1. THE CROSS: THE CROSS AND FORGIVENESS The cross of Jesus Christ declares certain things and it isn’t always what we want to hear. The cross of Christ confronts us with certain truths that we may find difficult to face. 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Why does the world find the cross to be a stumbling block or dismiss it as foolishness?

2. Because it declares things that the world doesn’t want to hear. I. THE CROSS DECLARES THAT WE ARE SINNERS Colossians 2:20-23 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, I don’t like to hear that I’m a sinner.

3. I like to think of myself as a "nice person." If it weren’t for the cross I might be able to convince myself I’m not so bad after all. BUT, if I’m unwilling to face the cross and its message, I have to do something with the GUILT that it exposes me to. I need to justify myself or try to cover the sin. So… 1. We make excuses for ourselves ("that’s just the way I am"). 2. We point at other and cry that they were guilty too... 3. Or we compare ourselves with others: "I’m just as good as...“ BUT the #1 way in which we may try to deal with our guilt is to outweigh it with good deeds and actions. Many people visualize their lives like a scale. They know they do things for which they are ashamed and it makes them feel out of balance. So, they attempt to compensate by doing good things.

4. Why do we feel driven to this "balancing of sin with good deeds?" II. THE CROSS DECLARES THAT THERE IS A PRICE TO BE PAID FOR SIN There’s a cost and that cost must receive restitution! Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. DEATH is the price that must be paid for sin. God drove that into the minds of His people in the OT with His strict requirement for animal sacrifices. **** God’s message (in the cross) is that there was a price that had to be paid. A terrible price. But the message of the cross is also hope.

5. III. THE CROSS ALSO DECLARES TO US THAT GOD LOVES US. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 "He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay. I needed someone to wash my sins away. And now I sing a brand new song; Amazing Grace!’ Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.“ When Jesus went to Calvary, He carried our sins with Him. ****

6. This reality alone may’ve caused the cross to weigh so heavy upon His strong shoulders. Unless we feel this weight He bore, we’ll never fully understand the meaning of being in debt to Jesus. IV. THE CROSS DECLARES THAT IT’S BY CHRIST’S DEATH WE ARE FREED FROM SIN. Romans 6:1-6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

7. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— The cross JUSTIFIES us. Justify: It means to become JUST AS IF I HAD NEVER SINNED. **** Hebrews 8:12 “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”