The sacrificial death of Christ on Calvary must ever be viewed as the defining and distinctive and dynamic truth of genuine Christianity. While it is true that others have died and died by crucifixion, the fact is that Christ's death is unequal and must be viewed completely differently from all other deaths. I say that because Christ's death was unique in its planning. This was part of the eternal covenant with the Father. Way before the world was ever formed, or man had ever sinned, or Christ had ever come, it was determined that he would lay down his life as a ransom for many. The cross was not an afterthought, but an eternal commitment, an eternal agreement between God the Father and God the Son. That's why John could speak in the book of the Revelation of the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. Christ's death, therefore, is unique. It is unequalled in its planning. It was also unique in its pain. No one ever suffered as Christ suffered. It is impossible for us to plumb the depths of His anguish and His agony on the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered both in body and in soul. He suffered both at the hands of wicked men, sinful men, as they are described in our text, and also at the hands of a just God. He suffered individually. He suffered intensely. In fact, I think it's true to say that eternity alone will reveal the depth of sorrow endured by Christ, who is known as the Man of Sorrows. Furthermore, Christ's death was unique in its purpose. For while others died for their own sin, paid the price for their own crimes, Christ had no sin of His own. He was without fault. He was guilty of no crime. Yet He died in the place of sinners. In Romans chapter 5 and verse 6 you have those tremendous words, He died for the ungodly. As the hymn writer put it, He took my place and he died for me. Christ laid down his life for others and therefore his death was unique in its purpose. It was also unique in its perfection because he finished the work. He died in victory. The Lord Jesus Christ did not so much lose his life as he actually laid down his life. And as we know that last Tuesday night on the cross he cried, it is finished. And he finished the work that his father had given him to do and then Christ gave up the ghost and died. But the message of the gospel of course doesn't finish with Christ on the cross. Our Saviour was buried, his body was placed into Joseph's tomb and it remained there for three days. And then on the third day he arose again. Now the resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of Christianity. It has to be very interesting that men have done their utmost to discredit, attempt to discredit and to deny and to distort this great fundamental. There have been numerous hellish attempts to question the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. There have been those who have set forth what they have called, or what has been called, the falsehood theory. That is, they argue that the disciples simply stole the body of the Saviour and for the rest of their lives they practiced deliberate deception. They had taken the body of Christ away and they lived a falsehood for the rest of their days. There are some who set forth what they call the swoon theory, that Christ didn't really die at all, he just swooned on the cross, he just fainted on the cross and when his body went into the cold tomb it wasn't that he was resurrected in as much as he was just revived. and they speak of him swooning instead of dying. And then there's some who set forth what's known as the vision theory that the disciples in the midst of all of this ongoing in Jerusalem merely thought they saw Christ, had some imagination that they perceived that Christ was alive. And so men have used all of these methods and of course it's still going on to this very day where men are arguing against the bodily resurrection of the Saviour. But no one can overcome the statement of verse 6 of Luke chapter 24. He is not here, but is risen. And the empty tomb is unquestionable evidence that Jesus Christ arose. And it's here in the resurrection of Christ that we discover the real comfort of the cross. I've written an article recently in a magazine that I subscribe to concerning a commercial company that has started to market what they describe as comfort crosses. Little crosses, little pieces of wood carved into the shape of a cross. And the idea is that you carry this little trinket in your pocket and you can draw comfort or strength or solace from it in times of need. It's an expanding business. It's almost incredible that people should buy into such a thing or even follow that kind of nonsense. It's much more akin to the relic industry of the Roman Catholic Church than it is to Biblical Christianity. But it's very popular. And people would prefer that kind of trinket idea to the truth of the Gospel. But the point is this, there is no comfort in fingering a piece of wood regardless of its shape. The comfort of the cross is not found in a miniature wooden replica of the cross. The comfort of the cross lies in the fact that on the cross Christ finished the work of redemption and on the third day he rose again in glorious triumph. There is where the Christian finds the greatest comfort when he comes to consider the subject of the cross work of Christ. I think it is impossible to overestimate the importance of the resurrection. I say that for a number of reasons. The resurrection fulfills Christ's prophecy. in Matthew chapter 20 in verses 18 and 19 for example he said to his disciples behold we go up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes and they shall condemn him to death and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify him and on the third day he shall rise again Christ knew that he was going to Calvary. That's why he came. But he also knew and he told his disciples that on the third day he would rise again. You have similar words in John chapter 2 and verse 19 where Christ spoke there of destroying this temple and raising it up again in three days. Look at the language of our text. It says there in verse 7, when he was yet in Galilee, verse 6, where he is not here but has risen, remember how he spake unto you, when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. The Lord had prophesied this, as had other prophets in the Old Testament time. And now when Christ was risen from the dead, his resurrection confirmed his prophecy. It fulfilled Christ's prophecy. Not only that, it also proves Christ's deity. His rising from the dead proved Him to be the Son of God. It authenticated His claims. In Romans 1, verse 4, you have these words speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He was declared to be the Son of God with power. according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. And when Christ was raised from the dead, he was declared, or it was evidence, it was proof that he was indeed the Son of God. And therefore the resurrection not only fulfills Christ's prophecy, it proves Christ's deity, and it confirms Christ's victory. He bruised the serpent's head. He defeated him who had the power of death. And when Christ rose from the dead, as we've been singing in our opening hymn, He gained a glorious victory. And those things are vitally important for us. But there's something else here. In the resurrection of Christ, God the Father publicly declared His approval or His acceptance of Christ's work for His people. repeatedly throughout the New Testament. Reference is made to God raising Christ from the dead. There are references to God the Father raising Him. There is reference to Christ raising Himself and there is reference also to the Holy Spirit. But many of the references regarding the resurrection speak of God the Father raising Christ. In Acts chapter 3 and verse 4, for example, there are numerous references there. Verse 15 of chapter 3 reads, He denied the Holy One, and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised from the dead. These are words in Peter's sermon. And then in verse 26, Unto you, first God having raised up His Son, Jesus sent Him to bless you. And then Acts chapter 4 verse 10, Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead. And there are numerous other references right throughout Scripture that speak of God raising Christ from the dead. Jesus Christ rose again. And by His resurrection, God testified that he was well pleased with his work. By Christ rising from the dead, God testified that he approved the work that Christ had done or that he had accepted the work that Christ had accomplished on the behalf of and for the benefit of his people. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was offered to the Father. and has been accepted by the Father. And that is proved by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now the fact that God the Father has accepted the work of Christ on the cross has far-reaching implications for the Christian. It's far-reaching implications for us to make. And it's these things that I want to draw your attention to as we come to think on the acceptance of the cross. Let me say this first of all, that the acceptance of the cross points to a perfect atonement for the believer. It points to a perfect atonement for the believer. Christ's death on Calvary. This is something we stress right throughout these messages. Christ's death on Calvary had one great purpose and that was to atone for the sins of his people. Christ did not die to leave an example of a martyr's death. He did not die just to show his long-suffering meekness. He did not die just to teach a lesson in selflessness. Rather, Christ came to earth and he went to Calvary and he laid down his life to make an atonement for sin. Remember, man was guilty before God. Adam had broken the law. Sin was present, spiritual deadness prevailed. We were under the wrath of God, condemned already. The sentence had been pronounced, the wages of sin is death. We were undone, unclean, unrighteous, unholy, unresponsive and therefore unable to save ourselves. We had no spiritual life. We could never have produced spiritual life by ourselves. In fact, left to ourselves, left to our own devices, we would have been damned without hope and doomed for all eternity. Our total depravity would have led to our eternal destruction. But in the covenant of redemption, The triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit planned a way of salvation which involved Jesus Christ making atonement for us. Now the word atonement has various shades of meaning. It means to reconcile. That's how it's most often translated in the New Testament. To reconcile or to cause to be at one. That's the most common meaning. means that we are reconciled to God. But the word also means to compensate or to satisfy. And that's the thought of the word in Leviticus chapter 5, verses 15 and 16. You needn't turn to that passage, but there, if a person sinned, the priest could make atonement for him. He could make satisfaction for his sins. And that truth, the truth of making satisfaction, comes to the very core of this subject. The work of atonement involved Jesus Christ satisfying divine justice on our behalf. As one theologian has put it, the law and justice, he's speaking there of God's law and God's justice, the law and justice make certain demands upon the sinner. For example, the soul of the sinner, it shall die. But Christ by covenant undertook to make satisfaction to the law and to the justice of God. In other words, Christ covenanted to satisfy divine justice. He covenanted to make atonement. Now in order for Christ to do that, He had to come and to live for us. He had to keep the law perfectly. because we had failed to do that. And then He also had to die for us. He had to pay the penalty for our sin. And that's what's involved in this work of atonement. This atonement is substitutionary. Christ did it for His people. This work of atonement involves suffering and agony. Christ had to bear our own sin on His body. And we're told in 1 Peter 2 and verse 4 that He did that and by His stripes We are healed. It involved the agony of the cross. It involved Christ's suffering in our place. This atonement was offered to God. There are some people who believe that when Christ died on Calvary, he was making a payment to the devil for the release of his people so that they could be saved. That's not the case at all. Christ offered himself without spot to the Father. This atonement was essentially Godward. where God received the atonement made by the Saviour on our behalf. And then this work of atonement is absolutely essential. There was no other way that God could save sinners and remain just. He couldn't just sweep his law under the carpet. He couldn't just turn a blind eye to our sin. The law was there. The law had to be satisfied. Justice had to be satisfied and therefore this atonement, this substitutionary work by Christ was absolutely essential. This work of atonement was definite in particular. Christ died to save his people. He loved his church and he gave himself for his church. And this work of atonement was successful. What God aimed at in the atonement is exactly what He accomplished. Christ did not merely make salvation possible. Christ made salvation actual. And when God raised Christ from the dead, He paid public testimony to the fact that He accepted this work of atonement that Christ had accomplished. He paid testimony that this satisfying of divine justice, this providing a perfect and a permanent salvation had been perfectly done and God was well pleased with it. The atonement was made. Salvation was sure. God was satisfied. And Jesus Christ was exalted. No doubt this work of atonement was an awesome thing. It was a mighty commitment. It was a tremendous covenant. But Christ done everything. Christ done everything to satisfy the demands of the law and the justice of God in the place of His people. His life and His death were adequate to accomplish all that God demanded for our salvation. Christian, that's something we should never, ever lose sight of. God has accepted the work Christ has done for us. He is perfectly satisfied and therefore our salvation is perfectly sure. That's the truth of Romans 4 and 25 where it speaks there that Christ was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification. Christian, your salvation and my salvation rests on It rests on the fact that God is satisfied. If God had not been satisfied, if Christ had not paid the full price for our redemption, if Christ had not dealt with all our sin, if Christ had not done a perfect work and God was not pleased, we could never be saved. But Christ has done the work and God is satisfied and He is so pleased with it that He raised Christ from the dead. Now what does that mean for us? What does that mean in practical terms? It means we don't need to add anything to Christ's work. We don't need to add anything to Christ's work. Christ is sufficient to save. He has met all the demands. He has paid the price in full. He has done everything that was required. Now that's one of the truths that come out of the parable of the wedding feast. Remember the king made a feast for his son and he sent forth his servants and what was the message the servants were to bring? All things are now ready. All things are finished. All things are prepared. It's all done. The work's all there. The work's prepared. The work has been finished. And we can write that over our salvation. All things are ready. Christ has done it all. Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. You know, if we had been left to add anything to this, if we had been left to add anything to this, we would be damned. But God is perfectly pleased with all that Christ has perfectly done by this work of atonement. We don't have to add anything more. It's not Christ and works that save. It's not Christ and the church that saves. It's Christ and Christ alone. Then also, it means we can rest secure in Christ's work. Remember Noah? The ark covered there in pitch was a perfect resting place for him and his family. So Christ and his atoning work is a perfect resting place for us. It's interesting that the word pitch in Genesis 6 and 14 where it speaks of Noah being commanded to cover the ark with pitch within and without, that word pitch is the word atone. or the word to cover. It has the same thought. And what a truth it is. We can rest secure in the finished work of Christ. God is satisfied. God is pleased. Therefore we are safe. We can rest secure in this. That's why Paul speaks in Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, Now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Because Christ is our Saviour. And God is pleased with him, therefore we can rest secure. And then something more, it means that we have every reason to rejoice in Christ's work. A dead saviour is no saviour. The atoning work of Christ, if it is to be effective at all, had to terminate not in death, but in life. And Christ rose from the dead. He lives in the power of an endless life. The atonement is effective. Therefore Christian, you have every reason to rejoice. Do you remember that morning, that resurrection morning when Mary went to the tomb? She was met with the angels and she was standing there weeping and they asked her the question, why weepest thou? And then she met the Saviour and she didn't recognise him and he asked her the same question, why weepest thou? The tomb was empty. Christ had rose. Yet she was weeping. And the question was, why weepest thou? When you think of that, Mary had no reason to weep because her Saviour was alive. The tomb was empty. The work was done. And believer here, we have the reason for the greatest rejoicing. Our Saviour is alive. You drive past a Roman Catholic graveyard or travel down south or any Roman Catholic country and you'll see images of Christ still on the cross. Christ is not on the cross. Christ is not in the tomb. Christ is alive. Our Saviour lives in the power of an endless life and therefore we can rejoice in that, that our Saviour who has saved our souls and has the keeping of our souls, is a loving Saviour. And come what may, in all the changing circumstances of our life, we have one in the glory who pleads for us, our exalted, risen High Priest. Why weepest thou? We don't need another sacrifice. We don't need a further offering for sin. We don't need another mediator. We don't need another cross or another Christ or another high priest. God has accepted the perfect work of Christ for us and therefore we have a perfect atonement. We have been reconciled to God and we have peace through the blood of the cross. The resurrection, the acceptance of this work points to a perfect atonement for the believer. Our sins have been dealt with. Our guilt has been dealt with. Our crime against God has all been dealt with by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's why in Romans 8 you have that great series of questions, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. It is Christ who rose again. It is Christ who is seated at his Father's right hand. It is Christ who prays. There's been a perfect atonement. What a joy, what a privilege that is. What a truth that is. And I only pray that God would write that upon our hearts. That the acceptance of the cross points to a perfect atonement. for the believer. And then something else that points to a perfect acceptance of the believer. The whole crux of this matter is that God is well pleased with his only begotten son. Let's never forget that. That God is well pleased, perfectly pleased with his only begotten son. Do you remember the record of the Mount of Transfiguration, Luke chapter 9? Christ had gone there with Peter and James and John and as he was there on the Mount his face was changed, they had seen his glory. Moses and Elias talked with Christ. Remember what they talked about? They talked about the decease that he would accomplish at Jerusalem. In other words, there on the Mount of Transfiguration, Christ and Moses and Elijah talked about the Saviour's death. that He would accomplish His victorious death, the work of atonement. That's what they discussed. That's what they talked about that day on the Mount of Transfiguration. And it was in that context that God the Father said in verse 35 of Luke 9, This is my beloved Son, hear Him. Now the parallel passage in Matthew 17 verse 5 That statement is reading like this, this is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. I want you to understand this, God the Father is not only pleased with the work that His Son has done, though He is, but He is not only pleased with the work that His Son has done, He is well pleased with His Son, His only begotten Son. Now remember Christ was made sin for us. Remember He died an accursed death. He endured unimaginable and indescribable agonies and shame on that center cross. He was numbered with the transgressors. He made His grave with the wicked. But God raised Him to life again and testified that He delighted in his only begotten Son. God accepted Christ and is well pleased with him. And on that very basis that God has accepted Christ, on that basis every believer is accepted too. That brings me right into the very heart of what I call experiential Christianity. A believer in Christ is in union with Christ. Salvation brings us into a lasting and a living and a vital union with the Saviour. Therefore what is true of Christ is true of us. That's what Paul meant when he said to the Galatians in chapter 2 and 20 of that little epistle, I am crucified with Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. I am crucified with Christ. What did he mean? He meant that Christ died and he died in Christ. That's true of every believer. Christ died and we died in Him. Christ was raised and we were raised in Him. Christ is accepted by the Father and we are accepted in Christ. That's what Ephesians 1 verse 6 is stressing when Paul writes there, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Accepted in Christ. I happened to be reading a sermon by C. H. Spurgeon just late last night on another text, another theme altogether. But he made this statement. When God accepted Christ my head, He accepted me. When He glorified my head, He made me a partaker of that glory through my representative. The infinite delight of the Father in His only begotten Son is an infinite delight in all the members of His mystical body. You know, that's an amazing and a tremendous truth. God has accepted Christ. And because Christ is accepted, so are we. So are we. What does that mean for us? It speaks of our adoption. John 1.14, But as many as received him, to them give ye power to become the sons of God. What is Christ described as? The Son of God. Yet when we believe in Christ, when we receive Christ as our Saviour, we are given the power to become the sons of God. No longer strangers, but sons. No longer aliens, but adopted and accepted by the Father. It speaks of our adoption, it speaks of our access, We can come boldly with the prayer, Abba Father, because we are accepted in Christ. And it speaks also of our Advocate. We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. A Christian ought to greatly encourage our hearts. Is it not true that Satan makes much of our sins? Is it not true He makes much of our coldness, our carelessness, our unbelief, our backsliding, our indwelling sin? And the devil will argue, how can you pray? How can you witness for God? How can you expect any blessing from the Lord? Just look at the way you live. Just look at the sin within your heart. Look at the coldness in your soul. How can you pray? How can you ever dare to approach God? How can you rest on Him in times of trouble? Or look to Him for grace and for help in times of need? And that's how the devil argues against us. And if we're honest, he seems to have a good point. How can we ever approach the Lord? How can we ever come and enjoy the presence of the Lord? Because of ourselves we have no acceptance of God. But we're not accepted on our own merit. We're not accepted in our own name. We're not accepted because of our own value. We're not accepted because of our own righteousness. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Our acceptance is in Christ. Our acceptance is in Christ. And because God has raised him from the dead, and has raised him and has testified, I accept the work my son has done, I am well pleased with him. When Christ is accepted, then we are accepted in Christ. And the devil has no argument to that. Every charge he lays against us is answered by the blood. Therefore when we think of the acceptance of the cross, the raising of Christ from the dead, a testimony by God the Father that he is well pleased with Christ and with his work, it points to a perfect acceptance for the believer. Let that encourage our hearts tonight as we come to pray. Maybe you have come to the prayer meeting and you have felt yourself to be wholly unworthy of opening your mouth in prayer. And the devil has made much of your feelings throughout the day, of your feelings since we last met for public worship. And while you've managed to come, there's this cloud of defeat that hangs over your soul. But always remember that you're accepted in Christ. Because Christ is accepted, we are accepted too. And then the last thing that I want to mention is that the acceptance of the cross not only points to a perfect atonement for the believer and points to a perfect acceptance for the believer, it also points to a perfect assurance to the believer. What I mean by that is simply this, Christ's resurrection guarantees our resurrection. Christ's resurrection guarantees our resurrection. Reference to that is made in Romans chapter 8 and verse 11. It says there, "...but the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you. He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Christ was raised from the grave and he went to heaven and he's there in his Father's presence at his Father's right hand. And it speaks there in Romans 8-11, But the Spirit that raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you. He that raised up Christ shall also quicken your mortal bodies. So the Bible speaks of Christ being the firstfruits of them that rise. Because Christ has entered glory in all His victory, and in all His majesty, and in all His power, we shall as well enter into heaven. because of Jesus Christ. You see, we are members of Christ, members of his body. And where Christ is, his body must be also. Therefore we have this tremendous assurance, that our bodies will not remain in the grave, but on that great day we shall be raised This corruption shall put on incorruption. This mortal shall put on immortality. We shall be raised, and we shall be with Christ, which is far better. So Paul speaks of in Philippians chapter 3 in verse 21, Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself. Christ, if you read Psalm 23, Christ entered heaven in great victory, great majesty, great glory. Someday the child of God, body and soul, reunited. Someday we'll sweep through the gates of the New Jerusalem, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Why? Why? Why are we so sure of that? Because God has raised Christ from the dead. as a token of his acceptance of the cross. No matter what aspect of the Christian's life you touch on, do you know what it brings you back to? It brings you back to the cross. Every aspect of our life, our living here on earth, our dying, our rising, our entering into glory, every single aspect of it, brings you back to the cross. That's why it's so important to preach Christ crucified. It's like the hub of a wheel and everything stems from it. Chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world. Christ coming to die for us because he loved us. Our salvation, our sanctification, our adoption, our justification, our glorification, all of it, all of it comes to the cross. And when Christ rose, God declared, I am well pleased. And therefore tonight we have peace with God. Peace with God through the blood of the cross. And I trust that God will write these things upon our hearts. We know so little of the cross, but may God increase our knowledge of it, give us a deeper understanding of what it cost the Holy One to bear away our sin. And may God keep us by His grace near the cross, keep us gazing on that finished work, rejoicing in it, thankful that we have a Saviour who is mighty to save. May God bless His word through our hearts tonight. for Jesus' sake.