Well, it is the ultimate human disease. It is the inescapable human dilemma. Every human being leaves a trail of empirical evidence of this thing. You cannot fight it; you cannot escape it; you are powerless to defeat it - this thing called sin. It leaves all of us guilty before God; all of us are rebels in some way; all of us demonstrate that we're fools; all of us step over God's boundaries again and again and again. It's not just a matter of behavior; it's a matter of the deepest desires of my heart, the deepest thoughts of my mind.
Born a Sinner
It's not just that I sin; the reality is that I was born a sinner; and because of that, there can be no credible Christianity without the epicenter of that Christianity being the Cross of Jesus Christ! It's not enough to say that this is a wonderful system of moral principles. If moral principles could rescue us, we'd all be rescued. It's not enough to say that this is a wonderful system of life-wisdom. It's not enough to say that it's the story of a wonderful prophet who came. Christianity must have a Cross or it makes no sense whatsoever.
The Cross is our only hope; the Cross is our eternal comfort; the Cross is our calling. This faith that we've given ourselves to is dominated by the Cross of Jesus Christ. Turn in your Bibles to Mark 8, verse 31, page 844 in your church Bibles. It makes sense then that there's a way in which, with His followers, Jesus had been marching toward this moment, where He will begin to talk to them in very specific concrete ways about the ultimate, core reason for His coming. He didn't come just to teach; He didn't come just to do miracles.
He came as the Lamb to suffer and to die, to satisfy God's righteous requirement so forgiveness would be a possibility, so new life could be given, so righteousness could be imparted, so we could be rescued from the thing that from which we cannot rescue ourselves--our sin. And we must not ever let this message be deluded; we must not delude ourselves that we are better than we are. All of us are sinners; all of us, apart from the Cross of the Jesus Christ, are utterly, completely hopeless. Sin levels the playing field.
"There's no one righteous, not even one." How humbling! I may think that I'm just a tad more righteous than you. I may search for someone who is less righteous than me. But none of us can reach God's requirement. "All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." This is why this message is so important; this is why these dear followers of Christ must understand the reason for His coming. Look at the words here: "And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things." The Son of Man must suffer.
That word is really driven by the character of God; that word reveals to us the character of God; this suffering is the 'must' of His sovereignty. This is a sovereign God who will have His will be done; nothing will interrupt His plan. It is His plan to send His son to suffer and die to provide redemption so that all things will become new. This is a sovereign God; His will will be done. And Jesus said, "I came to do your will, oh, Father." And listen, the suffering of Christ is not an obstacle to that plan; it's not an interruption of that plan; it's not a diversion of that plan.
His suffering is the plan. It's the 'must' of His righteousness. This is a God who is angry with sin; angry with the rebellion of His creatures against His holy will; angry that we would write our own story and make our own laws; angry that we were created for His glory but we would live for our own. He's rightfully and holy in His anger. And yet that God, in His righteousness, will find a way that that anger can be satisfied without compromising His righteousness. This is the 'must' of His love.
This is a God of awesome, glorious love who will not turn His back on the creatures that He's made. Oh, we could literally spend years just meditating on the love of God that is revealed in this little word 'must.' He is driven by glorious, redemptive love to wrap His arms around a broken world and to draw that world to Himself and say, "I will redeem my own. I will forgive. I will adopt. I will accept. I will give righteousness. I will give life. I will win. I love you." The Son of Man must suffer.
Every Moment Was Suffering
He must suffer because of who God is. He must suffer many things. We misunderstand the work of Christ if we think that His suffering just began at the cross. Every moment of the life of Christ was suffering. This is One who was willing to leave the splendor of eternity to subject Himself to the full range of the harsh realities of life in a fallen world. Oh, don't you see it in those beautiful Christmas stories as the angels are singing glorious hymns to His glory? This little one is in a stable; how could it be?
This is Lord of Lords and King of Kings! This is God Almighty! This is the Son. This is the Lamb. And He would subject Himself to the harsh realities of life in a fallen world because He stands as the second Adam. The first Adam failed the test; this One will not fail the test. He will live a righteous life and every righteous thought and every righteous word and every righteous action of Christ was substitutionary. He is accomplishing for us the righteousness we could not accomplish for ourselves.
It's all suffering. It's all willing subjection to the will of His Father. How could this message be more beautiful? And oh, it's hard to capture this, but the greatest of His suffering wasn't physical suffering. Oh, He suffered unspeakable torment physically, but you capture the greatest of His suffering in this dramatic moment on the cross when words that I've spoken to you before are cried out by Jesus. In the midst of His physical torment, He cries, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?")
Could there be greater torment for the Son of Man than to have His Father turn His back on Him? And Jesus was willing, He was willing, He was willing, to endure the rejection of His father so that, in that rejection, we would receive acceptance; so in His saving grace, we would live with the glorious knowledge that God will never turn His back on us; we will never see the back of His head. He suffered many things. And then Jesus gets even more specific. He must first be rejected. Prophesied in Isaiah 53 that He would be despised and rejected of men, "...a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
The people who should have worshiped Him, the people who should have expected Him, the people who should've recognized Him, the people who should have bowed at His knee, the religious leaders of the day, plotted to take His life. They knowingly manufactured an injustice that would drive Him to a criminal's death. He must be killed. There must be an ultimate once-and-for-all sacrifice for sin. There must be a perfect Lamb of God who bears the sin of those that God has chosen so that there can be forgiveness, there can be acceptance, there can be righteousness, there can be eternal life.
He must die! There is no other way. The requirement is death and praise God, Jesus was willing. Jesus was willing. Jesus was willing. And after three days, He must rise again. Now don't think of the Resurrection this way: that the Cross was a defeat and the Resurrection bails out the defeat. (In case you don't know that, that's just bad theology.) Paul says in Colossians 2 that Jesus made a public spectacle of the powers and authorities (are you listening?) triumphing over them by (what, can you finish it?) the Cross."
The Cross is a triumph; because on the Cross, sin is defeated. On the Cross, God's requirement is satisfied. On the Cross, forgiveness is purchased. On the Cross, righteousness is purchased. On the Cross, Jesus offers that once and for all sacrifice. The Cross is a triumph, but Jesus must defeat the ultimate implication of sin. What is the ultimate implication of sin? Death! And so in the Resurrection, He conquers death so that He may offer to us life. Not just eternal life to come, but life now because sin renders us dead.
Dead Men Walking
We're dead men walking apart from the new life of the resurrected Christ. What a complete and gorgeous plan! It's okay for you to say, "Amen!" oh dear, Presbyterians. If, at this point, you're not a bit thankful and excited, I'm in trouble. What a beautiful, beautiful plan! This is the epicenter of our faith; it's a humble and personal acknowledgment of sin. The Cross defines you. The Cross defines who you are. The Cross defines your need. You can't back away from the humbling message of the Cross coupled with a glorious recognition of the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Christ.
The Cross of Jesus Christ brings together the deepest of sadness with the highest of celebration. That's our faith. There's a way in which we should be the saddest community on earth because we get the horrible tragedy of sin, how that no one escapes it, how that it captures every thought and every desire, distorts every behavior, kidnaps every word, the comprehensive nature of sin is stunning. We ought to weep in the face of that, but at the same time, we can celebrate because we recognize the sufficiency of the work of Christ.
Now, at the height of this glorious teaching, dear Peter enters the scene. I love the way Mark captures this; he says that Jesus said this plainly...clear message of the Gospel, "And Peter took him aside." You can just imagine the scene, "Lord may we talk?" And Peter is a bit offended at this talk, a bit perplexed, a bit amazed. "Lord, you can't die! You must not go through this rejection. What is this resurrection?" And Jesus understood that although Peter understood His words, Peter didn't get the Gospel.
And Peter was not alone; it was probably true that all of the disciples to this point were a bit confused, a bit amazed, a bit mystified, by what Jesus was saying. So Jesus made sure that His rebuke of Peter was witnessed by all the disciples--I am sure that Peter enjoyed that. "But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, 'Get behind me, Satan: for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.'" Jesus has just said, "This is God's Plan!" And Peter is saying, "No, no, no, no, no!
This can't be." Now why does Jesus speak so seemingly harshly to Peter and say, "Get behind me, Satan"? Well, if you remember, the epicenter of the temptation of Satan was the offering of Christ a kingdom that did not require a Cross. That's what Satan offered. "Forget God's plan; forget that you have been sent to die; forget that your marching toward that cruel Cross; forget what God has ordained; forget all the prophecies, Jesus, you can have your kingdom without a Cross." And so when Peter says, "Oh, no, no, no, no!
There must not be a Cross," Jesus says, "You get behind me, Satan! Peter, I've heard this before; you're echoing the words of the enemy!" And he was. And listen, this is a strong statement; but anybody who ever, ever presents acceptance with God, forgiveness, righteousness, that does not require a Cross, is doing the deceitful work of Satan. And they may come under the guise of Christianity. I am very, very concerned about the masses of popular Christian teaching that don't ever mention the Cross, that say things like, "You can be your best self now."
It's utter deceitful baloney. Your best righteousness is a filthy rag! There is no hope apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must not dilute this message even a bit. The stakes are high and it's very tempting; there still is, because there is sin inside of us, there still is that tendency toward self-righteousness; there still is that tendency to think that we're better than we are. Some of you will understand this; some of you are at an age where you won't have any idea what I'm talking about; but I tweet, every day, Gospel thoughts.
Rebuilt, Not Tweaked
(Does anybody know what I am talking about?) And recently I said this, "Human beings don't need to be tweaked; you tweak a poorly written sentence. Human beings need to be fundamentally rebuilt." I don't need a few nudges of grace. I need a radical rescue, radical forgiveness, radical power, radical deliverance; I am a deep danger to me, apart from grace, that's the Gospel! And so any message that backs away from that, we have to say this is doing Satan's work; there is no neutrality. It's a tragedy that our Christian bookstores are populated with writing that promises you good life apart from the Cross, that books on marriage don't mention the Cross, that books on parenting don't mention the Cross.
What's happened to us? And then Jesus turns, having discussed the cost of His Messiahship, to call the crowd and the disciples to the cost of discipleship; listen to these words, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Following Christ means a radical shift in the center of gravity of my heart. As a sinner, my whole life is inward-focused; it's all about me. As a sinner, I push myself to the center of my world. As a sinner, I worship my own glory.
As a sinner, I want to set my own rules. As a sinner, I reduce the world down to what I want, and what I feel, and what I think I need. The DNA of sin is self-focus and selfishness. Meant to live for God's glory, I live as if God doesn't exist. And it's all about what I want, and why I want it, and when I want it. I'm angry because people get in the way of my will. I'm jealous because people have things that I think I deserve. I crave; I covet; I murder; I lie; I cheat. It's all about me! It's me, me, me, me!
And so when Christ calls us to deny ourselves and to take up a cross and follow Him, that call is actually a call of grace; because in calling us to that kind of sacrifice, Jesus, in grace, is rescuing us from us. He's addressing the deepest and darkest aspect of sin; that sin causes me to crave the very position of God Himself. And so the cross is not just a comfort; the cross is a call. You let go of your hold on your life; you let go of your plan for your life; you let go of that role that you want for your life; you lay it down and follow Me.
Following Me is the only pathway to life. All of those other things that seem like life; the delusions to my own sovereignty; the delusions of my own glory; my way and my will--they all seem like they move toward life; they all seem like they would make me happy, but they only lead to dissatisfaction and discouragement, frustration, and death. Now, this is not a one-time call; this is the lifestyle call to every one of God's children. And so as a husband in relationship to my wife, I must deny myself and take up the cross and follow Jesus; because if I don't do that, I will destroy that very relationship in my 'selfism.' As a parent I must deny myself; I must take up my cross and follow Jesus in that ardor of parenting.
In my finances, I must take up my cross and deny myself and follow Jesus. In my moments of leisure, I must deny myself and take up my cross and follow Jesus. At my university, I must be willing to deny myself and take up a cross and follow Jesus. At the workplace, I must deny myself and take up my cross and follow Jesus. That everything I do is an expression of personal and willing and grace-initiated submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He is Lord and I am not! That's Gospel living. Jesus liberates you from the slavery of sin to free you to the service of His Lordship; that's the plan.
And then Christ gives us the spiritual economics of that. "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? ...For whoever would save his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it." You see, it's only in willing submission to the gracious sovereignty of King Christ that you will only ever know life. Life cannot be found any way; and if you tight-fistedly try to hold on to your life, your will, your way, your plan, your purpose, you may think you're getting life, but what you're getting is not life!
What Would It Profit a Man?
And Jesus steps back, and He asks that rhetorical question, "What would it profit a man if he could possess the whole world (if you gain it all) and he would lose his soul?" What a horrible bargain that is! And yet, brothers and sisters, let's be honest; there are times when you're angry; it seems like life to get nasty and win that argument; there are times when it seems like life to spend more than you should spend and in spending more than you should spend, not have resources to contribute to the Kingdom work of God.
That's why we need this warning, because we are still capable, in our sin, to look at that which leads to death and name it as life, and we need the constant call to this radical sacrifice. I would say again, this is a beautiful call of grace; this is God freeing you from you, from the deceit that there is any possibility for life to be found anywhere but in Christ. And then finally, Christ looks at all of this from eternal perspective. He reminds His disciples that this is not all there is; that this present life is marching toward a culmination; that this present life has future consequences; that there is a moment of reckoning.
And He says, "If in this sinful, evil, adulterous world, you have been ashamed of the Son of Man, he will be ashamed of you when he comes in glory." Jesus is saying, "It is inescapably so that we live in a moral world. We don't live in a world of open free choices, and you can do whatever you want to do--that's not the world we live in; that world is a delusion." And we live in a world ruled by a righteous God; who is judge of all things; who will bring His world to final conclusion, and we must live in light of that reality.
I would ask you this evening, "What are you doing with the Cross of Jesus Christ?" Maybe there's somebody here this evening, and you've hung around the Christian community, but you know you are not a believer; you're not an atheist, but you have not yet accepted the harsh and dangerous reality of your own sin; you have not yet run to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, confessing that sin and praying for the grace of forgiveness that only can be found at the Cross. You're attracted a little bit to the thoughts of Christianity; you're attracted a little bit to the Christian community; but you know in your heart of hearts, you've never surrendered to Christ.
I would plead with you this evening: don't leave this room without confessing your sin and casting yourself on the grace of a God who would do this beautiful thing for your rescue. Maybe you have made that commitment, and you are a believer, but there are places in your life where you're still treating your life as if it belongs to you; maybe you're doing that in a relationship that you know is not honoring to God; maybe you're doing that in your thought life where you're going places that are not honoring to your Lord; maybe that's in ways that you speak to your children that do not bespeak to them the very grace that you have been given.
I would again call you to the words of Christ. "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." May we run to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and there find life and forgiveness and hope. Let's pray: Lord, we have but scratched the surface of the depth of the meaning of these words that we have considered, and yet our hearts are amazed; our hearts are glad; our hearts are warned; our hearts are encouraged. May we acknowledge what the cross declares You to be--a sovereign, righteous, loving God.
May we acknowledge what the cross declares us to be--broken, rebel sinners in need of redemption. And may we find our rest in You. In Jesus's name, Amen.
