I've been thinking about today and today's chapel, preparing. I actually spent a good bit of time in preparation, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, thinking about preparing my heart for preaching on the resurrection. And as much time as I spent there, every time I finished, I felt unsettled in my spirit. And I think it is because I don't think I get to preach on the resurrection till resurrection day. And so because of that, God has settled my heart that we need today to focus on the cross. This is what we call the Passion Week. Over a third of John's gospel in particular focuses on this one week, one week of a life that was 33 and a half years long, and yet a third of all that he would write focuses on one week. About a quarter of all the gospel narratives focus on this one week. So there's something about this week that By divine intent, God by way of inspiration calls us to think about, to focus. And I want to ask you this morning for these few minutes that we have together in chapel to focus on the cross. It's a daunting task for me to think about, okay, I'm going to preach on the cross. Somehow help us explore and understand the cross. And I tell you as I begin, there aren't words. as you think about this week, and you think and you try to historically look through the eyes of hearing, right? Because we can only read it. So we try, we try in our hearts to look, to understand through the eyes of our hearing. This week, enters fulfilling prophecy on the back of a donkey to what to us looking back historically could, through the eyes of our ears, sound like empty praises. They literally cry out to him, Hosanna. They call him King of the Jews, a name that will be a mocking name come the end of this week. He doesn't stay in the city this week, He comes and goes back and forth doing ministry throughout this whole week. And so, we see Him in all these chapters. We see Him as He comes to the Lord's table gathered in the upper room with men, friends. He's called them friends. He's recently said, you're no longer servants, you're friends. And yet they don't understand. He talks to them about one who will betray Him, and every one of them wonders if it's them, which means they question their own hearts. And yet He is the one that dons a towel and gets a basin and stoops and washes their feet and says to Peter, unless I wash all of you, you won't be saved. While they sit and somewhat in their hearts, they're just still having the lingering overtones of a conversation about which one of them would be the greatest and who has the right to sit on his right hand in the kingdom. And he's serving them. After the one who he knows will betray him leaves, they go to a place that was all too familiar to him, Gethsemane. There he asked these friends to watch with him because his soul is in great turmoil and he brings three further on with him and asks them to pray. Their flesh is weak, they sleep while he pours, literally pours out his soul to his father. Hear and see the sinless Son of God anticipating all that Calvary, the cross will be And he says, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. And then in the shadows there appears a great crowd and he demonstrates to them with an eternal divine word that he is so much more than a man and not at all a criminal. The whole crowd is knocked down because of his speaking, and yet he tells Peter, put away your sword. This is my hour. And he submits himself to his father and thus surrenders himself to this crowd. And they move him from Gethsemane to a place that we would know as the trials that take place within Gabbatha, the place of judgment. See the mocking. The farcical trials, the sinful bias of the hearts of fallen men fully put on display and he speaks not a word. Pilate's torn, tortured, tormented because he finds no fault in him. Can you imagine a man like that actually encountering somebody? that he asked to look at and say, no fault? He couldn't devise a scheme by which he could rightly justify this man's death. There was no way. And yet he would condemn him and wash his hands. He's flogged, beaten, spit upon. His beard plucked out, thorns pounded into the tender flesh of His brow, and then they don Him with a cross. And He moves from there to Golgotha, the place of dying. Can you see through the ears of your hearing? Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. I thirst. Today you'll be with me in paradise. Man, behold your mother. Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit. To tell us die? It is finished. Can you see? What? What is finished? Oh, see, he didn't say, I am finished. Oh, for his work was only just begun. Oh, praise God! Praise God! He didn't look on that crowd and He didn't say, you are finished! Though He would have been just in doing so. Aren't you thankful today that He didn't in that moment consider all that was going on and all the sin that was being carried out and being now thrust upon Him, and all the evil and all the wickedness that was now coming to a crescendo in fallenness of man at this peak, this pinnacle of fallenness, that He didn't say, look, this is finished. I'm done with this. Oh no. In words of perfection, the completion of a well-written poem, the last brush stroke of a perfected painting, to tell us, it is completely complete. Today, as we look at Calvary, I really want us to consider just two things. And as we do, I make a plea to you, oh Christian, look. Look what he has done that you might have life. And ask this question in light of that, will I live for him? Look, look, oh you who don't have life. You are yet dead in your trespasses and sins. Look at what He did and ask, why will I still choose death rather than choose Him? And so, two things today. Turn in your Bibles to the most familiar verse that I would say most of us who are Christians have known all our lives. Turn to John chapter 3. John chapter 3, I'm going to begin in verse 14. John writing says these words, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, his messianic title. Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. I want us to see just two things today as we contemplate Calvary. Oh, listen to this picture through the words of the hymn writers of old. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain. And when I think that God, God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin. I saw one hanging on a tree. and agony and blood, who fixed his languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood. My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins, his blood had spilt, and helped to nail him there. Oh, oh, to see the pain written on your face. Bearing the awesome weight of sin. Every bitter thought. Every evil deed crowning your blood-stained brow. Now, now the daylight flees. Now the ground beneath quakes as its maker bows his head. Curtain torn in two. Dead. Dead or raised to life. Finished. Finished. The victory cry. Oh, to see my name written in the wounds. For through your suffering, I, I am free. Death, death is crushed to death. Life is mine to live, one through your selfless love. Oh, can it be upon a tree? The Savior died for me. My soul is thrilled. My heart is filled to think He died for me. You see, this, the power of the cross. Son of God slain for us. What a love. What a cost. We stand forgiven. at the cross. I want us to see simply today some colossal truths about Calvary, and then some colossal realities because of Calvary. The colossal truths are all found right here in a verse that we can quote without thinking. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Do you realize? Do you realize what I just said? What are these colossal truths? The first is God. Oh, friends, would Easter matter? Would we have a resurrection if the person of the truth of John 3, 16 wasn't God? This wasn't your friend. This wasn't the greatest person that ever lived. This wasn't some make-believe God. This wasn't something Mohammed could do. This wasn't something Buddha could do. This wasn't something that combined myriad millions of Indian gods could do. This was God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He is all-powerful. He is all-knowing. He is all-righteous. He is just and He is good. God, that's who we're talking about. God did something. What did He do? Oh friend, think that God did something for somebody. What did he do? He loved. Oh, as you look at Calvary, young person this morning, if ever anywhere in the aching hallows of your soul, you wonder, does anybody love me? Calvary declares, God loved. In a way, nobody else could ever love you. You see, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for you. While we were at enmity with God, He loved you. A selfless, self-sacrificing love. A love that gives with no thought in return. A love that gives because there was no capacity for return. You had nothing to offer Him. Nothing by which you could impress Him. Nothing that He was bartering with you because He needed it so He would offer you love. He just loved you. That's the colossal truth, Calvary. But how did He love you? Because you see, this verse has this colossal truth in it. He so loved. And we like to make that about us in a way that says, oh, He loved me this much. You know, it's a great picture, but this isn't about extent. It's about demonstration. How did He love? He so loved that He gave. Friends, that is not a verb that is describing Christ's birth. It's describing Calvary. He gave. It's a sacrifice. God loved you in this way. Imagine, friend, if you are here today and somewhere in your heart you are sitting and you acknowledge that you don't know Christ as Savior, so you're choosing death instead of choosing Christ. And God at Calvary is declaring that I loved you in this way, that I gave my Son for you. And you sit and you say, no! I ask you, what other hope do you have? There's a reason the Bible describes those who are without Jesus as those who are without hope in the world. There is no hope. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. This is colossal truth. But what did he give? Notice these words, these atoning words, these unique words. He gave his only begotten son, a monogamous, a one of a kind. This isn't that God just had one child and he gave up that one child for us. This is a covenant term. He gave the one that was necessary. He gave the appointed one. He gave the only one. This is God's means of salvation. This is colossal truth. There was one means by which men who are lost could be redeemed, bought back. One means by which our sin could be atoned for. One means by which the wrath of God could be appeased, that you deserved and God loved you in such a way that he gave this one and only son. Oh, young person, Your ethics, your morality, your Christian college, your church attendance, your baptism, none of it matters because of John 3 16. If any of it mattered, he wouldn't have given his one and only son. Oh, this is what Calvary declares. This is colossal truth. Why? That you wouldn't perish. The outcome's not hanging in the balance. There's not an if-maybe that maybe I go in the ground and I just become dust, and that's the end of it all. There isn't a question about whether or not there's life after life. There is life after life, and you will live eternally somewhere. You'll either live eternally in the torment of hell and death, or you'll live forever in the presence of God, and that's what's in the balance at Calvary. This is colossal truth. Why? Because you are perishing. And God did this so that you might have eternal life. Eternal life. Understand that this isn't just the destination, this eternal life. Jesus said, I've come that they might have life and might have it more abundantly. Whom the son makes free shall be free indeed. This is the quality of life as a child of God who embraces Calvary. You see the question of if he did that for me, how should I live for him? It's about the life, the quality of life that he now gives to you. You don't have to live a broken life. You don't have to live an unforgiven life. You don't have to live a spiritually handicapped life. You don't have to live as one that despairs because you've been sinned against. You don't have to live as one who because of your failures can never be much for God. None of that is true because of Calvary. You can, this week, this Easter week, live in resurrection power because you decide today, because of Calvary, I will confess my sin. And He is faithful and He is just to forgive my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. And I, because of Calvary, can begin again. This is colossal truth. This is life-shaping truth. This is so much more than a name and some numbers and grammatical markers written on a sign and held up at a ballgame. This is Calvary put on display for all of the universe to see. God loved in this way the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That anyone of His creation that believes in Him is delivered from death and has the quality of eternal life. These are colossal truths. So, what are the colossal realities then because of Calvary? I want you to see several that the Bible enumerates for us. Romans 14, 9 says this, for to this end, this purpose, Christ died and lived again, why? That He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Matthew records this in Matthew 13, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up, then in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. So that he might own it. That it might be his, that he might rule over it and have all that is within the field. What is a colossal truth because of Calvary? It's a truth we find at the end of that passage in Philippians chapter 2, wherefore God, this same God, has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and every tongue should confess, what? That Jesus Christ is Lord. You know what Calvary did? It is God's declaration that Jesus is Lord of everything. That Jesus is Lord of everyone. You know what that means, friends? There is not a power in heaven and earth that can keep you out of God's heaven if you come to Christ and ask for salvation, because He's Lord of everything. What's the second colossal truth because of Calvary? Well, imagine the quotient. Do the math. A sinless God and sinful man. How are they reconciled? Can God just wipe away the sin and say, because I'm God, I'm just going to make it so? One of the great enigmas in Scripture is how is God just and a justifier? Well, because of Calvary He is for all of sin, Romans 3 tells us, and comes short of the glory of God, being justified, listen, freely by the grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, a satisfaction through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. You know what one of the colossal truths of Calvary is? That the only way that God can remain just and you can be justified is because of what Jesus did. This is why Calvary is the only way. No other religious system allows God to forgive your sins and somehow He remained just. If some other system manages to get you into heaven, you can be sure when you get there, there is no one there who rightly deserves to be called God. Because He's broken His own law. You see, one of the colossal truths about Calvary is this, it is God's means because Christ took your place. He became a man. He lived a sinless life. He died a substitutionary death. He atoned for your sins and he bore the wrath of God completely in your place. So God is just and you can be justified. One of the other colossal truths about Calvary is this. Because of Calvary, you don't have to face the wrath of God. But without Calvary, you will. If you wonder how God feels about sin, look through the eyes of hearing at Calvary. Imagine when we think through a friend who passes away unexpectedly, when we think through the passing of a dad and we listen to words like this, precious, heavy, meaningful, in the sight of God is the death of his saints. Can you imagine what the death of his son means? For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us, nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest, entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others. Listen, for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Peter says it this way, for Christ also has suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit. You don't have to bear the just wrath of God because of Calvary, but oh, you might choose to. Then lastly, I want us to see, Titus 2.14 says this, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Colossal truth about Calvary is this, God says it accomplished everything He designed. And through Calvary, we can be made Christ's own, and as His own, we are made pure. Think of those verses that we so often use to describe marriage that actually describe the love of Christ for us. He gave Himself that He might present unto Himself a bride, spotless and without blemish. Young people, this week I call your attention to Calvary. I call you to go to the seeing of the Word. Let the gospel writers be your guide. And today I come back to my two questions and I ask to you, O Christian, as you contemplate what He's done, will you live for Him? If you're here today and you are not saved, Will you look at Calvary and choose death over Christ? This, the power of the cross, Son of God slain for us. Let's pray. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. Oh, my friend. If you are here today and eternity for you hangs in the balance, you are not saved. I plead with you. Look to Calvary. In the quietness of this moment, you would say, Alan, I'm not saved. Please pray for me. That's you, would you put up your hand right now in the quietness of this auditorium? I'm not saved, but I'm looking at Calvary this morning. Please, please pray for me. Oh God, I thank you that John 3.16 is in our Bible. Help us to look. to set aside the din and the noise and the distraction of all else and look. I pray if there are those here this morning who are lost, help them to look and live. And God, if there are those who are saved this morning, help us to look and choose to live. Thank you that we look forward to resurrection on Sunday. We pray these things in Jesus' name.