ANCHOR SCRIPTURE:
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
John 6:35-40 (NIV)
Last week – 7 Responses to the Presence of Jesus in Your Life
Today – 7 Reactions of Jesus From The Cross
Celebration of victory over sin and death.
Victory was in doing of God’s will.
To appreciate significance of victory, helps to understand costs required to gain it.
NOTE: Sports team example. People cheer along parade route and parties but cannot know the cost of gaining that victory.
How Does Crucifixion and Resurrection Apply In My Life?
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—
his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
Crucifixion was Jesus doing God’s Will.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but
to do the will of him who sent me.
John 6:38 (NIV)
- The price for doing God’s will is high – sacrifice
- The price for rebellion against God’s Will is higher – death.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 (NASB)
NOTE: Jesus didn’t just die for our sins. Many people die for sin – theirs and others. Jesus rose to defeat sin and death.
Doing God’s will can be complex. – Wilderness Season
Jesus’ Reaction from the Cross understand cost of doing God’s will:
First Reaction from the Cross:
1. Forgiveness
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Luke 23:34 (NIV)
NOTE: State of dress or undress shows often shows sin posture –
- Garden of Eden,
- laying cloaks as Jesus entered on donkey,
- young man who fled naked in garden of Gethsemane.
- Now Roman soldiers who beat Jesus are gambling for His clothes. His clothes do not define His character, but they show the lack of integrity of soldiers. STILL, Jesus forgave them.
NOTE: Forgiving is the greatest gift you give yourself. Freedom from offender / offense. Also, God commands that we forgive like Jesus.
For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.
Matthew 6:14-15 (Complete Jewish Bible)
Second Reaction from the Cross:
2. Salvation
And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:42-43 (NASB)
NOTE: Jesus didn’t tell the thief to close his eyes, or raise his hand, or repeat the Sinner’s Prayer or complete a Bible study or church track or hop down and get baptized on a scheduled day.
Jesus simply spoke mercy and salvation.
The Man On The Middle Cross Said I Can Come
That same man on the middle cross said you can come.
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38 (NASB)
ALSO
“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)
AND
Jesus said… “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
JOHN 11:25–26
NOTE: Believing on Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father.
Jesus said to him (Thomas), “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6 (NASB)
Third Reaction from the Cross:
3. Relationship
So, Jesus, seeing His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing near, said to His mother, “[Dear] woman, look, [here is] your son!” Then He said to the disciple (John), “Look! [here is] your mother [protect and provide for her]!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
John 19:26-27 (Amplified Bible)
NOTE – Don’t Disparage Your Calling
– Peter became empowered leader of movement – Day of Pentecost & Holy Spirit
- Paul wrote 28% of the NT
– James led the large church in Jerusalem
– Other apostles traveled making disciples of the nations.
- BUT John, who self-identified as the one Jesus loved most was simply asked to care for an old woman – Jesus’s mother, Mary.
YET –Wrote Book of Revelation – Maybe his parent-sitting assignment prepared him to gain a deeper understanding of the heart of Jesus through his mother’s eyes?
- Never disregard God’s calling on your life as menial or petty – trust with a little trust with a lot (Luke 16:10)
Fourth Reaction from the Cross:
4. Abandonment
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
Mark 15:34 (Amplified Bible)
NOTE: God didn’t forsake Jesus for doing His will.
- Affirmation for doing God’s will perfectly.
- Every single sin was transferred to Jesus, so He would be the final sacrifice.
- God does not co-exist with sin (NEITHER SHOULD WE)
- Jesus’ reaction confirms He accomplished his mission & bring us comfort.
Do NOT Mistake Glory for Gloom
Count The Costs of God’s Free Gift
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God”
1 Peter 3:18
Fifth Reaction from the Cross:
5. Distress
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said in fulfillment of the Scripture, “I am thirsty.”
John 19:28 (Amplified Bible)
- There is a tangible, soul-dry thirst in the absence of God!
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty,
nor come all the way here to draw water.”
John 4:15
- Jesus was the refreshing living water for the woman at the well. Activated her evangelical ministry (3000 Samaritans to Jesus)
- Similar to her having a spiritual thirst quenched, Jesus also needed not sour vinegar, but the living water of God.
- Her quench made way for sharing the Gospel
- Jesus’ quench made way for the Holy Spirit to empower the Gospel message
Sixth Reaction from the Cross:
6. Triumph
Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”
And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
John 19:30 (NASB)
NOTE: Jesus knew the exact moment He had perfectly completed God’s will.
- It Is Finished - Jesus spoke in authority to signal the end of His life on earth and moving toward the victory of Resurrection.
NOTE:
- We must all submit in the spiritual hierarchy. - Anyone opposed to submission is in rebellion.
- Jesus voluntarily gave up His spirit in submission to God’s will so his Father’s will was done!
How Can We Know God’s Perfect Will?
If you received Jesus as Savior & Lord – you have God (Holy Spirit) dwelling inside you. He will instruct you!
For who among people knows the thoughts of a person except the spirit of the person that is in him? So also, the thoughts of God no one knows, except the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:11 (NASB)
Seventh Reaction from the Cross:
7. Reunion
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Luke 23:46 (KJV)
NOTE: Power in God’s Word
- Spoke creation into existence Genesis 1:1
- Spoke eternal existence into God’s creation of humanity – His return to the Father set sin-forgiven path for us to live with God forever.
HOW DO WE KNOW JESUS WAS RAISED?
God Said So
Let’s Celebrate As the Body - Stand and Read The Victory Together…
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in gleaming clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why are you seeking the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen…
Luke 24 (NASB)
