On The Other Side of The Cross

Scripture:
 John 14:1-4 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
 John 14:12-14 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
 John 14:19-21 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Introduction:
 Just a few days before Jesus was to be crucified He spoke these words to His disciples. He was preparing them for His departure. They had invested their lives in Him and now He was telling them that things were about to change. Nothing would remain the same. They had witnessed His teaching, His prayer life and His miracles. Now He was going away and it would now be their time to walk in the authority of the Spirit that He was giving to them. Instead of embracing these words they all ran away or denied Him. BUT, on the other side of the cross, everything changed. They were empowered. They turned the known world upside down. On the other side of the cross they began to realize and walk in what Jesus had been preparing for them.

I. Before the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, men were bound by fear, selfishness and sin.
A. Peter denied the Lord three times. The other disciples ran away.
B. These men were more concerned with their personal safety than with maintaining their relationship with Christ.
C. Before the cross we are lost in our sins with no hope of redemption.
Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”
D. Before the cross we are bound to the natural world with no way to rise to the spiritual which is above.
John 8:23-24 “23And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
1. Believing in Jesus Christ is accepting His sacrifice for our sins and embracing Him as our savior.
John 14:5-6 “Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
2. Before the cross we do not have the mind of Christ and must depend upon our own intellect to guide us through troubling times.
Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. 22Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
II. On the other side of the cross, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are brought into relationship with God the Father.
A. Jesus put away the sin that separated us from Father God by the shedding of His precious blood.
Hebrews 9:24-28 “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
25not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
28so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.”
B. Because of the cross we can be forgiven of the sin that separated us from a holy God.
Colossians 1:19-22 “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight”

III. On the other side of the cross we are empowered to live victoriously because Christ lives in us.
Colossians 1:27 “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
A. Jesus promised that we could have an abundant life because of Him. (John 10:10)
B. Jesus promised that we could live in the miraculous. (John 14:12)
C. On the other side of the cross we are not who we once were but are a brand new creation.
II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
D. On the other side of the cross we have resources that we never had before our experience with the cross.
1. Peter is empowered to speak of the one he had previously denied.
2. Peter and John Have heavenly resources to give to the lame man at the Gate Beautiful.
3. Our prayers have power before God and miraculous things happen.
Revelation 5:8 “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”
I John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
E. On the other side of the cross we have access to Father God any time we need Him. (or want Him)
Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

IV. On the other side of the cross we are promised a home in heaven when this life is over.
John 6:47-51 “47Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;”
I John 5:11-13 “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life”
Revelation 21:1-4 “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
A. He is preparing a place for us that where He is we may be also.
B. There are many dwelling places of God right here in this life which we can praise God for.
C. Where ever God is and whatever He is doing becomes a dwelling place for us.
BUT
D. This is all preparation for the final reward.
Psalm 23:1-6 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”