INTRODUCTION

Easter a time of reflection. The death and resurrection is soon over.

Our focus is drawn to events preceding the death and the events following the resurrection

And yet we lose so much about the cross by concentrating so much on the events of the cross and not concentrating the consequences or the outcomes of the cross

The disciples lost so much by missing the main reason of the cross, the two on the Emmaus Road were so full of sorrow, their hopes and ambitions shattered through the events that transpired “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people”

“But they were hoping that it was He, who was going to redeem Israel.”

They failed to understand the purpose of the Lord’s ministry and the true nature and Deity. So often in our Christian living we lose so much of what God has for us because we concentrate all our energies on objects or symbols of religion,

Three things come to mind when we look at the cross

1.  The Cross is   “The place of Propitiation”

2.  The Cross is    “The place of Defeat”

3.  The Cross is    “The place where God  dealt with the old man”

1. The cross is “The place of Propitiation”

It is the place of expiation of sacrifice; it is where God dealt with the sin question. It is the basic foundational truth of the Christian message. It is where God pronounced sentence upon all men, in that all have sinned and the wages of sin is death.  But the way of deliverance from sin had to be found somewhere beyond man. So the grace of God sent His Son into human history.

The word Propitiation is often diluted to atonement, the NIV says of Rom 3:25   God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement,

he word propitiation is used in the N.T as the place of propitiation “the mercy seat” (Heb. 9:5)

In the Old Testament the mercy seat was the place where the atoning blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:14) representing that the righteous sentence of the law had been executed it’s a judgement seat. What Christ’s sacrifice represented was so much more than judgement it was satisfying the righteousness of a holy God, thereby making it possible for Him to show mercy righteously

“To declare his righteousness for the remission of sins”

The word Atonement in the Old Testament is to translate the Hebrew word  which means cover, covering or to cover.  It did not take away sin merely covered it i.e., God passed over.   Notice the verse in Exodus Ch 12:13

And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,

The redemptive and propitiatory work of Christ is judicial act of God whereby He justly declares and treats as righteous the one who believes in Jesus Christ. The justified believer has been declared by the judge Himself  (Rom 31:31) to have nothing laid to his charge  

Rom 8:1, 31-34   There is therefore no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

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