← Back to sermon library

on this morning when we celebrate 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we solemnly remember and 
when we joyfully proclaim, we're going to consider or survey the 
cross using 1 Corinthians 1, 18-25 as a starting point. This is the word of the living 
and true God beginning at 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 18. For the message 
of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but 
to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is 
written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing 
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the 
scribe? Where is the disputer of this 
age? Has not God made foolish the 
wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God 
the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God 
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those 
who believe. For Jews request a sign and Greeks 
seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews 
a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those 
who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of 
God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God 
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Amen. Well, let us open in prayer. 
Holy Father, we just bless Your name again that we can gather 
here this morning to hear from Your holy Word, Lord God. And 
we do pray that we would hear from it this morning. We would 
ask that You'd help us to take it in. That You'd help both preacher 
and hearer to engage in this act of worship. Solemnly, humbly, 
and to the praise of Your name. And we pray, Lord God, that we 
would rejoice, that we would engage in solemn consideration, 
but that we would also rejoice in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, and that we would see ourselves, all those who believe, 
as the blessed but undeserving beneficiaries of that perfect 
crosswork of such a Savior. And it's in His name that we 
pray. Amen. Well, C.H. Spurgeon said of Paul 
Christ upon the cross working out the salvation of men was 
more to Him than all the sayings of the sages. We see here in 
1 Corinthians 1 that it is not the sayings of the sages that 
serve as our foundation for wisdom, but rather it is the cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. The foolishness, as He would 
call it, of God is stronger than man, or the foolishness of God 
is wiser than man. And what we have in Paul disclosing 
this particular proclamation concerning the cross being the 
power of God is we have Paul setting forth the wisdom of God 
as being that only wisdom which exists in our lower world. We 
are not to seek after the sayings of stages as wise as they might 
seem, but we are to seek after the wisdom and the power of God 
that finds its completion, its fulfillment, its pinnacle in 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. a Savior, that bloody spectacle 
upon Calvary's tree when the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ, 
suffered what we should have suffered for our violation of 
God's righteous precepts. So Spurgeon is bang on when he 
says that for Paul, Christ upon the cross working out the salvation 
of sinners was more to him than all the sayings of the sages. 
He might say, give me all of the works of all of the wise 
men, all of the scribes, all of the disputers of the age. 
Give me all of their written declarations concerning philosophy. And they won't even come up close 
to, they won't even approach the wisdom and the majesty that 
is seen in Christ upon the cross working out the salvation of 
sinners. And that is why Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 2, 
at verse 2, for I determine not to know anything among you except 
Jesus and Him crucified. First off, before we get to four 
brief considerations concerning the cross, what does the cross 
mean and what does it not mean? What the cross is not, when we 
consider this declaration that the message of the cross is foolishness 
to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved 
it is the power of God. Or when we consider Paul elsewhere 
saying, God forbid that I should boast, saved in the cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, it's good to know what that doesn't mean. 
And it isn't the symbol of the cross. It isn't just the symbol 
emblem of the cross, a vertical and horizontal cross beam of 
wood. We don't consider that as the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, as if we would follow after the madness of men and 
making a pilgrimage somewhere in Europe to look at a shard 
of what is supposed to be the crucifix of Christ in a glass 
chamber and bend our knee to that. No, when we read of the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, what we are to consider is what 
Raymond calls that the cross is, or says the cross is, theological 
shorthand for the substitutionary sacrificial death of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. When Paul glories in the cross, 
he's not glorying in a vertical and horizontal crossbeam of wood. 
He is glorying in the substitutionary sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, 
our Savior. And so that is what we mean by 
the cross. We also mean what John Gill sums 
up as the cross of Christ, the doctrine of salvation by a crucified 
Christ, or the doctrine of peace and reconciliation by the blood 
of His cross. And of righteousness, pardon, 
atonement, and satisfaction by the offering up of Himself upon 
it as a sacrifice for sin is here intended. And so we're going 
to consider that cross under four headings this morning. First 
off, the cross before creation. Secondly, the cross before the 
cross. Thirdly, the cross of divine 
chronicle. And lastly and fourthly, the 
cross of divine commentary. So first off, and I'll explain 
what all of these mean, the cross before creation. The cross before 
creation. God in eternity past determined 
to send Christ to the cross to die for sinners and to rise again. Turn to Ephesians for a moment 
along with me. There will be, as there often 
should be, navigation throughout our Bibles this morning. Ephesians. 
And you can turn to chapter 3 when you get there. Ephesians chapter 3. The Apostle 
Paul has already given praise to God the Father for salvation 
by the triune God, the predestinating love of God the Father that He 
chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that Christ came 
in the fullness of times to redeem us according to that predestinating 
decree, and that the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of that 
saving crosswork by sealing us and serving as the guarantor 
of our redemption. In Ephesians 3, we see a declaration 
here concerning the eternal nature of God's work. the fact that 
it isn't the case that God's redeeming activity was something 
haphazard or something that just took place in the divine mind 
after other things had taken place or failed, but rather that 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of an eternal 
purpose. Ephesians 3, beginning at verse 8, To me, who am less than the least 
of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach 
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make 
all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the 
beginning of the ages has been hidden in God, who created all 
things through Jesus Christ, to the intent that now the manifold 
wisdom of God might be made known by the Church to the principalities 
and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose 
which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Two things here 
that I want to note. First off, of course, regarding 
the cross before creation. The cross was in the divine mind 
as part of the eternal purpose that He had. Notice the language 
of verse 11. According to the eternal purpose 
which He accomplished. The Lord God had an eternal purpose 
before the foundation of the world to send Christ Jesus to 
die upon the cross perfectly to save sinners and to rise again. We serve and we worship a God 
who is all-knowing, who is all-wise, who is sovereign, who is holy, 
who is majestic. He doesn't operate sometimes 
like we might operate in our days where we don't really know 
what we're going to do. Maybe it's a holiday and we wake 
up and oh, I'll just stumble along throughout the day and 
find things to do." Our great God, our holy God, orchestrates 
and conducts all things according to the counsel of His perfect 
and holy will. And here we see that He has an 
eternal purpose, and also that this is an eternal purpose which 
He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. So He has an eternal 
purpose. He had a purpose before creation. 
And it is focused in on or centered upon Christ Jesus our Lord. And it's a great thing that in 
the context, this eternal purpose includes the church. This eternal 
purpose includes us as the church. That the wisdom of God, verse 
10 at the end, might be made known by the church to the principalities 
and powers in the heavenly places. Not only was Christ Jesus and 
His crosswork central to the divine mind before creation as 
part of an eternal purpose, but the church also is included in 
that. We have the blessed opportunity and the blessed job of engaging 
and proclaiming the riches and the wisdom of Christ to all who 
are around us. On the topic of the cross before 
creation, turn back in your Bibles to Acts 2. Though Christ was taken by lawless 
hands and crucified and put to death, we have something else 
that Peter discloses on the day of Pentecost concerning the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested 
by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through 
him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered 
by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have 
taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death." 
Notice there that even though we have the declaration that 
Christ was put to death, having been delivered or taken by lawless 
hands and crucified, we have the declaration of Peter at the 
beginning of verse 23 that Christ was delivered by the determined 
purpose and for knowledge of God. Again, we have a God of 
determined purpose. Not a God of haphazard action 
and reaction, but rather a God who acts according to an immutable 
and divine purpose. Christ was put to death being 
delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. God, 
our Sovereign God, has an eternal purpose and He accomplishes it 
in Christ Jesus our Lord. This eternal purpose of Christ 
is declared by the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. If 
you want to turn from Luke's second book to his first book, 
Luke 22. Luke 22. Perhaps Peter, on the 
day of Pentecost, reverberating the words of our Sovereign Christ 
that He spoke to them as He gave them the ordinance of the Lord's 
Supper. We'll start reading in Luke 22 
at verse 14. This is Jesus Christ instituting 
the Lord's Supper, Luke's account of this particular historical 
event. When the hour had come, he sat 
down and the twelve apostles with him. Then he said to them, 
with fervent desire, I have desire to eat this Passover with you 
before I suffer. For I say to you, I will no longer 
eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Then he 
took the cup and gave thanks and said, take this and divide 
it among yourselves. For I say to you, I will not 
drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. 
and he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to 
them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this 
in remembrance of me. Likewise, he also took the cup 
after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood 
which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of my betrayer 
is with me on the table." And now notice verse 22, "'And truly 
the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that 
man by whom he is betrayed." This language that we have here 
should be apparent from the way it's stated in your New King 
James. And truly, the Son of Man goes 
as it has been determined. The Son of Man goes as it has 
been decreed. The Son of Man goes as it has 
been eternally preordained. The crosswork of our Lord Jesus 
Christ was established by eternal purpose before the foundation 
of the earth. In 1 Peter 1, Peter uses the 
language that we have not been redeemed by corruptible things 
like silver and gold, but we have been redeemed by the precious 
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as a lamb without blemish and 
without spot. And he goes on to say that he 
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifested 
in these last days for us. We have the fact that the cross 
existed before creation in the divine mind. And we need to realize 
that the cross, or creation rather, serves the redemptive purpose 
of our triune God. Creation serves God's purpose 
to send forth Christ on the cross to die for sinners and to rise 
again. It's not an insignificant thing. The cross is not just 
some insignificant thing 2,000 years ago in 1st century Palestine. The unbeliever, the unregenerate 
might ask the believer, why do you put all of this energy and 
why do you focus so much on an event of such insignificance 
that took place 2,000 years ago in first century Palestine? What 
about the Himalayan mountains and the Amazon River and the 
Nile River? What about the glory of things 
elsewhere? on this earth? What about all 
the course of human history? What about current world events 
and all those sorts of things? But the unbeliever very confidently 
realizes that the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is that central 
aspect of God's history. That creation itself serves God's 
redemptive purpose. that God set in order all things. 
He set galaxies in their spinning and in their orbit, planets in 
their orbit, and created His green earth so that He would 
display the multitudes of His grace and of His mercies and 
in His love, and it would culminate in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ where the Son of His love would be crushed so that His 
people might give Him praise eternally. And so when we come 
to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to consider and 
own and love the fact that the cross was before creation, that 
God in eternity past determined to send Christ to the cross to 
die for sinners and to rise again. Secondly, not only do we have 
the cross before creation, but we have in God's revelation the 
cross before the cross. God in the Old Testament announced 
the coming cross work of Jesus Christ. when we usually, or sometimes 
once a year, when we consider or when we preach regarding the 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, not that we're hard and 
fast confined to a liturgical calendar, but very often we'll 
preach on 1 Corinthians 15 during that time when we observe the 
resurrection of Christ. But in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul 
sets forth the fact that Christ died according to the Scriptures. and that he was buried and rose 
again the third day according to the Scriptures. Well, these 
Scriptures, of course, could have only been the Old Testament, 
as the New Testament Scriptures were not yet in Scripture rated, 
at least not in their fullness. And so we know the fact by our 
Bibles, by the New Testament's treatment of the old, we know 
that God in the Old Testament announced the coming crossword 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter writes in his first epistle 
in chapter 1 that he, speaking of the Spirit of God, testified 
concerning the sufferings of the Christ and the glories that 
would follow. That the Holy Spirit disclosed 
to the prophets in the Old Testament that the Christ would come in 
the fullness of times, that He would suffer, and that He would 
rise again the third day. Now a qualification regarding, 
actually as you turn to Genesis chapter 3 for a moment, but a 
qualification regarding this fact that God in the Old Testament 
disclosed the coming cross work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
by qualification I mean a wholesome one of course. We don't have 
from the outset of revelation, from beginning in Genesis, clear 
and distinct language. It does not say that in the year 
33 AD, a man by the name of Christ Jesus will come. He'll be delivered 
up into the hands of wicked men. He'll be crucified and He'll 
rise again the third day. We do have, though, God, by design 
and by purpose, a progressive revelation concerning the coming 
Christ, the coming suffering servant, the coming Messiah, 
the coming Lamb of God who would redeem His people from their 
sins and do so perfectly. One man has said, and I know 
you've heard the quote before, but this is with regards to the 
Trinity in the Old Testament, but the same language can apply 
with regards to the disclosure of the cross work of Christ in 
the Old Testament. It is like a chamber dimly lighted, 
that all of the ornaments and the decorations and the furniture 
are in that particular chamber, the disclosure of Christ in the 
Old Testament. They're there. Christ upon the 
cross is there. But as we come to the New Testament, 
God's revelation in the New Testament, there is light that is opened 
up and applied to that chamber. And we can see with more clarity 
the fact that this Christ who came, who died, who rose again, 
who ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high was disclosed 
in the Old Testament scriptures. And one example of that, we won't 
treat all of them, of course, because that would be a year 
of sermons, but Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, actually beginning 
at verse 14. God from the outset of creation, 
because again, His redemptive plan was an eternal purpose. 
It was in His mind prior to creation and creation serves His redeeming 
activity bestowed upon men, those who would be His by election 
and by grace. Genesis 3.15, we see as a response 
to the fall of man the promise of a victorious Redeemer given. 
Genesis 3 beginning at verse 14. following the fall. So the Lord God said to the serpent, 
because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle 
and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you 
shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And 
I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your 
seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and 
you shall bruise his heel." We have we have from the outset 
of the revelation given to us by God that this promise would 
be an answer to sin. Rather, it follows the fall and 
also that it would include a victory over the enemy of our souls, 
but also in the course of that, that that victor would be bruised. 
He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel. This 
is the language of Matthew Henry regarding this particular verse. 
A gracious promise is here made of Christ as the deliverer of 
fallen man from the power of Satan. Here was the dawn of the 
gospel day. No sooner was the wound given 
than the remedy was provided and revealed. This revelation 
of a Savior came unasked and unlooked for. Without a revelation 
of mercy, giving some hope of forgiveness, the convinced sinner 
would sink into despair and be hardened. By faith in this promise, 
our first parents and the patriarchs before the flood were justified 
and saved." Amen. This language, here was the dawn 
of the gospel day. No sooner was the wound given 
than the remedy provided and revealed. We have from the outset 
of man falling the fact that God or that God did give the 
promise of a coming victor and Redeemer who would save His people 
and be the Redeemer of His elect. Moving forward in redemptive 
history to Psalm 22. And this ought to be a psalm 
so familiar and dear to our hearts, preceding the one that followed. or preceding the one that we 
read this morning that follows it, of course, Psalm 23. But 
Psalm 22 has been called the Psalm of the Cross, and we can 
understand most surely why it is called that. We, of course, 
won't read the entire Psalm, but one thing that we note in 
considering this as Christians, and maybe just a note here, it 
is a wholesome thing. It is a wholesome thing to approach 
the Old Testament Scriptures with our knowledge given our 
reading of the New Testament Scriptures. In other words, we 
don't just come to Psalm 22 and shut off our New Testament minds 
and try and figure out what's going on here. We have the New 
Testament, the divine interpretation of the New Testament applied 
to Psalm 22. And in fact, we have Christ Jesus 
Himself upon Calvary's tree appropriating and applying this psalm to Himself. 
It opens up with what has been called the fourth word of our 
Savior from Calvary's tree, my God, my God. Why have you forsaken 
me? That is following the introduction 
to the chief musician set to the deer of the dawn, a psalm 
of David. But our Lord Jesus Christ, from Calvary's tree, 
it isn't just a coincidental thing that he uses the same language 
of Psalm 22, but rather he rightly and with purpose applies the 
first verse of Psalm 22 to himself. My God, my God, why have you 
forsaken me? And as we read through David's 
psalm, as we read through, we see quite clearly language concerning 
the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. You can turn to v. 15 
of Psalm 22. V. 15 of Psalm 22, My strength 
is dried up like a pot shirt, and my tongue clings to my jaws. 
You have brought me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded 
me. The congregation of the wicked 
has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my 
feet. I can count all my bones. They 
look and stare at me. They divide my garments among 
them, and for my clothing they cast lots. The language of the 
crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ is explicit and it is 
inescapable. And it's a wonderful thing that 
as we read Psalm 22, it doesn't end with a crucified Messiah 
and then that's it, but rather it continues with a victorious 
Messiah. We see the end of this. A posterity 
shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord 
to the next generation. They will come and declare His 
righteousness to a people who will be born that He has done 
this. A thousand years approximately 
prior to the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have the 
Spirit disclosing the sufferings of the Christ and the glories 
that would follow. The cross before the cross in 
the Old Testament Scriptures. And one other place before we 
move on. Surely this is in your mind as 
we're considering the cross in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. This wonderful language 
given to a people to whom it has already been declared that 
there would be a judgment coming upon them by a pagan nation. 
that Assyria would be coming in response to the fact that 
the northern kingdom had broken the precepts, broken the covenant 
of the living and true God. And yet, as a response to the 
depravity, to the madness of breaking the covenant, God would 
send a suffering servant, a Messiah, who would come to finally bring 
those promises to God's people. Isaiah 53, of course, the language 
should be well familiar, beginning at verse 1, though Isaiah 52, 
the end, would precede this. Who has believed our report? 
Isaiah 53, 1. And to whom has the arm of the 
Lord been revealed? for He shall grow up before Him 
as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no 
form or comeliness, and when we see Him, there is no beauty 
that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by 
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it 
were our faces from Him. He was despised and we did not 
esteem Him." And then notice this language. We're considering 
now the cross before the cross. A little bit later, very soon, 
will consider the cross of divine commentary. Well, even before 
we get to Christ's coming, we see the cross and a disclosure 
of what it means or what's going on at the cross. What is God 
doing at the cross? And it begins here at verse 4. 
Substitutionary atonement by a coming Redeemer. Notice verse 
4. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet 
we esteem Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 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. All we like sheep have gone astray. 
We have turned everyone to His own way, and the Lord has laid 
on Him the iniquity of us all." It's a blessed declaration approximately 
700 years prior to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ about 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we ought to glory in this 
fact that God had it in His mind prior to creation that He would 
have this eternal purpose accomplished in Christ Jesus by the suffering 
of the cross. And that He would also disclose 
the glories, the sufferings of this Christ prior to Him coming 
so that there would be an anticipation built so that people, His people, 
and a remnant according to election could praise God and bless God 
for a Redeemer who would come. And by that Redeemer, those Old 
Testament saints were saved, justified and saved. The cross 
before the cross in the Old Testament Scriptures. There are other texts 
that we could go to. You could look at Daniel 9, 25-27. Zechariah 12, 9-10. But we're 
going to move on now to the cross of Divine Chronicle. The cross 
of divine chronicle. Chronicle simply means a record 
of events. And when we come to the New Testament 
scriptures, you can turn to Luke chapter one. When we come to 
the New Testament, we find that we've now arrived at the cross 
of divine disclosure, divine chronicle, divine narrative. 
It was the case that God had an eternal purpose in Christ 
Jesus before the foundation of the world to save and elect people 
perfectly to the praise of His name. Throughout the Old Testament 
Scriptures, it was God working out this plan of salvation. prophesying 
of and declaring, revealing the fact that a coming Savior would 
come upon the scenes in the fullness of times to redeem His people. 
And then we get to the New Testament and we see that time had come 
upon this particular people, that the fullness of the times 
had come and that God had sent forth His Son, born of a woman, 
born under the law to redeem those who were under it. Now, 
first off, under the cross of Divine Chronicle, notice the 
certainty of the events. Luke 1, beginning at verse 1. 
The certainty of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inasmuch 
as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those 
things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from 
the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word delivered 
them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding 
of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, 
most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of 
those things in which you were instructed. You see, the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the story of His incarnation, which 
was something that came to serve the cross, the redeeming activity 
of God the Son. But we have the fact that from 
the incarnation to ascension, not only there, but all of God's 
revealed Word, but from the incarnation to the ascension, we're not looking 
at myth. We're not looking at an intermingling 
of history and myth. But we're looking at the perfect 
and certain history of God-disclosed narrative concerning the coming 
Christ that was promised. The Word is infallible. The Word 
is inerrant. The Word is God-inspired. It 
is given by God. God-breathed for doctrine, for 
instruction, for all things wholesome and proper. And we have here 
the fact that Luke uses the language of certainty, of perfect understanding. Verse 4, He's writing these things 
that you may know the certainty of those things in which you 
were instructed. And one of those things, of course, 
the central thing declared, disclosed, is the crucifixion of our Lord 
Jesus Christ and His resurrection for the salvation of sinners. 
Moving forward in Luke, you can turn to Luke 2 and verse 11. Secondly, under the heading of 
the cross of Divine Chronicle, after the certainty of the events, 
we have the central aspect of the chronicled Christ. The central 
aspect of this historical and certain narrative given concerning 
this Christ and His coming cross work. Luke 2 and verse 11. For 
there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour 
who is Christ the Lord." This One born to them at this particular 
time, this One born to them in the fullness of times, is born 
in the city of David and He is a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to 
you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. lying in 
a manger. And suddenly there was with the 
angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward 
men." Spurgeon has a wonderful sermon on this if you ever want 
to look up a sermon to read. His sermon on Luke 2, verse 14. What he calls the first hymn 
of the Incarnation. Actually, I think he calls it 
the first Christmas carol. but I tend to paraphrase him 
and say the first hymn of the Incarnation. But nevertheless, 
he has a wonderful portion of his preaching where he's talking 
about the angels and how their praises have built throughout 
redemptive history. That following their creation, 
they gave praise to the God. That all the morning stars shouted 
with glory. That all the angels sang praises 
to God for His creation, for His sovereign act of making all 
things, or bringing all things to bear in creation by the Word 
of His power in the space of six days, and all very good. 
And that how throughout creation their crescendo built, or their 
praises and their glories given to God in the highest built, 
and it found its pinnacle when Christ Jesus came to redeem His 
elect. that their praises throughout 
history were raising and raising. And then at this time in Luke 
2.14, where they sing, the angel and a multitude of heavenly hosts 
sing, Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. goodwill 
toward men. It was the first hymn of the 
Incarnation. It was the first hymn also concerning 
the redeeming activity of God in time and history. They were 
singing, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
goodwill toward men. Not for national peace and for 
countries not to be at war with one another, but singing concerning 
the fact that Christ Jesus is our peace. That Christ Jesus 
in time and history came to bring peace between God and men. It's 
what Paul writes in Ephesians 2, verse 16, that He Himself 
is our peace. Or, excuse me, Ephesians 2, verse 
14. He Himself is our peace. Or when he makes that declaration 
in Romans that therefore, having been justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace and good 
will is speaking concerning the peace that Christ brings by His 
perfect saving cross work. Also, the cross as fulfillment 
of this salvific mission announced. Under the cross of Divine Chronicle, 
if you turn to Luke 18, verse 31, we have the fact that Christ 
Jesus Himself announces this saving mission and speaks concerning 
the coming cross. Luke 18, beginning at verse 31. Then he took the twelve aside 
and said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and 
all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son 
of Man will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the 
Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They 
will scourge him and kill him, and the third day he will rise 
again. You see this. Christ Jesus knew 
that He was sent in order to bring to fulfillment His Father's 
will and His Father's eternal purpose. He'll say later on, 
as we already read, the Son of Man goes as it has been eternally 
preordained. The Lord Jesus Christ wasn't 
taken by surprise when He was arrested after praying in the 
garden. Why? Because we know before that, 
not only do we know from what the scriptures have already disclosed, 
but he was crying out to his father on his hands and his knees, 
Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me. That cup of 
wrath that Robert Raymond was speaking of in his quote. If 
it is possible, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my 
will, but thine be done. He was resigned to the fact that 
He was given by eternal purpose this mission to save a people 
to the praise of His name. And so He discloses that fact 
as He is marching upon that road to the cross. Also in Luke chapter 
21. Luke chapter 21 at verse 22. Luke chapter 21 verse 22, 
For these are the days of vengeance that all things which are written 
may be fulfilled." He's tying, of course, there into not only 
his death, his resurrection, and his ascension, but the fact 
of the coming judgment upon apostate Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Also in Luke 22 and verse 
37. And then we'll move on. Luke 22, verse 37. For I say to you, actually backing 
up to verse 36, then he said to them, but now he who has a 
money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack. and he who 
has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. For I say 
to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in 
me, and he was numbered with the transgressors. For the things 
concerning me have an end." You see here, not only is there a 
determined purpose, an eternal purpose in Christ that would 
come to an end, but we see here also the Lord Jesus Christ applying 
Isaiah 53 to His cross work. and He was numbered with the 
transgressors. Isaiah disclosed that and wrote 
that 700 years prior to the crucified Christ. A little bit more than 
that. But 700 years approximately prior to Christ's cross work. 
And Christ, at the time of fulfillment, discloses that to His disciples. 
And He was numbered with the transgressors. And again, these 
things concerning Him have an end. There was an eternal purpose 
that God accomplished in Christ Jesus. And He accomplished that 
in time and in history. And what is then, fourthly, the 
cross of divine commentary? What is the cross of divine commentary? Well, we have in the New Testament 
epistles the language of divine interpretation of what the cross 
means, what it was and what it did. You can turn to Colossians 
1 for a moment. Actually, first, Galatians. Galatians 3. We note first off 
that it is a substitutionary word. And what substitutionary 
means is that Christ served as a substitute. And as it pertains 
to His redeeming activity, it means that instead of us, Christ 
received the wrath of God, the fury and the wrath of God against 
sin. It should have been us, because 
we were the ones, not Christ, who violated the righteous precepts 
of a holy lawgiver, that we should have received breach upon breach 
in our flesh for having breached His law, breach upon breach. 
We should have been put to death and damned eternally for our 
transgressions, for violating God's law, but Christ came in 
the fullness of the time as a substitute to do that for us. Galatians 
3, verse 13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is 
everyone who hangs on a tree. It's a wonderful language. And never let go of that grip 
upon substitutionary atonement. because that is our blessed hope. That is what we rest upon. I 
know the blessed hope is the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
But if I can borrow that language concerning blood atonement, concerning 
Christ's redeeming activity, substitutionary atonement is 
a non-negotiable. Christ Jesus came in the fullness 
of the times and He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, 
having become a curse for us instead of us, in our stead, 
on our behalf. blessed language of substitution 
that Paul would also take up in 2 Corinthians 5.21, for He 
made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become 
the righteousness of God in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ, when it's 
spoken of concerning His work, that it was for us, that is that 
it was substitutionary instead of us, on our behalf, instead 
of all those whom the Father had given to Him." So, Christ's 
crosswork is substitutionary. It is a sacrifice. Turn with 
me to Hebrews 9. We said at the outset that the 
cross is not to be seen as a vertical and horizontal crossbeam of wood, 
but as theological shorthand for the sacrificial substitutionary 
work of Christ. It is a substitutionary work. We looked at that. It is a sacrificial 
work. Hebrews 9 at verse 26. Hebrews 9 and verse 26. We'll 
back up though to verse 23. Therefore, it was necessary that 
the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with 
these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices 
than these. For Christ has not entered the 
holy places made with hands, which are copies of the truth, 
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God 
for us. Not that he should offer himself often, as the high priest 
enters the most holy place every year with blood of another, He 
then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of 
the world. But now, once, at the end of 
the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice 
of himself. It's a wonderful language. Christ 
Jesus not only served as a substitutionary cross-bearer, but also as a sacrifice, 
a divine offering to satisfy divine justice. It should have 
been again the case that we were those who were the recipients 
of divine justice, but rather Christ came in the fullness of 
time as a sacrificial offering to God, once at the end of the 
ages, to put away sin by that offering, by that sacrifice of 
Himself. It's a substitutionary work. 
It's a sacrifice. Not only is it the putting away 
of sin, but it is characterized by finality. Just a bit to the 
right, Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, beginning at verse 
11, And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly 
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this 
man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat 
down at the right hand of God. There is finality to the saving, 
sacrificial, substitutionary work of Christ. This man, speaking 
of Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, 
sat down at the right hand of God." And also verse 26. But if we sin willfully after 
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer 
remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation 
of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. I wrote down verse 26, but it 
would seem that I wrote it down Wrongly. And I apologize, though 
that is God-breathed Scripture and it's good to read. The point, 
though, being is that there is finality brought by the sacrificial 
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we come to celebrate, when 
we come to engage in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper in just 
a few minutes, we are remembering and we are proclaiming the death 
of our Lord Jesus Christ that is characterized by finality. It is not the case that we engage 
in the abomination of the Roman Catholic Church. in daily offering 
up the same sacrifice, an unbloody one, for the remission of sins. 
But rather, we are remembering, we are proclaiming that once 
for all death of our Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's tree that 
is forever efficacious, that is forever powerful, that forever 
has removed the guilt of sin, the power of sin, and the reign 
of sin for all those who believe in Him. There is finality in 
the cross work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, before we 
close and we pray, Colossians 1. The crosswork of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. The divine commentary upon it. 
We see that His crosswork brings peace. It was announced at His 
incarnation, glory to God in the highest, peace on earth. 
It's declared after His ascension, Christ is our peace, for He Himself 
is our peace. And here we see, of course, that 
there is an intimate connection, a necessary connection to His 
cross work. Verse 19 of Colossians chapter 
1, For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness 
should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself by Him, 
whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace 
through the blood of His cross." See, that was the only way. That 
was the way, the eternal purpose way that God determined that 
Christ would bring peace, or that peace would be brought between 
God and between men. that Christ made peace through 
the blood of His cross. We have peace with our great 
God by virtue of the fact that Christ Jesus died a bloody spectacle 
upon Calvary's tree for us. It was a work that was substitutionary. It was an offering, a sacrifice 
to God that satisfied divine justice. And it was something 
that brought peace between God and man. All those who believe 
in Him. And just two things before we 
close. The central aspect of the Christian's proclamation 
is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that we should 
boast, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul, 
as he declared throughout his ministry, we preach Christ crucified. This was a scandal to the Jews 
and foolishness to the Greeks, but for those of us who are being 
saved, it is the power of God. It is the wisdom of God. And 
let us always have the cross before us. Let us always be near 
the cross, because that is the central aspect of Christianity, 
the cross work. as Raymond said, of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, who is God's Alpha and Omega, stands at the beginning, 
the center, and the end of God's eternal will and all His ways 
and works. It is sacred ground. It is the 
Church's Holy of Holies. And if you're here today and 
you do not know this Christ, if you're here today and you 
know nothing of the cross or it is foolishness to you, it's 
a scandal, how could I believe in a crucified Messiah? How can 
I believe in antiquated prophecies fulfilled by apparent narrative 
and by the works of men. You need to understand that this 
was, the cross was, something in the mind of God before the 
world began. That God had an eternal purpose 
and He accomplished it in Christ Jesus. that throughout the history 
of human existence, God had been working a trajectory unto Christ 
Jesus upon the cross, working out the salvation of sinners, 
that He came in time and history. It's given to us in certain narratives. 
And that God commented on that, saying that it was a sacrifice, 
that it was a work of substitution, that it is the only thing by 
which peace is brought between God and man. And this is the 
only way. Christ is the only way that you 
can be saved. Christ is the only way to heaven. 
For there is no other name given among men under heaven by which 
you might be saved. And it's always been the Christian's 
plea. If you're here today and you don't know Him, to believe 
in Him unto the saving of your souls. Because in Him is peace. 
In Him is divine justice satisfied. In Him is perfect redemption. 
And all those who believe in Him will not be disappointed, 
but will enter into eternal life singing the praises of such a 
Savior. And so we plead with you, rest upon Him. Rest upon 
Him for eternal life. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank You so much for Your disclosure concerning the cross 
in Holy Scripture. We thank You, Lord God, that 
You are a God of eternal purpose, You have a determined knowledge 
and a foreknowledge and purpose in Christ Jesus that You did 
send Him in the fullness of time to redeem. But even prior to 
that, Lord God, You disclosed and promised the coming Christ 
that people before He came might have comfort in that coming Redeemer. 
We thank You, Lord God, that You have given to us a disclosure 
of what the cross means. We praise You for substitutionary 
atonement. We thank You that we do not have 
to undergo Your fury and Your wrath because Christ Jesus underwent 
that at the cross on our behalf. He cried that cry of dereliction. My God, my God, why hast Thou 
forsaken me? And by virtue of that declaration 
and what it means, we never have to cry that cry. And we just 
bless Your name for His sacrificial work, a work that brings perfect 
redemption, perfect salvation and perfect peace. And we just 
pray, Lord God, that we would conduct our lives in a manner 
worthy of all that we know concerning the Gospel, concerning what You've 
disclosed in the cross. Help us to daily live our lives 
in light of the perfect redeeming activity of Christ in light of 
the fact that we were once sinners, but now saved by grace, and in 
the light of such a gracious, loving, and merciful God, who 
has caused us to be partakers of this wonderful gift of eternal 
life. We just ask that you be with us now as we consider the 
Lord's Supper, as we partake of the bread and of the wine, 
that you'd help us, Lord God, to approach it solemnly, although 
with great joy in the death and in the resurrection of Christ 
Jesus our Lord. And we pray in His most precious 
name. Amen.