For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely
die for a righteous person-though
perhaps for a good person one would
even dare to die-but God shows his love for us in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us. Romans
5:6-8(ESV)
March 7, 2004: “The Glory of
the Cross” by Joe Bartemus, Pastor of Adult Ministries at College Park
Church. Pastor Joe delivered a stirring
message focusing on the glory of the cross with special emphasis on the study
of the word “for” as found in Romans
5:6-8. While there are many definitions
found in the dictionary for the word “for”, the Scriptural focus is in the
meaning “in place of”, as in Christ died “in place of” (for) us. We as the body of Christ, His church, should
glory in the “for”, realizing that we deserve to die for our sins, but instead
Christ died “for” us. The following
questions, guided by Joe’s outline, are designed to help your flock group to
practically apply the truth of the gospel.
I.
The Why For: Why did Christ
need to die for us? Romans 5:6-10
·
Q: These verses should evoke strong feelings of
wonder and awe in our hearts as to the incredible sacrifice given for us.
What are some ways that you can renew your sense of wonder at how much
you have been forgiven?
·
Q: For many of us,
the visual experience of the movie, The
Passion of the Christ, has profoundly affected our lives, increased our
faith, given us boldness and courage to spread the gospel, and deepened our
commitment to Christ. It is clearly
being used by God to also reach the lost. Why
do you think it took this visual media experience to bring about this
change? How did the glory of the cross
affect you before seeing this movie (in other words, what if the movie had
never been made?)
·
Q: Review the
descriptions of sin given below (taken from the book by C. Plantenga, Jr.):
o
Corruption – the multiplying
power of sin
o
Perversion – destroys the
purpose of things
o
Pollution – bringing together
what ought to be apart
o
Disintegration – division, tearing
apart
o
Degenerative – victims victimize
o
Parasite – suck the life out
of others
o
Addiction – longing bent in
the wrong direction
Which
of these descriptions can you identify with?
How does marveling in the glory of the cross affect your sins? How can we help each other to overcome sin
and glory in the cross?
II. The Who For: Who died for us? Jesus Christ – the glory of God manifested in flesh on the cross
(Savior – vs. 6; Reconciler – vs. 10; Redeemer – vs. 8; Lover – vs. 8)
·
Q: Can you describe a time(s) in your life when faith
became real because you knew there was no other option (times when you
were weak and helpless and needed a Savior)?
·
Q: What aspects of the gospel (the good news of
the cross) do you need to meditate on? How can “preaching” this gospel to
yourself daily help you to glory in the “for”?
III. The What For: What possible good can come from Christ’s
death for us? (Satisfaction of God’s
wrath – vs. 9; Defeat of Death –
vs. 10a, Saved through his life – vs. 10b)
·
Q: God’s wrath was
his unwillingness to compromise His holiness.
What weapons do you need to combat
the enemy and to be unwilling to compromise in your struggle for holiness?
·
Q: Death defeated
death! As a group, make a list of all the good that has come from Christ dying
for you (ex: we are reconciled to God, we are made the righteousness of God in
Him, etc). Revel in the awesome
benefits and implications of this list.
·
Q: Then consider that even as awesome and incredible is our justification
and reconciliation, there is much more to the story. “For
if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of
his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his
life!” (v10). The
question is, saved for what? What
is it that God desires of us? What does
he want us to be, and to do with our lives?
And, in whose strength are we to pursue what it is he wants us to be,
and to do?
·
Q: Remember the illustration of the ticking clock? What are you doing with the resource of time
that God has given you? What would you
like to begin doing differently? Write
it down on a 3x5 card and remind yourself daily to follow through, and do what
you said you would like to do. And if
appropriate, contact someone in your group in the next couple of days and ask
them to pray with you, and help you follow through.
Close: Pray together and renew the wonder of the glory of the
cross. Sincerely thank Him and glory in
the “for”. Consider using communion as
a means to worship God during your group time.
Note: If you missed it, below is the excerpt from the book, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be, used by
Joe in his message:
“At the center of the
Christian Bible, four Gospels describe the pains God has taken to defeat sin
and its wages. The very shape of these
Gospels tells us how much the pains matter: the Gospels are shaped, as Martin
Kahler famously put it, as passion narratives with long introductions. Accordingly, Christians have always measured
sin, in part, by the suffering needed to atone for it. The ripping and writhing of a body on a
cross, the bizarre metaphysical maneuver of using death to defeat death, the
urgency of the summons to human beings to ally themselves with the events of
Christ and with the person of these events, and then to make that person and
those events the center of their lives – these things tell us that the main
human trouble is desperately difficult to fix, even for God, and that sin is
the longest-running of human emergencies.”