The Victory of the Cross

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The Victory of the Cross

1Corinthians 6              March 16, 2003

 

Scripture Reading: Romans 11:33-36

Does it sometimes seem to you that the longer you remain in the Christian faith, the more confused you become?

Perhaps the reason for this is that we still hang on to human reasoning in trying to put things together and understand the ways of God.

We reach our human limitations and can go no further.

In Romans 11:33-36, Paul gives up human reasoning in favor of God's reasoning, and proclaims that "this one thing I hold on to", that God has the victory.

But then moving quickly into chapter 12 of Romans, Paul is wise to pointedly proclaim that we must position ourselves in that victory proclaimed through the cross.

This leads us into our continuing message series in 1Corinthians this morning in chapter 6 where Paul concludes his arguments about their divisions that hinder the credibility of the church.

Beyond all their human failings, they must realize that Christ has the victory – but that they must remain in that victory and be an active part of it.

Introduction:

So this morning we will have the last message in Paul's response to the Corinthian church addressing and confronting the things he has heard about that were dividing the congregation.

Next, beginning in chapter 7, he will respond to some other concerns they have written him about, namely: Christian marriage, Christian freedom, Christian leadership, worship, spiritual gifts, and finally a reminder of the gospel in his teaching about the resurrection of the body.

But here in chapter 6, he concludes his exhortations on the things he has heard about that were causing division in the church.

Roughly, the things causing division fell into two areas: there were conflicts about following different spiritual leaders and conflicts caused by spiritual arrogance.

Paul was deftly arguing his point for prevailing unity under the doctrine of the cross of Christ.

So it is quite fitting that he concludes his response to these issues by declaring the victory of the cross – the subject of this message.

Perhaps you need some victory in your life today.

Are there some areas of your life that divide you from other believers, even to divide you from Christ himself?

Then you need to hear this message on the victory of the cross.

Have you been conquered by what Christ accomplished there?

Do you still have areas of resistance to his lordship?

The world will not hear the message of his victory unless they see the message of your surrender.

Big Question:

How must we live out the message of the cross before a watching world?

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious rule over the world – the message of administration.

We who belong to the cross must not subject Christ's kingdom to the world's judgment because it is we who will administer Christ's kingdom upon the earth.

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious power to change lives – the message of transformation.

We who belong to the cross must not continue in sin because we have been transformed by Christ.

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious ability to command loyalty – the message of sanctification.

We who belong to the cross have no excuse for sin because we have been united with Christ.

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious sacrifice for sin – the message of justification.

We who belong to the cross may turn away from sin because we have been purchased by Christ.

I.       Cycle One

          A.      Narrative (vv. 1-8)

          B.      Implication

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious rule over the world – the message of administration.

We who belong to the cross must not subject Christ's kingdom to the world's judgment because it is we who will administer Christ's kingdom upon the earth.

          C.      Illustration

Lawsuits

Lawsuits Gone Amuck

Business; Conflict; Justice; Lawsuits; Money; Peace; Relationships; Work

Matthew 5:9; Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Total of the top ten U.S. jury awards:

In 1997: $750 million

In 1998: $2.8 billion

In 1999: $8.9 billion

Robert Pambianco, of the Washington Legal Foundation says, "It's just further evidence that suing someone has become the preferred means of solving disputes."

Citation: Lawyer's Weekly USA; source: World (January 22, 2000), p. 14

          D.      Application

“ What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?” (1 Corinthians 5:12 NIVUS)

 “ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:17 NIVUS)

 “ Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28 NIVUS)

 “29  And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30  so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:29-30 NIVUS)

 “14  Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15  What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16  What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17  "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you."” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17 NIVUS)

 “5  It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6  But there is a place where someone has testified: "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 7  You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor 8  and put everything under his feet." In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.” (Hebrews 2:5-8 NIVUS)

II.      Cycle Two

          A.      Narrative (vv. 9-11)

          B.      Implication

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious power to change lives – the message of transformation.

We who belong to the cross must not continue in sin because we have been transformed by Christ.

          C.      Illustration

Conviction, of sin

Proof of Faith

Conviction, of sin; Faith and Works; Godliness; Scripture; Word of God

Matthew 7:21-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:22-24; James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17

Thomas Linacre was king's physician to Henry VII and Henry VIII of England, founder of the Royal College of Physicians, and friend of the great Renaissance thinkers Erasmus and Sir Thomas More. Late in his life he took Catholic orders and was given a copy of the Gospels to read for the first time. The Bible, of course, was still the preserve of the clergy and not in the hands of ordinary people. And Linacre lived through the darkest of the church's dark hours: the papacy of Alexander VI, the Borgia pope whose bribery, corruption, incest, and murder plumbed new depths in the annals of Christian shame.

Reading the four Gospels for himself, Linacre was amazed and troubled. "Either these are not the Gospels," he said, "or we are not Christians."

Citation: Os Guinness, The Call (Multnomah, 1998), pp. 109–110

Sex

Teens' Sexual Beliefs

Adolescence; Homosexuality; Relationships; Sex; Sexual Immorality; Teenagers

1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

Here are some of the results of a 1999 survey on the subject of sex given to 1,015 teens. The study was commissioned by Seventeen Magazine and the Kaiser Family Foundation:

Percentage of 15- to 19-year-olds who have had sexual intercourse: 40

Percentage of those surveyed who believed that most teens have sex: 75

Among sexually active teens, percentage of boys who say it makes them feel like a normal teenager: 45; percentage of girls: 18

Percentage of sexually active teenage boys who say they have sex because they fear being dumped: 21; percentage of girls: 12

Percentage of teenage boys who said pressure from friends was the driving influence for being sexually active: 19; percentage of girls: 9

Percentage of teens who felt homosexuals had something wrong with them: 1991: 27; 1999: 19

Citation: A 1999 survey of 1,015 teens conducted in 23 shopping malls across the country, commissioned by Seventeen Magazine and the Kaiser Family Foundation

Abstinence

Teens Talk about Sex

Abstinence; Passion, sexual; Sex; Teenagers; Youth

1 Corinthians 6:18-20; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

Here are some recent statistics on teenage sexuality gathered by Project Reality and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy:

Percentage of teens who say the main reason they don't engage in sex is because of religion and moral values: 26

Percentage of teens who say it is important for teens to be given a strong message about abstinence: 93

Percentage of teens who received abstinence education and said that sexual urges can be controlled: 51

Citation: "Losing Our Promiscuity," Christianity Today (July 10, 2000), p. 38

          D.      Application

“4  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5  he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8  that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9  And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10  to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment— to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. 11  In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12  in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:4-12 NIVUS)

III.    Cycle Three

          A.      Narrative (vv. 12-17)

          B.      Implication

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious ability to command loyalty – the message of sanctification.

We who belong to the cross have no excuse for sin because we have been united with Christ.

          C.      Illustration

Human Body

The Miraculous Human Body

Creation; God, wisdom of; Human Body

Psalm 139; Romans 1:20; 1 Corinthians 6:13-20

The average human heart pumps over one thousand gallons a day, over 55 million gallons in a lifetime. This is enough to fill 13 super tankers. It never sleeps, beating 2.5 billion times in a lifetime.

The lungs contain one thousand miles of capillaries. The process of exchanging oxygen for carbon dioxide is so complicated that "it is more difficult to exchange O2 for CO2 than for a man shot out of a cannon to carve the Lord's Prayer on the head of a pin as he passes by."

DNA contains about two thousand genes per chromosome—1.8 meters of DNA are folded into each cell nucleus. A nucleus is six microns long. This is like putting 30 miles of fishing line into a cherry pit. And it isn't simply stuffed in. It is folded in. If folded one way, the cell becomes a skin cell. If another way, a liver cell, and so forth. To write out the information in one cell would take three hundred volumes, each volume five hundred pages thick. The human body contains enough DNA that if it were stretched out, it would circle the sun 260 times.

The body uses energy efficiently. If an average adult rides a bike for one hour at ten miles per hour, it uses the amount of energy contained in three ounces of carbohydrate. If a car were this efficient with gasoline, it would get nine hundred miles to the gallon.

Citation: Jeff Arthurs; references Dr. John Medina, genetic engineer, University of Washington, in 1995 lecture at Multnomah Bible College, Portland, Oregon

          D.      Application

IV.    Cycle Four

 

          A.      Narrative (vv. 18-20)

          B.      Implication

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious sacrifice for sin – the message of justification.

We who belong to the cross may turn away from sin because we have been purchased by Christ.

          C.      Illustration

Abstinence

New Course in Sexuality

Abstinence; Boldness; Children; Child-Rearing; Disease, sexually transmitted; Education; Morality; Parenting; Sex; Sexual Immorality

1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6

I held a notice from my 13-year-old daughter's school announcing a meeting to preview the new course in sexuality. Parents could examine the curriculum and take part in a lesson presented exactly as it would be given to the students.

When I arrived at the school, I was surprised to discover only about a dozen parents present. As we waited for the presentation, I thumbed through page after page of instructions on the prevention of pregnancy or disease. I found abstinence mentioned only in passing.

When the teacher arrived with the school nurse, she asked if there were any questions. I asked why abstinence did not play a noticeable part in the material. I was shocked by what happened next. There was a great deal of laughter, and someone suggested that if I thought abstinence had any merit, I should go back to burying my head in the sand. The teacher and the nurse said nothing as I drowned in a sea of embarrassment. My mind went blank, and I could think of nothing to say. The teacher explained that the job of the school was to "teach facts," and the home was responsible for moral training.

I sat in silence for the next 20 minutes as the course was explained. The other parents seemed to give their unqualified support to the materials. "Donuts at the back," announced the teacher during the break. "I'd like you to put on the name tags we have prepared and mingle with the other parents." Everyone moved to the back of the room. As I watched them affix their name tags and shake hands, I sat deep in thought. I was ashamed I had not been able to convince them to include a serious discussion of abstinence in the materials. I uttered a silent prayer for guidance.

My thoughts were interrupted by the nurse's hand on my shoulder. "Won't you join the others?" The nurse smiled sweetly at me. "The donuts are good."

"Thank you, no." I replied.

"Well, then, how about a name tag? I'm sure the others would like to meet you."

"Somehow I doubt that," I replied.

"Won't you please join them?" she coaxed. Then I heard a still, small voice whisper, Don't go. The instruction was unmistakable: Don't go!

"I'll just wait here," I said.

When the class was called back to order, the teacher looked around the long table and thanked everyone for putting on name tags. She ignored me. Then she said, "Now we're going to give you the same lesson we'll be giving your children. Everyone please peel off your name tags." I watched in silence as the tags came off. "Now, then, on the back of one of the tags, I drew a tiny flower. Who has it?"

The gentleman across from me held it up. "All right," she said. "The flower represents disease." Then she asked the man, "Do you recall with whom you shook hands?" He pointed to a couple of people. "Very good," she replied. "The handshake in this case represents intimacy. The two people you had contact with now have the disease."

There was laughter and joking among the parents. The teacher continued, "And whom did the two of you shake hands with?" The point was well taken, and she explained how this lesson would show students how quickly disease spreads. "Since we all shook hands, we all have the disease."

It was then that I heard the still, small voice again. Speak now, but be humble. I rose from my chair. I apologized for any upset I might have caused earlier, congratulated the teacher on an excellent lesson that would impress the youth, and concluded by saying I had only one small point I wished to make. "Not all of us were infected," I said. "One of us . . . abstained."

Citation: Source unknown; submitted by Eric Reed, associate editor, Leadership

          D.      Application

“ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIVUS)

Conclusion:

Big Answer:

How must we live out the message of the cross before a watching world?

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious rule over the world – the message of administration.

We who belong to the cross must not subject Christ's kingdom to the world's judgment because it is we who will administer Christ's kingdom upon the earth.

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious power to change lives – the message of transformation.

We who belong to the cross must not continue in sin because we have been transformed by Christ.

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious ability to command loyalty – the message of sanctification.

We who belong to the cross have no excuse for sin because we have been united with Christ.

We must live out the message of Christ's victorious sacrifice for sin – the message of justification.

We who belong to the cross may turn away from sin because we have been purchased by Christ.

Timeless Truth:

The message of the cross is the victory of Christ in us.

Hymn #473 Victory in Jesus

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