The Cross, Resurrection and Pentecost

7. The Cross, Resurrection and Pentecost

Is it possible to say all that happened at the cross? No, we hardly know anything about what really happened there, except a few simple concepts and the words of scripture.

A. When Christ died he died for God. He died to vindicate God – to prove forever that God was right all a long. He died to clear the name of God.

B. Christ died to prove that the Devils message that God does not love us, is forever false.

C. Christ died to satisfy the righteousness of God in bringing justice on the sin of man.

D. Christ died to destroy he works of the Devil.

E. Christ died to provide a way were by God can forgive the sinner of his sins and bring him into a relationship with him.

F. Christ died to destroy the sinful nature in the believer.

G. Christ died to put away sin.

H. Christ died to prove that sin is sin and that God is holy.

Peter said the Jews in Acts 3

15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

Men crucified him but God raised him from the dead.

And if God has raised him from the dead that look out! Men thought that they had dealt with the issue once for all, but God raised him from the dead. Men hated Christ and thought that they could get rid of him forever, But God raised him from the dead. Men thought that the grave would hold him but God raised him from the dead. Men thought that they would never have to think about Christ again, But God raised him from the dead.

Peter said…22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 23 And it shall come to pass, [that] every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

Moses prophesied that God would raise up a prophet from among them (Christ) and they would hear him but those who refuse to hear him will be destroyed form among the people (of Israel).

When Christ rose from the dead he did not destroy all those who had crucified him but he sent his apostles to them to offer them repentance. The apostles travelled right through the whole Roman empire presenting to Israel another opportunity to return to the Lord their God and city by city and synagogue by synagogue they turned their back on Christ again. Eventually the Roman legions came and destroyed the nation in AD 70. What did they witness to? They said that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah and that though they had crucified him God had raised him from the dead and made him Lord and Christ.

When Christ was here with his disciples he gave them the power of the Holy Spirit to work miracles and to preach the gospel to Israel. But when he died he said I don’t want you to leave Jerusalem but I want you to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Christ died at the time of the Jewish Passover but 50 days later, ten days after he had ascended to heaven he baptised the disciples in the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The Passover was the celebration of the Children of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. But the day of Pentecost was the celebration of Israel entering into the Mosaic covenant. On that day Christ began a completely new thing the church was born. True it was all Jewish to begin with but later it would include ever born again person in the world. When a person becomes a christian the day of Christ’s death does not occur again nor the day of Pentecost but they come into the blessing of all that took place on those momentous days.

We look back to the cross to see the time when our sins were taken away and we look back to Pentecost to see the time when we became united as believers in Christ s church.