Philip Graham Ryken - The Heart of the Cross

THE
HEART
OF THE
CROSS

The Heart of the Cross

Copyright 1999 by James Montgomery Boice and Philip Graham Ryken

Published by Crossway Books
A ministry of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.

Cover design: Jon McGrath

Cover photo: Getty Images

First printing, original edition, 1999

First trade paperback edition, 2005

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Boice, James Montgomery, 1938
The heart of the cross / James Montgomery Boice, Philip Graham Ryken.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-58134-678-6 (tpb alk. paper)
1. Holy Cross. I. Ryken, Philip Graham, 1966-. II. Title.
BT465.B65 1999
232.96dc21 98-47905

CH 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05
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Jesus didnt want to die, either.

He knew what was coming.

And he knew it wouldnt be fun.

So why did he go through with it?

Because to beat death,

somebody had to conquer it

once and for all.

CONTENTS

PART ONE:
Words from the Cross

by James Montgomery Boice

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by James Montgomery Boice

PART TWO:
The Real Last Words of Christ

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by James Montgomery Boice

by Philip Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by James Montgomery Boice

PART THREE:
The Message of the Cross

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by Philip Graham Ryken

by James Montgomery Boice

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the cross of Jesus Christ. For whether we are thinking about Christs words from the cross, his words about the cross, or the biblical doctrines of the cross, in every case the cross is central to Christianity. Indeed, we are saying more. We are saying that without the cross there is no Christianity. By itself the Incarnation does not provide us with genuine Christianity. It merely gives us sentimental stories for Christmas. The example of Christ alone is not Christianity since no one is saved by imitating Jesus. Even the Resurrection alone is not the essence of biblical religion.

So I repeat, it is impossible to overestimate the importance of what Jesus accomplished for his people on the cross.

Two truths follow. On the one hand, if the cross of Christ is the very heart and essence of Christianity, we should expect that its meaning is simplicity itself. And it is. For example, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3). What could be plainer than that? Or we read, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31). The Bible often presents the cross that waysimply and with the most direct and pressing demand for faith.

On the other hand, if the cross is the very essence of Christianity, we might also expect it to stretch our minds to the utmost as we try to probe its depths. And we find that too. Indeed, we find that in some measure the full meaning of the cross is always well beyond our grasp. In this double sense, the doctrines of the cross might be described by the words one writer used to describe the theology of the fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John. He called it a pool in which a child can wade as well as an ocean in which an elephant can swim.

How does one deal with a matter as central, simple, and yet as fully rich and inexhaustible as the cross? What my colleague Philip Ryken and I decided to do was to expound the Bibles teaching about the cross in three series of Lenten messages at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia where we serve together as pastors. He has done the bulk of this Lenten preaching, handling sixteen of the following twenty-one studies. But I have had the privilege of sharing with him by handling the others. I have been blessed by his preaching, as I trust he has with mine. Together both of us pray that you will be blessed as you reflect with us on the meaning and application of these important Bible texts.

Apart from the cross the Christian religion becomes only a type of human self-deification that leads to arrogance and presumption, a religion that supposes wrongly that we can somehow save ourselves. With the cross at the center, Christianity offers the sole ground for our standing before God as justified men and women and the only adequate motivation for a life of rest in God and genuine self-sacrifice for others. We are led to give all we have because on the cross Jesus gave all he had for us.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Isaac Watts wrote those words in 1701, and he was right. I trust you will discover this truth in new ways as you read, think about, and pray over these important Bible passages with us.

JAMES MONTGOMERY BOICE
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

Words from
the Cross

THE HEART OF GOD

James Montgomery Boice

Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they are doing.

LUKE 23:34

There is something significant about the last words of men and women because when a person comes face to face with death, what he or she is often rises to the surface. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), the French general and emperor, said, I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth. Such is the fate of him who has been called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ.

Voltaire (1694-1778), the famous French infidel, is reported to have said to his doctor, I am abandoned by God and man! I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months life.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the brilliant skeptic who corrupted the faith of some of Englands great men, exclaimed, If I had the whole world, I would give it to live one day. I shall be glad to find a hole to creep out of the world at. I am about to take a leap into the dark.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

I have always thought it unfortunate that the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross have been called his last words, because the perhaps unwitting implication is that Jesus did not rise again and therefore never said anything else. Jesus did rise again, of course. The existence of Christianity is one of the best proofs of that astonishing fact. And Jesus had more to say, even before he returned to heaven forty days after returning to life. Those words are the true last words, if any are.