Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

THE CROSS AND ITS MEANING

1. Instrument of extreme cruelty:
   1. It was used by some nations to exact the severest penalty on criminals.
   2. Death on the cross or pole was looked upon as a measure against crime, so severe that the very thought of it would send terror into the heart of the lawless.
2. The Jewish nation adopted this punishment and used it on numerous occasions:
   1. Mention is made of this punishment in the book of Deut. 21:23
   2. Paul refers to Deut. 21:23 in these words, "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" - Gal. 3:13

1. It is now an emblem of victory over sin:
   1. Paul uses the cross in that light, "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" - Gal. 6:14
   2. To the Corinthians he writes, "For I am determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" - 1 Cor. 2:2
2. It has become, also, a symbol of victory over death:
   1. Satan knew that Christ would, through dying on the cross, doom him to destruction - Phil. 2:6-11; Heb. 12:2; 1 Cor. 15:26; Heb. 2:14
   2. Not only did the death of Christ on the cross doom Satan, but death itself will be destroyed by reason of the death of our Lord on the cross of Calvary - 1 Cor. 15:55-57
   3. As we think of the achievement of the death of our Lord on Calvary, we, too, glory in the cross because it is the emblem of hope for us over sin and death.

1. Here we learn of the attitude of God toward sin:
   1. The bitter cry of the Son of God, "My God, My God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken me?" - Matt. 27:46
   2. His fear that made him plead with his Father, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me" - Matt. 26:39
2. Here we see divine love in its brightest colors:
   1. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" - Luke 23:34
   2. "This day thou shalt be with me in paradise" - Luke 23:43
   3. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" - 1 Pet. 2:24
   4. "When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son" - John 19:26
3. Here we see the terribleness of sin in its darkest colors:
   1. The bitter cry! He, who knew no sin, drank the cup that rightfully belonged to us - Matt. 27:26
   2. His heart actually broke. That indicates the unspeakable pain that came to the Lamb of God - Ps. 69:21
   3. It is here where God went into judgment with sin in the person of his only Son. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." - 2 Cor. 5:21
   4. These facts make the cross of Christ the great fact of redemption; and we must consider all Bible truths in the light of that eternal fact.