Our Need for Salvation
First of all, He came to die. But why did He have to die? Why couldn't He have just put a magical spell on everyone to make them not sin?
To answer that question, we have to go a ll the way back to the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, God gave the Law. My dad explained that the Law is inflexible; it's immovable. If you break the Law, it requires a severe penalty. Of course, now we have a problem. None of us are perfect and we all break the Law pretty much all the time.
Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them."
Deuteronomy 27:26 "'Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.'...
So why should we have the law at all if we know we're going to break it? (Romans 3:20)
Romans 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin....
The Law is there to show us our sin. As Paul says in Romans, if the Law had not said not to covet, he would have never though about coveting. It's kind of like the wet paint example. If there's a sign that says "Wet Paint, Do Not Touch" we automatically want to touch it.
We need salvation. We cannot keep the law ourselves, but there are consequences to disobeying it. This is where Jesus comes in. He came to do what we could not do ourselves.
A lot of people say that if God is loving, He wouldn't send people to Hell. He is loving (that's why He sent His Son) but He is also just. This means that He can't let sin go unpunished. Someone had to take our place.
My dad's next point was The Means of Salvation.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Jesus Christ from the law of sin and death.
Jesus kept the law for us. He was God, but He was also man, so He was under the Law and had to obey it. His righteousness was an earned one.
Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.
And He could obey the Law perfectly because He is God and cannot sin. Jesus' plan was to fully obey His Father (Hebrews 10:7)
1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if any of you do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Jesus' righteousness is also a vicarious and imputed righteousness. "Vicarious" means "to substitute" and "imputed" means "credited". Jesus was and is the substitute for our sin and He is the only One who can fully and completely take our sin away. (Romans 5:15-17)
God requires perfect obedience to the law. Man can't obey perfectly so we deserve death. Jesus, the perfect mediator between God and man, is righteous and does not deserve death, but He took our punishment on Himself. His perfect obedience counted for us and His death fully payed the penalty that we deserved for breaking God's law.
Jesus' Death
Jesus' death was the first of all a real one. He died as though He were a man condemned as a sinner.
Secondly, it was a substitute death. Both His death and life counted for us. (2 Cor. 5:21) 1 Corinthians 15:3 also says that Christ died for our sins; He has none of His own.
Thirdly, it was a scheduled death. From the beginning of time God had a perfect plan in His sovereignty (Rev. 13:8). This highlights the fact that Jesus is the only way to salvation; there is no other way.
Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Next, it was a successful death. Jesus' death saved us from our sin and appeased God's just wrath. Everyone who has or will place their trust in Jesus Christ receives eternal life. His death removed all sin and guilt.
Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.
Jesus' Resurrection
First of all, His resurrection really happened. It wasn't faked; it actually, miraculously occurred. Secondly, it fulfilled all the Old Testament prophesies. The fact that He resurrected, that He came back to life, shows that Jesus has finished what He needed too. Finally, it assures us eternal life. Because Jesus lives, we can live.
When God looks on those who have accepted His gift of salvation, instead of the sinner we are, He see Jesus' sacrifice for us.
Well, there you go! What was your Sunday sermon on??
P.S. Come back Wednesday for our Q & A post!!!!
~Carissa:)
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