The Cross of Jesus Christ is the CENTER of our faith. It is Christ's death on the cross that is THE WAY to salvation and eternal life. One Truth with which all Christians agree. However, the Cross of Christ has a mysterious aspect that comes into view only as we look at it with Dispensational glasses.
First, let me set the stage. The Romans put Jesus of Nazareth to death in one of the cruelest ways possible: nailed to a cross. Christ rose from the dead, spent many days with His disciples and friends and returned to His rightful place in Heaven. Jesus told His followers to wait in Jerusalem for power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The disciples were to be His witnesses after that. They waited and the Spirit came upon them and gave them great power to witness for Christ. Peter was the spokesman for Christ's disciples and explained to crowds of people what had happened. This was the first public opportunity for the disciples to explain the meaning of Christ's death on the cross. Here's what Peter said.
Acts 2:22-40
Some time later Peter had another opportunity to publicly explain what God had done for them through the death and Jesus Christ on the Cross.
"The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead...Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets."
Acts 3:13-21
Peter was arrested and placed in jail. He appeared before the rulers, elders and teachers of the law the next day. Peter had another public opportunity to explain the meaning of Christ's death on the cross.
Acts 4:8-10
Peter and the other apostles were arrested again at a later time. He appeared before the religious leaders of Israel and had another public opportunity to explain the meaning of Christ's death on the cross. The high priest told them: "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name...Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." Peter replied:
Acts 5:30-31
This statement so angered the leaders of Israel they wanted to kill Peter and the apostles on the spot. But the Sanhedrin had the Apostles flogged instead and ordered them not to preach the name of Christ again. What did the apostles do?
Acts 5:41-42
Peter is not the only person who had the opportunity to publicly explain the meaning of Christ's death on the cross. Here's what Stephen said to the Sanhedrin after his arrest.
Acts 7:51-52
It's clear to see that Peter, the other apostles, and Stephen saw the cross as a horrible instrument of execution. They preached the actions of the Jews in killing Jesus were something to be ashamed of and to repent of so that Jesus could return to earth from heaven and establish His Messianic Kingdom in Israel. What's missing from their speeches are some of the greatest truths about the cross that Christians believe and preach today.
Why didn't Peter preach these truths when given the public opportunity to explain Christ's death? Why didn't John, James, Stephen and others do it? Did they think the truths were not important? Did they hide the truths from the crowds? Or did they not know these particular truths about Christ's death?
We find all of these truths in the teachings of the Apostle Paul. Paul is the person God used to explain the mysteries behind Christ's death on the cross. Peter, the other Apostles and their followers (i.e. Stephen) preached what they knew. They held nothing back. God gave them a very clear picture of what Christ's death meant in the Kingdom Dispensation. God gave Paul a very clear picture of what Christ's death meant in the Grace Dispensation. That's the Dispensational View of the Cross.
In Acts 20, Paul said goodbye to the Ephesian church elders. He shared an important aspect of what Christ did when He died on the cross. It's the first time this truth is mentioned in the Book of Acts.
Acts 20:28
What Jesus did on the Cross was shed His blood and die. It is the shedding of Holy Blood that saves a sinner.
Peter and John wrote about the shed blood of Jesus Christ many years after they preached the Kingdom Gospel in Jerusalem. They did not include it in their early ministry because they didn't understand it. God did not reveal the full meaning to them. God saved that revelation for Paul. Paul revealed the mysteries of the Cross to Peter and John some years later. First, what Paul wrote about Christ's shed blood. Then, what Peter and John wrote years later. Keep in mind that Paul's audience is mainly Gentile, though many Jews came to understand their part in the Dispensation of God's Grace. Peter and John wrote to Jews in Israel who continued to wait for the Messianic Kingdom. I'll also include what the writer to Hebrews had to say about the blood of Christ. James did not mention the blood of Christ in his letter.
Cornelius Stam sums up the Dispensational View of the Cross well in his book, "Paul: His Apostleship and Message."
Pages 164-65
Jesus died on the Cross to save His people from their sins. We look at that truth with eyes made clear by the insight of Paul's teaching. But before Paul, the full meaning of Christ's death was a mystery hidden in God. We can rejoice with all the saints that we do understand and can share it with the world!
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Last Updated: 12/20/1999 "Men of Israel, listen to this; Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him...Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.' When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'...With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.'"
"Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed."
"We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead--whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel."
"The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ."
"You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him..."
"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood."
"In the early chapters of Acts we do not yet find the death of the cross proclaimed for salvation. It is rather spoken of as a matter of shame to be repented of. Peter does not offer his hearers Christ's shed blood for the remission of sin. He charges them with the shedding of that blood and demands repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. But with the raising up of Paul all this is changed. The crucifixion takes on a new, wonderful significance. The cross, the blood, the death of Christ become the very theme of his message. He constantly speaks of them, not in hidden meanings, but in open declaration, as good news, as that around which God's eternal purpose revolves and from which all our blessings flow."