The Cross Centered Life

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Galatians 614, but far be it from me both, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Pride is the central sand is less than the cost of so much. It was really the originals.

Landon and Paul himself was a proud man and one time he boasted of being a Hebrew of the Hebrews pure race. He bragged of himself of his intellectual pursuits of Pharisee of the Pharisees's knowledge of the Bible bragged of his zeal and his commitment for his religion but then he met Jesus and Jesus turned his pride upside down. He came to the Christ of the cross and his life was forever changed and therefore he says, far be it from me to boasted anything but the cross of the Lord Jesus. The centrality of the cross is the heart of the Christian faith. It is the strategic theme of all of the Bible.

The cross is the essence and the essential of what we believe that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself that in his love is satisfied the righteous demands of the law. That is, he met the demands of a holy God and bore our sins on the cross and became our substitute and died for us and rose again so that our sins could be forgiven, that we might have eternal life.

That is why we say the life of the Christian faith is in the blood is in the blood flow without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin across the bloodied cross of Christ is the very heart of who we are and what we believe is the life message of the apostle Paul. He said when I came to you, I didn't come with philosophical ideals.

I didn't come to you with brilliant schemes or plans by came to you in the simplicity of the cross. I came to you, preaching Christ and Christ crucified, and therefore he lived a cross centered life and it is the life that all of us should live and candlelit. How do we live across centered life one by embracing the cross. The cross is not an ornament or a religious symbol but a living reality in the believer's life. This is why Paul said I most only in this cross may never be that I would brag about anything else but what Christ has done for me. Paul was captivated.

Paul was the one who championed and cherished the cross above all else. He spoke about many other subjects. When you read the New Testament and Paul gives us so many words of God, that speak of life and fellowship in all the rest, but ultimately Paul came back to the cross to the cross of Jesus.

The word biosphere means the appraiser magnifier make larger even rejoice, where to celebrate the cross. Why, after all, the cross was an instrument of death and torture the horrendous cross. I was a symbol of weakness and shame in common criminals died a shameful death on the cross. But God took up a rugged cruel and naked crossover.

The blood of his darling son and transformed it into an instrument of deliverance and salvation to all who would believe the cross and it is at the cross that God destroys my sinful pride whether it is man-made religion or any human imagination or achievement that I desire. The cross takes it down to nothing. The cross brings us to the end of ourselves.

Why, because of the one who died on the cross, Jesus. When we spoke of Paul's message of grace. Ephesians 289 for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not of works, so that no one would boast the letter to the Galatians was written to the group of Christians who were being challenged to go back to the works of the law to go back to the achievements of religion, or to add on to the cross human effort and personal achievement. That's why Paul said away with any effort to save yourself because there's no way you can be saved, apart from the cross, the grace of God there will be no boasters in heaven there will be no spreading in heaven, where only there by the grace of God. Paul said in Romans 58. This can be a little taste for some of these things that Paul said about the cross.

December God shows us his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us is an unpopular word today.

He will like being told that there sinners are that they have sin. That is the pride and arrogance of the human heart, but God shows his love for those that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. He died in our place.

Romans 718. For I know that nothing good dwells in me. This is faulty. He said I know in my flesh and my humanity. Nothing good is in me, for I have the desire to be what is right, but not the ability to carry it out if you ever experience that sure you have. We all have Paul struggle with the issue of self and sin in his life. He said I know in me in my humanity in my flesh. There's no good thing that he went on to say but thanks be in the God who gives us the victory in our Lord Jesus Christ, the cross is an act of divine accomplishment that brought to us what human achievement could never have gained. We are incapable and unworthy to stand before a holy God. Romans 327 then what becomes of our boasting becomes of our boasting is excluded. By what kind of law. What kind of law excludes our boasting a lot of work snow.

But the law of faith. Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ destroys any effort to boast salvation is by grace alone through Christ alone. By faith alone and when we come to the cross. When we embrace the cross. It tells us the true that we have sin that we are totally unworthy and incapable of saving ourselves also tells us about the truth of God in his grace and his holiness in his holy love. He has chosen and called us into salvation. At the cross, the salvation, the gospel is be say and then do is not due and then be say God hates unrighteous bad behavior, but he also hates self-righteous good behavior when that good behavior becomes a substitute and a prideful effort to save ourselves. Legalism says God will love us. If we change, but the gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ says God will change us because he loves us and that's the difference in that the cross makes so there's nothing you can do to earn or learn your salvation. This leaves no room for pride. No room for doing the best that I can when Paul was converted on the road to Damascus.

He was broken and blinded by the light of Christ.

He was slain by the cross and the one who bragged of his religious achievements more than any came to the cross was transformed. This is the cross centered life. It begins with salvation.

Unfortunately, there such a sense of entitlement in our world. We think we are.

We are owed a good life, but according to the Bible we stand in view of the judgment is harsh, but that God loves us and gave himself so that we could be saved by the blood of his cross, and therefore Paul made this one single claim in Philippians 38. Indeed, I count everything is lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for his sake, I've suffer the loss of all things, and I count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Every good thing that I've done. Paul said all that I try every effort that I made is refuse.

It is rapid and my passion and my purpose is now Christ and Christ alone in the lives that he died for that message. He was unashamed of the simple gospel message of Jesus Christ embrace the cross of Christ because God there embraces you throws open his arms wide on the cross he died for you and says I love you and every drop of blood that flowed from the cross, God was saying I love you I love you I love you finished work of Christ what Christ Jesus accomplished for us at the cross. This is what life is about. So if you want to brag, brag about Jesus bows others cross and what he is done for you. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jim Graham and today's message the Christ centered life. June 30 is PowerPoint's financial year and we need your help and generous friend has offered to match every gift given to PowerPoint this month. Any gifts you give to PowerPoint will bedevil allowing us to keep open Jesus Christ coming your way and going out to millions more.

However, the and when you give will say thanks for sending Dr. Pam's a man of God: 800-7954 67, one 800-7954 67. You can also text the word PowerPoint to three line 31316 PowerPoint to three line 3131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our E store. Give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional website again is Jack Graham.Margie. Now let's get back today's message. The cross centered life you live across like to begin by the cross in this message of Jesus, but there's something for you as a believer in Christ because you see the gospel is not only for the unbeliever the gospel is for the believer I preach the gospel to myself every day because as a Christian I want to live the cross and so that's the second thing experience the cross. Paul said in the last half of verse six, chapter 6, verse 14.

He has been crucified to me and I am the world. Jesus said, take up the cross daily and follow me. We should live our lives, captivated and centered on the cross, not Chandler said this, the spirit does not take us beyond the cross, but more deeply into it.

You say well this is just a simple message of the cross. Yes, it is a simple message of the cross, but it will take eternity upon the death of the greatness and the glory of the cross. So we spend our lives.

Therefore, centered in the cross, knowing more and more about him, because not only did Christ die for us, but we died with him – identification. We are crucified with Christ the cross, including you, and there is a sense in which we all were there. Were you there when they crucified my Lord absolutely you were there and we are crucified with rice. He died for you and you die with him. Baptism is a picture of when you are crucified with Christ, buried with him and raised to walk in newness of life – the tremendous testimony of believers baptism. This speaks of identification and separation from the world. Paul said I was crucified from the Worland and the world from me, you live across centered life. You see the world through different eyes no longer chasing the world's passions is pleasures is pride, but now you disengage from the world that you might engage with Christ in his cross. We are now dead to sin, which means San no longer has dominion or power over us before Christ before the cross we were captivated by our sin, but now we are emancipated. We no longer have to sin before Christ. We were free to sin, but now that we know Christ. We are free not to sin. We can live in victory over the world. He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free the old person. The OU is put to death, and we give up our rights. What rights does a dead person I have, we give up our rights to the rule and reign of Christ to live across centered means that we dethrone cell and we end road right to experience the cross is to know the power of God is foolishness to the world but is the power of God.

So the cross when it comes to saving us is God's work for us when it comes to sanctifying us making us more like Christ is God's work in us. We are now set free from self. Paul put it this way. I'm crucified with Christ. Galatians 220 I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God love me and gave himself for me crucified with Christ, but made alive in him. Paul said in Galatians 524. You can look at is right in front of you and your text, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh and its passions and desires again. Paul said in verse 14, by which the world has been crucified to me and I the world the world may have some influence on you, but you are no longer enslaved are dominated by the world's ways, the love of the world is crucified. Therefore, you no longer live a worldly life was at me a life chasing the sinful pleasures of this world chasing sin, chasing money chasing applause no longer motivated by that you're motivated to live for Jesus and make a difference in the world. You don't post your personal successes, but you boast in the Lord and what Christ has done for you. One final thing we do and that is to elevate our to exalt the cross, you outlive us, Christ centered life. Embrace the cross experience across and then exalt the cross. Paul said in verse 17 I barrel my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

He was chained by the gospel. He was a marked man branded as a believer that word mark. Their main stigmata means the stigma of the cross of the gospel. Sin will mark you sin will brand you in the wrong way, but the cross will brand you in the right way for God's glory so we are to exalt the cross by our lose hardly any of us.

It really suffered physically for the cross. But when you take a stand for Christ.

You may be ostracized and alienated could be put out your group could be called a fool a freaking fanatic.

No problem where there truth is if you live long enough you gonna suffer you to get marked up going to get beaten up in life come in various ways and you gonna bear some scars for life. But when we heard a don't know why we are strengthened at the cross because we know our scars mean something is not just meaningless, empty pay.

We know there's a purpose in our pain, don't focus on your pain when your hard focus on the cross that he gave you fully everything will he not give you more in Jesus Christ is going to take care you and them in our worship elevate the cross in our worship.

You want to live this a very practical thing. If you will live across centered life meditate often about the cross in the Scriptures, meditate and memorize the Scriptures on the cross and sing songs of worship, about the cross. When we say when we worship when we bring ourselves to the cross, he will live across centered life. Get up every day and contemplate the cross, worship the Lord Jesus was songs of praise is amazing how when we exalt the cross we begin to live the cross and experience the cross in our lives.

And then one final thing we elevate the cross through our witness by telling others the story of Jesus just bragging about Jesus telling people what Christ has done for you.

What Paul been his testimony was repeated again and again. He said I boast only in the cross of our Lord.

The cross is your daily decision to deny yourself to deny your rights. You want your dreams, your personal plans and goals and submit them to the Lord Jesus Christ to wholeheartedly and completely give yourself to him when you are centered on the cross, your love of Christ will be increased. Your love for the world will be diminished. We are centered in the cross of Christ. You will be humbled and broken in your pride will be torn down when you're sitting at the cross, you will be called to a life of loving sacrifice and service rather than selfish.

Individual pursuits and achievement. Your life is centered in the cross. Your hope is restored, no matter why you may go through no matter what pain you may deal with when you are across centered your hope and your help is ever present and when you are across centered the love of Christ will fill you and pour out your family and friends all stand the love of Christ, listening to PowerPoint. In today's message the transcendent is coming and are financially some exciting news to share with you today some friends had stepped forward with the $180,000 matching grant devil any gift again this month.

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The Bible is brutally honest about the realities of life. Never sugarcoat the Christian faith says that we cannot avoid suffering.

But the good news is, God has done something about our suffering on the cross we see the ultimate eternal example of how God can use suffering for a greater purpose. Jesus died on that cross a terrible horrible death death that he did not deserve on the cross for our sins, taking our place and then because he died and rose again.

We have been amazingly beyond amazement, blessed by the salvation that comes from that cross his suffering produces our salvation. And so when suffering comes our way. We need to remember that God can also use paying for his purposes in our lives.

After all, Jesus said, pick up the cross daily and follow after me. So the cross in our lives, reminds us that God himself has experienced suffering he has endured deep loss and so when we come to him. We can know that he understands our pain. The Bible says that we have a great high priest, Jesus who sympathizes and comforts us and our pain, and in our suffering and then through the cross where able of course to enter a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, which means that when we suffer in this life.

There is not only purposely the pain, but when this life comes to an end and we go to heaven we will no longer suffer no more pain, no more suffering no more tears. No more crying because all of this is no more.

I want to invite you to visit online Jack Graham.org and there you can get more resources about what it means to follow Christ as a new believer what it means to follow Christ as a veteran longtime believer. There are so many resources that are available there for you that we want you to have them. Please also remember that you can request prayer and we have people standing by praying right now for you and your needs. If you will only let us know. Also is important when you can to support this ministry, we are able to come to you through PowerPoint through the generous donations of people just like you so as generous as you can be as God prompts you and leads you in your heart, would you go to Jack Graham.org and give an online donation to support the work of Jesus Christ of PowerPoint. God bless you and thank you for joining us today on PowerPoint and that is today's member when you give a gift of PowerPoint. Cindy Dr. Graham's powerful book, a man of God is our thanks. Call one 800 795 271-800-7954 627 can also text the word PowerPoint 313131 text PowerPoint 3131. Join us again next time. As Dr. Graham brings a message that how to find your eternal significance. Christ, that's next time on PowerPoint with Jeffrey PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint ministries