Jesus Went For The Cross

[Preached by Pastor Kenneth Chin at Acts Church Malaysia on 5 April 2015]

Jesus gave His all on the cross when He died and paid our debts for us.

Jesus was not pushed to the cross, He went for it!

When Jesus died on the cross, He went by His own choice and not by others. No one could take His life away, only He could do it Himself (John 10:17-18; Matthew 26:55; 1 John 3:16).

Jesus chose to lay down His life for us as this was His ultimate purpose on earth. It was His choice to sacrifice Himself, and it was also His choice on how and when He would be sacrificed.

Because Jesus was able to determine the way in which He dies on the cross, Jesus could have decided to die in any other ways, but yet He chose the cross.

The picture of the cross is not just God giving it all, He also paid it all for our sins.

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Why did Jesus choose the cross and not something else?

Jesus wore the crown of thorns to pay the price for us because men and women keep despising the ways of God by choosing to wear their own “crowns” and be their own “kings” and “queens”.

In Genesis 3:2-6, even though God specifically forbids Adam and Eve to touch or eat the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, both Adam and Eve went against what God has said by taking and eating the forbidden fruit.

We tend to go against God’s teachings when we are tempted. In Genesis 3:5, Eve experienced just that. She was tempted by the serpent as she was promised that she will be free, independent and be like God if she ate the fruit.

As we sin and lift up our hands in defiance, Jesus chose to pay the price by nailing both His hands on the cross for us.

As we run away from what God asked us to do, Jesus paid the price for us when His feet were nailed to the cross.

Because of what Jesus has done for us, those who are saved by God find themselves running no more, but are kneeling and submitting themselves to God!

As we hide our sins, Jesus paid the price for us by exposing Himself fully when crucified on the cross. Jesus was nearly naked so that we can be covered by God’s protection.

Jesus chose to sacrifice Himself on the cross as the cross symbolises the “positive” we have been searching for in our lives.

There will always be a negative in our lives and we keep searching for the plus or the positive. That is why we keep pursuing things like money, cars, clothes and relationships. But without Jesus, there will always be a negative. Jesus on the cross is the positive and plus in your life!

When Jesus died on the cross, we are debt free and righteous before God.

Even when He was crucified, Jesus did not blame anyone (Luke 23:34) but instead asked for God’s forgiveness on us.

Jesus did all these because He loves us.

Written by: Acts Writer’s Ink
Edited by: Ivy Wambaa & Hailey Chung