Louie Giglio - The Cross-Referenced Life - Part 1
My message tonight starts with presuppositions. It’s imperative I think that that’s where we begin because of the conversation that we’re in in culture. And so, wanna talk about our presuppositions, possibly, your presuppositions. You’re like, «What’s a presupposition»? Well, a presupposition is a framework by which you choose to see to and live your life. Some of the key presuppositions, right now in the world we live in are these, number one, I have rights. Number two, I should get to decide. Number three, I know me best. Number four, I deserve more. Number five, I deserve to be happy.
But the gospel speaks to our presuppositions, and the gospel that we sung about, celebrated, proclaimed, the story, Sadie, that we’ve told, which is a redemption story. That story informs our presuppositions. And the gospel actually flies in the face of all the presuppositions we’ve just named, because without Christ, we’ve got a problem, and it is a massive problem. Without Christ, we are separated from a God, who is as we have sung and said so many times, holy, holy, holy. And to get to that God is impossible without Christ, and that changes all the presuppositions. So, just so we’re all on the same page, we’re all caught up to what the good news is, I just wanna maybe illustrate for a moment where we were without Christ.
Some of you have walked across the Centennial Olympic Plaza coming in and out of here, it’s that way J.P. to the north just a little bit. 1996, we hosted the Olympic games here in Atlanta. And this area we’re in was an epicenter of the 1996 Olympics. Not too far from here, Nike had this exhibit. And Shelly and I went to it, it was one of the coolest things about the Olympics, and they were trying to illustrate the accomplishments of these world class athletes.
And so, we’re walking through it, and at the time, Carl Lewis was the premier long jumper in track and field. And we walked through one part of this Nike exhibit that was in a warehouse takeover, just a few blocks from here, and they had put on the floor a representation of his current longest jump, 29 feet 1 inch. And you see it on TV, you watch it when you’re watching the Olympics, you watch it when you’re watching track and field, but to see it on the floor blew my mind. It would be like this, just starting out. Can somebody hold this for me? 29 feet, 1 inch, was Carl Lewis', at the time, best jump. Can you maybe just put a mark there?
So, we walked up to this exhibit, and they had a little sign of course, and a picture of Carl Lewis. And it said, you know, what was what. And I just looked at Shelly, and I was like, «Babe, are you kidding»? I was like… Can you guys, I don’t know. I know you guys on the floor may be having a hard time getting a hold of what I’m talking about. A guy jumped from here to there. I’m thinking because of the silence right now that there’s some NCAA track and field people in the room right now, and you’re like, «I could do that». There’s some stud, you know, athlete in the room right now, and you’re like, «I’ll give it a go». But I stood there and thought, «No way. Let me just walk it off one more time».
You’re in the air, you’re still in the air. You have time to brush your teeth. You are still in the air. And maybe there is someone in the room, I don’t know, maybe you’re jumping 29 feet or 28 feet or you’re working as hard as you can to accomplish a goal like this. But what if the invitation tonight wasn’t, is there anybody that can jump 29 feet 1 inch. What if the invitation tonight was, is there anyone who can jump to Cleveland? How many takers would we have? Any volunteers?
«I know I can do it. I’m in a really good fitness routine, right now. Give me a couple of weeks with my trainer». No, there’s not a person in this stadium, who would stand up and say, «Oh, I can do the 29, 1». Not anybody in the stadium is going to stand up and say, «Obviously, I could jump to Cleveland». But it’s worse than that when you think about our spiritual condition because there is good news. Which is that Christ has come, but there’s only good news because there’s really bad news. And the bad news is that sin doesn’t make you a bad person, it makes you a spiritually dead person.
And so, the invitation really, I don’t know if this a good idea or not. We’re not physically dead, we’re, you know, just spiritually dead. But the invitation is, you’re dead, can you jump 29.1? Can you jump to Cleveland? Can you make it to a holy, holy, holy God? And religion tells you that you can, if you try hard enough, and you work hard enough, and you go through the motions hard enough. But you know, a dead person can’t do anything. And so, God steps into the equation, because you weren’t just dead, although that’s a problem.
You were, as Paul wrote, an object of God’s wrath. He said it this way, in Ephesians 2:1, «As for you,» and he’s writing to people who are saved. «You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of God’s wrath». Not because He’s a horrible God, but because He’s holy, holy, holy God. Our choice, our sin made us objects of God’s wrath because of His holiness.
But the next verse starts with the miracle word, «But because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus». So, the fact that we were an object of God’s wrath wasn’t His fault, it was our fault. His response to our sin was kindness, and because of His great love, even when we were dead, He made us alive.
So, if you haven’t gotten this yet, what we want you to know at Passion 2024 is that the game plan for you going forward isn’t trying to do your best to get to a holy God. It is not for you to go through some religious system to get to a holy God, 'cause you can’t do that. It’s not for you to feel the weight of getting from where you are to where God is. No, but God, when we were dead made us alive. How? By bridging the gap through His Son, Jesus Christ. Who flew more than through the air, but who came from heaven, all the way down to earth, to where you are to give you life by giving His on a cross for you.
And when you get the gospel, all your presuppositions change. And in that moment, you realize, «I don’t have any rights, 'cause I was dead, until He gave me life». In that moment, you realize, «I don’t have the right, and shouldn’t get to decide because I was dead before He gave me life». In that moment you realize, «I don’t know what’s best for me because what’s best for me got me dead in my eyes. But God knew what was best for me, and He gave the best for me». You don’t live life saying, «I deserve more». You live life saying, «I deserved wrath, but what I got was grace, and therefore everything about my life has changed». And your presuppositions are shifted by the gospel story and the good news of Jesus Christ. But God has made us alive together with Christ.
John 19, tells us that Jesus died. It says this, «Later, knowing that all was now completed so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.' A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, and put the sponge on a stalk of a hyssop plant, and they lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' And with that, He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit. Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that He was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: 'Not one of his bones will be broken, ' and, as another scripture says, 'They will look on the one they have pierced.'»
John tells us that Jesus died on a cross and Paul tells us why. He says, «God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God». So, now we have a whole new purpose in life, and that brings us really to Passion. Because Passion is about your name and your renown. You’re going to hear that over and over. Marla heard that at Passion 97, you’re hearing that at Passion 24. And if there’s ever another Passion, that Passion’s gonna hear your name and your renown are the desire of our souls. But it’s not just a catchy phrase, it’s gospel fruit. It’s understanding death to life.
It’s understanding what God has done for us, and Paul was driving at that in 2 Corinthians 5, when he said this. He says, «For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced». I love that word, I wanna underscore that. «We are convinced». And that’s what I’m really asking you tonight, and it it’s what you should be asking yourself, and it’s what you should be asking me tonight. Not just have you thought about it, are you convinced? He said, «We are convinced that one died for all, therefore all died. And He died for all,» listen to this, «that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again».
New purpose, but with that new purpose, you gotta have new power. And Paul gives us the secret to the power, and the secret to the power is Christ. This is what he wrote in Galatians 2, check it out, it’s coming on the screen. Not just an understanding that Christ died, but an identification with the fact that when Christ died, I died. What does that mean? Well, we’re gonna break that down in just a moment. But the way Paul said it is this, «I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live».
Now, we know we are longer living, so he’s gonna explain that in just a moment. «I no longer live, but Christ lives in me». So, it’s not just that Christ died for me, the gospel is that Christ lives in me. It is amazing that Christ died for you, but the power comes when you realize that Christ can live in you. And this is what Paul is now unfolding to the church. «I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body». That’s what we’re doing right now. «I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness can be attained through the law, Christ died for nothing».
If you can jump to Cleveland by yourself, Christ died for nothing. If you can jump 29 feet 1 inch by your side, self, Christ died for nothing. If you can be righteous through doing the works of the law, Christ was a fool. So, He says, «I will never set aside the grace of God because I know that’s how I have gone from death to life. And when I went from death to life, I realized I don’t have a life anymore. All I’ve got now is Christ’s life. And all my presuppositions just changed».
I wanna ask you or join you tonight as we consider the magnitude of the cross. I just want you to take it in. You’re like, «Well, it’s big». But it’s not that big. It’s 80 feet tall. But compared to the one that Christ gave His life on, it’s not that big. Compared to the one that’s going to last for eternity, that stands in eternity, that’s powerful enough to raise the dead, but it makes a point.
And I wanna ask you tonight, invite you tonight, invite us tonight to consider the magnitude of the cross. And in the shadow of the cross, and I love how this way the shadow’s going over you guys. Anybody in the shadow? I can see that you are, and you are, you guys are, and you guys are. I don’t know how far it goes. You guys are still in the shadow. You guys over there still in shadow. I want us to consider the shadow of the cross of Jesus, the magnitude of it. And I wanna pray tonight that the magnitude in the shadow of the cross, and its beauty, and its power will dwarf lesser things. A few two of them in particular, and the first one is this.
I want us to see tonight that the cross and its shadow, which is looming into the bins right now. So, we’re not talking about something 2,000 years ago, this finished work of Jesus, its shadow is in this place right now, its power is in this place right now. And I want us to see that it dwarfs powerless religion, and its demands, and its empty claims. Paul, who wrote, «I’m crucified with Christ,» was a product of the system. He was born in the system, the Jewish system of the law, that very law that he just said can’t get you to Cleveland, he was born in that system. He was raised in it, he was trained in it, he was an expert in it, he was a teacher of it, a proclaimer of it, a steward of it.
And ultimately, after the resurrection, he was the protector of it. He would kill anyone who said that Jesus was the way. So, Paul was a system guy until he met Jesus. And has been mentioned already, on the way, in the midst of Sadie’s story, as he’s going to persecute Christians, he has a revelation of Jesus. And in that revelation, he understands the cross, he gets the gospel, he gets saved, he gets filled with the Holy Spirit, everything about his life changes. He goes from system to Savior.
And I’m praying tonight, even like right now, that there would be hundreds of people, potentially thousands of people in this stadium right now, who would make that same leap. That you would realize nothing you can do will ever be enough to get you to holy, holy, holy. Jesus did enough to bring you from death to life and into a relationship with a holy God. It is not a system, it is a savior. It is not you trying harder, it is about you trusting in the finished work of the cross. Is there anybody like that in this stadium? And somehow the light bulb is going off, and you’re like, «I get it. I get it».
Well, in this night, you can put your faith in Jesus, and what He did on this cross for you. And the fact that He’s raised from the dead, and you can go from death to life right here and right now. Your whole story can be changed tonight. You can be saved tonight. You can be born again tonight. You can become a follower of Jesus, a son of God, a daughter of God tonight. And then, every day of your life you don’t get tempted to get pulled back into the system, because the cross dwarfed powerless religion.