Infinite Fellowship Ministries

The Cross Of Jesus In The Context Of Eternal Reality (Part 2): Sermon Series By Bishop Gobanga

For Christ (the Messiah) sent me out not to baptize but [to evangelize by] preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel), and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of Christ should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain (fruitless, void of value, and of no effect).

For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God. 

1 Corinthians 1:17-18 (AMPC)

There are two views of the universe we derive from reading the Bible: Christocentric and from the incursion of sin.

The Cross is adorned with a significance of the purpose of God from eternity to eternity. The Cross is the basic foundation of everything. 

When the you fail to recognize the place of God and the importance of the Cross, you become an unbalanced Christian. 

It’s the principle of the Cross of Jesus that governs each and every aspect of our living. 

The Cross talks about the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

Without the Cross of Jesus, there is no throne. 

The principle of the Cross ensures there is the practice of self sacrifice within the Godhead, where the persons of the Godhead submit one to another. The Son glorifies the Father, the Father speaks highly of the Son and the Spirit speaks of the Son. 

The principle and mystery of the Cross is what keeps the Godhead together. It’s the principle of their power. 

If the Church learns the mystery of self-sacrifice and esteeming each other better than self, then the Church can be the most powerful organization in the world. 

The power of unity is derived from the principle of the Godhead. 

The more the persons of the Godhead celebrate each other, the more powerful they become. When the Church learns this principle, it will be able to move in great power and do things that even the government can not do. 

We can only change the system that governs the government when as a country we go back to God. 

The bondage we have is the bondage of sin and it can only be dealt with by the Cross. The problem we have as a country is sin, not bad governance. 

The solutions to the problems of the world is not having a constitution, it’s living according to the Bible. The solution is a relationship with God. 

The message of the Cross is of self-sacrifice: laying down your life for another to excel and prosper. 

God wants us to understand if we are to achieve anything as an individual or church it is by supporting one another. 

The only way we can have change in our lives is when we go back to the word of God. 

The throne of God is not exclusive of the Cross of Jesus. 

The message of the Cross is not a line of teaching or a department of the truth. It’s the hub of all truth. It’s the elucidation of everything. 

The person of the Lord can never be understood without the Cross. Everything Jesus did before His crucifixion was misunderstood. 

Ascension starts at the place of the altar. 

The Cross can only be understood and appreciated when the person of Christ is discerned. 

Jesus was made to be sin. He was made as a victim of the enemy and his darkness. It’s at that place where He lost the consciousness of God’s love. 

The physical sufferings of Jesus were not as severe as the separation from the consciousness of God’s love. It was His first time to be separated from the Father.

Jesus overcame the cause, consequences and the source of death. 

Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.  

Romans 8:1  (AMPC)

The effect of sin is that when God comes into your life, you run away. Jesus destroyed the effect of sin i.e. the very thing that causes condemnation. 

When you allow the Cross to work in you, you will never experience condemnation. You will not even care who God uses to deal with issues in your life.

By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace.And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end.

Ephesians 2:15-16  (AMPC)

The new man refers to the Church. The Church is a new man not men. It’s erroneous to consider yourself individually as the new man. You are an extension of the new man. 

The Church is not just a Body, it’s the new man. It’s the Body of Christ. The different denominations comprise the new man. 

Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old unrenewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion;  

Ephesians 4:22 (AMPC)

The old man represents the fallen man i.e. the fallen adamic nature, the fallen old corporate man. 

To put on the new man means to put on the Body of Christ. 

And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude],  

Ephesians 4:23  (AMPC)

We put on the new man by the renewal of our minds. The more we are renewed in our mind by the Spirit, the more we put off the old man and put on the new man. 

You can’t receive truth without your spirit man. 

Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices, and have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it.

[In this new creation all distinctions vanish.] There is no room for and there can be neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, [nor difference between nations whether alien] barbarians or Scythians [who are the most savage of all], nor slave or free man; but Christ is all and in all [everything and everywhere, to all men, without distinction of person].  

Colossians 3:9-11 (AMPC)

In the new man, there are no denominations. A denomination is an expression of Christ. 

Anything else apart from Christ in the new man is not of God. 

To have a church life means having Christ in your life. The basis of our fellowship is Christ. You have the right to reject anything that is not of Christ. 

Demons are cast out by our words, not the use of objects. 

Christ is not only the head but also the Body. Therefore, Christ is the new man. 

The Cross will ensure you are never drawn to people who agree with you. It will lead you to people who disagree with you for your carnal nature to be dealt with.