(# 268) Romans 8 - The Crucifixion: The Tale of a Forgiving Messiah

Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  Welcome to the celebration of the second most important event in human history…The Cross…as we believers celebrate of the Crucifixion of our Savior Jesus Christ.  He is our Lord, He is our God, He is the Sovereign God of the Universe

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Crucifixion:  The Tale of a Forgiving Messiah

 

I forgive you.

 

Usually when a human being says these words it is the most freeing moment in a relationship.  It’s the moment when the power shifts from them to you.  When someone has wronged you, and you forgive them, you shift the power in the relationship from them to you. 

 

When you hold a grudge, you are expecting that they owe you something.  Most likely it is a debt that an offended would never be willing to pay.  When you say, “I forgive you,” you release them from obligation to pay the debt, and the power is yours once again.

 

The more heinous the crime committed against you, the more important for you to forgive.

 

On the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ made one of the most powerful statements ever made…

 

“Father Forgive Them, For They Don’t Know What They Are Doing”

 

Those word are what unconditional love sounds like.  The Cross is what unconditional love looks like.  There is forgiveness at the foundation of unconditional love.

 

I forgive you are easy words for us to say.  When the Lord Jesus Christ said, “I forgive you,” he had a little more to do than just to take His power back.  He had to die to complete the forgiveness.

 

At the Cross…the Lord Jesus Christ forgave all mankind for Adam’s sin.  At the Cross…the Lord Jesus Christ forgave the people who crucified Him.  At the Cross…the Lord Jesus Christ forgave the repentant thief, who died next to Him on that day.  At the Cross…the Lord Jesus Christ forgave the insulting thief, who died next to Him on that day..

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is forgiving.  Among the many things The Cross is, it’s a symbol of forgiveness. First John, Chapter 2, Verses 1 and 2 say…

 

First John 2:1

My little children, I (John) am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, and of course we do, we have an Advocate with God the Father, Jesus Christ the ONLY righteous One…

 

First John 2:2

…and Jesus Christ Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sin only (as believers in Christ), but also for the sin of the whole world (for unbelievers as well).

 

Today, we celebrate The Forgiving Messiah…today we celebrate forgiveness.  We are forgiven in the past, and we stand forgiven forever, and we don’t have to ask the Lord any longer to forgive us, because we would not ask for something that has already been done.  We’re here today to THANK the Lord for what He has done on our behalf.  And we’re here to thank God the Father for being willing to sacrifice His Son, to send HI m to death, on our behalf.  Second Corinthians, Chapter 9, Verse 15…

 

Second Corinthians 9:15

Thanks be to God the Father for His indescribable gift!

 

John, Chapter 3, Verse 16…

 

John 3:16

“For God loved the world so much, and so unconditionally, that He gave His uniquely born Son (the Lord Jesus Christ), that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but shall instead (immediately) have eternal life (the resurrection life).”

 

John, Chapter 1, Verse 14…

 

John 1:14

And the Word (God the Son…The Lord) became flesh (true humanity…Jesus Christ), and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory…glory as of the uniquely born one from God the Father, full of grace and full of truth.

 

First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 24…

 

First Peter 2:24

…and Jesus Christ Himself bore our sins in His own body on the Cross, so that we might die to the sovereignty of sin and so that we might live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ speaks of His voluntary commitment to the whole world in John, Chapter 10, Verses 11 to 18…

 

John 10:11

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) am the good shepherd; and the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

 

John 10:12

“He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd…he who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.”

 

John 10:13

“Such a man flees because he is a hired hand and he is not concerned about the sheep.”

 

John 10:14

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own sheep and My own sheep know Me…”

John 10:15

“…even as God the Father knows Me and I know God the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

 

John 10:16

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have other sheep (the Gentiles), which are not of this fold (the Jews); I must bring them also (into the fold), and they will hear My voice (the gospel message); and they will become one flock with one shepherd (they will believe in Me).”

 

John 10:17

“For this reason God the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it up again.”

 

John 10:18

“No one has taken my life away from Me, but I lay my life down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay my life down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

 

The Lord Jesus Christ was not a helpless pawn, murdered at the whim or reckless men.  It was His plan before He created you to voluntarily lay down His life for you…for the purpose of forgiving you.  He is your propitiation…He is the only sacrifice that would ever be acceptable to God the Father for the forgiveness of your sin.  And He died to forgive you.  Why did He forgive you?

 

Because The Lord Jesus Christ loves you unconditionally.  John, Chapter 15, Verse 13…

 

John 15:13

Greater unconditional love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

 

Welcome to the celebration of forgiveness…courtesy of the Godhead’s unconditional love for creatures…for you and me and whosoever.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

LAMB OF GOD

June Murphy

 

As we prepare our souls for worship, let’s enjoy the singing of June Murphy as she sings LAMB OF GOD.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father…there are no words adequate to express our thanks for your forgiveness…help us to let our lives show our gratitude through the way we live for You.

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name... Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Crucifixion:  The Tale of a Forgiving Messiah

 

Hebrews, Chapter 10, Verse 1 says we cannot earn forgiveness…

 

Hebrews 10:1

For the Mosaic Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come (forgiveness for all) and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.

 

Hebrews, Chapter 10, Verse 4 says…

 

Hebrews 10:4

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

 

Hebrews, Chapter 10, Verses 11 to 13 says…

 

Hebrews 10:11

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same

sacrifices, which can never take away sins…

 

Hebrews 10:12

…but Jesus Christ, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God the Father (after His victory over sin at the Cross)…

 

Hebrews 10:13

…waiting from that time onward until Jesus Christ’s enemies be made a footstool for His feet (by God the Father).

 

We celebrate a forgiveness that was made once, and stands finished for all time…for everyone.  Let’s hear a few announcements, and then we’ll learn all about the power of this forgiveness that came at the Cross.

 

BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

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April 3

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April 10, 2016

 

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April 30

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September 16-17, 2016

 

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September 18

 

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Join me in prayer directed at all the intercessions and all the petitions of the

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Caleb Luttermoser

March 25

 

Seven years old today.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Crucifixion:  The Tale of a Forgiving Messiah

 

The details of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ are best told, in my opinion, by Luke, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Luke describes himself as an eyewitness to the Christ, the Messiah, and as a servant of the Word.  He describes His account of things as “investigated…carefully” and written “in consecutive order.” 

 

Paul describes Luke as the beloved physician, and I think it is a testimony of how well the Lord Jesus Christ cared for everything and everyone by His selection of a physician to be among his apostles…so that everyone’s health could be cared for “on the go.”

 

Let’s investigate Luke’s account of the crucifixion in Luke, Chapter 23, Verses 1 to 56…

 

Luke 23:1

Then the whole body of them (the Sanhedrin…a group of Pharisees) got up and brought Jesus before Pontius Pilate.

 

Luke 23:2

And the Sanhedrin began to accuse Jesus, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding the paying of taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is the Christ (the Messiah), a King.”

 

Lie…in Luke, Chapter 20, Verse 25, the Lord said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s (taxes)…and render unto God the things that are  God’s.  In addition, Jesus hung out with tax collectors (the lowest of the low)…in fact, Jesus had an apostle who was a tax collector…Matthew.  Liars never look at the evidence.

 

Luke 23:3

So Pilate asked Jesus, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus answered Pilate and said, “It is as you say.”

 

Admitting that He is God was a death sentence for the Lord.  Yet Pilate had an interesting response…

 

Luke 23:4

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.”

 

Pilate is saying, “I find for Jesus.”  Pilate is saying that what Jesus is saying is true…that Jesus is indeed God.  (undoubtedly the influence of Pilate’s wife).

 

Luke 23:5

But the chief priests and scribes kept on insisting (they were implacable…they refused to be dissuaded), saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, starting from (around the Sea of) Galilee even as far as this place (the Judean region).”

 

Luke 23:6

When Pilate heard it, he asked whether Jesus was a Galilean.

 

Jesus was a Galilean.  Pilate was looking for a “political out,” and he found one.  He chose to pass off his problem to someone else…Herod Antipas, the murder of John the Baptist.

 

Luke 23:7

And when Pilate learned that Jesus belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time (for the  Passover feast).

 

Let’s take a music break before the story of the Crucifixion of our Lord continues…

 

MUSIC BREAK

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

Chris Rice

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Crucifixion:  The Tale of a Forgiving Messiah

 

We continue at Luke, Chapter 23, Verse 8…

 

Luke 23:8

Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Jesus and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him.

 

Herod wanted to be entertained.

 

 

An evil, perverted, and adulterous generation seeks for a sign…which they won’t believe when they see it.

 

Luke 23:9

And Herod Antipas questioned Jesus at some length; but Jesus answered him nothing.

 

Luke 23:10

And the chief priests and the scribes (of the Sanhedrin) were standing there, accusing Jesus vehemently.

 

Luke 23:11

And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Jesus with contempt and after mocking Him, dressed Jesus in a gorgeous (King’s) robe and sent Him back to Pilate.

 

And this is why they were dividing up Jesus’ garments at the base of the Cross…

Luke 23:12

Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.

 

Luke 23:13

Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people…

 

Luke 23:14

…and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him.”

 

Luke 23:15

“No, nor has Herod (seen any guilt in this man), for he sent Jesus back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him.”

 

Luke 23:16

“Therefore I will punish Jesus and release Him.”

 

Luke 23:17

Now Pilate was obliged to release to them at the feast (of the Passover) one prisoner.

 

Luke 23:18

But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!”

 

Luke 23:19

(Barabbas was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.)

 

A guilty man was released and an innocent man was put to death.

 

Luke 23:20

Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again…

 

Luke 23:21

…but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!”

Luke 23:22

And Pilate said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Jesus no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.”

 

Luke 23:23

But they were insistent (implacable condition), with loud voices asking that Jesus be crucified. And their voices began to prevail.

 

Luke 23:24

And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand (of crucifixion) be granted.

 

Luke 23:25

And Pilate released the man they were asking for (Barabbas) who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but Pilate delivered Jesus to their will.

 

What a coward…

 

Luke 23:26

When they led Jesus away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the Cross to carry behind Jesus.

 

Luke 23:27

And following Jesus was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him.

 

Luke 23:28

But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”

 

Luke 23:29

“For behold, the days are coming when the men of the Sanhedrin will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’”

 

Luke 23:30

“Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’”

 

Luke 23:31

“For if they do these things when the tree is green (when I am alive), what will happen when it is dry (when I am gone)?”

 

Luke 23:32

Now two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.

 

Luke 23:33

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Jesus and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

 

 

Luke 23:34

But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

 

The forgiving Messiah…accused falsely…lied about…horribly treated…yet forgiving.

 

Luke 23:35

And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Jesus, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God (the Messiah), His Chosen One.”

 

Luke 23:36

The soldiers also mocked Jesus, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine…

 

Luke 23:37

…and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews (maybe you are and maybe you aren’t), save Yourself!”

 

Luke 23:38

Now there was also an inscription above Jesus, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

 

Luke 23:39

One of the criminals who were hanged there (the insulting one) was hurling abuse at Jesus, saying, “Are You not the Christ (the Messiah)? Save Yourself and us!”

 

Luke 23:40

But the other criminal (the repentant thief) answered, and rebuking (the insulting one) said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?”

 

Luke 23:41

“And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

 

Luke 23:42

And the repentant thief was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”

 

Nine words requesting salvation…

 

Luke 23:43

And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

 

Salvation granted…The Forgiving Messiah.

 

Luke 23:44

It was now about the sixth hour (12:00 PM), and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00 PM)…

 

Luke 23:45

…because the sun was obscured; and the veil of Solomon’s temple was torn in two.

 

Luke 23:46

And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last breath (physical death).

 

Luke 23:47

Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.”

 

Luke 23:48

And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts.

 

Luke 23:49

And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Jesus from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

 

Luke 23:50

And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council (of the Sanhedrin), a good and righteous man (one of two believers in Christ on the Sanhedrin…along with Nicodemus of John Chapter 3)…

 

Luke 23:51

…(a man who had not agreed with the council’s plan of action against Jesus)…Joseph, a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews (in the Judean region), who was waiting for the kingdom of God (a believer in Christ)…

 

Luke 23:52

…this man (Joseph) went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

 

Luke 23:53

And Joseph took Jesus’ body down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Jesus in a tomb cut into the rock (Joseph’s own tomb… Matthew 27:60), where no one had ever lain.

 

Luke 23:54

It was the preparation day (for the Sabbath), and the Sabbath was about to begin.

 

Luke 23:55

Now the women who had come with Jesus out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how Jesus’s body was laid.

 

Luke 23:56

Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.  And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

 

What is the significance of divine forgiveness?

 

God requires perfection.  When you accept God’s forgiveness you are perfect in His eyes.  Accepting God’s forgiveness means you abandon all attempts to earn forgiveness through your own works.  You simply accept the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on your behalf.

 

Accepting God’s forgiveness once and for all time means we get to live guilt free.  When you are forgiven, you let go of your past indiscretions, your present indiscretions and your future indiscretions knowing that they are a hindrance to your relationship with God.  God’s forgiveness requires you to transform your thoughts about yourself and to see yourself exactly as God sees you…as righteous, as holy, and as blameless because of the Lord’s work on your behalf at the Cross.

 

I’m reading a book called, “The Bonds that Make Us Free” by C. Terry Warner.  It asks the reader to consider this…

 

           The Bonds that Make Us Free

                     by C. Terry Warner

 

“Imagine living  a life where you take offense at nothing, and harbor no accusation against anyone within your heart.”

 

I don’t have to imagine this life…it’s the life The Forgiving Messiah perfected.  And I will never live that life in my own power, but He can live that life through me, again and again, enabled by the power of God the Holy Spirit, if only on a moment by moment basis, one person at a time, through imperfect me.  This is the life we seek to live as Christians…because this is the life He made possible through the Cross.

 

When the Lord Jesus Christ

Promises Salvation, It’s a Guarantee!

 

Acts 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

Acts 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given to mankind by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”

 

Luke 19:10

“For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

First Timothy 2:9

…the Lord has saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and through the grace which was granted to us in union with Christ Jesus from all eternity…

 

CLOSING SONG

WHAT HELD YOU ON THE CROSS

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

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