The Cross
"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me. "
Galatians 2:20
"God forbid that I
should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
Galatians
6:14
Hated by the world
"...the message of
the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are saved it is the power of God."
1 Corinthians 1:18
"For many walk, of
whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that
they are the enemies of the cross of Christ; whose
end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is
in their shame -- who set their mind on earthly things.
For our citizenship is in heaven from which we also
eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will
transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His
glorious body...."
Philippians 3:18-21
"Now thanks
be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and
through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every
place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among
those who are saved and among those who are perishing.
To the one we are the
aroma of death leading to death,
and to the other the aroma of life leading to life."
2 Corinthians 2:14-16]
The
main reason Jesus came into the world
"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."
Isaiah 53:5
"From
that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must
go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and
be raised the third day.
"Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying,
'Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!'
But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You
are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of
God, but the things of men.'”
Matthew 16:21-23
"And
He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of
a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they
crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and
Jesus in the center.
"Now Pilate wrote a title and
put it on the cross. And the writing was:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where
Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
'Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, 'I am the
King of the Jews.'
"Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took
His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and
also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the
top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves,
'Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,'
that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: 'They divided My garments among them,
and for My clothing they cast lots.'...
"Jesus, knowing that all
things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be
fulfilled, said,
I thirst! Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting
there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on
hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received
the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His
head, He gave up His spirit."
John 19:17-30
"...one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him,
saying, 'If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.' But the
other, answering, rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not even fear
God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?' And we indeed
justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but
this Man has done nothing wrong.' Then he said to Jesus,
Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.
"And Jesus said to him,
Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in
Paradise.'"
Luke 23:39-43
"...it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over
all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was
darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And
when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, 'Father,
into Your hands I commit My spirit.'”
Luke 23:44-47
"...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and
to give His life a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:28
"...we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels,
for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor,
that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."
Hebrews 2:9
"He
is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He
was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be
delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and
the third day rise again.'"
Luke 24:6-8
Prophesied centuries before His crucifixion
"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.
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed 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."
Isaiah 53:3-5
We share in
His death and victory
"...we were
buried with Him through baptism into death, that
just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of
the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life.
"For if we have been
united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His
resurrection,
knowing this, that
our old [former] man was
crucified with Him, that
the body of sin might be
done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
For
he who has died has been
freed from sin.
"Now
if we
died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him....
Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 6:4-11
Redeemed, once for
all
"...you He made
alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the
sons of disobedience.... But God, who is rich in mercy, because
of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were
dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you have been saved), and raised us up together,
and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ
Jesus.... For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast....."
Ephesians 2:1-9
"And you,
being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having
wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was
contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having
nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities
and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing
over them in it."
Colossians
2:13-15
"...having made peace through the blood of
His cross."
Colossians 1:20
"Now then, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through
us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we
might become the righteousness of God in Him."
2 Corinthians
5:20-21
Ongoing victory through
the cross
"But if we walk in
the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from
all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:7-9
"...that He might
reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross,
thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached
peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For
through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the
Father."
Ephesians 2:16-18
Our part of the daily
victory
"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. For whoever
desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man
if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of
Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory..."
Luke 9:23-26
"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot
be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower,
does not sit down first and count the cost..."
Luke
14:27-28
"... he who does not
take his cross and follow after Me
is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he
who loses his life for My sake will find it."
Matthew 10:38-39
"And you, who once
were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death,
to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in
His sight— if indeed you continue in the faith,
grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope
of the gospel...."
Colossians 1:21-23
"Then Jesus,
looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'One thing you lack:
Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the
cross, and follow Me.'”
Mark 10:21
"Christ did not
send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no
effect."
1
Corinthians 1:17
The offense of the cross
"...if I still preach circumcision
[conforming to accepted
cultural standards],
why do I still suffer persecution? Then
the offense of the cross has ceased."
Galatians 5:11
"As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these
would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ."
Galatians 6:12
Enduring the cross
"He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem."
Luke 9:51
"...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, looking 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."
Hebrews
12:1-2
"To Him who
loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
and has made us kings and priests to His God and
Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen."
Revelation 1:5-6
See also Through
the Blood of Jesus and
Redemption