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Spiritual Topics, Part 14

Servants Preparation Curriculum

Lecture X, Servants Preparation Curriculum

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Why The Cross?

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Spiritual Topics, Part 14 – Why The Cross?

Objectives:

  1. Why didn’t Jesus die of natural causes
  2. Why did it have to be a murder
  3. Are there symbols of The Cross in The OT
  4. Was The Cross accidental or planned
  5. Why did He not choose another way of murder
  6. What are the benefits of The Cross
  7. Feasts of The Cross and Honoring The Cross

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Why didn’t Jesus die of natural causes?

  • If he died of natural causes, then we can not claim that He is Our Savior and Redeemer

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  • If He died young, then people would say that He was sick (heart, kidney, liver, brain, etc.)

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  • If He died old, then people would say that He is a usual human being as any other prophet
    • Abraham (175), Isaac (180), Jacob (147), Moses ( 120), Joseph (110)

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Why did it have to be a murder?

  • Because He must shed His blood as sacrifice for our sake

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  • God had given us many blood sacrifices in The Old Testament as as an example of his sacrifice on The Cross

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“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22)

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“And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:2)

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Are there symbols of The Cross in The OT?

  • Anointing the doors with blood during The Passover
  • The Bronze Snake
  • Jacob blessing Joseph's sons
  • The 12 Tribes marching in the desert

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Are there symbols of The Cross in The OT? Cont.

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Are there symbols of The Cross in The OT? Cont.

  • The wood/tree as symbol of The Cross
    • Isaac carried the wood for 3 days
    • Moses threw the tree in Myra water

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“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”” (Galatians 3:13)

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“his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God” (Deuteronomy 21:23)

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Are there symbols of The Cross in The OT? Cont.

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Are there symbols of The Cross in The OT? Cont.

  • The tree is symbol of The Cross that lifted our corrupted human nature

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Zacharia 14:5-9/ 9th hour of Good Friday

Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You.

It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish. It shall be one day Which is known to the Lord—Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light.

And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.

And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be—“The Lord is one,” And His name one.

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Was The Cross accidental or planned?

  • Did Jesus prophesize about his crucifixion?

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“And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27)

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“saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again’ ” (Luke 24:7)

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“You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified” (Mathew 26:2)

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Was The Cross accidental or planned? Cont.

  • Did Jesus prophesize about his crucifixion?

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“And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31)

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“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32)

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Was The Cross accidental or planned? Cont.

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Was The Cross accidental or planned? Cont.

It was DEFINETLY planned by God proven by:

  • Old Testament Symbols
  • Old Testament Events
  • Jesus’ Prophecy

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Why did He not choose another way of murder?

  • Stoning = He would have broken bones

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  • Wild beasts = He would have broken bones

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  • Burning = His body would be deformed (His body is the church)

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  • Decapitation = to be One Holy Body (as is the church)

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What are the benefits of The Cross?

  • To defeat the prince of the air (devil)
  • He blessed the earth and water, by walking on them
  • To be The Mediator between Heaven and earth
  • To leave a symbol behind for us as source of power over the devil
  • To declare His symbol before His 2nd coming
  • To takeaway the curse and shame that sin brought unto us

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What are the benefits of The Cross? Cont.

  • Jesus came to lift up our eyes to Heaven
  • To lift up our eyes as all the important events in His life
  • The Incarnation = angels praise God
  • Transfiguration
  • Ascension
  • The 2nd Coming

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Feasts of The Cross and Honoring The Cross

  • St. Peter’ Speech (Acts 2)
  • St. Peter’s Speech (Acts 3)
  • St. Stephen’s Speech (Acts 7)
  • St. Paul’s Preaching

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“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20)

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Feasts of The Cross and Honoring The Cross Cont.

  • Two Feasts of The Cross

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  • Tout 16 (around mid-September) = Queen Helena discovered The Cross

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  • 10th of Baramhat (March 19th) = Emperor Heraclius retrieving back The Cross from The Persians

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Feasts of The Cross and Honoring The Cross Cont.

  • On top of The Churches
  • On top of The Iconostasis
  • On top of The Altars
  • On The Clergy vestments
  • In the priests’ hands
  • In our life
    • Homes, cars, books, wallets, key chains, etc.

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Review Questions

  • X

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Memorization Verses

  1. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20)

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  • “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14)

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