The CROSS brought salvation to man John 12:20-28

Good Friday, what a day!! Because of the cross, all men who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are all grafted in. You see in those days; the good news was given only to the Jews. But today all believers are given the right to be call sons of God. Therefore, in Christ as believers, we are all free citizens of heaven i.e. co-heirs in the Fathers’ kingdom.

In the first Adam, all men died and now because of this good Friday, the blood of the Lamb of God Jesus Christ had to be sacrificed so that men could inherit that which we couldn’t through the first Adam.

The Greek in this text longed, they were hunger and thirsted for Salvation. They wanted to see that man who was willing to die the most shameful death in their time, that man who was so ready to suffer for no crime of His just to save His friends.

But you see Jesus is not like any other man He is the Saviour who knows that; as shameful as the cross is, it is a place where sins are forgiven, a place where man is reconciled back to their God.

Good Friday the day where Jesus cries out ‘the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified Verse 23’. In Hebrew 2:10-11 we are told His glory was release so that many could come to glory. And He became like us so that we could become like Him through the sharing of His glory when He comes again.

To identify with Jesus, we must each carry our crosses to follow him just as He carried the sin of the world on His shoulder on the cross of Calvary. Sometimes we need some suffering i.e. life’s problems so that we could grow into spiritual maturity. Just like gold is tested to check for its strength, so must our faith be tested through some life’s problems.

What the cross does to us

When we look at Jesus on that cross, we see no anger, rather we see gratitude & compassion towards humanity. Hence we ought to see the need to follow such a Saviour. Because Jesus is the one who goes before and opens the way for believers to follow suit.

The perfect Love for others teaches us that Jesus instead of reacting harshly to men, he poured out His grace by forgiving cruelty and injustice.

The shock of contradiction; No matter what we may tell ourselves, or that which others may tell us, the power of the cross gives us the identification of our souls

The shock of repentance; Suddenly finding ourselves convicted by the Spirit, we must do something, and that thing is to empty our hearts of the dreadful things that are generated by the flesh

The shock of self-surrender; This goes against all that we have ever known to give up to, but to give in to the call of Christ. Self-preservation is not the real focus of the Kingdom. When self-surrender occurs, we suddenly begin to overflow to others with what God has given us. Self-surrender helps us to understand that Jesus is the only most valued, higher & greater cause in life.

The shock of holiness; The power to overcome the wickedness of the flesh, not on our own but by the motivations of the Holy Spirit (Gal 6:14).

Let us remember the cost Jesus paid for us on Good Friday and because of it, let us leave our lives for God because Jesus’ death must not be in vain.

Therefore, whatever our life problems might be, is nothing compared to the price Christ paid for humanity… Friends Jesus said we should bring our burden to Him so in exchange He will give us rest within our being. So, let us carry our cross with joy and in endurance because the joy of the Lord is our strength. May His Shalom be ours in Jesus name Amen