Gospel of a Bloody Cross — E.A. Johnston

The Decline of Fear of God and Biblical Authority

I grew up in America in the 1950s, and people feared God back then, and they respected the Bible. There was such a thing as shame in society, and back then marriage was between a man and a woman. And as a child, I stood up in public school and prayed every day as the teacher led us in prayer.

And if any atheist cried out against it, that person was shouted down because God held the majority in the land back then. Preachers back then called sin black and hell hot. They warned about a future judgment that awaited all mankind.

Those kind of preachers didn't fear man, but they sure feared the Almighty. And they preached up a bloody cross on which the Prince of Glory died. They warned that unless you repent, you will surely go to hell.

The church had authority in those days. It was a time when society looked to God for guidance and to the church for direction. But sadly, through the years, the church lost her way, and society lost her light.

The Biblical God Who Punishes Sin

Today, most folks have gotten out their pocket knives and have carved out for themselves a God they can live with, one that won't get in the way of their daily living. They hold the viewpoint that their God won't punish sin, or their God surely wouldn't send anybody to hell, unless it was a Hitler or a serial killer.

Their God is a tolerant God toward sin, because their God is only a God of love. But that's not the God of the Bible, friends. The God of the Bible is a God who must punish sin, and the gospel is a scandal, because the dying of the cross was a scandal.

The Apostle Paul declared, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. And you start preaching the real gospel of the cross that speaks of a blood-stained savior for sin, who's a sin substitute to appease God's wrath and satisfy the demands of the law.

And you go out and preach that there's only one way to heaven, and that's through repentance and faith in a risen Lord. And if you are one of His, then you must follow Him in a life of surrender to His Lordship in your day to live in.

The Offense of the Cross and the Call to Repentance

And if you preach that message, friend, of an offense of the cross with all its rights and claims on a person, then you have a fight on your hands, because you'll raise the ire of all lost religious people who stand with the same crowd in Jesus' day and shouted, We will not have this man reign over us.

The biggest fights I've had in churches has been with good deacons after I bore down on the doctrine of repentance and said, You'll surely go to hell unless you repent, even if you are the chairman of the deacons.

The Blood-Centered Gospel and the Modern Church

Old-time preachers just preach the gospel in all its full color, and we used to sing hymns about the blood, like, There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains, and we'd sing, What can wash away my sins?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And we'd sing about the power, power, power, wonder-working power of the precious blood of the Lamb. Why don't we sing hymns about the blood anymore? Because we have a politically correct gospel that doesn't want to offend anyone.

That's why the modern church has done away with the bloody cross. Us preachers have gotten out our mop buckets, and we've cleaned up all the blood and gore around Calvary, and we've made it so pristine there you can sit and have your lunch.

But old-time preachers knew better. They preached about Christ, who was a substitute for sin, who bore the curse so we would not. The apostle Paul declares that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.

Sin, Hell, and the Necessity of Repentance

Because if you preach about the blood, friend, then you must preach against sin. And if you preach against sin, you must warn folks about hell. And if you preach about hell, then you must preach about man's duty of repentance so he won't go to hell.

The first message of the cross is, God must punish sin. Then if you believe that, you can hear the second message of the cross, which is a Savior for sin. And Peter declares, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed.

Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Suffering Servant

And the prophet Isaiah declares, surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Christ’s Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Blood Redemption

Look, friend, look at Jesus on his way to Calvary. See his back all torn apart from the vicious Roman scourge. See him struggle as he drags his own death instrument with him to the place of crucifixion.

There the Roman soldiers lift his hands and feet, and set them on the wood, where nails are driven into his tender flesh, as they fasten him to that cross. And every stroke of the Roman's hammer is an exclamation point, crying out, God must punish sin, God must punish sin, God must punish sin.

It's a gospel of blood, because on Calvary, Jesus, the Son of God, was crucified. He died and was buried, and on the third day he rose again, and appeared unto many. He then ascended back into heaven, where he now sits at the right hand of the Father, and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross.

It's a gospel of blood redemption, and if you want Christ and the forgiveness of sin, then your sins must be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Turn to Jesus, friend, and believe on him. He's your only hope.

Repent before it's too late.