Acts 2:22-23• “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.”

• The Cross was No Accident!

• "Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer" Isaiah 53:10

• Jesus Planned His Own Sacrifice

• Jesus was Born Crucified

• "As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." Luke 9:51

• "The reason my Father loves me is that I give up my life. But I will take it back again. No one takes it from me. I give it up myself." John 10:17-18a NIrV

• The cross explains. . .

• "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Matthew 16:21

• It was God’s Game Plan!

• “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8