The Cross

Excerpt from sermon: "The Cross: The Primary Content of Preaching", by
Conrad Mbewe. (This sermon was preached at the 1998 Southern Baptist
Founders Conference in Birmingham, Alabama)

To Paul, it was not a mere man that died on the cross but the immortal Son
of the living God. Therefore, that one death was a sufficient payment for a 
million, million worlds if such needed to be redeemed. This infinite Being 
took upon himself human nature because He was paying the price in place, not 
of angels, but of human beings. Consequently, as we look at that cross we 
are seeing Him, Who from all eternity was God, is God and will always be God. 
Yet, we are also looking at One who is man at the same time so that he might 
be punished in our place. 

This is what Paul saw on the day that Christ died. He allowed the full beams 
of the Old Testament Scriptures to shine on that event. Thus, he could speak 
about the cross and its fruit in such glowing terms as, "God made Him who 
knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the 
righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was not just telling people 
about a Jesus who had died. No! He was speaking about a blessed exchange. 
The righteous One has taken our place. The wrath of God that ought to have 
sunk us deeper than the grave, into the depth of hell itself, was poured out 
upon God's own Son until He cried "It is finished!" and died. We who deserve 
that wrath, because we have sinned against God times without number, can now 
be clothed with Hisrighteousness and be looked upon by God with the splendor 
of the second Person of the blessed Holy Trinity. Amazing! 

This is what gripped Paul and made him go into the various cities of Asia 
Minor with only one message--the message of the cross, the message that Jesus 
has indeed died, the Son of God has borne the full brunt of the wrath of God 
for us. I ask, has this gripped you, too? Has it gripped you to the point 
where you are fully satisfied to spend the rest of your days playing upon the 
one-string banjo of Christ and Him crucified? 

This truth of the cross utterly overwhelmed Paul even at the personal level. 
To the Galatians he spoke of "Christ who loved me and gave Himself for me" 
(Galatians 2:20). He understood the atonement to be particular. To Paul, Jesus 
did not go to the cross to die for some nameless mass of humanity. He was 
basically saying, "I was on His mind as He hung there. His love went out to me 
and He died for me." Because of that great assurance upon his soul, Paul was 
willing to sacrifice anything for the cause of Christ. The apostle's love was 
but a feeble reflection of the great love portrayed by the Son of God for him 
when He went from the infinitely high station of divinity to take upon Himself, 
not only the humiliation of humanity, but the wrath of  God to its very dregs.
Again I ask, has this gripped you as well?

September 2007

thecrossalone © 2007 • Privacy Policy • Terms of Use