From the Curse to the Cross: A Step of Faith
March 5, 2023 · 1:51:33 · Watch on YouTube ↗
These notes - summary, key points, and highlighted thoughts - were generated by AI from the recording and are not the preacher’s exact words.
Summary
The service opened with a meditation on Christ crucified. Drawing on Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 50, the preacher described how the sinless Son of God was numbered with criminals, beaten, mocked, and disfigured beyond recognition, bearing every curse and sickness in our place. Like the bronze serpent lifted in the wilderness, Christ was lifted on the cross so that everyone who looks to Him in faith might live. Galatians 3:13-14 stood at the center: Christ became a curse for us so that the blessing of Abraham and the grace that saves and justifies could come to us.
He contrasted the heavy weight of cursing in the Old Testament with the abundance of blessing in the New. Jesus came not to curse but to save and to carry our curse on His own back, and He calls His people to bless those who persecute them rather than repay evil with evil, following the One who prayed "Father, forgive them" as He died. The church was urged not to turn its face or its back from the crucified Christ but to come to Calvary, and the congregation shared communion, proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes.
A second message turned to faith. Using the account of doubting Thomas and Ephesians 2:8, the preacher taught that we are saved by grace through faith, yet faith still asks for a step. Through the parable of a man stuck on the fence and a thirsty traveler who must pour out his last water to prime a desert pump, he showed that refusing to choose Jesus is itself a choice, and that real faith means putting your life on the line. The call was clear: get off the fence and turn to the crucified, risen Christ today.
Key Points
- Though sinless, Christ was numbered with criminals and disfigured for our sake (Isaiah 53).
- On the cross Jesus became a curse for us, redeeming us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13).
- Like the bronze serpent in the wilderness, the crucified Christ must be looked upon in faith for life.
- Jesus came to bless, not to curse; His people repay evil with blessing and pray for those who persecute them.
- Communion proclaims the Lord's death until He comes and unites the church with His body.
- We are saved by grace through faith, but faith always calls for a step of trust.
- Refusing to choose Jesus is itself a choice; get off the fence and turn to Him today.
Devotional
When suffering presses in, the temptation is to turn our faces away, just as the crowds turned from the disfigured Savior. Yet the cross is the very place where every curse was carried and every sin answered, so look to Him and live. Faith rarely feels safe; often it means pouring out your last reserve before the water ever flows. Do not linger on the fence between heaven and earth, hoping the choice can somehow be avoided. Turn back to the crucified and risen Jesus, and let His love decide who you are.
We do not turn our faces from the crucified Christ - we turn to Him.
Christ became a curse for us so that the blessing might become ours.
Fear is your problem multiplied by eternity; faith is your problem multiplied by Jesus.
