Paid In Full: The Power and Purpose of the Cross

What's gonna matter is if your name is written in the lamb's book of life? If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ. And the cross demands that kind of a response. Far too many of us simply admire the cross. We we love to wear it on our necks. We love to have it placed on our bodies somewhere. We love to have pictures of the cross. We are addicted to having things that we just look at. [01:09:24] (29 seconds)  #BeyondTheCross

At first glance, it looks like a tragedy. You've seen the video, a beaten savior, a blood stained cross, a silent sky. But I need you to hear this today, Good Friday is not the day that Jesus Christ lost. It's the day that hell lost grip on humanity. Friends, what looked like defeat was actually an incredibly awesome divine setup with eternal purpose. It looked like the end, but in fact, it was the beginning of freedom. [00:56:42] (49 seconds)  #GoodFridayVictory

This was taken, not given. Nobody took Jesus' life. He gave it. He wasn't overpowered. He was obedient. John ten eighteen says, no one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. It wasn't chaos. Rome certainly didn't win. This was heaven executing an incredible plan because before the nails, there was a decision. Before the cross, there was incredible surrender. Truth be told, that's where it starts for us too. [00:57:48] (58 seconds)  #LaidDownHisLife

Every single one of us will one day stand before our holy God And it's not gonna matter how many Instagram followers you have. It's not gonna matter who your friends are. It's not gonna matter that you had breakfast with the pastor once a year. It's not gonna matter that you attended church. In fact, it's not even going to matter if you spent your entire life studying the word of God, although that's important. [01:08:50] (34 seconds)  #EternalReality

You can't stand at the cross and stay the same. You can't encounter this kind of power and stay the same. At the cross where Jesus was crucified, some people made decisions, Some mocked. Some walked away. Some believed. And today is no different. Because the cross, like the one beside behind me demands a response. [01:08:03] (47 seconds)  #CrossChangesEverything

You see the cross does something. The cross exposes the seriousness of sin. We rename it. We have all kinds of things that we like to call sin. We like to soften it a little bit. We excuse it. We even normalize it. But the cross declares something different. It declares that sin is not small. Sin is deadly. [00:58:45] (45 seconds)  #SinIsDeadly

That wasn't just suffering, that was your sin. That was your sin. That was my sin. Every lie, every compromise, every hidden thing, everything that you and I have ever thought, done, posted online, everything that is contrary to his purposes was crucified on that day. He bore all of that. It was placed on him the bible says. [00:59:43] (34 seconds)  #HeBoreOurSin

This is where it gets personal because that's the kind of gospel this is. That's the kind of sacrifice that Jesus made. This isn't just theology. This is substitution. Second Corinthians five twenty one says, God made the one who did not know sin be sin for us. That means that he took what he shouldn't have taken. He carried what you and I couldn't carry. [01:00:54] (44 seconds)  #SubstitutionaryLove