalem, 2,000 years ago!
D.
And it is THAT event that does
something marvellous to people today
1.
It convicts people
2.
It converts people
3.
It excites people
4.
It corrects people
E.
Let me remind you just how it
does all that!
II.
Background - What Actually Happened At the Cross?
A.
The Son of God was put on Trial (Mark 14:60-65)
1.
The very Son of God, in the
flesh, was envied, and hated and captured
2.
And now, here Jesus was, bound
like a criminal, being passed from authority to authority, where He was
“examined” (which means, tortured, to make Him talk and incriminate Himself as
guilty).
3.
Six different times, all
through the night, Jesus was examined…
a.
For bypassing the Religious –
ignored them almost completely
b.
For loving sinners, and
teaching them how to be free from their sins
c.
For doing miracles without
permission of the Pharisees
d.
For simply speaking the truth
B.
A Wicked Man was Freed – named Barabbas (Luke 23:18-25)
1.
The most notorious criminal in
the prison at that time named Barabbas
2.
A murderer, riot-leader – a
dangerous man
3.
And in a moment,
just-like-that, Barabbas was unshackled, and walking home, pardoned and free
from the death penalty!
C.
An Innocent Man was Condemned to Die (Luke 23:25)
1.
Even though Jesus was hated,
and caught by the Pharisees…
2.
No one could find any fault
with Jesus (Luke 23:14-16)
a.
Pilate declared THREE times
that he found no fault in Jesus Christ (John 18:38; 19:4, 6). He basically
admitted that Jesus was the best Man he had ever met!
b.
Herod found in Jesus Christ
nothing worthy of DEATH (Luke 23:15).
c.
Pilate’s wife declared to him,
“Have thou nothing to do with that just man” (Matt. 27:19).
d.
Judas declared that he had
betrayed “THE INNOCENT BLOOD” (Matt. 27:4).
e.
The repentant thief declared,
“but this man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:41).
f.
Even the head centurion
declared, “Certainly this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47).
3.
And yet, instead of Barabbas,
Jesus was now condemned, to die the most horrible of deaths on a cross!
4.
Not because of criminal
evidence, but because of popular opinion! The entire crowd called for His
execution (Luke 23:20,21)!
D.
How Did Jesus Die? You need to know these things! You need to
remember them!
1.
Was it by all the
beatings?
a.
Six different times, this
Teacher, this Preacher, this compassionate Man from Galilee was beaten with bare
hands, upon His face by the Temple guards, and then by the Roman soldiers!
b.
A soldier struck Jesus across
the face for just remaining silent when questioned by Caiphus.
c.
The palace guards then
blind-folded Him and taunted Him to identify them as they each passed by, spat
upon Him, and struck Him in the face.
d.
This went on for 6 hours!
e.
But No, that didn’t kill
Jesus!
2.
Was it by the
scourging? (Mt 27:26)
a.
The Prisoner was stripped of
His clothing and His hands tied to a post above His head.
b.
The Roman legionnaire steps
forward with the flagellum in his hand. This is a short whip consisting of
several heavy, leather strips with two small balls of lead attached near the
ends of each. These strips of leather would have small bits of metal and stone
embedded in them. The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again
across Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs.
c.
At first the thongs cut
through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper into the
skin, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the
skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying
muscles.
d.
The small balls of lead first
produce large, deep bruises which were broken open by subsequent blows.
e.
Finally the skin of the back
is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of
torn, bleeding tissue.
f.
When it is determined by the
centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the beating is finally
stopped.
g.
That was when the
half-fainting Jesus was then untied and allowed to slump to the stone pavement,
wet with His own blood.
h.
But no. This did not kill
Jesus.
3.
Was it the crown of
thorns, piercing His skull? (Mt 27:27-31)
a.
Oh the pain he must have
experienced
b.
Layer upon layer, wave upon
wave of agonising pain
4.
Was it the fresh
tearing of His wounds? (Mt 27:31)
a.
The soldiers knew exactly what
they were doing when they wrapped Jesus in a royal robe, and paraded Him around
the courtyard
b.
Only to rip it off of His back
after the bleeding wounds had dried and become stuck to the robe
c.
The shock of that ripping away
would have stopped the heart of most men!
5.
Was it the 650 meter
walk through Jerusalem that killed Jesus?
a.
Jesus had to carry the 110 lb
cross beam all the way from Pilate’s court to just outside the gate of Jerusalem
b.
That is almost a half of a
mile, through windy crowded streets, with people yelling at Him, spitting upon
Him, taunting Him
c.
But that wasn’t enough to kill
Jesus
6.
Was it by dehydration?
(John 19:38)
a.
With all the blood loss, the
long hours of interrogation, the constant standing, the hours in prayer… Jesus
would be completely dehydrated!
b.
But that didn’t kill our Lord!
7.
By the sheer
exhaustion?
a.
He has been up for the past 33
hours, praying exhaustively for 3 hours, standing before trial after trail for
the past 7 hours
b.
Now He has been whipped and
crucified, barely breathing for 5 hours!
c.
And No, that didn’t kill Him!
8.
Or was it the nails
that killed Jesus?
a.
When Jesus arrived at
Golgotha, He was offered wine mixed with myrrh, a mild pain medication. It was
offered to every prisoner to help face the pain of the upcoming torture… He
refuses to drink it.
b.
With the cross-beam on the
ground, Jesus is quickly thrown backward with His shoulders against the wood.
c.
The Roman legionnaire felt for
the depression in the middle of the wrist. He then drove a heavy, square, iron
nail through the wrist and deep into the wood.
d.
Quickly, he moved to the other
side and repeated the action, being careful not to pull the arms to tightly, but
to allow some movement.
e.
The cross-beam is then lifted
in place at the top of the centre-pole and a sign reading, “This is Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” is nailed in place over Christ’s head.
f.
The left foot is now pressed
backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail
is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees bent.
g.
And now, the Victim is now
crucified, and left to die!
h.
But those nails did not kill
Jesus
9.
Or was it the cross
itself that killed Jesus?
a.
As He rested His weight on the
nails in the wrists, excruciating pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms
and explodes in the brain.
b.
As He pushes Himself upward to
avoid this torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet.
Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between
the bones of the feet explodes now.
c.
Up and down Jesus would push
and pull on those three unmoveable nails in order to inhale, and then exhale.
d.
With each breath, life was
ebbing out of His body.
e.
But even THIS did not kill
Jesus!
f.
This goes on for 6 long hours
g.
It is during these waves of
agony
1)
that Jesus speaks to the thief
next to Him and forgives Him
2)
that Jesus asks His father to
forgive the people around Him, mocking Him, after just tormenting and crucifying
Him
10.
But NONE of the above
actually killed Jesus!
11.
After 18 hours of stress and
beatings, whippings, mockings, exhaustion, dehydration, thorns and gaping
wounds…
12.
After 6 long hours on the
cross, struggling just to breathe…
a.
Jesus declares “It is
finished!”
b.
And THEN He dies!
III.
Message
A.
So What Actually Killed Jesus?
1.
Our sin did (Romans
6:23a)
a.
Every wicked thought, every
selfish deed, every lustful desire, every angry word, every dark desire, every
act of disobedience, every lazy moment, every idle word, every stolen item,
every lying sentence, every whinging complaint, every adulterous wish, every
abominable idol, every dabble in witchcraft, every fierce argument, every act of
hatred, every needle injected, every pint of Guinness…
b.
Put Jesus on the cross…
c.
And killed Him!
d.
Instead of you and me!
2.
Our self-righteousness
did – rejecting the need for a Saviour (Acts 5:24-31) Religion murdered the Son
of God
a.
People think they are actually
good enough to waltz right into God’s heaven and live forever there
b.
People actually reject the
idea that they might not be a sinner after-all, even though their heart convicts
them every day of sin
c.
People burn out their
conscience so that they don’t have to think about all the wrongs they have done
d.
People lie to each other and
to themselves about how good they are
e.
And yet that very
self-righteousness is what drove those Pharisees to crucify the Son of God!
3.
Our stubbornness did –
our resistance of the GRACE of God (Gal 2:21)
a.
When we SHOULD be on our
knees, so sorry for how we have mocked and rejected Jesus
b.
We instead spend years and
years turning our backs to what He did, and trying to ignore it like it never
really happened!
4.
But MOST importantly,
His Willingness to take our place in death actually killed Jesus! (John 10:28;
John 10:15,17-18)
B.
Why? Why Did Jesus Let This happen to Him?
1.
First, Jesus died on the Cross
to satisfy Justice.
a.
Justice is when a serious
wrong is made right!
b.
Sin… all sin, is a serious
wrong in God’s sight!
c.
God’s Word says that “the
wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
d.
When we break God’s eternal
Law, we must pay the eternal penalty, which is hell!
e.
Jesus, the only sinless one,
paid that penalty for us on the Cross.
f.
And by His death, God’s
justice was perfectly satisfied!
2.
Second, Jesus died on the
Cross to redeem (pay for the sins of)
all people – even of those that do not want Him to.
a.
Sinners are reconciled to God
on the cross (Col 1:20-22; 2:14)
b.
He didn’t just want to satisfy
justice – He wanted to save sinners!
c.
He delivered us from sin and
death.
d.
Every one of us is born into
enmity with God, but God has provided the way back to Him through the Cross.
e.
Sin creates a wall between us
and God; only Jesus can tear down that wall. When we are reconciled with God, it
transforms us from being God’s enemies to being His children.
3.
Third, Jesus died on the Cross
to Put Sin to Death (2Cor
5:21; 1Peter 2:21-24; 1John 3:5)
a.
SIN itself died o the cross!
b.
To reconcile sinners back to
God – make peace
c.
God does not excuse our sin,
but He forgives and restores us when we come to Him in repentance and humility
through faith in Jesus Christ.
d.
God gives us salvation from
sin and death as a gift—a very costly gift.
4.
Fourth, Jesus died
to supply eternal life (by His death)
to all who believe! (John 10:15; Romans 6:23b)
C.
No wonder We Preach Christ Crucified (1Cor 1:17-23)!
1.
Great preaching is about what
happened at the cross
2.
Everywhere we go, to everyone
we meet!
3.
We glory in what happened
there (Gal 6:14)
4.
It is THE most important news
event ever – still being told!
5.
By just hearing it and
believing it, sinners are converted
6.
And by remembering it,
Christians are revived!
7.
You see, we don’t glory in the
GORE! We glory/rejoice in the victory that Christ accomplished on that cross!
IV.
Application – We Need to Remember What Happened on the Cross!
A.
When we forget the cross and
what happened there, we are sure to grow cold and indifferent towards everything
of value
B.
We may even forget what we
have been saved from, and what we have been saved to!
C.
We will end up forgetting how
Jesus taught us to LIVE
1.
Living differently, and godly
in this present world (1Peter 2:21-24)
2.
Taking up OUR crosses, DAILY
(Luke 9:23)
3.
Forgiving others as Christ has
forgiven us – not fighting back (Eph 4:32)
4.
Doing the will of God from the
heart like Jesus did (Eph 6:6)
5.
Laying OUR lives down for the
brethren (1John 3:16)
6.
Suffering whatever mockery and
persecution the world wants to throw at us
7.
Simply because that is how
Jesus lived, and died!
V.
Invitation
A.
Admit that you are deserving
of God’s punishment for all your sin, which is hell! Jesus wasn’t deserving of
being punished for YOUR sin – YOU ARE!
B.
Believe that what Jesus DID
on His cross is enough to satisfy God’s justice
C.
Accept the forgiveness that
Jesus Christ offers a sinner like you! As a free gift! Receive it like you would
a cold drink of water in the middle of the Sahara desert!
D.
And Christian, live like
Christ’s death actually mattered!