Rejected So You Could Be Accepted: 7 Things Jesus Did at the Cross

Sermon outline

Because the tomb is empty, everything Jesus accomplished on the cross is ours: we are made righteous, forgiven, healed, blessed and accepted into the family of God.

1. You have been made the righteousness of God

   Reading 2 Corinthians 5:21 in the NIV and the Amplified Bible, he explains that righteousness is not right living but an impartation of God's nature. You can stand before God as if you had never sinned, with no condemnation, and call on His name anywhere: at home, at work or while driving. He mentions his book The Righteousness of God, written after he received this revelation.

   Illustration: Smith Wigglesworth, a plumber who became a preacher and whose wife taught him to read the Bible. He recalls driving through Bradford in England, past the house where Wigglesworth lived, and retells the reported account of Wigglesworth raising his wife from the dead before she asked him to let her go, a glimpse of how good the other side will be.

   “You must live right, but righteousness is an impartation of God's nature.”

   • 2 Corinthians 5:21
   • Romans 8:1

2. 1. Jesus was punished that we may be forgiven

   In the Old Testament animals were sacrificed, but in the New Testament Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb who shed His blood and translated us from darkness into light. He paid the penalty of death that should have been ours. Satan has no hold on you any more: you are seated with Christ in heavenly places, and when you submit to God and resist the devil, he flees.

   “Jesus was punished that we may be forgiven.”

   • Hebrews 2:9
   • Colossians 1:13
   • Romans 6:23
   • Ephesians 2:6
   • James 4:7

3. 2. Jesus was wounded so that we may be healed

   Healing is part of salvation, not an extra. The Greek word soteria means wholeness, wellness and soundness, and it takes in favour, healing and every good thing God has for us.

   “That's why healing is an integral part of salvation.”

   • Isaiah 53:5

4. 3. Jesus tasted death for us, that we might share his life

   The life He gives is not natural, biological life but zoe, the God kind of life. As the family of God we live in the spirit realm, surrounded by warrior angels and protecting angels who guard us, our children and our extended families.

   “It is the Zoe, God kind of life.”

   • Hebrews 2:9

5. 4. Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness

   We were all born into sin. When a person reaches the age of accountability, it becomes their own responsibility to receive Christ, but little children are covered by the salvation of their parents until then.

   “Only when you come into the age of accountability, it is your responsibility to receive Christ.”

   • 2 Corinthians 5:21

6. 5. Jesus endured our poverty that we might share in his abundance

   God blesses us so that we can bless others: if we have nothing, we cannot give. Some Christians have lost their joy because they have neglected giving, not only tithes and offerings but groceries, food and practical help for people in need. Poverty is a curse that goes hand in hand with idolatry, but we serve one Lord and one eternal God, the Creator of heaven and earth.

   Illustration: At Christmas he blessed a grown man, not of the Christian faith, with food and then with money. The man wept before he drove off, saying his family had not known whether they would have food that night. He gave him a copy of his Chronicle without pushing the gospel on him and told him to have the best Christmas he had ever had.

   “God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others.”

   • 2 Corinthians 8:9
   • Ephesians 4:5

7. 6. Jesus was made a curse that we may be a blessing

   In the world people may be jealous or envious of your position and gossip behind your back, but God is your defence and your shield. You are His anointed, so you do not have to fight people who fight you. Leave them in God's hands, and trust that the timing belongs to Him.

   “Listen, the timing belongs to God.”

   • Galatians 3:13-14
   • Psalm 105:15
   • Hebrews 10:31

8. 7. Jesus was rejected that we may be accepted

   He calls this a very important point. Everyone has felt rejected, in the family, at school or among siblings, and Satan follows the words spoken over people who were rejected, sometimes even before they were born. But Jesus took our rejection, so you must cast that spirit down and know that you are accepted.

   Illustration: At school a teacher called him in for counselling and told him he would amount to nothing, and would not stay in the same room as him. Years later she met him at a reunion and said she had heard he was doing well; he answered that he was not doing well, he was doing very well. When he accepted Christ, that rejection and fear left him, and he can now love and feel for others.

   “I know that Jesus took my rejection.”

9. The empty tomb: my Father and your Father

   He reads the account of Mary Magdalene weeping at the empty tomb, the angels asking why she is crying, and Jesus calling her by name. When Jesus said He was ascending to His Father and our Father, His God and our God, it was the first statement that brought us into the family of God.

   “This was the first statement that brought us into the family of God.”

   • John 20:11-18