He Already Carried It To The Cross
Isaiah 53:10-11
Jesus has already carried “it” to the Cross. What are you struggling with right now? What’s the burden that you come to watch this service with? I want you to know, that Jesus Christ has already paid the price for what you brought with you tonight. He’s already paid the price, completely.
We’re living in an unprecedented time of fear and anxiety and uncertainty. We’re facing severe sickness, many of us. Some, even facing death or fearful of death. We’re scared. We’re fighting for our loved ones right now. This is like no other time that any of us have ever lived through. We don’t know who this virus may hit, and we don’t know how hard it may hit them.
And so, we come tonight with heavy burdens, with heavy hearts, with anxieties and uncertainties. And we come to the only One who has already paid the price for all of those things. The only one that has already carried all that to the Cross. The only one that has won that victory for us. That’s Jesus! And we’re here to celebrate the sacrifice that he made on our behalf on the Cross tonight.
On the Cross, he paid for it all. He paid for it all there, and he won the victory over it all, there. And so, what you have come with tonight, I want you to know that Jesus Christ has already overcome it. He’s already won the victory! And it is in him, it is in Christ that we have victory. In Christ, we have overcome! In Christ, we will overcome!
Guys, tonight we want you to join Jesus at the Cross. That’s our prayer and our heart for you tonight. Join him at the Cross where he paid for it all on your behalf. We want you, tonight, to be able to take all of your fear, and all of your anxiety, all of your pain, and all of your sin, and we want you to come and meet Jesus at the Cross with it all.
And so, wherever you’re at tonight, in whatever setting you’re at, and in whatever place you’re at with the Lord, whether you’re very near him, or very far from him, we want to give you all the same encouragement tonight. Prepare your heart to come meet Jesus at the Cross, tonight. To bring whatever it is that you’re carrying tonight, whatever burden it is, whatever sin that has you imprisoned, in chains. Whatever struggle, whatever burden that you’re carrying with you tonight, we want to make a place – give you an opportunity – to bring that to the foot of the Cross. To lay it at the feet of the Savior.
Guys, we’re not here to entertain you tonight. We’re not here to put something else on the screen for you to watch. Tonight, we want to create a place, were crying out to God that he would use us as conduits to bring you to a place where you can meet Jesus right where you’re at, in the midst of whatever it is you’re feeling in this crazy pandemic time. In the midst of whatever you’re experiencing, whatever your struggle is.
We’re praying that you would reach the Cross – tonight. Whether you’re in a good place, or not so good place – physically, or spiritually, emotionally – Jesus wants you to come just as you are. And he wants you to know that he has already carried all of your burden to the Cross. All of your sin, all of your pain, all that you need healing from. He’s already carried it to the Cross. Everything that is crushing in on you, and in this especially difficult time.
Jesus has already carried it to the Cross and paid for it there on your behalf. He’s already done the work; he’s already paid the price. He’s already won the victory for you, tonight. And, tonight, on this Good Friday more than ever, it’s time for us to meet him there. And if you have done that, if you have met Jesus there, then you can rejoice. You can begin rejoicing, now, no matter where you’re at, no matter what you feel, no matter what your circumstances are, you can begin rejoicing tonight that Jesus has carried it all to the Cross for you already. That he has already done the work for you to have new life, eternal life, for you to have abundant life, now.
The work is already done. The price has already been paid on the Cross. And you can rejoice in that tonight. And you can rejoice, maybe more than anything else tonight, you can rejoice in the fact that nothing can ever separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. (Nothing) Neither death nor life (death cannot separate you from God’s love), neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today (Your fears about what’s happening today cannot separate you from God’s love) nor our worries about tomorrow (your worry and anxiety can’t separate you from God’s love)—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You can praise God for that, tonight! No matter how you feel about the state of our nation, our culture, the state of your personal life, no matter where your fears are at, you can begin to rejoice and praise God that nothing can ever separate you from his love.
And no matter what tomorrow holds, God’s love will be there when you get there. And the price that Jesus has paid for you will have the victory for you waiting when you get to the battle. He’s already won the victory. And he’s waiting for you there when you get there. And so, you can rejoice in that tonight! And you can praise the King of kings with us!
Let me ask you a question tonight. What does God’s love look like? We know that God’s love is the greatest love, agape love. What does it look like? What does God’s love look like for Jesus to carry all that he carried on our behalf to the Cross? What does it even mean?
It means that Jesus took all the “stuff”. What is your “stuff”? Jesus took all the “stuff”. He took all the junk. He took all the ugliness in our lives. He took it all upon himself. He took all of our pain and all of our sorrow. He took all of our weakness; he took all of our regret. He took it all upon himself, and he paid for it all on the Cross. To heal, to forgive, to wash away, to restore and redeem, to replace old life with new life. He took everything we had, all of our baggage, to the Cross and he paid for it all there.
Here’s what love looked like. Isaiah, the prophet, describes the love of God and Jesus Christ on the Cross like this.
Isaiah 50:6 (NLT)
6 (Speaking of Jesus) I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting.
Guys, that brutality – the beating, the mockery, the pulling of the beard, the pounding of the crown of thorns – it’s all a sign. We call it a type, a representation. It’s a representation of the ugliness of our sin. Those particular people were representing you and me and the ugliness of our sin, the venom of our sin nature, being poured out on Jesus. His response is real love.
Isaiah 53:3-5 (NLT)
3 (Still speaking of Jesus) He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief… (Guys, that grief that Jesus was acquainted with, that was our grief. That wasn’t his grief. He was perfect, the sinless Son of God. The grief he was acquainted with was your grief.) We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. (Jesus was carrying our sin. Jesus was experiencing our grief. And we didn’t know, and we didn’t care. That’s real love. That’s true love.)
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; (Not his own – it was yours and mine. Every weakness you bring into the room you’re in right now, Jesus already carried that to the Cross on your behalf.) it was our sorrows that weighed him down. (It was the sorrow that you feel right now that was the burden crushing in on the Son of God as he went to the Cross.) And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! (We know that’s not true. Verse 5 says it’s not true.)
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
That’s the love of God in Jesus Christ. That’s what the Cross shows. It’s the perfect, sinless, Son of God – the Creator of the World – who took your burdens, and your sorrows, and he took your sin, and he took your fears, and your anxiety, and carried it all to the Cross. And he paid for your victory there! That’s the love of our Savior.
Have you ever heard somebody challenge God? Maybe they say, “If God were a God of love, he wouldn’t allow this. He wouldn’t allow sin to destroy this world.” Guys, this virus that we’re battling right now, is the result of the fallen world, the curse of sin in the world. And maybe you would say, tonight, “What’s God doing about it?” I’ll tell you what God did about it.
He was pierced for our rebellion. He was crushed for our sin. He was beaten so we could be whole. And he was whipped so that we could be healed. That’s what God did! He’s already done it! That’s what I mean when I say he’s already carried it to the Cross. What you’re looking for from God, tonight, he’s already done it. He has already carried it to the Cross. That’s what love looks like. It looks like God coming to earth as a man in the Person of Jesus Christ and living a sinless and perfect life in order to become a perfect sacrifice. In order to carry all of our burdens, and all of our suffering, and all of our shame, and all of our sin – to take it all on, to become sin – in our place.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)
21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin (it’s literally “he made him to be sin”), so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
That’s what God has done. And so, whatever it is that you’re struggling with tonight, if it’s sin – if you’re shackled in sin – if you’re paralyzed by fear, if the burdens of this circumstance are crushing you, I want you to know that Jesus has already carried it all to the Cross. The love of God is Jesus Christ on the Cross bearing all of your sin and all of your burden with arms wide open in love for you.
Guys, we want to begin to prepare for communion right now, so if you have some bread and some juice there with you, we want you to get that right now. We want to take communion with you. I don’t know if it feels awkward to you or not, but we’re pushing through it. Crackers and juice. Get something to take communion with.
We want you to take communion. If you happen to be with your family, this is a really special time. We’ve done this in the past, where we have the families take communion themselves. So, if you have a family, would you just gather up the elements for communion – any bread or cracker or juice is fine, they’re just representations – so get those right now, and let’s get prepare our hearts for communion.
So, to prepare our hearts for communion, I want to read more from Isaiah 53. We actually stopped in verse 5. Here’s what I’d like to do. I want to read God’s Word to you, and then I want to pray God’s Word for you. And I want you to pray God’s Word with me. I’m doing this to help you prepare your heart for communion. Let’s allow the Word of God to speak, that’s what it does. Let’s allow the living Word to come alive as we read it and then pray it.
Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Would you pray these verses with me?
Lord, all of us, Lord, there’s not one righteous, not one, not one perfect, not one of us good, Lord. All of us, like sheep, have strayed… we have gone away. We have strayed away, Lord. Lord, we admit today, we confess to you, that we have left God’s paths to follow our own. And Lord, what shakes us tonight, is that even though that we, like sheep, have strayed away, left your paths and followed our own, yet Lord you laid on your own Son, the sins of us all. Lord, more than we can comprehend, God, Lord more graphic, more gruesome, more indescribable than we can imagine, Lord while we were running, (while we were your enemies, Romans says), you laid on him the sins, the iniquities, of us all. We recognize that, Lord. We confess that before you tonight.
Isaiah 53:10 (NLT)
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. (Many adopted brothers and sisters, many adopted sons and daughters of God) He will enjoy a long life (indeed, eternal life), and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
Lord, it was your plan to crush your own Son in our place. To pour your wrath that was required upon our sin on the perfect, spotless Son of God. Upon the One that you had never been separated from, upon the One that is one with you, Lord. You took our sins upon yourself. And Jesus, you experienced our grief. Yet, Lord, the promise is that when [your] life was made an offering for [our] sin, when you died in our place, when you paid the full penalty for our sin, it enabled you to adopt us into your family. That you, Jesus, would have many descendants. God, you would have many sons and daughters, that we would be adopted into your family. And we [would] enjoy [eternal life] with you, Lord. And Lord, [your] good plan is prospering in the hands of your Son, Jesus, because of the sacrifice. Because of what you did on the Cross on our behalf.
Isaiah 53:11 (NLT)
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.
This is the point. This is where we’re at tonight.
Lord, when you see all that is accomplished, when the Father sees all that is accomplished by [your] anguish, he will be satisfied. His righteous and holy requirement to judge sin will be satisfied in your sacrifice, Jesus. And you will make it possible for [us] for many (for all who would believe in you and receive you as Savior and Lord), you will make it possible for [us] to be counted righteous, because, Lord, you [bore our sins]. You paid the complete price for our sins.
If you have your communion, get it ready, and as you take up your communion, let me ask you a question. It’s the most important question of the night.
Have you truly received the love of God shown in the Cross of Jesus Christ? Have you come to that place where you’ve confessed, as we just did with God’s Word, that we have gone astray? Have you confessed? “Lord, I’ve gone my own way. I’ve turned my back on you, Lord. I’ve chased after this world. I’ve chased after sin. I’ve done things my own way. But Lord, the price, the consequence for all my sin, has been laid on you.”
Have you come to the place to recognize that Jesus has carried every sin, every mistake, every consequence, and every pain, and every heartache, that he has already carried it to the Cross for you? And he’s already paid the full price there. And it is done. And you can receive it. Now, you can receive life in place of death. You can receive healing in place of pain. You can receive a renewed, restored life in exchange for a dead life.
Have you come to the place where you’re ready to say, “Lord, I want to come to the Cross.”? “I need to come to the Cross. I need to come to that place where you’ve paid for it all. I need to come to the place where I can lay down my burdens, I can lay down my sin, I can lay down my shame, and I can be renewed. I can be given new life. I can be born again, where my sins can be forgiven and I can live forever in your presence.”
Have you come to the place where you’re willing to do that? And, if so, I want you to do that right now before you take communion. Holding the elements of communion in your hand, please, pray something like this.
Lord Jesus, I recognize, I confess that I’ve turned from you, that I’ve lived in sin, I’ve gone my own way. I’ve rebelled and rejected you. But, Lord, I repent tonight on this Good Friday night, I repent and I come to the Cross where you’ve already paid for it all, Lord. Where you have suffered all that I’ve suffered, Lord. You bore all of the weight, all of the burden, Lord, you’ve paid for all of my sin, and all of my guilt, and all of my shame. And Lord, I just come to the Cross right now. And I pray, Lord, that you would be my Savior. I receive you into my life. I make you my Lord. I thank you for saving me. Lord, I receive the free gift of all that you’ve paid on the Cross. All that you’ve done, all that you’ve accomplished. I pray, Lord, that you would cause me to be born again. Revive, restore, and renew my life. Send your Holy Spirit to live inside me, to be my power to live for you. I give you my life, Jesus, in response to you giving me yours. In your name, amen.
That may be the longest prayer some of you have prayed. That’s a good prayer.
And so, now, if you have your communion elements, let’s take communion together. Hold up the bread with me.
Lord, Jesus, as we hold this bread as a symbol of your body that was broken and bruised and pieced through on our behalf, Lord we recognize that all that we need in these difficult times is in you. The revival that our soul needs, the new life that our spirit needs, the peace, the confidence that our heart needs, Lord, it’s all in you and all given to us through your sacrifice on the Cross. And so, Lord, we thank you. We thank you for your body that was broken for us. We thank you, Lord, that you were pierced for our transgressions. And we pray, Lord, that in this communion that your life would become our life.
Let’s take the bread together.
And then, lift the cup with us.
Lord Jesus, you said this is the cup of the new covenant in your blood. Because it is the shedding of your blood, Lord, that cleanses us, that renews us, Lord, that gives us new life. This is your covenant of grace that you’ve poured out because you’ve paid it all. And so, Lord, we take hold of this covenant of grace and say, Lord, we need your grace and we need your forgiveness. And we need the new life that comes from you taking over our lives. We thank you for the covenant of grace.
Let’s take the cup together.
Lord Jesus, we thank you that you have redeemed us. We thank you, Lord, that we can come to the Cross tonight in whatever shape we’re in, near or far, whether we think we’re cleaned up or we know we’re in bad shape – it doesn’t matter. We all come. The ground is equal at the Cross. And we all come to the Cross tonight to receive the redemption that you bought and paid for once and for all, Lord. Your last word, Tetelestai! IT IS FINISHED! And as we come to you, Lord, we receive your redemption and we say together, we are redeemed.
Is that you? Is that you out there? I know that somebody through that camera lens, whose heart is breaking right now, is saying, “God forgive me. I need a new life. I need your forgiveness. I need to be restored to you.” Don’t be distracted. Wherever you’re at, finish that with God.
Lord, I pray that you would speak to those watching, to those listening, Lord. That when you redeem us, you truly redeem us. And your love is unfailing. We cannot be separated from it. That you’ve paid the price, you’ve done the work. It is finished, Lord. And if we are yours then we are yours. And we are yours permanently, Lord, and you will never let us go. And even when we are faithless, Lord, you are faithful. And so, we can come to you. We can come boldly t the throne of grace, to find the grace we need and the mercy we need in these times. So, we come to you, Lord, at the foot of the Cross. We thank you for redeeming us. Be glorified, Jesus, in our lives, amen.
It’s been wonderful to be here with you. We know God just touched somebody’s heart out there. Maybe it was yours. And if you’re watching in a place where there is some way to respond – respond. Contact us. Let us know you are in “for life” with Jesus. “I’ve been redeemed! I’ve received Christ! I have new life!”
Finally, let me say, The Lord bless you. And the Lord keep you. And the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Let’s rejoice in what Jesus Christ has accomplished at the Cross. Let’s rejoice in the life that he has given us. Let’s rejoice in the victory that he has already provided in the situation that we’re in today. Let’s rejoice in the blessing of Jesus Christ in our life.
We’re living in an unprecedented time of fear and anxiety and uncertainty. We’re facing severe sickness, many of us. Some, even facing death or fearful of death. We’re scared. We’re fighting for our loved ones right now. This is like no other time that any of us have ever lived through. We don’t know who this virus may hit, and we don’t know how hard it may hit them.
And so, we come tonight with heavy burdens, with heavy hearts, with anxieties and uncertainties. And we come to the only One who has already paid the price for all of those things. The only one that has already carried all that to the Cross. The only one that has won that victory for us. That’s Jesus! And we’re here to celebrate the sacrifice that he made on our behalf on the Cross tonight.
On the Cross, he paid for it all. He paid for it all there, and he won the victory over it all, there. And so, what you have come with tonight, I want you to know that Jesus Christ has already overcome it. He’s already won the victory! And it is in him, it is in Christ that we have victory. In Christ, we have overcome! In Christ, we will overcome!
Guys, tonight we want you to join Jesus at the Cross. That’s our prayer and our heart for you tonight. Join him at the Cross where he paid for it all on your behalf. We want you, tonight, to be able to take all of your fear, and all of your anxiety, all of your pain, and all of your sin, and we want you to come and meet Jesus at the Cross with it all.
And so, wherever you’re at tonight, in whatever setting you’re at, and in whatever place you’re at with the Lord, whether you’re very near him, or very far from him, we want to give you all the same encouragement tonight. Prepare your heart to come meet Jesus at the Cross, tonight. To bring whatever it is that you’re carrying tonight, whatever burden it is, whatever sin that has you imprisoned, in chains. Whatever struggle, whatever burden that you’re carrying with you tonight, we want to make a place – give you an opportunity – to bring that to the foot of the Cross. To lay it at the feet of the Savior.
Guys, we’re not here to entertain you tonight. We’re not here to put something else on the screen for you to watch. Tonight, we want to create a place, were crying out to God that he would use us as conduits to bring you to a place where you can meet Jesus right where you’re at, in the midst of whatever it is you’re feeling in this crazy pandemic time. In the midst of whatever you’re experiencing, whatever your struggle is.
We’re praying that you would reach the Cross – tonight. Whether you’re in a good place, or not so good place – physically, or spiritually, emotionally – Jesus wants you to come just as you are. And he wants you to know that he has already carried all of your burden to the Cross. All of your sin, all of your pain, all that you need healing from. He’s already carried it to the Cross. Everything that is crushing in on you, and in this especially difficult time.
Jesus has already carried it to the Cross and paid for it there on your behalf. He’s already done the work; he’s already paid the price. He’s already won the victory for you, tonight. And, tonight, on this Good Friday more than ever, it’s time for us to meet him there. And if you have done that, if you have met Jesus there, then you can rejoice. You can begin rejoicing, now, no matter where you’re at, no matter what you feel, no matter what your circumstances are, you can begin rejoicing tonight that Jesus has carried it all to the Cross for you already. That he has already done the work for you to have new life, eternal life, for you to have abundant life, now.
The work is already done. The price has already been paid on the Cross. And you can rejoice in that tonight. And you can rejoice, maybe more than anything else tonight, you can rejoice in the fact that nothing can ever separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. (Nothing) Neither death nor life (death cannot separate you from God’s love), neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today (Your fears about what’s happening today cannot separate you from God’s love) nor our worries about tomorrow (your worry and anxiety can’t separate you from God’s love)—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You can praise God for that, tonight! No matter how you feel about the state of our nation, our culture, the state of your personal life, no matter where your fears are at, you can begin to rejoice and praise God that nothing can ever separate you from his love.
And no matter what tomorrow holds, God’s love will be there when you get there. And the price that Jesus has paid for you will have the victory for you waiting when you get to the battle. He’s already won the victory. And he’s waiting for you there when you get there. And so, you can rejoice in that tonight! And you can praise the King of kings with us!
Let me ask you a question tonight. What does God’s love look like? We know that God’s love is the greatest love, agape love. What does it look like? What does God’s love look like for Jesus to carry all that he carried on our behalf to the Cross? What does it even mean?
It means that Jesus took all the “stuff”. What is your “stuff”? Jesus took all the “stuff”. He took all the junk. He took all the ugliness in our lives. He took it all upon himself. He took all of our pain and all of our sorrow. He took all of our weakness; he took all of our regret. He took it all upon himself, and he paid for it all on the Cross. To heal, to forgive, to wash away, to restore and redeem, to replace old life with new life. He took everything we had, all of our baggage, to the Cross and he paid for it all there.
Here’s what love looked like. Isaiah, the prophet, describes the love of God and Jesus Christ on the Cross like this.
Isaiah 50:6 (NLT)
6 (Speaking of Jesus) I offered my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mockery and spitting.
Guys, that brutality – the beating, the mockery, the pulling of the beard, the pounding of the crown of thorns – it’s all a sign. We call it a type, a representation. It’s a representation of the ugliness of our sin. Those particular people were representing you and me and the ugliness of our sin, the venom of our sin nature, being poured out on Jesus. His response is real love.
Isaiah 53:3-5 (NLT)
3 (Still speaking of Jesus) He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief… (Guys, that grief that Jesus was acquainted with, that was our grief. That wasn’t his grief. He was perfect, the sinless Son of God. The grief he was acquainted with was your grief.) We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. (Jesus was carrying our sin. Jesus was experiencing our grief. And we didn’t know, and we didn’t care. That’s real love. That’s true love.)
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; (Not his own – it was yours and mine. Every weakness you bring into the room you’re in right now, Jesus already carried that to the Cross on your behalf.) it was our sorrows that weighed him down. (It was the sorrow that you feel right now that was the burden crushing in on the Son of God as he went to the Cross.) And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! (We know that’s not true. Verse 5 says it’s not true.)
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
That’s the love of God in Jesus Christ. That’s what the Cross shows. It’s the perfect, sinless, Son of God – the Creator of the World – who took your burdens, and your sorrows, and he took your sin, and he took your fears, and your anxiety, and carried it all to the Cross. And he paid for your victory there! That’s the love of our Savior.
Have you ever heard somebody challenge God? Maybe they say, “If God were a God of love, he wouldn’t allow this. He wouldn’t allow sin to destroy this world.” Guys, this virus that we’re battling right now, is the result of the fallen world, the curse of sin in the world. And maybe you would say, tonight, “What’s God doing about it?” I’ll tell you what God did about it.
He was pierced for our rebellion. He was crushed for our sin. He was beaten so we could be whole. And he was whipped so that we could be healed. That’s what God did! He’s already done it! That’s what I mean when I say he’s already carried it to the Cross. What you’re looking for from God, tonight, he’s already done it. He has already carried it to the Cross. That’s what love looks like. It looks like God coming to earth as a man in the Person of Jesus Christ and living a sinless and perfect life in order to become a perfect sacrifice. In order to carry all of our burdens, and all of our suffering, and all of our shame, and all of our sin – to take it all on, to become sin – in our place.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)
21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin (it’s literally “he made him to be sin”), so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
That’s what God has done. And so, whatever it is that you’re struggling with tonight, if it’s sin – if you’re shackled in sin – if you’re paralyzed by fear, if the burdens of this circumstance are crushing you, I want you to know that Jesus has already carried it all to the Cross. The love of God is Jesus Christ on the Cross bearing all of your sin and all of your burden with arms wide open in love for you.
Guys, we want to begin to prepare for communion right now, so if you have some bread and some juice there with you, we want you to get that right now. We want to take communion with you. I don’t know if it feels awkward to you or not, but we’re pushing through it. Crackers and juice. Get something to take communion with.
We want you to take communion. If you happen to be with your family, this is a really special time. We’ve done this in the past, where we have the families take communion themselves. So, if you have a family, would you just gather up the elements for communion – any bread or cracker or juice is fine, they’re just representations – so get those right now, and let’s get prepare our hearts for communion.
So, to prepare our hearts for communion, I want to read more from Isaiah 53. We actually stopped in verse 5. Here’s what I’d like to do. I want to read God’s Word to you, and then I want to pray God’s Word for you. And I want you to pray God’s Word with me. I’m doing this to help you prepare your heart for communion. Let’s allow the Word of God to speak, that’s what it does. Let’s allow the living Word to come alive as we read it and then pray it.
Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
Would you pray these verses with me?
Lord, all of us, Lord, there’s not one righteous, not one, not one perfect, not one of us good, Lord. All of us, like sheep, have strayed… we have gone away. We have strayed away, Lord. Lord, we admit today, we confess to you, that we have left God’s paths to follow our own. And Lord, what shakes us tonight, is that even though that we, like sheep, have strayed away, left your paths and followed our own, yet Lord you laid on your own Son, the sins of us all. Lord, more than we can comprehend, God, Lord more graphic, more gruesome, more indescribable than we can imagine, Lord while we were running, (while we were your enemies, Romans says), you laid on him the sins, the iniquities, of us all. We recognize that, Lord. We confess that before you tonight.
Isaiah 53:10 (NLT)
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. (Many adopted brothers and sisters, many adopted sons and daughters of God) He will enjoy a long life (indeed, eternal life), and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
Lord, it was your plan to crush your own Son in our place. To pour your wrath that was required upon our sin on the perfect, spotless Son of God. Upon the One that you had never been separated from, upon the One that is one with you, Lord. You took our sins upon yourself. And Jesus, you experienced our grief. Yet, Lord, the promise is that when [your] life was made an offering for [our] sin, when you died in our place, when you paid the full penalty for our sin, it enabled you to adopt us into your family. That you, Jesus, would have many descendants. God, you would have many sons and daughters, that we would be adopted into your family. And we [would] enjoy [eternal life] with you, Lord. And Lord, [your] good plan is prospering in the hands of your Son, Jesus, because of the sacrifice. Because of what you did on the Cross on our behalf.
Isaiah 53:11 (NLT)
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.
This is the point. This is where we’re at tonight.
Lord, when you see all that is accomplished, when the Father sees all that is accomplished by [your] anguish, he will be satisfied. His righteous and holy requirement to judge sin will be satisfied in your sacrifice, Jesus. And you will make it possible for [us] for many (for all who would believe in you and receive you as Savior and Lord), you will make it possible for [us] to be counted righteous, because, Lord, you [bore our sins]. You paid the complete price for our sins.
If you have your communion, get it ready, and as you take up your communion, let me ask you a question. It’s the most important question of the night.
Have you truly received the love of God shown in the Cross of Jesus Christ? Have you come to that place where you’ve confessed, as we just did with God’s Word, that we have gone astray? Have you confessed? “Lord, I’ve gone my own way. I’ve turned my back on you, Lord. I’ve chased after this world. I’ve chased after sin. I’ve done things my own way. But Lord, the price, the consequence for all my sin, has been laid on you.”
Have you come to the place to recognize that Jesus has carried every sin, every mistake, every consequence, and every pain, and every heartache, that he has already carried it to the Cross for you? And he’s already paid the full price there. And it is done. And you can receive it. Now, you can receive life in place of death. You can receive healing in place of pain. You can receive a renewed, restored life in exchange for a dead life.
Have you come to the place where you’re ready to say, “Lord, I want to come to the Cross.”? “I need to come to the Cross. I need to come to that place where you’ve paid for it all. I need to come to the place where I can lay down my burdens, I can lay down my sin, I can lay down my shame, and I can be renewed. I can be given new life. I can be born again, where my sins can be forgiven and I can live forever in your presence.”
Have you come to the place where you’re willing to do that? And, if so, I want you to do that right now before you take communion. Holding the elements of communion in your hand, please, pray something like this.
Lord Jesus, I recognize, I confess that I’ve turned from you, that I’ve lived in sin, I’ve gone my own way. I’ve rebelled and rejected you. But, Lord, I repent tonight on this Good Friday night, I repent and I come to the Cross where you’ve already paid for it all, Lord. Where you have suffered all that I’ve suffered, Lord. You bore all of the weight, all of the burden, Lord, you’ve paid for all of my sin, and all of my guilt, and all of my shame. And Lord, I just come to the Cross right now. And I pray, Lord, that you would be my Savior. I receive you into my life. I make you my Lord. I thank you for saving me. Lord, I receive the free gift of all that you’ve paid on the Cross. All that you’ve done, all that you’ve accomplished. I pray, Lord, that you would cause me to be born again. Revive, restore, and renew my life. Send your Holy Spirit to live inside me, to be my power to live for you. I give you my life, Jesus, in response to you giving me yours. In your name, amen.
That may be the longest prayer some of you have prayed. That’s a good prayer.
And so, now, if you have your communion elements, let’s take communion together. Hold up the bread with me.
Lord, Jesus, as we hold this bread as a symbol of your body that was broken and bruised and pieced through on our behalf, Lord we recognize that all that we need in these difficult times is in you. The revival that our soul needs, the new life that our spirit needs, the peace, the confidence that our heart needs, Lord, it’s all in you and all given to us through your sacrifice on the Cross. And so, Lord, we thank you. We thank you for your body that was broken for us. We thank you, Lord, that you were pierced for our transgressions. And we pray, Lord, that in this communion that your life would become our life.
Let’s take the bread together.
And then, lift the cup with us.
Lord Jesus, you said this is the cup of the new covenant in your blood. Because it is the shedding of your blood, Lord, that cleanses us, that renews us, Lord, that gives us new life. This is your covenant of grace that you’ve poured out because you’ve paid it all. And so, Lord, we take hold of this covenant of grace and say, Lord, we need your grace and we need your forgiveness. And we need the new life that comes from you taking over our lives. We thank you for the covenant of grace.
Let’s take the cup together.
Lord Jesus, we thank you that you have redeemed us. We thank you, Lord, that we can come to the Cross tonight in whatever shape we’re in, near or far, whether we think we’re cleaned up or we know we’re in bad shape – it doesn’t matter. We all come. The ground is equal at the Cross. And we all come to the Cross tonight to receive the redemption that you bought and paid for once and for all, Lord. Your last word, Tetelestai! IT IS FINISHED! And as we come to you, Lord, we receive your redemption and we say together, we are redeemed.
Is that you? Is that you out there? I know that somebody through that camera lens, whose heart is breaking right now, is saying, “God forgive me. I need a new life. I need your forgiveness. I need to be restored to you.” Don’t be distracted. Wherever you’re at, finish that with God.
Lord, I pray that you would speak to those watching, to those listening, Lord. That when you redeem us, you truly redeem us. And your love is unfailing. We cannot be separated from it. That you’ve paid the price, you’ve done the work. It is finished, Lord. And if we are yours then we are yours. And we are yours permanently, Lord, and you will never let us go. And even when we are faithless, Lord, you are faithful. And so, we can come to you. We can come boldly t the throne of grace, to find the grace we need and the mercy we need in these times. So, we come to you, Lord, at the foot of the Cross. We thank you for redeeming us. Be glorified, Jesus, in our lives, amen.
It’s been wonderful to be here with you. We know God just touched somebody’s heart out there. Maybe it was yours. And if you’re watching in a place where there is some way to respond – respond. Contact us. Let us know you are in “for life” with Jesus. “I’ve been redeemed! I’ve received Christ! I have new life!”
Finally, let me say, The Lord bless you. And the Lord keep you. And the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
Let’s rejoice in what Jesus Christ has accomplished at the Cross. Let’s rejoice in the life that he has given us. Let’s rejoice in the victory that he has already provided in the situation that we’re in today. Let’s rejoice in the blessing of Jesus Christ in our life.