What Christ Accomplished on the Cross — Zac Poonen

The first time that Jesus spoke about the church, the first time the word church is mentioned in the Bible, is in Matthew 16 and verse 18. Now in our last study we saw that this great mystery which is hidden from ages, what is it?

It's about the church. And I want to turn to Ephesians first before going to Matthew. In Ephesians 2 you read there that this mystery is something where we saw in Ephesians 3 that the Gentiles, Ephesians 3 -6, should become fellow members of the body.

The Mystery of the Church as One Body

Now as I said that doesn't look like a great mystery that Jews and non-Jews should become one in Christ. But the point is how do they become one? This is the mystery. Individual Christians here and there, that's not a great mystery.

People have accepted the Lord. You know what they say, save souls. It's easy to go around saving souls. But to make them into one body, that's a mystery. And the mystery is not individual salvation. I want you to understand this.

It's the local body of Jesus Christ. And if you want to know how difficult it is to build that, just look around and see the amount of confusion there is in so many churches. And the only way that it can be done is if we can understand what happened on the cross of Jesus Christ.

It says when Jesus died he made Ephesians 2 -14 both groups into one. In the Hindu caste system, there are the upper class Brahmins and the lowest caste of, I don't know what they are, I'm not very familiar with it, but there's a group called the untouchables.

I mean they are so much untouchable that I've heard that the upper caste people, if that person walks by and the shadow falls upon this upper caste person, he's got to go and have a bath. That's how much, that's why they keep these people at a distance.

And to bring even an upper caste and lower caste person who's come to Christ one, see what a massive problem it is even in India. And the Jews and non-Jews were far more separated than upper caste and lower caste in India.

The greatest difference in caste system in India is nothing compared to the way the Jews looked at non-Jews. Now we can read in the Acts of the Apostles that Paul said, no there shouldn't be any difference.

But you try and go into the villages of India and convert the Brahmin and the lower caste person and say now you got to mingle together and break bread together and drink from the same cup and then you'll see what a difficulty it was to make Jews and Gentiles together.

We read it so easily in the scriptures, but it was a tremendous problem. But when Jesus died, it says here he broke down Ephesians 2 .14, this barrier of the dividing wall. If that barrier is not broken down, you can never become one with another person.

And he abolished this enmity there is in the flesh. You know that there is an enmity in your flesh? You love yourself. You never fight with yourself. You never find your left hand hitting the face or right hand hitting the face.

You never fight with yourself. But you fight with your wife. She's supposed to be one flesh with you. It says you got to love your wife as your own body. If you want to know how difficult it is for two people to become one, go and ask any married couple, honest married couple, who will tell you the truth of how it is in them, how difficult it is to live at peace with one another.

Even for one month, it's possible. It's possible if you've understood the way of the cross. If you have not understood it, even one week will be difficult. And imagine, this mystery is where people who are so different like us to become one body, just like this human body.

It's a real mystery, I tell you. That's why people shy away from it and say no, the main thing in the church is evangelism, reach out to others and collect money and do social work and care for the orphans and care for the widows, never talk about becoming one.

Because that is the most difficult thing of all. It's like sending your child to a school where they never teach difficult subjects like maths and science. You go to a school and they teach you how to play marbles and about something about geography and little history.

Will you send your child to a school like that? You wouldn't. But that's what's happening in Christendom today. The most important subject is left out. But the the easy ones are all talked about. See, this is a problem and we need to understand this.

And when we proclaim the whole purpose of God, this is part of the whole purpose of God, that we have to become one. In our marriage we have to become one and in our church we have to become one and we are so many different cultures and upbringings and differences of opinion.

Christ Builds His Church on Revelation

So as I was saying in Matthew 16, Peter got revelation that Jesus was the son of God. Then so he said Peter, Matthew 16, he asked who do you people say that I am? Who do you say that I am? And Peter said in Matthew 16, verse 16, you're the Christ, the son of God.

And Jesus said that's great, you're blessed because it was not your human cleverness that revealed this to you, but my father in heaven. And now I say to you on this revelation that you got, it's like a rock.

On this rock I'll build my church. This is why the Roman Catholics have not understood this. They thought Peter is the rock. Actually in the Greek language, one is Petros and one is Petra. Petros is a small stone, you're Peter, you're a small stone.

But on this Petra, this big rock, I will build my church. Actually he was drawing a contrast and which was this rock, this revelation that you got, this revelation that people never get in the Old Testament.

Now Peter, you need to get a revelation of the church. You got a revelation about me, I'm the son of God. Now I'm going to build my church on this revelation. You got to see the church as a revelation from God.

I meet so many people who come to our conferences and hear about the church and one body and all. They go back and nothing happens where they are. Because they haven't seen it as a revelation, they haven't seen it as the most important thing.

Supposing you're given a job in an office, a new job that you got and you go to the office and they tell you the most important thing you have to do is this. There are certain secondary things and less important things and you spend the whole day doing the less important things.

How long will you last in that job? They say listen, you're supposed to spend 90 percent of your time doing this most important thing and you haven't done it. You waste all your time doing the 10 percent stuff.

This is exactly what is happening in Christianity. The great mystery is not bringing souls to Christ. The great mystery is how can God bring people who are so different from each other and make them one body.

I will build my church. Matthew 16 18 and all the gates of hell means the powers of spiritual death. Hades is a word referring to the place of the dead. So gates of Hades means the powers of spiritual death.

The powers of spiritual death will try to crush your life out of you but they will not be able to do it. You will overpower it. That's the meaning of the resurrection. Jesus overcame Hades and the power of death and the church is supposed to do that.

See it's the powers of spiritual death that bring conflict in a church, that bring conflict in your home and they're always trying to overpower you. But Jesus said the church that I build if you get revelation on it, you will build a church.

The gates of hell will not be able to overpower it. Satan will not be able to come in and that depends on unity right at the center, the leadership. That is why I keep stressing that if God is building a church in any place, he will usually start with two people who are dissimilar from each other and he will make them one as a demonstration to Satan that here are two people who are completely opposite to each other and I have made them one.

Unity Demonstrated Through Different Leaders

You know this is how it was in the church in Bangalore. Let me tell you a little bit that God began this work through brother Ian Robson and myself and we are different in every possible way. He's an Anglo-Indian and I'm a Malayali and you go through India you'll never find Malayalis and Anglo-Indians getting on together anywhere.

Malayalis are a pretty proud bunch. They're the closest to the Pharisees I've seen in this land and I suppose the Anglo-Indians are like that too but they never get along with each other. If you don't believe me just go around and see how many Malayalis and Anglo-Indians work together.

You'll never find it. You who are Malayalis here, tell me how many Anglo-Indian friends you have. You don't have to go far to find out. They just don't hit it off with each other in this country and God in his great wisdom brought two of us together and if you know him and you know me you'll see we are completely different from each other in every possible way and God said I'm going to make you the beginning of church but you'll both have to die to your own individual preferences and choices and we are very different as individuals and in the beginning we were very careful not to hurt each other like you know in a marriage during the honeymoon period you don't argue with each other or anything you keep quiet about everything but we got over that honeymoon period pretty quickly and then we began to be frank with each other and we said now we are our bond is strong enough we can handle saying I don't agree with you no scare we won't break up and now we have experienced that for 41 years and I want to tell you not one single day have we broken fellowship in 41 years and but we are different and we have expressed our differences but we are one and that is the main reason why in 41 years satan has never been able to come inside our church never he's tried so many ways through the years and he and I know that we have faced all types of problems from outside but it never broke our fellowship because right in the leadership were two people who had become really one.

We don't agree with each other in everything. Let me show you what the Ephesians 4 we want to find a scriptural basis for everything Ephesians 4 it says I want to put two verses together and the two verses are Ephesians 4 verse 3 plus verse 13.

So read verse 3 and verse 13 together. It reads like this. Be diligent. That means work hard to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace until we reach the unity of the faith. So we haven't reached the unity of the faith.

But until we reach the unity of the faith which is until we agree 100 on every single thing. What should we do. Preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. So it's very honest here. Okay you haven't arrived at that perfect understanding of all the details of the faith.

Never mind preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace until we arrive at the unity of the faith and the perfect knowledge of the son of god as a mature man to the measure of the stature of which belongs to the fullness of christ that's coming.

But that's a long way off. But until we reach that perfect measure of a mature perfect exactly like the son of god verse 13 that fullness that belongs to christ till we get there. What should we do. Preserve the unity of the spirit.

And that's what i would say to every married couple here. That's what i say to every elder. You don't have to have the whole church united. That's almost impossible. But if you can have the leadership united that will spread.

Preserving Unity in the Family and Church

And there's a little core that starts with two and becomes three and four and five and six and eight. And there's a core that's kept increasing in bangalore. It's not just two now a core of people. And it's not all.

It's not the people who came right at the beginning. Some of the people who came the beginning are not even here. And some who have sat here for years are not in that core. But there are others god has brought who really willing to pay the price.

And i'll come to a few in a moment to how to build this core. That's what's preserved the church. That's like saying in a family what will preserve the unity of the family. Children quarreling with each other aren't important.

Every home children quarrel. Husband and wife should not quarrel. That's exactly what i'm saying. Because husband and wife are the leaders of the family the elders in the family if they are perfectly united let the children quarrel like anything.

That family will be strong. The devil will not be able to come in that home no matter how much the children quarrel. But the moment the father and mother start quarreling the children being united is no use.

There'll be a divorce. The family's broken up. So what do you think the devil is aiming at. He's not aiming at the children fighting with each other. He knows he'll accomplish nothing there. He's always aiming to bring a division between husband and wife.

He's always aiming to bring division among the elders. Because if he succeeds there he's broken the family we must have. We paul said we are not ignorant of the schemes of satan. And that's why we don't find body being built.

The Church as the Body of Christ

First of all why is the church called the body of jesus christ. Why is that title given. There are many titles to the church. The bride do you know israel is also called the bride of jehovah. People of god.

Israel is called the people of god. A holy building. Israel is called a building and many titles a kingdom of priests kings and priests. Israel is called a kingdom of priests. But there's one title never never given to israel.

Body. Never. You read the whole old testament. Many titles given to the church are given to israel but not body. Body came only after jesus christ came in a body. So when the church is called the body of christ it is supposed to do the same thing that the first body of christ did.

What did the first body of christ do. Immediately people say he did miracles. No don't you think he did a lot of other things than miracles. He preached. He obeyed joseph and mary for 30 years. He was a carpenter.

He made tables and benches. And can you tell me in one sentence that sums up everything that jesus did. He did the will of his father. In that one sentence that includes his obeying joseph and mary. It includes his being a carpenter.

It includes his going to the cross. It includes his preaching. It includes his miracles. It includes everything. When you say he came to earth to do the will of his father and in order to do the will of his father he says in john 6 and verse 38.

I deny my own will. When we say that jesus came like us that is another mystery. Great is the mystery of godliness. 1 timothy 3 16. Christ came in the flesh. What does it mean. Christ came in the flesh.

He did not have sin in him. He did not have any lusts in him. He did not have unconscious sin in him. Then how was he like us. He had a self will like us. And it was a will that was contrary to the father's will.

John 6 38. I came from heaven not to do my own will. But the will of my father. What does that sentence plainly mean. In plain words it means my will was not the will of my father. Doesn't it mean that i did not do my will but i did the will of my father.

What does it mean. In heaven from all eternity he could say i do my own will because it is the same as the will of my father. That's what he said for eternity. But the moment he came to earth in our flesh there's something he took on called my will.

Otherwise he could not have been like us just to make him look like us and have blood and flesh and bones. That's not enough. The most important thing he had to be like us was my will. That is why he was tempted like us.

If he did not have this thing called my will he would not have been tempted like us. That is this beginning of sin. You see in a little child for example even one year old that one year old is not tempted with sexual sin not tempted with the love of money is not tempted with an unforgiving spirit not tempted with jealousy not tempted with all the things that we call sin.

But what does it have. Parents tell me self-will. And you see that very very quickly. You heard me tell that story of that little boy whom the father told sit down. And he said i won't sit down. Sit down.

I won't sit down. The father takes a stick. He sits down. He says. But daddy inside i'm still standing up. Now the question is how do you make that inside fellow. Sit down. That is what god wants to do.

The Crucifixion of Self-Will

And i want to tell all of you you can obey god on the outside but inside you there's something which wants to do your own will. Unless that is crucified you will never be able to follow jesus. You can sit down on the outside and sing all the right songs and do all the right.

But inside there's someone standing up. That's the thing called my will. Jesus crucified that. That's how he could say at the end of my life i finished your work. Father you think it is easy. It says in romans 15 and verse 3 christ did not please himself.

Have you read that he never pleased himself. Are you tempted to please yourself sometimes. How many times in one day it's because you want to please yourself that you answer back to that fellow who got angry with you in your home or in your office to please yourself.

It's because you want to please yourself that you indulge in what you look at on the computer or do something else or read some news article which is only going to provoke your lust. You want to please yourself and jesus never pleased himself.

Think of living one day without pleasing yourself in anything. It's a feat. If you can come to the end of the day and say today i never pleased myself in anything. I only sought to please god and to bless others.

Jesus lived like that for 33 and a half years. It wasn't a strain it's a strain in the beginning. You see how little children when you teach them swimming in a swimming pool they stand by the edge of the swimming pool for a long time.

I remember my son teaching his little boy swimming once i went with him to the swimming pool and he put the you know the floaters things that prevent them from drowning on him. He's only i don't know two or three years old and he put him on that low diving board and the boy would look down and scared and the father went from behind and pushed him and he got all you know struggling.

But he had these floaters so he didn't drown. He came out of the pool and he ran back on the diving pole and began to jump in and out again and again. Now he was excited. In the beginning swimming is difficult.

If any of you have learned swimming you struggle struggle struggle. And then you see these people who even just lie down on the back as if it's a wooden floor or something. It's amazing how they do it they enjoy it.

We think denying yourself and doing the will of god is such a struggle. In the beginning it is. But after a while you'll really see how wonderful it is how people love to go swimming. That which they were so hesitant to do in the beginning.

That's how it is. You know christ never pleased himself. He lived the most wonderful life. You know if you believe like i do that the most wonderful life anybody ever lived on this earth was jesus christ not david who was very rich or solomon or abraham rich abraham or joe jesus the most wonderful life.

If i really believe that i'd say lord i want to live like that. Tell me the secret of that life. How is it to deserve such a blessed life. We say christ is my hero. You really want to follow him. You want to find the secret of his life.

I'll tell you here it is. He never pleased himself. He never did his own will. Whenever the thought came that was a temptation. He put it to death say no i will please do my father's will. That is the secret.

And you can have it. You can live that way at home every single day. And your home will be like a little heaven at least from your side. And if your wife also decides to live that way your home will really be like heaven.

And yet people know that and they don't want it and think if in a church more and more people live like this the fellowship between them will really be heavenly. And it's a greater testimony when we can disagree with each other and still not break fellowship.

Love Tested by Disagreement

I once asked the lord this question. I said there are so many areas in which christians even born-again christians disagree. For example baptism. There are people who say you can be baptized as a child.

Yeah. There are some born-again people in the catholic church and the csi church. Really born-again people but they take an infant baptism. Then there are people who say you must be baptized in the name of jesus.

We baptize in the name of father son and holy spirit. And then there are disagreements about baptism in the holy spirit. Should we speak in tongues or not speak in tongues. There are people like the seven-day adventists who say you must keep the sabbath.

So many disagreements. Should we have a pastor. Or should we have elders. See all these things need only one line answers. And i said lord if there was one more chapter in the bible you know revelation chapter 23 which has infant baptism is wrong.

Problem solved. People are filled with the spirit don't have to speak in tongues. Problem solved. There should be no pastor in a church. Only elders. Problem solved. And you just need a chapter with about 30 verses.

So many problems in christianity would be solved. I say why didn't god add such a chapter. Didn't he know as he looked into the future the amount of conflict there will be. Will the church go through the tribulation or not go the tribulation.

Verse 6. The church will go through the tribulation. Problem solved. What is the other problem you have. I'll give you the other verses whatever it is just one chapter. Why didn't all wise god who knew the whole future not put that chapter in the bible.

The lord gave me an answer. It blessed me. The lord said when people don't see eye to eye with each other when they don't agree with each other their love is tested. And they can show their love in a greater way when they don't agree with each other than when they agree with each other.

And i've seen that in working with my fellow elders here that my love is tested. Not because they say yes yes yes. I don't say yes yes yes to them. And they don't say yes yes to me. Thank god. We love one another when we disagree.

Because not because we hate one another. But i view things in a certain way. And they view things another way. And i say we don't know who's right. God has put us together. It doesn't matter. We love one another.

Our love is tested. You know if you have got a wife who's completely the opposite of you you can be absolutely certain god only chose that wife for you. Yeah my wife is completely different from me completely in many ways.

She's so friendly with everybody. I make enemies everywhere i go. I remember one man who knew us very well. He was not very happy with me. But he used to come to our church now and then he sent a greeting for my birthday.

And the best thing he could think to say about brother zach on his birthday was brother zach has got a good wife. I tell you honestly i remember on my 50th birthday somebody read that out. I said great.

I agree with that. No we are different. So when newly married couples of people who are engaged to get married come to me. I draw a little diagram for them. I draw on a piece of paper. I draw an egg and i said now i'm going to break that egg with my hand.

Now here's the broken egg. I draw two halves with all the jagged edges. Jagged edges are pretty pokey. You try and take one of those broken eggs and put it on your cheek. It hurts. And i say to this boy and girl do you know you're like that.

You think you're all very nice and you love one another. But you got all these pokey edges that would hurt each other. But now i'm going to put them together and see wherever there's a jagged edge here there's a depression there and wherever there's a jagged edge here there's a depression here it just fits.

It's a whole egg again. See that's how god wants to make you one dissimilar but exact opposites becoming one. That is how god builds the body. But you must allow for that person to be different from you and work with that person in his differences.

Every Joint Supplying the Body’s Growth

For example take this a simple movement of an elbow. It says in ephesians 4. It's a great verse there speaking about building the body of christ. Ephesians in chapter 4 it speaks about verse 16. The whole body ephesians 4 16 is fitted and held together.

Think of a body. We are not fitted with screws and nuts and bolts. No. We are fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies. And according to the proper working of each individual part makes the growth of the body building up of itself in love.

You know what a joint is. The shoulder is one joint. You know it's working perfectly when there's no noise here's another joint. Think of this as one brother. This is another brother. They work perfectly.

When this muscle says i want to pull the muscle on the other side says i'll yield. When the muscle on this side says i want to pull the muscle on this says i'll yield. But if both these muscles are stubborn this muscle says i want to pull.

And the muscle says no. No this is my turn to pull. Now i'm not going to. You go around with a hand like this. You don't even think about it. But the joint is working so wonderfully. Think of a husband and wife work like this.

You want to pull i'm ready to yield. You want to pull i'll yield. But when there's noise you know whenever there's noise it means arthritis. It's called arthritis. There's a lot of arthritis. In many families they move.

But it's a pretty painful movement. Even in a church it shouldn't be like that that which every joint supplies. You know how many joints there are in the fingers. So many. All joints but no sound perfect.

This is why the church is called the body of christ. Israel was never called by that name. Because they could never be this. Why. Because they did not have the holy spirit. Only one prophet had the spirit upon him.

Today we every one of us can have the holy spirit which brings the life of jesus into us. And when the life of jesus flows it connects us to the head christ. We function perfectly. You know why these things are working together.

It's not because they're very intelligent. They are both obeying the head. The head tells this muscle pull and the head tells the other muscle yield. And then the head tells this muscle pull and the head tells this muscle yield.

And they're obeying immediately. Think of someone playing a keyboard. Head is saying come on play this. They're all working so perfectly. It looks so effortless. But everything is an order from the head.

Instantaneous obedience. That's how someone plays the keyboard. This is why the church is called the body of christ. Is your church functioning like this. Is your home functioning like this. You see how the devil has blinded you to this.

The Cross and the Church

So now we come back to matthew 16. The first time that jesus spoke about the church. See something else also the first time that jesus spoke about the church he also spoke about the cross. See the connection there.

Matthew 16 18 is the first time he ever used the word church. I will build my church and the gates of hell are going to fight against it. But there's going to be a solution from that time. Verse 21. From that time when he spoke about the church jesus began to tell them how he must go to the cross and suffer and die be killed and be raised.

The third day and peter the great loyal peter saying lord i will not allow anybody to catch you and kill you. This will never happen to you. And look at the lord rebuking peter and get behind me satan.

You're a stumbling block to me. You're not. Your mind is not on god's interest. Your mind is on man's interest. Can you imagine jesus rebuking someone calling him satan when all he did was showing his love saying lord i'll never let anybody kill you.

I will never let anybody touch you. A man expressing his love like that i mean if i were there i said peter i understand your love. But you know i have to go to the cross. But that's not how jesus said it.

Why does jesus use some strong words. Because he wanted them to understand how serious a mistake it is to avoid the cross. To say don't go to the cross like peter was saying is the voice of satan. That's what he wanted us to see.

And that is the voice of satan. Because your mind is only thinking of your interest not god's interests. I learned something from that. You know what i learned every time i hear a voice in me saying don't die to yourself on the cross i know it is the voice of satan.

You know where i learned it here this is where i learned it. I thank god that jesus turned around and told peter get behind me satan. I've learned something from my whole life that the voice that tells me not to die to myself is the voice of satan.

And further in verse 23 the voice that tells me not to die to myself is that which makes me seek my own interests and not god's interests. And i learned from there that god's interest is that i should die on the cross.

All that i learned from that one verse i thank god for that. And then jesus said it's not only me. Verse 24 if you come after me you've also got to die on the cross. And if you try to save your life verse 25 from going to the cross you'll finally lose it.

The Way of the Cross and the Fullness of the Spirit

This is a mystery. The way of the cross. When i was 23 years old i was working in the navy and i found a great lack of power in my life. I knew the bible. I studied the bible. There was no power. And the brethren assembly i went to never taught about power from god.

So somebody who was a believer told me hey if you want to know about that go to the pentecostals. They are the ones who talk about spirit baptism and power of the cross. So i went to some pentecostal pastor and both of us and we were seeking for the power of the holy spirit.

And he said to me this is in kerala. He was supposed to be a man who had great ability to lead people into the baptism of the holy spirit. And he told me keep saying hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah. You say hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah.

After some time your tongue will trip and you will speak in tongues. And then you were. So the other brother did it. I don't know what happened. I said i'm not going to do that. I know the bible. No the apostles were not just keeping on saying hallelujah on the day of pentecost and the spirit of god fell upon them.

They spoke in tongues and i said listen in any case lord i came back home. I'd been to the church i saw a lot of noise and everything and people babbling something back and forth two three syllables that.

And that was it. And they called that speaking in tongues. And i came back home. And i said lord i don't want this. I don't want this type of rubbish. I don't want this type of tongues. I want the power of the holy spirit.

Lord i get angry. I want you to control my mother tongue before speaking in other tongues. Other tongues can wait. Let's control the mother tongue first. That's what i want. So i never went back. I never in my life joined the church after that.

But i began to seek god. And i prayed and i fasted and i sought god for the power of the holy spirit. And the lord showed me how he himself in the river jordan went down into the water. He allowed john the baptist to bury him.

And came up. And i learned from that that jesus was submitting to somebody killing him burying him believing that the father would raise him up from the dead. That was the symbolism of baptism. And as soon as he came up spirit of god came upon him.

And i got my answer. And the lord said to me if you choose the way of the cross death to yourself let people crucify you bury you. I will raise you up. Don't resist it. See if you resist when somebody's putting you into the water and baptism you'll never be baptized.