If you would turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation 13. We will read just one verse.
And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.
—Revelation 13:8
Then turn to the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians, chapter 2, from verse 5.
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name which is above every name;
that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
—Philippians 2:5-11
Finally, in the letter to the Hebrews, chapter 5, from verse 7.
Who in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His godly fear,
though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered;
and having been made perfect, He became unto all them that obey Him the Author of eternal salvation;
named of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
—Hebrews 5:7-10
Beloved Lord, we are so thankful that we are gathered here in Your presence this evening. We praise You, Lord, that You have made specific provision for us all.
Many of us have travelled long journeys to come here, and we are tired. But, beloved Lord, You have made provision for the renewing of spirit, soul, and body. Into that renewing power and grace of Yours, we stand by faith, that we may be able to attend to You.
We thank You, Lord, that You have made provision for the speaking of Your Word, the translating, and the hearing. We thank You for that anointing grace and power You have made available to us.
Into that anointing we stand by faith. Make this a time when You meet with us, Lord, when You write something indelibly on our hearts—something eternal that cannot be taken away.
Do it, O Lord, even at the very beginning of our conference. Come right in with all the power of Your presence. We ask this in the name of our Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Amen.
The theme of this conference is The Way to the Eternal Purpose of God: The Cross.
My dear brother Stephen is going to speak about the cross in the church, and my dear brother Christian is going to speak about the Spirit and the cross. My responsibility is the cross and the Messiah.
For the Lord Jesus, there was no other way to the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose but the cross. There was no alternative. The only way that God could save mankind was through the cross.
The only way the purpose of God for creation, for the universe, and for mankind could be fulfilled was through Calvary.
So, as the Lord helps us this evening, I would like first of all to look at the cross in the heart of God from the foundation of the world. Then I would like to look at Bethlehem—the birth of the Babe, the Word becoming flesh to dwell among us. Then I want to look at the thirty-three years of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus.
In Revelation 13, it speaks of everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.
There are two ways in which we can translate the Greek. Those of you who have a good Bible study version will notice in the margin an alternative rendering.
One rendering is: everyone whose name is written in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain from the foundation of the world.
The other rendering is: everyone whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.
Is that a little too much for you, this first evening? What is clear is that it does not matter how you render the Greek. It means the same.
No single name of a human being can be written in the Lamb’s book of life without the cross. Your name was written in the Lamb’s book of life because of Calvary—not because of your goodness, not because of your devotion, not because your parents are Christians, nor because your grandparents or another relative are Christians.
You are in the Lamb’s book of life because of Calvary, because the Spirit of God made the Lamb of God, who bore away the sin of the world, a reality to you.
Whether we translate it one way or the other, the fact of the matter is that the cross was in the heart of God from the beginning.
God did not create this whole world, this universe, and mankind—Adam and Eve—and then, when Adam and Eve made the wrong choice, scratch His head and say, if I may put it irreverently, “Oh dear, dear, dear. They made the wrong choice. What can I do?” Then He thought of the cross.
No. When God created man, He knew precisely what was going to happen. Calvary was in His heart from the beginning. That is why He went on with it. That is why, when Adam and Eve fell, He still went on with the purpose.
Let me put it another way: the principle of the cross is in the very character of the Godhead. There is no arrogance in the Godhead, no grasping for power, no fighting for position.
The principle of the cross is in the very heart and mind of the Godhead from the beginning. Calvary is the supreme expression of the heart and mind of God. It is the way in which God can most perfectly and completely be understood.
God had to give His Son. His Son had to come. It is not that somehow the cross happened; because of the kind of Person God is, Calvary was a necessity.
Look at a few Scriptures. Look at Psalm 40, verse 6.
Sacrifice and offering Thou hast no delight in;
Mine ears hast Thou opened:
Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required.
Then said I, Lo, I am come;
In the roll of the book it is written of Me:
I delight to do Thy will, O my God;
Yea, Thy law is within My heart.
—Psalm 40:6-8
This is an amazing Messianic prophecy. It is speaking of the Lord Jesus. Somewhere in times eternal, before ever the world was created, God said, “Who will go for Us? Who will give Himself for the salvation of this world?”
And Jesus said, “Lo, I am come to do Thy will, O God.”
When the Lord Jesus said, “I delight to do Thy will, O God,” it was Calvary. When He said, “Thy law is within My heart,” it meant the death of the cross. There was no other way.
If you look in your New Testament, in Hebrews 10, I will read from verse 4.
For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.
Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith,
Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not,
But a body didst Thou prepare for Me;
In whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hadst no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo, I am come
(In the roll of the book it is written of Me)
To do Thy will, O God.
—Hebrews 10:4-7
Then hath He said, Lo, I am come to do Thy will.
He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second.
By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
—Hebrews 10:9-10
And every priest indeed standeth day by day ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, the which can never take away sins:
but He, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
henceforth expecting till His enemies be made the footstool of His feet.
—Hebrews 10:11-13
The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. The Spirit of God interprets that amazing Messianic prophecy in Psalm 40. When the Lord Jesus said, “Here am I; send Me,” it was your salvation and my salvation that was wrought.
All those wonderful sacrifices were but a picture of something far more tremendous and wonderful. They all pointed to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus once for all time.
Calvary was not a kind of action on the part of God to restore damage after it had happened. It was in the heart of God from the beginning. He found a foundation, a basis upon which He could deal with sinful mankind and a fallen universe.
Again, think of the Gospel of John, chapter 1. You know the words very well.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through Him; and without Him was not anything made that hath been made.
—John 1:1-3
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.
—John 1:14
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.
—John 1:17-18
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In the same chapter, verse 29, John says:
Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!
—John 1:29
It is tremendous to think for a few moments together that the cross was in the heart of the Godhead from the very beginning. It is the very expression of the character and heart of God.
Secondly, and it is all bound together, Bethlehem. Can you believe that God Himself came into this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a woman? It is beyond us.
Think: the Word became flesh. In the beginning was the Word—that is, the intelligence, the mind, the heart of God made articulate. These words are the articulation of the mind and heart.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh.
Here is the cross in action before Calvary became a fact. That little Baby, literally this size, in the hands of a woman, cradled in her arms, was the Word of God—was God.
Do you mean that God the Son put Himself in a position of limitation, restriction, and dependence? He was dependent on His mother for food. It is amazing.
It is the principle of the cross before ever Calvary became a historic fact. There in the arms of Mary was the Word of God: so small, seemingly weak, subject to restriction.
The best way to put it is in Philippians 2. We have read it together:
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, being made in the likeness of men;
and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself.
—Philippians 2:5-8
Amazing. Before ever Calvary took place, you saw Calvary in Bethlehem. He was born to die. The very meaning of His coming into this world was to die.
There was no other way for the fulfilment of God’s eternal purpose. He took this unbelievable step and put Himself into a position of weakness. A bondslave is the lowest form of service: owned by another, with no rights.
Can you believe this? This is your Saviour. This is the Lover of your soul. No one else has ever loved you like this—not husband, nor wife, nor father, nor mother, nor children. No one has ever loved you like this.
In order to fulfil God’s eternal purpose and to bring many sons to glory, He reduced Himself to one clot of flesh, bone of a woman, cradled in the arms of a human being—for you.
Of course, Philippians 2 goes on to say:
And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
—Philippians 2:8
You have this same thought in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9:
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might become rich.
—2 Corinthians 8:9
Has it ever dawned on you—the grace of our Lord Jesus? There was no other way to save you. He did this that you might be introduced to the unsearchable riches that are His, that you might become a joint-heir with Him.
Oh, the grace of our Lord Jesus. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus: though He was rich, yet He became poor.
This is the principle of the cross. Before ever Calvary became a fact, you see it in action. He was rich, on an equality with God; yet He became poor, that you might become rich.
Before I go to my last point, you can all go back to sleep.
Is it not interesting that it says in Philippians, “Have this mind in you”? Some of the new versions say, “Have this attitude.” Have this mind—the same mind.
It is also interesting that it is in the plural: “Have this mind among you.”
All our problems in the work of the Lord, all our problems in the churches, go back to this thing: we do not have the mind of the Lord Jesus.
If you have “I, I, I, and I,” you have trouble. That is what happens in nearly every assembly of God’s people. It is the exact opposite of having the mind of the Messiah, Jesus.
The mind of the Lord Jesus was not, “I,” but the Son. It was to become a bondslave, to have no rights, to serve others. That was the mind of the Lord Jesus.
Many of us would prefer to be hired servants. You have definite hours: you start at nine and end at five. You have rights, wages, and a whole lot of other things.
Most of our churches are made up of servants. Oh, of course we are serving the Lord—of course—from nine to five. We are serving the Lord on certain terms.
Have this mind among you. Can I tell you something? Two-thirds—no, three-quarters—of the conflicts in our assemblies would be settled by having the mind of Christ.
If we said, “I am going to be a bondslave as the Lord Jesus was,” it would settle it. What kind of mind have you got?
What terms are you serving the Lord on? When the Lord saved you, He meant you to become like Him, to have the same mind, the same attitude.
Well, dear friends, we will leave this, but it is tremendous: the cross and the Messiah.
I want to tell you something. Of course, if the Lord Jesus appeared to many of us, we would hardly recognise Him.
I think the church in Laodicea was so interesting. It was made up of born-again people, a real New Testament church—not denominational, not traditional, not institutional.
They had the Lord’s table, Bible studies, evangelistic outreach—they had everything. They themselves felt, “We have got everything.”
Of course, we have everything in Christ. We see, we know, we have faith, we are clothed, we are on our way to glory.
And the Lord Jesus, the Head of the church and the Saviour of the body, was outside the whole assembly. He was knocking.
It is the most plaintive voice, the most plaintive words that Jesus ever spoke:
If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.
—Revelation 3:20
They were studying His Word. They were studying His life. They were studying the truth that was in Him. They were singing hymns and songs about Him. They were breaking bread to remember Him—and He was outside, knocking on the door and saying, “Is there anyone who can hear Me?”
Have this mind among you. From the leadership to the simplest saint in Laodicea, nobody had the mind of the Lord Jesus.
Do you know how He described them? They thought they were rich. Yet they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. What a catalogue. These are believers. They did not have the mind of the Lord Jesus.
Time goes, so we must finish. Let me conclude with this last point: Hebrews 5, verses 8 and 9.
Though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered;
and having been made perfect, He became unto all them that obey Him the Author of eternal salvation.
—Hebrews 5:8-9
Though He was a Son, yet learned He obedience. “Having been made perfect” may be better understood as “having been made complete” or “having come to maturity,” because the idea is not that He had sin. We know that He had no sin.
Even the Lord Jesus, without sin, was made complete and mature through the things which He suffered. What were the things He suffered? Maybe it is just as well we do not know.
Hebrews 12:3 tells us that He endured the contradiction of sinners—the gainsaying of sinners.
What did that mean? Did it mean that when He was a carpenter and made something out of wood, someone told Him it was not good enough? How did He react?
We believe that the word carpenter is probably better understood as kablan, which means a contractor. He worked in iron, stone, and wood.
We do not know the things He suffered, but I am quite sure that in those twenty or more years that He worked as a contractor, there must have been much contradiction of sinners.
We know that He began His Messianic ministry when He was thirty years of age. We know that the reference in Hebrews 5, verse 7, is to Gethsemane:
Who in the days of His flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and having been heard for His godly fear,
though He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
—Hebrews 5:7-8
“Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
Well, dear people of God, here is something tremendous. This principle of the cross has been in the heart and mind of God from the beginning. It has never not been there. Calvary is the very expression of the kind of Person God is: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
May the Lord help us. We know so many limitations, so many difficult circumstances, so many things that depress us and put us in a straitjacket. The Lord Jesus knew all about them.
The Lord Jesus who lives in you has already gone through all of this and overcome.
Though He was a Son, He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. There is nothing that God is asking of you that the Lord Jesus has not Himself gone through. In you, He has completely overcome.
Beloved Lord, we want to thank You for that grace of Yours: that though You were so rich, You became poor, that through Your poverty we might become rich.
Beloved Lord, open our eyes. Help us to see the Lord Jesus in a new way. Touch the eyes of our hearts.
Lord, if nothing else, renew the first love in our hearts. Help us to fall in love with You. Do it. Amen.