Louie Giglio - The Cross-Referenced Life - Part 2
The second thing that cross dwarfs is the choking grip of guilt and shame. You know, it’s possible to come to the cross and get saved, and to know that Jesus spanned the gap from heaven to earth for you. But somehow be convinced by the enemy that you still have to carry the guilt of mistakes passed, carry the shame of failures passed. And for some of you, it’s not the shadow of the cross that’s over your life, it’s the shadow of your shame that’s over your life. And its over your future. The third thing that’s dwarfed by the cross is your anxiety about your future plans.
Now, I’m not assuming anything. Please forgive me if I made a big assumption there. Maybe no one here has any anxiety about your future plans. But if you’re stressed a little cause, you weren’t sure whether you should be in school right now or out of school right now or you’re sure you shouldn’t be in school, but you weren’t sure if you we’re supposed to do this internship or take this job. Or you’re in school, but you’re not sure what your major is supposed to be, and you already changed it once. And you’re graduating now, and you’re not sure if you’re supposed to be in grad school or do this leadership track at this thing. And there’s all this pressure.
Man, I’m telling you, I, Dear Lord God, please give grace in this moment. Your Heavenly Father does not want you feeling any pressure right now about your life. And if you’re feeling pressure, it’s not because of your Heavenly Father. Your Heavenly Father wants you to get ahold of the magnitude of the cross. And to understand in this moment that God’s got it all under control, and all you have to do is be obedient today to what God is leading you to do today. I’m not saying we don’t plan, I’m not saying we’re not thinking about how to be prepared, I’m just saying that we say No to the pressure to figuring it all out. Thank you, all the way up there. Amen.
You’re like, «What are you talking about»? I’m talking about how it’s 700 years before Jesus was born a prophet wrote that He would be pierced for our transgressions. Seven hundred years that the Messiah, this King, this coming one would be pierced. How did the prophet know 700 years ago that the Roman Empire would rule the place where Jesus died, and they would prefer to crucify people? How would the prophet know that? And how would the other prophets, the other 300 prophecies about where Jesus would be born, where He would live, what He would do, where He would die, how He would die? How did they know? Because God had the plan the whole time.
I was speaking at Liberty a few weeks ago and the day before I realized I was doing the last convocation of the year, and it was the Advent convocation and I had already prepared a message and I had forgotten that it was the Advent convocation. So, I had this other message and so I just switch gears to Advent. So, I was like, «Lord, I need to speak about Advent tomorrow». And He said, «Advent is about trusting, and waiting on the Lord. And believing that God comes through on His promises».
And so, I went to Liberty and as I was preaching something similar to what I’m saying right now, I showed them this graph which, I’m probably the last person to ever see it on social media. But it all of a sudden started showing up in my feed a lot, maybe six weeks ago and finally I was like, «I’m gonna pay more attention to this». And so, I looked into it, did a little research and I’m sure everybody in here already is way ahead a me in on board. But it was the graph of all the prophecies in the bible. This pastor and this brilliant, more than a computer scientist, this integrator of human understanding and technology.
These two guys were, for a long period of time to take all the list of all the cross references in the bible. Like the ones that we just read about in John 19 where they said in the Old Testament his, «Not a bone His body will be broken». So, when the soldiers came to hasten the death first guy, he’s still breathing, smack. Break his legs, he suffocates. Next guy, he’s still breathing, smack, break his legs, he suffocates. Jesus, he’s not breathing. «I don’t think He’s breathing. Think He’s dead». Stick a spear in His side, water and blood gush out. «He’s dead. Don’t need to break His legs». They didn’t know that 700 years ago the prophet said, «Not one of His bones will be broken».
That’s a cross reference. It’s tying together the Word of God. And the graph was mind-boggling because the graph showed the 63,779 cross references in the bible. You’ve probably seen it, it’s this one right here. If you haven’t seen it, the bars on the bottom are the chapters of scripture. So, that first white section is Genesis and each of those bars is a chapter. The shorter ones, the longer ones. You can see maybe, in the middle that super long bar coming down from the Psalms is Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the bible. But what does it showing in the colors is how far away the cross reference is in scripture.
So, those purple ones and deep purple ones are close and then some of the arcs are, this is all the way from Genesis to Revelation. And it absolutely blew my mind. Sadie talking about this the other night, 40 authors, 1,500 years, multiple continents, and then the synergy and the unity of the Word of God. And I thought, and it wasn’t even written by one person, it was written by 40 different human instruments or through them. And then, it dawned on me, «No, it wasn’t written by 40 people it was written through 40 people by one person namely the Holy Spirit of God».
And that’s why it has so much continuity and so much unity and that’s how we see here what’s gonna happen here. And when I saw this, I just thought, «Oh my goodness». And when I shared this at Liberty, I said to them, «This is a picture of your life. You can’t see it all right now, but God’s got cross references in your story that are gonna blow your mind». People that you met here, that are gonna make a difference here. A situation you were in here, that’s gonna connect with something down there. And you don’t need to know the whole plan, you just need to know that God is extending His hand to you. And if nobody’s ever told you, you probably figured it out by now, but God' s not giving you the plan.
You’re like, «I’d have more peace if God gave me the plan». No, you’d have a lot less peace if God gave you the plan. What God’s offering you is His hand. And He’s saying, «I weave everything together just like I did to orchestrate this moment in history». The scripture says, «Christ was slain before the foundation of the world». It took thousands of years for what God had already done to become visible to the human eye. And God’s got a plan for you right now, and He’s not interested in giving you the whole plan. He’ll give you light, and he’ll give you wisdom and He’s offering you His hand.
And He’s promising you because of this cross, that no matter what crazy is in your story, He can take it and turn it, Levy, and use it for your good and for His glory. Because there was no crazier day than this day. And God took this day and made it Good Friday. And we have sung about it, and shouted about it, because we see now that even the worst can be used by God to bring the best. So, your anxiety to figure it out, it should just be dwarfed by the sovereignty of God, who knew before the world that His son would give His life on that day.
Really quickly, cause we have to close, but I want you to see two more of these. The cross dwarfs me and mine. That’s what Paul was saying. He said, «I am crucified with Christ». In other words, I just don’t want us to miss this night. I’m not coming to this to get simply forgiven, to get life, to get grace, to get breath. I’m coming to this cross to embrace it, and to embrace it means I die to me, and I live to you. We’re convinced one died for all, therefore all died. That doesn’t mean God doesn’t wanna give you a dream, he doesn’t wanna give you a vision, he doesn’t wanna use you, he doesn’t wanna be or doesn’t want you to be an agent of change in the world, it doesn’t mean any of that.
Doesn’t mean God doesn’t have plans for your life. It just means from this point forward you understand it’s not your life. And never again do we say, «Well, what I’m thinking about doing with my life». You’re like, «No, God, what do you wanna do with my life? Because it’s not my life, it’s your life. Because when you died Christ, for me, I died». And if you wanted to sum this whole message up in four words, it would simply be this. Not I, but Christ. Me and mine, becomes He and His. «I no longer live, but Christ lives in me». He and His. These are the presuppositions of my life. Not I, He. Not mine, His. And it’s because of a shadow of the cross that is over my life.
And then, lastly, the cross dwarfs your love affair with earth and earth’s love affair with you. The world’s gonna attempt, Earl, to get you to make a deal. The world’s gonna try to fill in the blank of the All This, but the cross is gonna overshadow that and dwarf it. And you’re gonna say, «I’ve already got all this. And therefore, my temptation to fall in love with this world, and honestly this world’s desire to fall in love with me, both of those are gonna get canceled out by the cross».
And that’s the best kind of canceling there is. It’s been mentioned by a few people here about you stay in it for Christ, you do this, you do that, you take this position, you could get canceled. But what if, we came to the realization that the moment we identified with the cross, said yes to what Jesus has done, embraced the finished work that He has accomplished for us in that moment, we, as in I got canceled completely by the cross of Jesus and was reborn into a brand new identity as a son or a daughter of Almighty God. And we were moving through life not looking over our shoulder for who might cancel us because we’re living and walking already canceled.
That’s what Paul wrote. Listen to this, he said, «See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand». He’s coming down to the end of this letter to the Galatians. «Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised». What is that? That’s just telling you, if you wanna jump to Cleveland, you gotta be circumcised. And he used to believe that. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ.
So, these were believers in the cross, but the culture was still saying to him, «But, cross is fine. You still gotta be circumcised». And Paul’s saying, «The only reason you’re doing that is because you don’t wanna get persecuted for the cross of Christ». «Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh». Don’t get tripped up on all that. And then, he says, «May I never boast». Can you say those two words with me? «May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through, which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Neither circumcision or uncircumcision, none of that means anything».
All your effort to try to jump to Cleveland? That don’t mean anything. What counts is whether or not you’re a new creation. Whether or not you went from death to life in Jesus. That’s what counts. So, «Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule to the Israel of God». And then, I love how he just, little foot note here, cause by the way, «I’ve been beat up for this gospel. I had 39 lashes on my back for this gospel. I got shipwrecked for this gospel. I got stoned and dragged out a town like I was dead for this gospel. I have been through the wringer for this gospel».
So, you want a little mark of circumcision… not downplaying that, by the way. You need a small cut to show that you are good enough for God? He said, «Well», let me just add, «From now on let no one cause me any trouble Cause I got some cuts. I bear on my body the marks of Christ». You’ve realized by this time Paul wasn’t, like, modelesque. I don’t know if he ever was, but he certainly wasn’t by now. He just be telling, «Yeah, my nose didn’t used to go that way. There’s this big gash up here, that was a tough day. If you saw my back, it is a disaster».
His arm hasn’t worked exactly right for a minute. And even right now, we don’t know why he was having to write with such big letters as he wrote this one. But after you’ve been beat up a bunch of times, your handwriting’s probably not what it used to be. He closed by saying, «The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Be with your spirit, my brothers and sisters». Eugene Peterson said it this way, «For my part, I’m gonna boast about nothing but the cross of our master, Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate».
This verse was so powerful in the life of a man named Isaac Watts, that in 1707, he wrote a hymn inspired by these words. «I will never boast except in one thing, and it is the cross of Jesus». And that cross has set me free from the allure of this world, and it has so radically changed me that this world wants nothing to do with me anymore. They don’t want me, and I don’t want it. I just want Jesus.
And I wanna preach His word, I wanna proclaim His story. I wanna run my race. I wanna keep the faith. I wanna finish this course and fight the good fight. I wanna pour into disciples who wanna earnestly follow Jesus. I wanna proclaim a gospel that says religion is finished and grace has come. And I wanna implore you to grow up into the fullness of the man or the woman that God has made you in Jesus Christ. And I wanna implore you to say no to this world and to say yes to Jesus. I wanna implore you to join me and to commit in this day. I will never boast in one thing on planet earth, except the cross of Jesus Christ.
And those words so inspired Isaac Watts that in 1707 he wrote this hymn. He wrote, «When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride». When I survey… Merriam Webster said, «To survey is to view or consider comprehensively».
And I want us to do that tonight. I want us to view and consider comprehensively the wondrous cross. It was awful. It was treacherous… It now, its wondrous. «Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God. All the vain things,» all of em, «that charm me most, I sacrifice them through his blood. See…»
Man, we’re on our knees praying that everyone in this stadium would see. «From His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown». And then, he asks and declares, «Were the whole realm of nature mine,» if I had it all, «That were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all». When I survey. And I just stand here on behalf of the God of heaven, who’s inviting you to the wondrous cross, and He’s inviting you to come here and to die, so that you may truly live.