THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CROSS
CONNECT: Have you ever received a coupon that promised
something for nothing? Then we leave it
on the table in the kitchen, or put it in our car, or stick it in our wallet
and forget about it, only to find it later, get real excited, and then look at
it realize that it is expired?
TENSION: Many of us live that in way in regard to what
God has accomplished through the Cross.
During this month we have examined the importance, the impact, the
images, and the immortality of the Cross.
All that means nothing is we do not apply it to our lives; we must implement
the Cross for it to be effective.
SOLUTION: We must redeem the coupon! The good news is that this coupon has no
expiration date! If you have not
redeemed it up to now, it is still valid today!
Let me show you how to cash it in!
TEXT Let's take another look at the base Scripture
for this series:
Galatians 6:14 NKJV But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ...
Now let's
add the rest of the verse: by whom the
world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
What does
this mean? Simply that I am dead to the world and the world is dead to me! Well, it sure doesn't feel like it! Why? We must implement the Cross!
Luke 9:23 NKJV Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself,
and take up his
cross daily, and follow Me.”
Luke 14:27 NKJV And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
It must be
daily and consistently...
1 Corinthians
15:31
(NKJV) I affirm, by the
boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
2
Corinthians 4:11 NKJV For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’
sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
The
essence of the Cross was stated in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times the Lord Jesus asked the Father that
cup of suffering be removed. Acknowledging
what was required, He told the Father, “Not my will but
Yours be done.”
INSTRUCTION: How do we implement the Cross? Three basic steps, all from Romans 6...
It all happens in our souls: our minds, our wills, our
emotions. The spirit of man connects with
the Spirit of God and knows the truth.
The body of man connects with the world, the flesh, and the devil and
must surrender to the truth. The soul of
man must fight for the truth!
Step 1 Knowing:
We must know what happened at the Cross.
Romans 6:6 (NLT) We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might
lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
We must have a
change of mind!
2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NKJV) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for
pulling down strongholds, 5casting down arguments and every high
thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought
into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Ephesians 5:26 (NKJV) that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the
word,
Our minds can be washed!
Read; memorize; meditate...
Step 2
Reckoning: We must accept what happened at the Cross and at the Resurrection.
Romans 6:11 (NLT) So you also should consider
yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to
God through Christ Jesus.
We must have a change of heart!
Consider, or reckon in some
translations, is an accounting term. It
means to reconcile your accounts, balance your books. When you balance your books, you have a new
starting point! Then, we can embrace the
truth emotionally. When my books are balanced,
I live in peace because I know exactly where I am.
Hebrews 12:1–2 (NKJV)Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares
us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Luke 6:45 (NKJV) A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and
an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart
his mouth speaks.
Step 3
Yielding: We must live out what happened at the Cross.
Romans 6:13 (NLT) Do not let any part of your body
become an instrument of evil to serve
sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you
have new life. So, use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for
the glory of God.
We must have a change of will! Who will you present yourself to, show up for?
Romans 7:21 (NKJV) I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
Romans 8:2 (NKJV) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from
the law of sin and death.
INSPIRATION: It is so clear in the Message translation...
Romans 6:6–14 (The Message) 6-11Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross
with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every
beck and call! What we believe is this: 8If we get included in
Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving
resurrection. 9We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of
death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. 10When
Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. 11From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your
mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to
God. That’s what Jesus did.
12-14That means you must not
give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. 13Don’t even run little
errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves
wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into
God’s way of doing things. 14Sin can’t tell you how to live. After
all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the
freedom of God.
INVITATION
