The Cross
Read this if you want to understand how we can be saved and have eternal life
1. We need to do THREE things to be saved
A. BELIEVE in our hearts (= having Faith) that Jesus is our Saviour
Let's see what the Philippian jailer asked in Acts 16:29-31
29Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved …
John 3:14-15
14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up (= on the cross):
15That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Further reading
Genesis 15:6
Luke 7:50
John 1:12, 3:16, 18 & 36, 5:24, 6:29, 40 & 47, 8:24, 11:26, 20:31
Acts 10:43, 13:38-39
Romans 1:16, 3:26, 4:3, 5 & 20-5:2, 9:30, 10:9-11
Galatians 3:22 & 26
1 Timothy 1:16
2 Timothy 3:15
Hebrews 3:18-19, 4:3, 6 & 11, 10:38-39, 11:6, 28-29 & 31
1 Peter 2:6
1 John 3:23, 5:1, 4-5, 10-13
ONLY JESUS can save us
Acts 4:10-12
10Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.
11This is the Stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the Head of the corner.
12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
There's a PARALLEL with Noah's Ark:
Only those who entered the Ark were saved from the flood.
Not those who climbed a tree or the highest mountain - they may have thought that would help, but it wasn’t enough.
If we ask questions like:
Which is the best-tasting food?
Which is the best-ever song?
There are many different answers - all of them valid, because it’s a matter of personal preference.
But if we ask questions such as:
Which is the highest mountain in the world?
Is Australia in the Northern or the Southern hemisphere?
There’s only one true answer to each:
Mount Everest.
Southern hemisphere.
Salvation is like the SECOND type of question - there’s only ONE WAY to be saved.
Q - So why do some people believe in salvation via OTHER religions?
A - Because they haven’t yet discovered the truth.
They’re like Europeans in 1000 AD who didn't know that:
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
Australia is in the Southern hemisphere.
… which were still true - even if the early Europeans had not yet discovered the truth.
Further reading
Deuteronomy 4:35 & 39, 32:37-39
1 Chronicles 17:20
Nehemiah 9:6
Psalms 18:31, 86:10
Isaiah 43:11, 44:6 & 8, 45:5-6 & 18-22, 46:9, 47:4
Jeremiah 10:10
Hosea 13:4
Jonah 2:9
John 10:9, 14:6
1 Corinthians 8:4-6, 15:56-57
1 Thessalonians 5:9
1 Timothy 2:5
1 John 2:23, 5:11-12
Revelation 1:18
B. CONFESS our faith in Jesus & CONFESS our sins to God
Romans 10:9-10 & 13
9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation
...
13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
--> That’s why it’s vital to speak out what we believe, when we first accept Jesus as our Saviour.
Illustration
It's like a wedding ceremony:
Do you accept Jesus as your Saviour?
I do.
Further reading
Acts 2:21
1 John 4:15
We should also CONFESS OUR SINS to God
There's no point in trying to hide our sins from God.
He knows about them all anyway!
1 John 1:8-10
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Further reading
2 Chronicles 30:22
Nehemiah 9:2-3
Job 33:27-28
Psalms 32:5, 38:18, 69:5
Proverbs 28:13
C. REPENT of our sins
Q - What is sin?
A - Doing bad things / thinking bad thoughts, which GO AGAINST how GOD WANTS US TO LIVE:
1 John 3:4 ~ Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Further reading
1 John 5:17
Acts 3:19 ~ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...
--> In this passage Peter told the crowds at Pentecost that they NEEDED to repent.
Repent means that we:
Turn away from our sinful ways.
Turn towards God’s ways - a positive move towards doing the right things.
This doesn’t mean that we’ll never sin again - we all will!
But to the best of our ability, God wants us to start a new life - living His way.
Acts 17:30 ~ And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
It may sound easier if we miss out the need to repent - but that’s just storing up problems for the future.
Becoming a believer but not repenting is like buying something we need - e.g. a bike or a car - but then not maintaining it:
It may sound easier if we miss out the need to maintain it.
But missing out this vital activity can cause problems in the longer term.
Further reading
2 Chronicles 6:36-39, 30:6 & 9
Job 34:31-32, 36:10
Proverbs 28:13
Isaiah 30:15, 59:20
Jeremiah 3:13-14 & 22, 4:1, 8:6-7, 18:8, 36:3
Lamentations 3:40
Ezekiel 18:21-32, 33:11-20
Daniel 9:13
Hosea 14:1-4
Jonah 3:8-10
Zechariah 1:3
Malachi 3:7
Matthew 4:17
Mark 1:4 & 14-15, 2:17, 6:12
Luke 1:16, 3:3, 5:32, 11:32, 13:1-5, 15:7 & 10, 16:28-30, 19:8-9, 24:46-47
Acts 2:36-38, 3:26, 13:24, 20:21, 26:20
1 Thessalonians 1:9
2 Peter 3:9
Revelation 2:5
RECAP of the THREE things WE need to do to be saved:
A. BELIEVE in our hearts (= having faith) that Jesus is our Saviour.
B. CONFESS our faith in Jesus & CONFESS our sins to God.
C. REPENT - turn away from our sins and towards God's ways.
2. What does Jesus then do?
Romans 6:23 ~ For the wages of sin is death …
Q - What’s the punishment for unforgiven sin?
A - Death.
But Jesus redeemed us.
That means He paid OUR death penalty with HIS blood:
Ephesians 1:7 ~ In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
Redemption = To release something, by MAKING A PAYMENT:
If we have a mortgage on our house / flat - the bank owns part of it.
But if we pay off the mortgage - we then own the house / flat.
That’s called redeeming our mortgage - there’s a change of ownership.
When Jesus redeems us, we ‘Change ownership’: from the kingdom of darkness --> into the Kingdom of God:
Colossians 1:13-14
13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated (= transferred) us into the Kingdom of His dear Son:
14In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Under the OLD covenant:
The high priest & the people kept making sacrifices to pay for their sins.
That’s like paying our mortgage every month.
Hebrews 10:12 ~ But this man (= Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
But under the NEW covenant:
Jesus ‘paid the price for good’ - with His blood on the cross.
That’s like someone giving us a huge sum of money so we can redeem our mortgage - we’d never have to make those monthly payments again!
Illustration
Imagine we did something bad at school:
We’re caught and sent to the Head Teacher’s office for a punishment (which in the past, included a physical beating!).
On our way to the punishment, Jesus taps us on the shoulder and says: ‘Do you want Me to go for that punishment in your place?’
We’d be daft to say ‘No’!
Because unless we accept Jesus’ offer - we’re going to that punishment.
In real life:
We’d also be daft to say ‘No’.
Because unless we accept Jesus’ offer - we’ll be punished in hell for our sins.
Further reading
Psalms 49:15, 103:2-4
Isaiah 35:8-10, 44:22, 48:17
Hosea 13:14
Luke 1:68-69
John 1:29
Acts 20:28
Romans 3:23-26
1 Corinthians 15:3
Galatians 1:4, 3:13, 4:4-5
1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9-10
Titus 2:13-14
Hebrews 2:17, 9:11-12, 13:12
1 John 2:2 & 12
Revelation 5:9
3. What happens to our sins after Jesus redeems us?
#1 - Isaiah 38:17 ~ … for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.
We can’t see our backs (unless we use a mirror).
So when God forgives us - He can’t see our sins any more.
#2 - Micah 7:19 ~ … Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the Sea.
When we throw something heavy into the sea - we never see it again.
That’s what God does to our sins.
#3 - Revelation 1:5b ~ … unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.
When we wash mud off in a shower - the dirt goes down the drain.
We never see or think of it again.
That’s what happens when Jesus washes away our sins:
If God forgets our sins - so should we.
We shouldn’t keep dwelling on our past sins - they’ve been dealt with: Confess the sin, forget the sin.
Further reading
Psalms 25:7, 51:7, 65:3, 86:5, 103:12
Isaiah 1:18, 43:25, 44:22
Jeremiah 31:34, 33:8, 50:20
Acts 3:19, 5:31, 10:15-16 / 11:9-10, 22:16
1 Corinthians 6:11
Hebrews 1:3, 8:12, 10:17 & 22
1 John 3:5
4. The crucifixion wasn't a tragedy - it was God's pre-determined plan
Mark 8:31 ~ And He began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things,
and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Further reading
Isaiah 53:1-12
Zechariah 13:1 & 6
Matthew 20:18-19, 26:24, 54 & 56
Mark 9:9 & 31, 10:32-34, 14:21 & 49
Luke 9:22, 30-31, 44 & 51, 12:50, 17:25, 18:31-33, 22:15, 22 & 37, 24:6-7 & 44-46
John 6:64 & 70-71, 8:20 & 28, 12:23-24, 27 & 32-33, 13:1 & 18-19
Acts 2:23, 3:18, 4:27-28, 13:27-37, 17:2-3, 26:22-23
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Galatians 1:4
1 Peter 1:19-20
Because God the Father planned the death of Jesus on the Cross in advance - He gave us many PICTURES in the OLD TESTAMENT, to stress its importance:
John 5:46 ~ For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me.
Further reading about Moses describing Jesus
John 1:45
Illustration
To fully understand what a building looks like - we need to see it from all sides.
It's the same with the message of the Cross:
We’re familiar with New Testament accounts - what happened in the past.
But Old Testament accounts - looking forward to what would happen in the future - give us new insights & reinforce our understanding.
They add colour - like a colour photo or TV compared to black & white.
Studying these Old Testament pictures of Jesus - HIGHLIGHTS and HELPS US TO REMEMBER key lessons.
5. Joseph is an Old Testament picture of Jesus
In the New Testament, God even gave Jesus’ earthly father the same name - Joseph - as a clue.
We’ll look at:
A. Five other clues.
B. The big plan - what did Joseph & Jesus both want to happen?
C. Five lessons we can learn from Joseph.
A. Five clues that Joseph is a picture of Jesus
Clue #1 - Both Joseph & Jesus were sold for silver by those close to them
a. Joseph
Genesis 37:28 ~ Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they (= Joseph’s brothers) drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit,
and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
b. Jesus - in Matthew 26:14-15
14Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
15And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver Him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
Clue #2 - Their coats dipped in blood
a. Joseph - in Genesis 37:31-33
31And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
32And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know (= examine) now whether it be thy son's coat or no.
33And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
--> The coat dipped in blood hid the sins of Joseph’s brothers from their father.
b. Jesus
Revelation 19:13 ~ And He was clothed with a vesture (= robe) dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
--> The blood of Jesus washes away our sins from the sight of our Heavenly Father.
Clue #3 - Both Joseph & Jesus were falsely accused, then placed with two other men
a. Joseph (Genesis chapters 39-40):
Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of attempted rape.
Joseph was then put in jail with two men - Pharaoh’s butler & baker:
One (the butler) was saved.
One (the baker) was hanged.
b. Jesus
The religious leaders falsely accused Jesus (Mark 14:55-59).
Jesus was then crucified with two men - the thieves on the cross:
One was saved.
One was unsaved.
(Luke 23:39-43)
Clue #4 - People bow the knee to both Joseph & Jesus
a. Joseph
Genesis 41:43 ~ … and they cried before him, Bow the knee …
b. Jesus
Philippians 2:10 ~ That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow …
Further reading
Matthew 17:14-15
Romans 14:10-12
Clue #5 - Joseph & Jesus were both aged 30 when they started their service
a. Joseph
Genesis 41:46 ~ And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.
And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
b. Jesus
Luke 3:23 ~ And Jesus Himself began to be about thirty years of age (= Jesus was about 30 years old when He began His ministry) …
RECAP of the five clues that Joseph is a picture of Jesus:
#1 - Both were sold for silver by those close to them.
#2 - Their coats dipped in blood.
#3 - Both were falsely accused, then placed with two others.
#4 - People bow the knee to both of them.
#5 - Both aged 30 when they started their service.
Further reading / other parallels between Joseph & Jesus
Beloved sons - Genesis 37:3 / Matthew 3:17
Envied & hated by those who should have loved them - Genesis 37:4 / Matthew 27:17-18
Garment taken - Genesis 37:23 & 39:12-13 / John 19:23
In favour with God and man - Genesis 39:2-6 & 21-23 / Luke 2:52
Tempted, but overcame the temptation - Genesis 39:7-12 / Luke 4:1-13
When falsely accused, did not defend themselves - Genesis 39:19-20 / Matthew 27:11-14, Mark 15:2-5, Luke 23:8-9
Forsaken in their time of need - Genesis 40:13-14 then 23 / Matthew 27:46
Anointed with the Holy Spirit - Genesis 41:38 / Matthew 3:16
B. The big plan - what did Joseph / Jesus both want to happen?
a. Joseph (Genesis chapters 39-47)
Joseph went ahead of his family into Egypt - the land of plenty.
Joseph’s family thought he was dead - but he was still alive.
Joseph wanted his family to join him in Egypt.
b. Jesus
Jesus has gone ahead of us into heaven - a much better place.
Most people think Jesus is dead - but He’s alive!
Jesus wants us to join Him in heaven.
C. Five lessons
... about Joseph’s plan for his family to join him in Egypt.
The same lessons apply to Jesus’ plan for US to join Him in heaven!
Lesson #1
Genesis 42:25 ~ Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.
On their first trip to Egypt, Joseph’s brothers tried to pay for the grain which would keep them alive.
But Joseph gave them back their money.
Later - Jacob’s family ran out of food again, so he sent his sons to Egypt to buy more food:
On their second trip to Egypt, Joseph’s brothers again tried to pay for the grain.
But Joseph gave them back their money a second time:
Genesis 44:1 ~ And he (= Joseph) commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.
When the same thing happens TWICE in the Bible - God is emphasising that it’s IMPORTANT.
Like today we use bold or underlined text to emphasise it's importance.
Further reading
Acts 10:15-16 / 11:9-10
Lesson #1
Joseph didn't need their money - he saved his brothers because he loved them.
Jesus doesn't need anything from us - He saves us because He loves us.
Our salvation is totally free - Jesus has already paid the price with His blood.
Further reading
Revelation 22:17
'Grace' message on WholeCounselofGod.com
Lesson #2
Genesis 45:3 ~ And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled (= terrified) at his presence.
Joseph's brothers thought he was dead.
When they discovered he was still alive - it was a massive shock.
Matthew 24:30 ~ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn (= lament / wail),
and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Lesson #2
Most people think Jesus is dead.
But He’s alive & coming back - and most people will be shocked!
Lesson #3
Genesis 45:17-20
17And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade (= load) your beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan;
18And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
19Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.
20Also regard not your stuff (= never mind about your belongings); for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
Lesson #3
The best is yet to come - whatever our situation now, life in heaven will be a whole lot better!
So we shouldn’t be overly concerned with earthly stuff - which we’re going to leave behind anyway.
Life on this earth:
Isn’t the main event - with heaven tacked on at the end.
Is just a training ground - for our life in eternity.
Further reading
Genesis 47:5-6 & 11
Lesson #4
Genesis 45:24 ~ So he (= Joseph) sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way (= don’t quarrel).
Lesson #4
Jesus doesn’t want us to argue and fall out with other believers.
We’ll all be together in heaven anyway!
Lesson #5
This is what Joseph told his brothers:
Genesis 50:20 ~ But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Further reading
Genesis 45:5 & 7
Lesson #5
It was God’s plan for Joseph to be sold into Egypt - to save his family.
It was God’s plan for Jesus to die on the cross - to save us.
That's why we look back at what happened on the Cross and say: 'Thank you Lord!'
Amen