The Purpose of the Cross, Part 1

Jesus died so that you might die. Jesus arose so that you might live to this resurrected righteous standard. Dr. Tony Evans explains how an event from the past can revolutionize your future. Even though the cross was 2,000 years ago, it became effectual to you the moment you believed.

This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. If God wanted to forgive our sins, all He had to do was do it. So why did Jesus have to suffer and die? Dr. Evans will actually give us three answers to that question as he talks to us about the purpose of the cross.

Let's join him. Our series is called Returning to the Cross. The cross is the centerpiece of our faith because it represents the sacrificial atoning work of Jesus Christ. It is the centerpiece.

Everything else revolves around it has to pass through it or point to it. The cross has a threefold relationship to us. It has a past relationship called justification, where God declares the sinner righteous. It has a future relationship called glorification, where we will be eternally transformed to live in the presence of God forever. But my concern as I walk through this series is the present purpose of the cross in the life of the believer, and that's called sanctification.

That is where God transforms the life of the sinner who has become a saint and is now part of the family of God. What I am discovering to our great chagrin is that many Christians—and I may not be going too far out to say most Christians—have lost sight of the cross. They've not lost sight of it in terms of justification.

They know that they got saved when they placed faith in Jesus Christ, and Christ came into their lives, they were forgiven, and they were imparted eternal life. They haven't lost sight of it for the future because they anticipate the glories of heaven and heaven being their home. But what we have lost is the power in the present of the cross. We remember it on Easter, Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday.

We perhaps think of it a bit of Brown Communion, but we have lost sight of its current contemporary potency. Today I want to carry your attention to the Scripture read in your hearing, 1 Peter chapter 2, and I want to focus on verses 24 and 25. And He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you were healed.

For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. He says that on the cross—He uses the word cross—Jesus Christ bore our sins. Now, we've heard that a billion times. We've heard that over and over again. He died for my sins.

But let's magnify that a little bit. The Bible says two things about Jesus's death related to sin. In some contexts, it says He died for the sin. But here, as in other places, it says He died for our sins. Same word with a different letter or additional letter, the S. When the Bible declares that Jesus died for the sin of the world, that is an umbrella statement that the category called sin was placed on Jesus Christ. When it says He died for our sins, with an S, He has now entered specificity in the discussion about sin. No longer is it a general umbrella category—singular sin—it is now specific to the individual thoughts, deeds, and actions that are, in fact, sinful. Jesus Christ not only died for our sinfulness—sin—Jesus Christ also bore, according to 1 Peter 2 24, He bore our sins on the cross.

That is, the individual actions and attitudes that are an affront to the holiness of God. Everything that has ever been wrong about you, is wrong about you, or will be wrong about you was borne by Jesus Christ on the cross. Whether there are attitudes or actions, He bore our sins on the cross.

Now, why do you need to know that? Because Jesus Christ did not only judge the problem that we are a sinner, because we have sin natures when we are born, we call that the factory that produces the individual vehicles, like GM is the automotive factory, the cars are the fruit of the factory. We were born with a sin nature, that's the factory that is in every human being that produces the individual vehicles or sins. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He judged the factory.

GM is shut down. But He not only judged the factory, He judged the automotive cars that came from the factory. He judged the individual sins so that on the cross, Jesus Christ judged our sinfulness, and then Jesus Christ judged the individual vehicles, the sins. They have been judged as well. When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, He addressed the factory problem.

But what He also wants to address, having addressed the factory, are the vehicles on the road. That is, the various expressions of our sinfulness as they roll out the assembly line and express themselves as individual thoughts or actions that are an affront to the holiness of God. When you and I trusted Christ, we came into union, or we merged with Him. We merged onto Jesus Christ, and He bore our sins. That is, the judgment, when He bore our sins, He was judged. The judgment was not only for the sinfulness, the judgment was also for the individual expressions of that sinfulness in the various sins that we think or sins that we do. They were judged on the cross. So what was judged on the cross? What was judged on the cross was the evil thoughts we think. What was judged on the cross was the disobedient actions we take. What was judged on the cross was our rebellion. What was judged on the cross was all of our tendencies that would be against the holiness of God. According to Peter, He bore that on the cross. So whatever is wrong with you, whatever is wrong with you, whatever it is, how bad it is, no matter what it is, whatever is wrong with you, He had on Him at the cross.

Whatever, and there's something wrong with everybody, so don't look around. Whatever is wrong with you was born on the cross. Whatever is called a sin was born by Jesus Christ on the cross.

He took the individual things. So whatever you can say is wrong with you was judged on the cross. Now the problem is, if you only look at the cross as an event that happened 2,000 years ago, it won't be effectual for you today. You see, when you believed on Jesus Christ as your Savior, that second, the benefits of the cross were applied to you. You were forgiven, regenerated, you were born again, you were converted, you were justified, you experienced redemption.

All of that happened. Even though the cross was 2,000 years ago, it became effectual to you the moment you believed. So a 2,000 year old event became contemporary when you responded to Jesus Christ, and so you were born again. But Peter is writing to people who are already saved. He's writing to Christians.

He says that throughout the first two chapters. These are brethren. These are people who are already saved.

Here's what he wants you and me to know today, that the judgment of the cross 2,000 years ago that takes people to heaven, having forgiven them from the penalty of their sin, is that very same cross that when applied gives us victory over the sins that we personally commit today, because the same cross that was 2,000 years old that became alive in our justification is at work in our sanctification, and it is correct when we sing the song, there is power in the blood, because the cross has contemporary reality. We've all had our cars jump-started. You put the jumper cables, positive to positive, negative to negative, and so the life of one battery, of the living battery, is transferred to the dead battery through the cable. The reason why God has given you and me the Holy Spirit is to make a cable connection. It's a 2,000 year old cable.

It's a long cable. Its cable extends from the time Jesus died until today and beyond, but unless there is allowed to flow over that 2,000 year old period, the purpose and the work of Christ, your battery will stay dead even though there's a living battery ready to give it life. Dr. Evans will return with a powerful illustration of what it really means for Christ to have died in our place right after this.

I urge you to take this course. Dr. Craig Evans, renowned expert on the New Testament, serves as the special guest lecturer for the Tony Evans Training Center course on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible that covers very important ground, what they are and what they're not. One of the most significant archaeological finds of the 20th century, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide unparalleled insights into the accuracy of the Bible. These ancient manuscripts offer a treasure trove of historical and spiritual significance. They preserve for us the Hebrew Bible and shed light on the teaching of Jesus and the major contributors to the New Testament. The scrolls open a vivid window into the life and beliefs of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus. You will understand the Bible and Jesus and Christian origins better than you ever have before.

Take your first step as an honorary amateur archaeologist. Dive into the Dead Sea Scrolls with special guest lecturer Dr. Craig Evans. Discover this and other fascinating biblical studies at TonyEvansTraining.org.

Explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. The message we're hearing today comes from Dr. Evans' 14-part series, Returning to the Cross. This collection spells out how truly understanding and appreciating Jesus' sacrifice is the very key to the Christian life. And through these messages, you'll gain better insight into how to access the benefits, blessings, and power the Lord died to give you. When you make a contribution to help us keep this biblical teaching on this station, we'll say thanks by sending you Dr. Evans' complete series on either CD or instantly downloadable mp3s. And as an added bonus, we're able to include Tony's book that goes hand-in-hand with this series. It's called The Power of the Cross. You'll get the book and audio collection along with our thanks when you request them and make your donation online at TonyEvans.org or let one of our resource team members help you by calling 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. That's 1-800-800-3222.

Let's return now to Dr. Evans for more of today's lesson. In the Civil War, a Union soldier could pay another soldier to go to war for him. So if I was drafted but I didn't want to go, I could actually pay another guy to take my place and fight for the Union Army. There was a man named Mr. Pratt who was drafted into the Union Army. He paid Mr. White to go fight in his place. Mr. White got killed when he went to fight in Mr. Pratt's place. Mr. Pratt received a letter from the draft board redrafting him into the Army. Mr. Pratt went down to the draft board and showed them the agreement between himself and Mr. White. That Mr. White went in my place and died in my stead, so you can't redraft me because I'm already dead in Mr. White. When Mr. White died, I died because I had an agreement with Mr. White that he would be my substitute, so you can't redraft me and then re-judge me because Mr. White has already been judged, so Pratt is dead in white.

When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, there was an agreement made. Now the devil is trying to redraft you. He's trying to say, I'm still gonna control you. I'm still gonna run over you. I'm still gonna tell you what to do.

I'm still gonna boss you, but you have an agreement. This agreement with the finished work of Jesus Christ says, you can't redraft me because I died in him, and that's one of the great truths of sanctification we'll talk about when Paul says, I'm crucified with Christ, because he understood that he died in Christ. He understood that sin's power was now changed, but if you don't understand that you died in Christ, you'll get redrafted, and we've all experienced that on various levels.

Now watch this. Why did he bear our sins? So that, a purpose clause, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Why did Jesus bear your sins, not just your sin, but your sins, the individual thoughts and actions that are antithetical to the purposes and will of God? Why did he do that? So that you and I might die to sin and live to righteousness.

Let me say that again. This is the purpose of your salvation and the purpose of Jesus bearing your sins, in plural, on the cross. So that you might die to sin and live to righteousness. Now what is righteousness? Righteousness is the standard that God requires of men in order for them to be acceptable to Him.

Righteousness is the standard of God. Sometimes God's standards don't seem practical. It seems like God doesn't understand how the real world works. He doesn't understand what I'm going through, what I'm facing. He doesn't understand what it's like to be human.

Come on, tell the truth, shame the devil. Don't you feel like God doesn't know what you're going through sometimes? He's not like practical.

He's not in the real world. Well, what Jesus Christ wants you to know is that on the cross, whatever you think is not practical and can't work and you can't do because it's sin has already been addressed. He has bored our sins so that we might die to sin's occupation over our lives and live unto God's righteous standard over our lives. He says that I want you to understand, Romans 6 talks about this beautifully, it says, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound.

God forbid, heavens know, meganoita, that means heavens know. He says, don't you know that when you were baptized, he says that you were baptized to his death and that you were raised to a brand new life? He says, don't you know you to consider yourself dead? You ought to review yourself as when he died, you died, that a death has occurred.

I know it sounds theoretical, but stay with me. He says, Jesus died so that you might die. Jesus arose so that you might live to this resurrected, righteous standard.

Let me explain what Jesus did, what Jesus gave you and me when he died and rose. He gave us an off switch. He gave us a switch to turn sin off. Now you may not use a switch, I'm sure you got teenagers in your house who like to keep the lights on. Turn those lights off like they're paying the bill, you know, and they don't turn the lights off. It's not that they can't turn it off, it's that they choose not to turn it off, ignore turning it off, because they're skipping the fact that you're the one paying.

Now when they get their own family, they're gonna be screaming at somebody else, because they have to pay. God has given us a switch in the new nature that we have the opportunity and right to use, if we choose to, in order to say no to sin and flip it up, or yes to righteousness, or to God's standard. Everybody has that switch. Now, if you're saved, now the devil doesn't want you to know that you have that switch, because he doesn't want you to use that switch, okay? But everyone has that switch so that we can, he says, so that we can say no to sin and yes to righteousness.

Now, why am I telling you this? Why is Peter telling you this? He says in verse 24, for by his wounds you were healed. Jesus bore our sins that we might die to sin, live to righteousness, and the reason I'm telling you all this, Peter says, is that by his wounds you are healed. Now, this is a quote from Isaiah 53 that confuses a lot of people. You no doubt have heard people say, you know, Jesus will heal you, and they're talking about physical, usually physical problems, and what they're saying is that the death of Jesus Christ assures you you won't get sick. Okay, so let me tell you the truth right now, okay? If that were true, then you couldn't die, because there would be no physical deterioration to kill you.

Trust me. When you die, it's because something was wrong. Something wasn't working right. Heart wasn't working right. Kidneys weren't working right.

Something wasn't right. You hear this as a theology, trust God, and you won't get cancer. Well, some very godly people have gotten cancer, so what God is not saying is, follow Jesus and you'll never get sick. You'll never get a headache. You'll never have a toothache.

You'll never have an accident. That's not true. Some of God's choicest servants in the Bible had infirmities, including Job, who the Bible says was a righteous man, and yet he had boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet allowed by God. Okay, so let's get that straight. If you don't feel good, go to the doctor. However, he does make the statement, by his wounds we are healed. Many of us in this building today need healing. Some of us need physical healing because we're physically sick. Others of us need emotional healing because we've been wounded in our emotions.

There are couples here who need relational healing because the relationship is in trouble. The Bible says, at the end of verse 24, by his stripes, or by his wounds, you are healed. Jesus's wounds were tied to him bearing our sins. What a lot of folk want is they want healing but don't want to address the sin problem. You cannot appeal to the cross if there's a sin involved in the pain that has gone unaddressed. People want to come to church for Jesus to change their situation when they're not willing to let the cross address the sin. If Jesus is not free to adjust the sin, he's not free to address the wound or the consequence of the sin that brings the pain that sin causes. We're talking about transformation now, that you might die to sin, live the righteousness, and that things change. You might be healed.

So the question is, do you want healing, or do you just want to feel better for the moment? Dr. Tony Evans, talking today about the purpose of the cross. Now, if you'd like to review the full-length version of this lesson, copies are available on CD or digital download. In fact, you can get them as a part of that entire two-volume 14-message series I told you about earlier, called Returning to the Cross. Remember, when you help support this ministry with a contribution, we'll say thanks by sending you this powerful audio series, along with Tony's insightful companion book, The Power of the Cross. But this is a special limited time offer, so don't wait. Drop by our website, tonyevans.org, to let us know you'd like to take advantage of this exclusive deal. Or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222, where the friendly people on our resource team are ready 24-7 to help you. Again, that's 1-800-800-3222. It's a popular expression, and it's true. God accepts us the way we are, but loves us too much to leave us that way. I hope you'll join us tomorrow as Dr. Evans explains how that process of change is part of the purpose of the cross.