As a disciple of Jesus we need to understand the importance of the Cross as a key foundation stone in our faith. Now we need to understand the significance of Jesus death and how it plays a part in our faith today.

God has given Jesus a glorious Victory and then Jesus has given it to us, a victory over the powers of darkness.

John 3:16For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (MKJV)  

Q1/ God loves everyone, but He does not love sin. (True or false)

It is finished for us personally at the Cross of Jesus, and it was finished at the announcement of God in the Garden with Satan and it was finished on the sixth day of creation when it was finished and it was very good (Gen 1:31, 2:1). Now all we need to do is believe it and apply it in our lives. God has placed Satan under subjection to those who believe.

Genesis 3:14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."(NASB)

I.    God did not cast Adam and Eve away

II.    God did not condemn that first couple

III.    God bruised Satan

IV.    God was with Christ in the darkness of Gethsemane and during the anguish of the cross

V.    God raised Christ in mighty power from the dead

Q2/ The announcement made by God, “it is finished” means it is finished. (True or false)

Q3/ Through a man-child Jesus we are saved. (True or false)

Q4/ Has God abandoned mankind and given us over to Satan control. (True or false)

If we believe in Jesus, we are not condemned or forsaken, the five key points above from the book the Cross and Crown by Ken Chant, are profoundly powerful and they are for us too. We can say that:

I.    God did not cast us away.

II.    God does not condemn us.

III.    God has put sin, law and death under our feet too.

IV.    God is with us in our darkness moment too.

V.    God has raised us and will raise us from death.

Q5/ We are cast away by God. (True or false)

God is the initiator of salvation and that we should not believe that God has condemned us but He had at the beginning had His plan to bring man back into right relationship. As Ken Chant states, “God intended to make us sick of sin, and by this to bring us to repentance, calling upon him for pardon and freedom”.

Matthew 11:12  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven is taken by violence, and the violent take it by force(MKJV).

We need to become a forcer, a person who is energetic and who vigorously takes what has already been given.

Q6/ We need to press into the Kingdom of God. (True or false)

Dr Ken Chant states, “Sin is neither a genetic nor a social problem. It is a spiritual disease” As we meditate on this definition we see what is a refreshing insight. We are not destined to do wrong as some teaching indicates. I believe the teaching that we are destined to sin only serves to place condemnation onto man. We are saints in Christ Jesus although we will be tempted by sin, but we are no longer sinners.

It is also our responsibility to take care of our own sins and not be weighed down with someone else’s sin.

Q7/ Sin is a spiritual disease. (True or false)

Q8/ We need to take responsibility for our own sins. (True or false)

The cross is the climax of all mankind past, presence and future, because at the cross Jesus Christ made a public example of the powers of darkness disarming them and delivering the spoils into mans hands. Jesus willing accepted the cross setting an example to all.

We have joined hands with Christ in the Victory march before the heavenly host; bring all spoils into the Fathers Kingdom.

Q9/ The cross is not the climax of mankind. (True or false)

As we reflect on the cross we see that the complete burdens of man and sins of man were brought to a climatic conclusion where Jesus was crucified on the cross. This conclusion is not only the focal point of Christianity, but also the whole of creation and the heavens and the heavenly host watched on.

Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. (MKJV)

Q10/ For us to become a son of God we must believe in Jesus. (True or false)

The magnitude and depths of Jesus’ pain are expressed in His most powerful utterances “I thirst!”(John 19: 28) and, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(Matthew 27: 46).

I “thirst” is related to all of mankind sickness and ills, “Why have you forsaken” me is related to the total of all sin of man placed on Him and the total separation from God he felt.

Q11/ I thirst is related to our sins only. (True or false)

Q12/ Why have you forsaken me is related to our sins. (True or false)

He paid the total Divine debt that had been placed on man because of his disobedience in the beginning.

Q13/ Jesus has paid for all of our sins. (True or false)

Hopefully we are moved by the fact that Jesus was so filled by sin, pain and the ills of creation, realizing that He became the first man to be totally separated from God. It is remarkable that man has not experienced this state, even those who have died in the past and those in the future have at this point in time are reserved for this judgment.

We may believe that we have been forsaken, but in actual fact we have not been forsaken, because God has at all times had His plan to bring man back into right relationship, if we accept it.

Q14/ Jesus felt total separation from God. (True or false)

Q15/ We have been totally separated and abandoned from God. (True or false)

Q16/ God at all times never wanted man to come to Him. (True or false)  

As we studied Jesus on the Cross we have seen him carrying our Physical Pain and Spiritual Pain, which we deserve to pay for because of our own disobedience.

Q17/ Disobedience means against Gods will. (True or false)

Jesus also cried out finally, “it is finished” and finished means finished. The past the present and the future sins and ills of man have been removed and paid for.

Q18/ Finished doesn’t mean finished. (True or false)

All of creation is waiting for the sons of God to rise up and take hold of what God has reserved for us. I am determined to know nothing except Christ and him crucified.

Q19/ Christ crucified put an end to the tyranny of Satan. (True or false)

Q20 To stand at the cross of Jesus is a place of freedom if we believe in Him. (True or false)

Then there is more and more and still much more, because He won’t lie there any more, He has risen. He defeated sin and death and led them in a victories procession before all of creation, setting us free.

He is our Champion.

We have been vindicated.