There is a lot of chatter this week leading up to Easter Sunday. When conversation turns to the cross of Christ, confusion often ensues. I want to work out some of the surrounding issues of the cross, what it did (or did not) accomplish, what it means for the believer. So over the course of this week, I plan on posting a number of thoughts about the cross and what that cross means to the believer.
The first place I want to look is at the Good Shepherd discourse of John 10. In John 10 Jesus speaks in some depth of Himself as the Good Shepherd, about those who are His sheep and those who are not (and why some are His sheep and some are not), and what He would be doing for His sheep at the cross.
What is the key theme from John 10? Jesus knows His sheep and His sheep know Him and He lays down His life for the sheep. What makes someone one of His sheep? Is it that we chose to be one of His sheep? Or is it that we were His sheep because He chose us? That really gets to the question of why some believe and some do not when they hear the Gospel. That question is one that is confounding to those who reject sovereign grace. Read what Jesus says in John 10: 24-27:
24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
In other words, because we are His sheep we hear His voice, not the converse that we are His sheep because we hear His voice. Those who hear the Gospel and reject it, who do not believe, do not believe not because of how clever the presentation is or because someone didn’t lead them in a prayer. Those who reject the Word reject it because they are not part of Christ’s flock. I would say that you could (and should) preach the Gospel to someone who is not one of His sheep until you are blue in the face and they will never believe because they are not of His flock. Conversely, His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Christian, the only difference between you and that guy over there bound for hell is that the Father gave you to the Son as part of His flock and because of the working of the Holy Spirit in your rebellious, God-hating heart you heard His voice and followed Him. You and I are nothing but sheep, prone to wander, kind of dumb, and we have no basis for bragging about being saved because we had nothing to do with being saved. If I had chosen to follow Christ without the intervention of God, then I have something to brag about: I was smarter or more righteous or whatever than that guy and I chose Jesus. But that is not what it is about, you were chosen as one of His flock not because of who you were but in spite of who you are.
So what does that have to do with the cross? Well, elsewhere in John 10: 14-17 we see who Christ laid down His life for:
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
Notice the urgency. I must bring them, they will listen to my voice. Why is Christ the Good Shepherd? Because unlike the hireling He lays down His life for His sheep. He dies for His sheep, the sheep given Him by the Father:
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Not only does He lay down His life for His sheep, He secures them. They were given to Him by the Father, He died for them and none of them will ever be snatched from Him. You give the Enemy far too much credit to think that He is able to snatch a ransomed sheep from the hand of the Good Shepherd.
When you examine it in this way, the power of the cross becomes clearer. It is not a sacrifice made in the hopes that some would make a “decision” to follow Christ. It was a conscious decision, a specific and purposeful act that accomplished redemption for a people, not because of anything inherently good in them or because of a future decision that was foreseen. With the nails in His hands and feet, Jesus paid for the sins of His sheep and they are paid in full. Nothing else is left to do and nothing can undo that redemption. We have bought into this fuzzy notion of the cross and fail to give His cross the proper power and efficacy. Someone asked me the other day when I was saved and I told them I was saved in the first century A.D., on Calvary at the cross of Christ. I was born again around the year 2000 but the saving work on my behalf was finished and complete at the cross.
Next, I want to look at some of the deeper theological terms and concepts that surround the cross.
The first place I want to look is at the Good Shepherd discourse of John 10. In John 10 Jesus speaks in some depth of Himself as the Good Shepherd, about those who are His sheep and those who are not (and why some are His sheep and some are not), and what He would be doing for His sheep at the cross.
What is the key theme from John 10? Jesus knows His sheep and His sheep know Him and He lays down His life for the sheep. What makes someone one of His sheep? Is it that we chose to be one of His sheep? Or is it that we were His sheep because He chose us? That really gets to the question of why some believe and some do not when they hear the Gospel. That question is one that is confounding to those who reject sovereign grace. Read what Jesus says in John 10: 24-27:
24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
In other words, because we are His sheep we hear His voice, not the converse that we are His sheep because we hear His voice. Those who hear the Gospel and reject it, who do not believe, do not believe not because of how clever the presentation is or because someone didn’t lead them in a prayer. Those who reject the Word reject it because they are not part of Christ’s flock. I would say that you could (and should) preach the Gospel to someone who is not one of His sheep until you are blue in the face and they will never believe because they are not of His flock. Conversely, His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Christian, the only difference between you and that guy over there bound for hell is that the Father gave you to the Son as part of His flock and because of the working of the Holy Spirit in your rebellious, God-hating heart you heard His voice and followed Him. You and I are nothing but sheep, prone to wander, kind of dumb, and we have no basis for bragging about being saved because we had nothing to do with being saved. If I had chosen to follow Christ without the intervention of God, then I have something to brag about: I was smarter or more righteous or whatever than that guy and I chose Jesus. But that is not what it is about, you were chosen as one of His flock not because of who you were but in spite of who you are.
So what does that have to do with the cross? Well, elsewhere in John 10: 14-17 we see who Christ laid down His life for:
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
Notice the urgency. I must bring them, they will listen to my voice. Why is Christ the Good Shepherd? Because unlike the hireling He lays down His life for His sheep. He dies for His sheep, the sheep given Him by the Father:
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
Not only does He lay down His life for His sheep, He secures them. They were given to Him by the Father, He died for them and none of them will ever be snatched from Him. You give the Enemy far too much credit to think that He is able to snatch a ransomed sheep from the hand of the Good Shepherd.
When you examine it in this way, the power of the cross becomes clearer. It is not a sacrifice made in the hopes that some would make a “decision” to follow Christ. It was a conscious decision, a specific and purposeful act that accomplished redemption for a people, not because of anything inherently good in them or because of a future decision that was foreseen. With the nails in His hands and feet, Jesus paid for the sins of His sheep and they are paid in full. Nothing else is left to do and nothing can undo that redemption. We have bought into this fuzzy notion of the cross and fail to give His cross the proper power and efficacy. Someone asked me the other day when I was saved and I told them I was saved in the first century A.D., on Calvary at the cross of Christ. I was born again around the year 2000 but the saving work on my behalf was finished and complete at the cross.
Next, I want to look at some of the deeper theological terms and concepts that surround the cross.
1 comment:
Amen and Amen! Fantastic post.
The kids and I are currenty reading the book of John...John 6: 44 & 65 really point to the election of grace. The kids and I have been discussing how Jesus knows who are HIS, before we even know.
My question to you is "how" does the whole concept of election work out with the great commission? Jesus clearly taught we are to go to the ends of the world. ( matt 28)
How does one explain the great commission in light of the election of grace?
Thanks and I look forward to your response,
Gloria
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