The Cross: God's Ultimate Demonstration of Love

Somehow, on the cross, the sacrificial system is turned upside down. Somehow on the cross, the sacrificial system is flipped on the head. Because we've seen throughout scriptures that it's about humanity offering sacrifices to God in order to appease God, in order to please God. But somehow on the cross, we see that God becomes a sacrifice. It's flipped upside down. There's a reverse sacrifice happening. [00:55:25] (41 seconds)  #ReverseSacrifice

We see a god who absorbs violence instead of inflicting it. We see a god who chooses forgiveness over retaliation. A god who chooses mercy over judgment. The cross reveals a god whose very nature is self sacrificial love. Not a love that demands, not a love but a love that gives. Not a love that demands, but a love that gives. Not a love that controls, but a love that lays down itself. Not a love that excludes, but a love that embraces all people from all nations even when it costs. [00:49:45] (39 seconds)  #MercyOverRetribution

But if our picture of God is centered on his love demonstrated on the cross, on a God who gives and gives and gives of himself, like we sung this morning, a reckless God who gives of himself to the extent that he wants to show his love to his people, who loves without limits, then we begin to be transformed from the inside out. We begin to love differently. We begin to forgive differently. We begin to live differently. [00:51:53] (34 seconds)  #TransformedByHisLove

They wanna attribute wars to god. But if you look at the if you look at the scriptures and if you hold those scriptures in the light of the cross, you see they look nothing like Jesus. And so we take scripture and we hold we get hold of the old testament passages, and we put them in the light of of of the cross, and we see what God truly looks like. We see a God who would rather suffer at the hands of his enemies than destroy his enemies. [00:49:15] (30 seconds)  #CrossReframesScripture

Our picture of God really, really does matter. It matters because it shapes how we pray, it shapes how we live, It shapes how we see others, and it shapes how we see ourselves. And to put quite simply, we become like the god we worship. If you imagine god as distant, then you become distant. If you imagine god as harsh, then you become harsh. If you imagine god as controlling and violent, then those traits begin to form in you. [00:51:10] (43 seconds)  #ImageOfGodShapesUs

And in Jesus, we see this perfectly. In Jesus, we find the very essence of God. When Jesus hangs on the cross, we're seeing the heart of God laid bare. The apostle John understands this. You see, John's spent years walking with Jesus. He spent years looking at the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus. And having spent those time with Jesus, John draws to one conclusion about God when he has to define what God is like. And John says, God is love. [00:50:24] (39 seconds)  #GodIsLove

You see, the cross for me is all about the love of God. The cross is the perfect revelation of what God is like. When we look at the cross, we're not just seeing another Roman crucifixion. We're seeing the revelation of God revealed in Christ Jesus. The cross is a demonstration and the very nature of what God looks like. If you wanna know what God looks like, we look at Calvary because the cross is what God is like. [00:46:54] (37 seconds)  #CalvaryRevealsGod

And he does it to tell you and to tell you and to tell you one thing, to tell you that I love you. That I have always loved you, and I think that's transformational. It's transformed my life, and it can transform your life. That when we get a grip and hold of what God has done on the on Calvary, when we get a grip that God chooses to enter into our world and become this sacrifice and to die for us in order to say that I love you, Wow. [00:57:19] (30 seconds)  #CalvarySaysILoveYou