Christ Church Sermon, All For Love: What the Cross Says About God, February 22 2026

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Thank you for listening.

Good morning.

>> Today's scripture comes from John 1

chapter verses 1 and 14.

In the beginning was the word and the

word was with God and the word was God.

The word became flesh and made his

dwelling among us. hear what the spirit

is saying to the church.

>> Thanks be to God.

>> Well, good morning.

>> Morning.

>> So, can you believe we're in Lent? Can

you believe next weekend is March? I

mean, time is just flying. And this

week, we're kicking off our new Lenton

sermon series called All for Love. And

over the next several weeks, we're going

to be walking toward the cross together.

We're not going to rush past it. We're

not skipping to the celebration. We're

not fast forwarding to the empty tomb.

We're going to slow down. We're going to

slow down long enough to sit with the

weight of the cross. We're going to slow

down long enough to let it speak to us.

We're going to go We're going to slow

down long enough to ask what love really

means. Because at the center of our

faith is not a list of rules. It's not a

bunch of rituals. It's not even a moral

checklist. The center of our faith is

the cross. And the cross refuses to stay

small. It refuses to be reduced to

jewelry or tradition. It forces us to

wrestle with what we believe. What we

believe about God, what we believe about

ourselves, what we believe about love. I

mean, what kind of love would move

toward suffering instead of away from

it? What kind of love would absorb

betrayal instead of retaliating?

What kind of love would choose sacrifice

over self-p protection? I mean, those

are not abstract questions. Those are

personal. Uh they're they're they're

meant to meet us in our doubts, in our

disappointments, in our regrets, in our

longing. And over the next several

weeks, we're going to take this journey

together. And we're going to see what it

means to wrestle with what it means to

be rescued, not just from something, but

for something. We'll explore whether the

cross reveals a God who punishes or a

God who pursues. We'll we'll see whether

sacrifice is something God demands or

something that God chooses. We'll

consider what makes this love unlike any

other love story the world has ever

told. And we'll face the question that's

really at the heart of all of it. When

it looked like everything was actually

lost, was love actually winning? Because

this is not a surface conversation. It's

not sentimental. It's not easy, but it's

honest and it's hopeful. This series is

called All for Love because the claim at

the heart of Christianity is

breathtaking. The cross is not an

accident. It's not a tragedy that caught

God offguard. And it's not a divine

outburst. It was love. steady love,

costly love, self-giving love. And if we

misunderstand that, then we kind of

misunderstand everything. So I want to

begin where John begins at the

beginning, right? John says, "In the

beginning was the word, and the word was

with God, and the word was God, and the

word became flesh and made his dwelling

among us." Notice John does not begin at

the manger. He doesn't begin with

shepherds and wise men. He doesn't even

begin with Mary and Joseph. He begins

before time, in the beginning. Those

words are not accidental. They're

deliberately given to echo the book of

Genesis. John is moving back past

Bethlehem, past Israel, past Abraham.

He's moving back past creation itself.

He is saying that this story did not

start with a crisis. Jesus was not

formed in response to human failure. The

cross was not God scrambling in to

repair a broken world. Before there was

sin, we are told there was love. Before

there was rebellion, there was

relationship. Before there was the

cross, there was intention. And that

concept changes absolutely everything.

Because many of us, I think, quietly

carry this image of God that looks like

God is reactive. God is mostly

disappointed, mostly correcting and

mostly managing damage control. But John

paints a completely different picture of

God. The word was with God and the word

was God. So from the very beginning

there was communion. There was unity.

There was love shared from the very

heart of God. And then John goes on to

say something even more stunning. The

word became flesh and made his dwelling

among us. God didn't send us directions

from a distance. He didn't send us a

memo. He came to us. The cross is not

God reaching out in humanity's worst

moment. It is God revealing who God has

always been. Self-giving, relational,

pursuing, and willing to step into our

world instead of abandoning in it. You

see, if the cross was just about fixing

sin, it would it would tell us something

about failure.

But because it flows from eternity, it

actually tells us something about the

heart of God. The cross said says that

God is not reluctant to love us. God is

not forced into mercy. God is not

waiting to see if we are worth it or

not.

The cross reveals a God that moves

first.

A God whose love predates our mistakes.

A God whose plan was never to stand at a

distance but to come near to us. So when

we look at the cross, we are not looking

at divine panic. We are seeing a divine

purpose. It's not a lastm minute

solution. It's eternal intention. And

that means the deepest truth about

reality is not sin. It's not chaos. It's

not even human failure. The deepest

truth about reality is love. The cross

does not introduce us to a new God. It

unve un unveils for us the God who has

always been there. And if that is true

then the cross is revelation

not reaction. So the question is no

longer why would God have to do this?

The question becomes what kind of love

has always been determined to reach us?

And then John calls Jesus the word the

eternal logos. Logos in in Greek means

word. It's the self-expression of God.

In the ancient world, the word logos or

logos meant reason, meaning, the

ultimate truth. And John takes that word

and he fills it with flesh and blood.

He's saying the invisible God has now

made himself visible. The the unknown

God has now made himself known. So if we

want to know what God is like, we look

at Jesus. If we want to know what Jesus

is like, we look at the cross.

Because the cross is not a side note in

the story of Jesus. It is the clearest

window to who God actually is. John says

the word became flesh. Not appeared to

be flesh. Not disguised as flesh. Not

temporarily visiting us as flesh.

Became. That word became matters. It

means that God doesn't just hover above

humanity. God steps into humanity. He

took on skin and bones. He experienced

hunger and fatigue. He felt rejection

and grief. He entered into friendships.

He felt betrayal. He walked on dusty

roads. He sat in ordinary places. This

isn't abstract theology. It's personal.

God didn't send us a memo. God didn't

send us a philosophy. God didn't send us

a book of instructions only. God sent

himself. And when that God in flesh

moves towards the cross, we see

something that is unmistakable because

we're not watching this detached deity

punish someone else. We're not wa

watching divine anger explode onto an

innocent third party. We're not watching

God stand at a distance and expect

payment. We are watching God absorb all

of that suffering for us.

The hands that were pierced on the cross

are the same hands that formed the

world. The voice that cries out from the

cross is the same voice that spoke light

into darkness. The heart that stopped

beating on the cross is the same heart

that has always beat for the love of

creation. That is what the cross says

about God. It says that God does not

save us from a distance.

It's not that God God doesn't ask us to

endure anything that God wouldn't endure

himself. It says when the cost of love

is suffering, God doesn't pass that cost

on. God carries that cost. The cost

reveals a God who would rather bear pain

than abandon his people. A God that

would rather enter darkness than leave

us in darkness. a God whose power is not

displayed by crushing enemies, but by

conquering evil through self-giving

love. So when we stand at the cross,

we're not simply looking at what

humanity did to Jesus. We are looking at

a God who has always been self-giving,

relentlessly pursuing, and willing to

suffer for the sake of our relationship.

So if we ever wonder what God feels

about us, we need to only look no

further than the cross. Because the

cross is not a contradiction of God's

character. It is the clearest revelation

of God's character. Now, here's the

tension that causes a lot of people

problems. Is the cross about punishment

or is the cross about love? Because some

of us grew up hearing about an angry

god, a god whose sole purpose is to vent

wrath, right? this cosmic killjoy that

sits in heaven and watches us and when

we mess up just you're done, right?

Others of us grew up about with a God

that is all about love and there's

nothing to do about justice. The cross

holds both truth and mercy together.

Yes, sin matters. Yes, brokenness is

real. Yes, evil wounds. But the cross

shows us something that's per profound.

God does not stand at a distance

demanding payment. God steps forward and

pays it for us. That is not divine

cruelty. That is divine self-giving.

Because if punishment was the goal,

distance would still remain. But we are

told that the word became flesh and made

its dwelling among us. Which means love

was the motive, not punishment. And we

struggle with that. We struggle with

that because every human power structure

is built on preserving itself. That is

how it functions. It's about protecting

our reputation, protecting our status,

protecting our comfort. But the cross

flips that completely upside down. Jesus

doesn't protect himself. He empties

himself. You see, in the Roman world,

crucifixion was a symbol of domination.

Jesus transforms the crucifixion into

surrender. God's power looks like

sacrifice. God's authority looks like

humility. God's strength is love that is

poured out.

That love is not selfish.

That love is selfless on a cosmic sca

scale. And that love changes everything.

I mean, let's be honest. We live in a

world that knows something about love,

right? We love everything. How many of

you love coffee?

For those of you that haven't raised

your hand, you should try it.

How many of you love football or

vacation? We love a new show. We love

feeling like we're being understood. We

even love people. Until it gets

complicated, until expectations go

unmet. until someone disappoints us,

until love costs more than what we

expected. Because most of what we call

love is built on enjoyment. It's built

on compatibility. It's built on mutual

benefit. And it lasts as long as it

feels good. It survives as long as it's

convenient. It continues as long as love

is returned.

But the cross reveals a love that

doesn't retreat when it's rejected. You

see, Jesus wasn't surprised by what was

coming. He knew betrayal was coming. He

knew a friend of his was going to sell

him out for silver. He knew another

friend of his was going to completely

deny knowing him. He knew about

abandonment and the abandonment that was

coming. He knew about the very people

who said to love him would scatter when

fear took over. He knew the false

accusations that were coming. He knew

the humiliation that was coming. He even

knew about the nails that were coming.

And guess what? He chose to come anyway

because he didn't lower the cost once he

saw the price. He didn't withdraw when

love stopped being reciprocated. He

didn't protect himself when protection

would have been the easy thing to do.

That is a love that is like none other.

It's not sentimental because it it's not

based on warm feelings. It's not fragile

because it doesn't collapse under

pressure. And it's not transactional

because it's not bargaining to get

something in return. It is a love that

is steady, that is costly, and that is

relentless.

A love that moves towards the very

people that wound it. A love that

absorbs betrayal instead of mirroring

it. A love that that stays when every

instinct inside of us says, "Move on."

The cross tells us that God's love is

not dependent on our performance. It's

not sustained by our consistency. It's

not withdrawn when we fail. It is rooted

in who Christ actually is. And that

means that when we look at the cross,

we're not just seeing an event in

history. We are seeing the very

definition of love. A love that doesn't

quit. A love that doesn't keep score. A

love that doesn't disappear when it

hurts.

You see, the world tells us that love

should protect itself first. The cross

says love gives itself first. And that

kind of love changes everything because

at the at first glance the cross looks

like defeat, right? Rome wins, the

religious leaders win, violence wins,

but John's gospel makes it clear that

this was not a loss. This was winning in

a way that no one expected.

Because love that absorbs evil without

returning it is stronger than evil. Love

that forgives in the face of violence is

stronger than violence.

Love that refuses to abandon is stronger

than betrayal.

To most people, the cross looked like

weakness. But it was actually the moment

that love began to win. So, how does

that affect us in our lives today?

Well, here's the thing. We're planners.

We're achievers. We set goals. We track

progress. We measure outcomes. We are

used to earning results, working hard,

improving, and fixing what's broken.

Anybody else do any of those things?

Right? That's how we function. And

slowly, without even realizing it, we

begin to assume that God relates to us

in that exact same way. That God's love

rises and falls on our performance. That

God's nearness depends on our effort.

That if we do well, God will draw close.

And if we fail, God will pull back. But

John says the word became flesh before

we proved anything,

before we cleaned ourselves up. Before

we figured it out, before we got

consistent, before we became impressive.

The cross said says that God moved

towards us at our worst, not at our

best.

Not when we were disciplined or faithful

or strong, but when we were lost and

broken and wondering. That is when God

came.

So, as we go through this Lenton season,

I want us to realize that Lent isn't

about earning. It's about remembering.

Remembering that love moved first.

Remembering that grace is not a reward.

Remembering that we are pursued, not

evaluated.

It's not about proving, it's about

receiving. It's not about striving, it's

about surrendering. It's not about

climbing toward God, but allowing

ourselves to be held by the God who has

already come near to us, no matter where

we are. Let's pray. Lord, we are so

grateful that you love us. We are so

grateful that you sent your son into

this world to be among us and we had

nothing to do with it. You made that

decision before any of us were even in

existence.

Help us to receive that love that can

only come from a relationship with you.

And then when we receive it, help us to

share that love with the people that you

put in front of us. and help us to

realize that the cross isn't something

to be afraid of or to be ashamed of or

to symbolize defeat. The cross is where

love began and the cross changes

everything.

Thank you for sending us yourself to

make our lives better than they could

ever be on their own. Amen.