Do you like a good contest
of strength and ability, like what you find in an athletic event? There
must be someone who does for all the nations of the world have sporting
events. The sports fan loves the struggle of the contestants
as they pit mind, will, and emotion against their opponents. The
game of football is one of those which is a tough sport, demanding
physical and emotional strength, speed, training, and stamina. The
Iditarod with husky dogs and snow sleds racing through sub-zero temperatures
is also extremely demanding! But what does Palm Sunday have
to do with Sporting events?
Today,
as we remember the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, we are remembering the
struggle of good against evil, more specifically, Satan
against God! It was a contest of physical, emotional, and spiritual
strength and endurance! And the
death of Jesus Christ was the culmination of the victory! His
death was not a defeat to be lamented, but a victory to be heralded
as the ultimate triumph! Too often we grieve over the physical
and emotional struggles of Jesus instead of seeing Him as the winning
team member who was committed to winning the victory! What is the meaning of all of this?
Palm
Sunday is the day we recall the triumphant entrance which Jesus had
as He arrived in Jerusalem. This
is the week we remind ourselves of the Passover Jesus celebrated
with His twelve disciples, the agonizing prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, His arrest, the unjust trial,
the flogging, and His crucifixion on a cruel, rugged cross. All
of these events bring us to the Easter celebration as we remember
the resurrection of Jesus from the dead!
But a story in our Christian
calendar is not just a story in itself, but we must examine the
significance of the story! Why did God come to earth in
the form of man? Why did Jesus die on the cross? What
does His death mean to me? And what is the significance of
His resurrection? That is the real story-- the Gospel story! Paul
catches the essence of the Gospel--
1 Cor 1:18
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. NKJV
Notice, for
those of us who are being saved the message of the cross is the
power of God. The world does not understand, and some Christians
do not understand, the power of the cross! The cross is the
centerpiece in God's plan of redemption. Without the cross,
without Christ the sinless God/man dying on the cross, there is
no salvation! It was no accident that Jesus died on the cross –it
was the plan of God –it is the power of God
revealed! The
victory of Jesus dying on the cross as payment for our sins is
central to the Gospel message!
Let's
see what the power of the cross means to you and to me:
Col 2:13-15
13 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,
14 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.
15 Having disarmed principalities
and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over
them in it. NKJV
The
crucifixion of Jesus Christ is not a sad thing to remember,
it is the most powerful and wonderful event that ever happened
in history! I know Jesus suffered, but what He accomplished
in His sufferings was the most spectacular victory recorded in
history!
Jesus
accomplished the task which He set out to accomplish! When
Jesus died on the cross He removed
our sins and paid the penalty as if He was guilty for
them! Specifically, Jesus
removed the accusations written against us by having it nailed to
the cross! Every sin you have ever committed,
everything which demands a verdict of guilty, every transgression
and failure in your life, Jesus took the requirement of punishment
out of the way!
He
not only forgave us our sins, but He
gave us eternal life! He
took you and me, being spiritually dead because of the sins we have
committed, and made us alive with Christ. He created life in
you when He died on the cross in our place!
Together
with removing our sins from us and giving us eternal life-- He disarmed the authority of Satan by
which he had held us bound in sin! Not only are we forgiven,
but we are no longer powerless! We are set free from sin, the
guilt of our past, and the need to
habitually return to our sinful ways. The death of Jesus was His triumph
in battle and He now has made a public spectacle of Satan and his host! Jesus
won the victory!
That
victory becomes ours when we place our faith in Jesus Christ!
Eph
2:8-10
8 For by grace
you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one
may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works.
NASU
What
Jesus did on the cross by taking the guilty verdict from us, by freeing
us from the power of Satan, and by giving us eternal life; becomes
ours when we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior. We
cannot earn forgiveness. We cannot earn salvation. None
of our works are good enough to purchase us a place in heaven. These
all become ours when we trust what Jesus did on the cross! It
is His loving grace that offers salvation to us and our only qualifying
response is to believe and trust Him, as we place our faith in what
He has done.
Not
only are we forgiven of our past sins, but we are freed from the
power of sin! Listen to the Word of God in Romans:
Romans 6
6 knowing this that our
old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has
died has been freed from sin.
NKJV
When
we place our faith in Christ for salvation, the power of Satan is
broken off of our lives; therefore we are no longer bound to sin! We
do not have to continue in sin! When Jesus died on the cross,
we died with Him, our old sin nature died. We are no longer
bound to sinful habits, sinful practices, or sinful ways. We
are free!
The
Apostle Paul expressed it this way:
Galatians
2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave Himself for me. NKJV
We
begin our relationship with Jesus Christ by an act of faith. We
are to continue in life as an act of faith. You and I may not
have reached a place of perfection, but we have been given the power
and the ability to continue our journey in that direction!
The
cross was not a defeat for Jesus, it was victory! The cross
is much like the goal post on the end of a football field-- it's
the goal line-- it's the place of victory. It's the place where
your sins and mine were taken out of the way and eternal life was
provided for all those who will place their faith in Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior!
Have
you placed your faith in Christ? You can do it today. "Lord
Jesus, I believe you died on the cross in my place. I believe
you paid the penalty for my sins. I believe in You and I receive
your eternal life! I receive forgiveness and salvation in the
name of Jesus."
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