Augustine wrote, “Without God, what am I but a guide to my own destruction?”

We started a short series last week that spans the three critical days of Holy Week: Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. That is to say, on the first Sunday, Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem as King; on the Friday, his condemnation, crucifixion, and burial; and on the second Sunday, his visible, bodily resurrection from the dead. Why are these days so critical? Well, because without God doing what he did in the way he did it, we are unavoidably headed to our own destruction. There is no means of stopping the curse of sin and death that humanity brought upon itself. No hope of reversing the damage done. Apart from God.

Last Sunday, we heard that God’s intention was to reverse the damage and “make all things new” again. His plan is to restore what was lost in the original creation when Adam and Eve sinned and passed that sin on to each subsequent generation. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” As Jesus entered the city, they lauded him as King. And submission to that Sovereign is the only hope we have.

As we approach Good Friday, we’ll see together that what was owed was paid in full by Jesus' death on the cross. And if that is to apply to us, we must own the debt we cannot pay, trust the one who took our place, and rest in the work that is done for our good and his glory. There is no other way to escape the destruction.

And on Easter Sunday, we’ll let out all the stops to celebrate his resurrection, because though we were dead, Jesus raised us to life just as it had been at creation. And he dies so by his sacrifice alone, renewing what had been lost, with the promise of so much more in the age to come. We may think that we’re alive in this life, but we are in fact dead in the one way that matters most without Christ.

Series: All Things New

Message 2 - The Cross Encountered

Text: Genesis 1:26-31; Hebrews 10:10-14; John 19:16-37

Jordan Coros

Harvest Bible Chapel

April 3, 2026

What was owed, Jesus paid in full.

1. I owe a debt I cannot pay (Genesis 1:26-31; John 19:16-17)

Man is not merely a part of the world, but stands above it; he is related to God and resembles Him.

- Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol 2

Romans 1:21

Jeremiah 17:9

You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.

- Augustine of Hippo, Confessions.

2. I trust the one who took my place (John 19:18-30)

Psalm 22:18

Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.

- John Stott, The Cross of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21

3. I rest in the work ultimately done (Hebrews 10:10-14)

Romans 8:1

Matthew 11:28