SUFFERED
[1] Welcome: If you’re new with us, my name is Nic Cook and I’m one of the pastors at Cornerstone Church in Auburn IL. Thanks for joining us.
SERIES: We’re continuing our teaching series on THE CREED: WHAT WE BELIEVE. We’ve been going through an ancient set of short & memorable sayings that have helped Christians have hope, faith, and joy in the middle of a world where diseases, doubts, and darkness surrounded them. They stood strong when empires, nations, governments either persecuted them, or fell into decay. I can think of no better truths to stand on in our current situation than that we are the in a relationship with the almighty and powerful creator of the universe yet can run to him as Daddy. He planned it all and his plans never fail. We can take comfort in the fact that King Jesus is still in control, and that he experienced everything we have and overcame sin and death and promises to do the same for us. And today we come to the part of the CREED THAT SAYS JESUS…[2]
· SUFFERED UNDER PONTIUS PILATE, WAS CRUCIFIED, DEAD, AND BURIED. Christians unashamedly talk about suffering and death. I remember the first time this struck me in a way I had never thought about before. But when my adopted Grandmother, Willetta was in Hospice care and in the last days of her earthly life. She loved music so I brought my acoustic guitar up to the nursing home and decided I would play and sing for her. I was thinking that I would sing some of her favorites like How Great Thou Art, Old Rugged Cross, Nothing but the Blood. And as I’m sitting in a room with my dying grandma, surrounded by people who are also in the last phase of life, I thought to myself, man there are a ton of lyrics that talk about blood, dying, the cross, pain, suffering. [3]And yet, that is exactly why Christianity is so immensely good. It doesn’t deny the brokenness of suffering and death. It deals with it head on and bluntly. It recognizes that this world isn’t right and that, even though it was not our God’s intention for life to be this way, he is actively involved in doing something about it. He personally experienced sin and death in order to take away its power and begin to reverse its effects. So, as we jump into the teaching for this morning I’d like for us to say the creed together. [4-10][READ CREED] [11][BIBLES ISAIAH 52/ AUBURNCSTONE.INFO]
o PRAYER: Father in heaven, Daddy God, thank you for bringing us together this morning. We’ve gotten far too comfortable with the cross. Help us this morning see both the horror or sin, and the beauty of our Savior, Jesus the Christ, your Son, and our Master. Amen.
(TEACH) HORRIBLE & BEAUTIFUL (God)
AMAZON: [12]When I searched the word “cross” on Amazon I got all kinds of pictures of decorations for sale. Crosses with flowers, crosses with butterflies, crosses made out of glass, necklaces made out of silver or gold, pillows with crosses, I even found cross nightlights. And if you had told 1st century people that the cross would become a piece of art they hung on their wall or jewelry around their neck they would have looked at you and thought, what kind of demented sicko would think the cross is a thing of beauty?! That’s exactly what a follower of Jesus named Paul said in his letter to a group of churches in the ancient city of Corinth. [13-14]He says “So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended, and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God” [1 Cor 1:23-24] [15]JEWS: would have been taught from the time they were very little that in their scriptures, what we call the Old Testament or the first testament, is that anyone who hung on a tree was cursed by God. [16-17][Deut. 21:22-23] says this. Stoning was the typical form of capital punishment, but sometimes they would hang the body as a way of deterring others from following the criminal’s example. So, in the Jewish mind, anyone who hung from a tree deserved it, and they believed God decided they should be punished because they were so bad. Eventually, [18]To be cursed by God meant to be totally removed from the presence of God. You were no longer savable and were no longer counted as one of God’s people. The Jews looked at the cross and said, no way. Our Messiah, our King would never hang on a tree. And the [19]GREEKS: would have listened to Christians talk about Jesus being God and being crucified and they probably would have laughed. They knew that being crucified was the most humiliating and painful form of torture that had ever been devised. [20]The idea of a God hanging naked, bleeding, crying, and in pain was absolutely ridiculous to them. Gods don’t do that for people. Humans simply weren’t that valuable to their gods. And yet, it was exactly part of what God had chosen to do as part of his plan, it says that the Savior of the World would bring salvation through…[21]
· THE SUFFERING OF JESUS: That word suffering carries the connotation that what is being experienced isn’t fair. To say someone is suffering is to say that it shouldn’t be that way. And when we look at what Jesus experienced on the cross, we see that he did not deserve it. But we’re told that God knew it was going to happen anyway and still allowed it. Around 700 years earlier a man named Isaiah heard God speak to him and told him to tell his people this. [22-39][Is. 52:13-53:12] This passage from our bible is often called the Suffering Servant passage. When it was written and spoken to them the first time, they were prisoners and refugees living in a foreign land and oppressed by a foreign empire. And they were waiting for God to send someone to defeat their enemies and take them home and give them peace and prosperity for eternity. And when they hear that God is sending someone, they’re like alright. He’s coming finally. And what do they hear? My servant is going to come and he’s going to… [40]SUFFER AND DIE!? WHAT? And then Isaiah goes on to…
o DESCRIBE THE SUFFERING OF JESUS. [41]HE SUFFERED (PHYSICALLY): In verse [52:14] say’s he’ll be disfigured and hardly seem human. [53:3] says he was a man of sorrows [deep pain] and experienced suffering and sickness. [53:5] says he was pierced and crushed. [42]HE SUFFERED (EMOTIONALLY) [53:3] says he will be despised & rejected. To despise someone means to look at them and hate them. To reject meant to turn away from. It’s like someone seeing you on the street and deciding to turn and walk the other way just so they don’t have to be near you because they hate you so much. [43]HE SUFFERED (SPIRITUALLY) [53:10] says that it was God’s will to crush him. He experienced the anger, the wrath, and separation from God that he had never experienced before.
§ PASSION MOVIE: Because many of us have small children in the room I want to give you the choice about how to convey the brutality and the suffering of Jesus how and when you feel appropriate. But I also think we need reminding of it ourselves. I think that’s the reason why the movie the passion of the Christ was so impactful. It was a pretty historically accurate picture of what Jesus would have experienced. And the first time I saw it I sat and wept. It’s one thing to sing about the cross, it’s another to hear it preached about, but to see it sears it into our minds. God himself, Jesus Christ, hanging from a cross, naked, bleeding and gasping is absolutely heartbreaking. Why did it happen this way? I think one reason is that…[44]
o MAIN POINT #1: THE CROSS GIVES US A PERFECT PHYSICAL PICTURE OF WHAT SIN SPIRITUALLY LOOKS LIKE AND LEADS TO. [45-48] [Is. 53:4-6] says. The Jews were waiting for God to come and crush their enemies. Crush those people. The bad ones who oppress us. We’re the good ones. The problem is that we’re all the bad ones. We’re all rebels and enemies of God. Acting like we are God, acting like there is no God. Looking for satisfaction in everything but him. Giving all our time to pleasure, power, possessions, prestige, and ignoring him. And when we do any of those things we’re sinning. It destroys us and separates us from God. God knew that we needed a picture to show us just how horrible our sin is. We have gotten some glimpses recently of just how horrific, sickening, and destructive sin is in humanity. When humans can use the color of someone’s skin as an excuse to oppress, punish, and even end their life. That’s the result of sin in the heart of humanity. It destroys everything around it. And we absolutely and rightly stand up and call it evil. We should call it what it is and seek to do something about it. [49]But laws and governments can’t LEGISLATE sin our of our hearts. Schools and Universities can’t EDUCATE sin out of our hearts. Drugs and medication can’t MEDICATE sin out of our hearts. [50]We have to see if for ourselves and see it for what it is and cry out to God to save us from it. But we have a tendency to see sin in terms of comparison. Surely you can’t see lust or lying right in the same category as racism and murder, right? Those are little sins. And I have seen what happens when little sins go unchecked. Like microscopic cancer cells, they grow and infect and destroy everything eventually. I watched in horror as someone I loved that had what started as an addiction to pornography eventually have over 30 affairs, blow up his marriage, and destroy his other relationships. And my heart breaks for what has happened to his wife and his 6-year-old son because of it. The danger we most often face is to look at others sin, Oh, Jesus Suffered under Pontius Pilate. It’s a systemic evil. Oh, it’s THOSE PEOPLE that sinned and killed Jesus. And Isaiah says Jesus was pierced for OUR REBELLION. HE WAS CRUSHED FOR OUR SINS. WE ALL HAVE STRAYED. THE SINS OF US ALL ARE LAID ON JESUS. And God says look at the cross and SEE THE HORROR OF YOUR SIN. But also look at the cross and see the BEAUTY OF YOUR SAVIOR. [51]
· MAIN POINT #2: THE CROSS GIVES US A PERFECT PICTURE OF GOD’S LOVE LOOKS LIKE. One of the early followers of Jesus named Paul said it this way. [52][Rom. 5:8] When we look at Jesus on the cross with his arms outstretched, we see God saying, I’m willing to go through this to save you from destroying yourself. I’m willing to go through all this to keep you from being separated from me forever. [53]Not because YOU ARE GOOD, BUT BECAUSE I AM GOOD! I’m willing to take nails in my arms so that you can be embraced as my friend and not an enemy. I’m willing to take nails in my feet so that you can walk into the presence of God. [54]THIS IS LOVE. ARMS OUT WIDE TO EMBRACE A WORLD THAT HAS TURNED AWAY FROM HIM, HAS MADE ITSELF ITS OWN GOD, AND BROUGHT DESTRUCTION ON EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE. And as he yelled out his final breathe he said…[55]
o IT IS FINISHED: this was not a cry of a desperate dying man. This was the cry of a warrior who had fought and won his greatest battle. He was saying the punishment that you deserved, it has been dealt with. He was saying the sin that you’ve been ashamed of, it has been dealt with, the flesh that you struggle against, it has been dealt with, the enemy of Satan that holds you prisoner, he has been dealt with. IT IS FINISHED. I HAVE DONE IT. YOU DON’T HAVE TO EARN IT, YOU DON’T DESERVE IT. Stop thinking you have to clean yourself up to get back to god or be part of his people. YOU CAN’T ADD TO IT. HE DOESN’T NEED YOUR GOOD DEEDS. HE LOVES YOU AS YOU ARE AND WILL MAKE YOU WHO YOU SHOULD BE. It’s finished. Simply enjoy it and let it change you.
(APP) CONTINUE TO SEE YOUR SIN AND YOUR SAVIOR (You)
I know that there will be people who hear about the cross and mock it and laugh at it. One pastor said it this way “Whenever the cross is raised, there will quickly gather a gaggle of mockers to hurl insults at it. And yet, none of the sneers, taunts or profanities hurled at the cross and those who raise it up can change the fact that the cross is a beacon of light in a world that is cold, brutal, and dark.” We can look at the cross and see just how broken and sinful this world can be. And God did that on purpose. He wants us to see the horror of sin in the human heart. But he wants us to see the depth of his love. [56]BE HORRIFIED BY THE UGLINESS YOUR SIN, AND BE COMFORTED BY THE BEAUTY & LOVE OF YOUR SAVIOR.
· When this same message was preached by Peter, the peoples response was, what should we do? And if you believe that your sin was bad enough to die for, and that Jesus is God’s son who loved you enough to come then baptism is your first step. If you’re ready to learn more about why this is so important. Check box.
· If you have been following Jesus for a while, I hope that his time helps remind you of things we professed at first. The longer we follow Jesus, the more we will see just how bad and sinful we really are, and we should also see more and more how good and beautiful Jesus is. And as we do the cross will get both more horrific and beautiful at the same time. [57]
Today, before we go into our discussion time, I want to end with the lyrics of a song by Matt Redman called Upon Him. I’d like to invite you to close your eyes and listen to these truths.
Upon a hill, a perfect Savior, Upon that day, the greatest love
The punishment that should have fallen on us
Upon Him, upon Him
Upon his head, a crown of thorns, Upon his heart, a broken world
The wage of sin, the weight of our transgressions
Upon Him, upon Him
Christ has died, we are forgiven
And Christ alive, we are the risen
And He shall come again
Praise the King, Praise the King
