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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for February 10, 2010
“The Simple Message of the Cross”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
If Christianity has a brand logo, it’s the cross.
It’s a simple design, and popular; and it shows up everywhere.
In fact, it’s so ubiquitous it can lose its power to move us.
Yes, the symbol of the cross should move us. It’s a sobering reminder of the cost of our sin and the price Jesus paid for our forgiveness.
The basic story is quite simple. Jesus was sentenced to be crucified, so they nailed Him to a cross.
While on the cross, Jesus bled, both from the nail wounds and from the wounds He received from the soldiers beforehand.
Then He died on the cross, and His body was taken down.
The goal of the Romans was to simply kill Him, just like they had killed so many others on crosses.
But the difference about this cross was who was hanging on it – the Son of God.
Why was He there?
Look at Colossians 1:21. It describes people as “alienated from God” and enemies in their minds because of their evil behavior. Basically, our sin created a big gap between us and God. There was simply no bringing us together – sinful people and a holy God.
Then God made a move to reconcile us. What does reconcile mean? It means to bring into harmony, to settle, to make compatible. And I like this definition, which is the first definition in my dictionary. It says that reconcile means “to make friendly again.”
God was going to reconcile our alienated relationship and make us friendly again.
Back to Colossians 1, and here’s where the cross comes in. It says God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus’ blood which was shed on the cross.
Verse 22 says, “But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”
That’s what happened on the cross, Jesus shed His blood and died. And through that, God reconciled us to Himself. He made us friendly again.
Romans 5:10 says it this way, “…when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son…”
Jesus died on the cross. And it’s also important that He shed His blood on the cross. Why is the blood important? Because without the shedding of blood, there is no remission or forgiveness, as it says in Hebrews 9:22.
When we take communion, the Lord’s Supper, this is what we commemorate – the death of His body and the shedding of His blood on the cross. As Jesus said beforehand, in Matthew 26:28, “For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Ephesians 2:16 talks about our reconciliation and the cross. It says we were reconciled to God “…in one body through the cross…”
This is the simple gospel, the simple message of the cross. Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross so that we could be reconciled to God.
Yes, some people think it’s just some old religious fairy tale. They don’t get it. It boggles their mind that anyone can believe such tripe. But millions do believe it, and their lives are changed. They completely understand and relate to the idea of “being made friendly again” with God.
There is a line between the two groups of people, and we see it described in First Corinthians 1:18. It says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
We don’t need to flower up the story. We don’t need to embellish it or make it any more grand than it is. No matter what we do, some will still think it’s ridiculous. And others, even when it’s presented in stark simplicity, will receive the message with all its life changing power!
Paul said that Christ sent him to preach the gospel, “not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
So let’s not empty the cross of Christ of its power. Let’s just tell the story as it is, and watch God work.
And the story is this. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world, where He was crucified on a cross, shed His blood, and died.
And through that, God reconciled us to Himself.
We don’t need to be alienated from God, or enemies any longer.
Instead, we can be friendly with God again.
And it all comes down to the simple message of the cross.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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