Three Principles
In the Cross of Christ
Jonathan Cooper


An Introduction

Principle 1: Jesus offered an opportunity for Jerusalem to come to Him. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34) Page 3.

Principle 2: Jerusalem decided not to come to Jesus, and Jerusalem’s rejection of Jesus was the cause of their destruction. “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Luke 13:35). Page 5.

Principle 3: Motivated by love, God crucified Jesus by having others crucify Him. Jesus is God (John 20:28), and God crucified Jesus: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:10)
God crucified Jesus by having others crucify Jesus:
God planned for Jesus to be delivered into the hands of evil men: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” (Acts 2:23-24)
God caused the evil people to do everything that these people did to Jesus: “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” (Acts 4:27-28)
God’s decision to crucify Himself (by having others crucify Himself) was motivated by love: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it...” (Ephesians 5:25) “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
In summary, the climax of Jerusalem’s rejection of Jesus unto its own destruction (about which Jesus wept) was planned and caused by God because He loved people so much. Page 7.
The First Principle in the Cross

Review of Principle 1: Jesus offered an opportunity for Jerusalem to come to Himself. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!” (Luke 13:34)

An Exploration of Scripture
God is love (1 John 4:8, 16) and is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23) “For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” (Ezekiel 18:32) “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11) God “will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:4)
In His love for people (John 3:16; Ephesians 5), in order to save the lost (Luke 17:33; 19:10), Jesus “gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:6) “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace…” (Ephesians 1:7) “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins…” (Colossians 1:14)
Jesus also brings us fellowship with God. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit…” (1 Peter 3:18) “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Jesus shows us God’s love (1 John 3:16; 4:9).
This love is available to everybody. “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:12-13) “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:38) “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
And this offer is being proclaimed to everybody everywhere. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…“ (Matthew 28:19) “And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.” (Mark 13:10) “…[R]epentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations…” (Luke 24:47). “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
Even those who have not yet heard the message of the gospel also have an opportunity to turn unto Him. Paul’s rhetorical questions in Romans 10:14-15 indicate that people can only believe the message of the gospel if someone is sent to deliver this message of the gospel to them. However, for those without a preacher, creation reveals the power and divinity of its Creator (Romans 1). If these people seek this Creator with all of their heart (Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 5:7), we can expect God to send a human messenger on their path with the message about Jesus Christ, as He did in the case of Cornelius (Acts 10).
In other words, God offers everyone an opportunity to come to Him.
The Second Principle in the Cross

Review of Principle 2: Jerusalem decided not to come to Jesus, and Jerusalem’s rejection of Jesus was the cause of their destruction. “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Luke 13:35)


An Exploration of Scripture
People make choices (Judges 10:14; Joshua 24:22).
God will measure out judgment (Acts 17:31) to everyone (Romans 14:10-12; Ecclesiastes 3:17) in accordance with our decisions: “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14) “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:36) “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5)
Since Romans 10:9 notes salvation as a matter of the heart which overflows in a confession of faith, it is also good to note here that Scripture warns us to “[h]arden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness” (Hebrews 3:8) But do “[c]ircumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.” (Deuteronomy 10:16) “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” (Jeremiah 4:4) “Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 18:31)
We must believe with the evidence of good works. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived…” (1 Corinthians 6:9) “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:21) James asks, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?” (James 2:14) “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” (James 2:24) In contrast to the obedient follower whose life withstands the scrutiny of judgment, “...every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:26-27) As Matthew 7:21 reads, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
We must keep to this faith through to the end of our lives. Furthermore, our reward at the end of the race is contingent on our faithfulness up to the end: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9) “11And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: 12That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:11-12) “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 10:22; cf. Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:13). “24Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25) “7I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
In conclusion, people choose their eternal destinies.
The Third Principle in the Cross

Review of Principle 3: Motivated by love, God crucified Jesus by having others crucify Jesus.
Jesus is God (John 20:28), and God crucified Jesus: “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:10)
God crucified Jesus by having others crucify Jesus:
God planned for Jesus to be delivered into the hands of evil men: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” (Acts 2:23-24)
God caused the evil people to do everything that these people did to Jesus: “For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.” (Acts 4:27-28)
God’s decision to crucify Jesus (by having others crucify Jesus) was motivated by love: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it...” (Ephesians 5:25) “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
In summary, the climax of Jerusalem’s rejection of Jesus unto its own destruction (about which Jesus wept) was planned and caused by God because He loved people so much.

An Exploration of Scripture:
First, God is able to do anything. “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14) “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee…” (Jeremiah 32:17). “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Job 32:27) As Job said, “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” (Job 42:2) “...all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35) “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” (Psalm 115:3)

Second, God knows everything (1 John 3:20). He knows everything that’s currently going on everywhere (Proverbs 15:3) – from people’s actions (Proverbs 5:21; Jeremiah 16:17; 32:19), to the number of hairs on the heads of each person (Luke 12:7; Matthew 10:30), to the needs of their lives (Matthew 6:32; Luke 12:30), to the thoughts of their hearts (I Kings 8:39; Psalm 44:21; Jeremiah 12:3; Luke 9:47; 16:15; Acts 1:24; 15:8; I Corinthians 14:25; Revelation 2:23). As an aside, there is reason to believe that God knows me better even than I know myself (Proverbs 21:2; 2 Corinthians 12:2-3). On Judgment Day, He will know our past down to each action (Ecclesiastes 12:14) and word (Matthew 12:36) and motive (1 Corinthians 4:5). He also knows the future – the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:8-14; 41:26), disclosing what must happen (Genesis 41:25,28; Daniel 2:45). God even foreknew that Jesus would come from before the creation of the world (Romans 8:28).

Third, God’s plan precedes reality. “Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:16) Acts 17:26 reads, “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation…” “Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth (צָוָה) it not? Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?” (Lamentations 3:37) “3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will (θελήματος)…” (Ephesians 1:3-5) “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:48)

Fourth, God turns His plan into reality. “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will (θελήματος)...” (Ephesians 1:11; see also Revelation 4:11)

Every experience is a gift from God. The ability for a person to see or to hear anything is a gift from God (Exodus 4:11). A person sees God’s work whenever a person sees the sun rise (Matthew 5:45; cf. Psalm 147:4), the rain fall (Matthew 5:45), the wild flowers grow (Matthew 6:28-30), the food grow (Acts 14:17), the animals be fed (Matthew 6:26; cf. Job 37-38), the lightning strike (Job 37:15; 38:25-27, 34-35), an authority (Romans 13:1) or a nation (Acts 17:26). “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].” (Isaiah 45:7) “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6) “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14) “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:33).
The Example of Job: “20Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 21And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. 22In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.” (Job 1:20-22) “10But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” (Job 2:10) “2I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. 3Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” (Job 42:2-3)

Even every pain works for good for those who love God. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (2 Corinthians 4:17) “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) “6Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:6-8) “17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:17-18) “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:2-4)
Example of Joseph: “7And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 45:7-8) “20But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 21Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.” (Genesis 50:20-21; see also Psalm 105:16-17).
The Example of Paul: “8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

God controls the condition of the heart. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6) “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) “19And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 20That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

God controls the decisions of the heart. “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.” (Proverbs 16:1) “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” (Proverbs 21:1)

Believing in Jesus is from the Father. “No man can come to me (= believe on me, based on verse 35), except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44) “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-17)

Repentance is from God. “When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” (Acts 11:18) “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth…” (2 Timothy 2:25)

New desires and lifestyles are from God. “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11) “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

A good start and a good finish in the faith are from God. Philippians 1:6 refers to God as “he which hath begun a good work in you…” “24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25)

Our salvation through-and-through is a result of God’s mercy. “8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Romans 9:15-16)
God hardens whomever He will harden in order to display His glory to the objects of His mercy. “17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” (Romans 9:17-18) “22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, 24Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:22-24)
This displays God’s infinite wisdom. “32For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 33O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” (Romans 11:32-36)