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THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST
THE DEATH OF CHRIST IS ONE OF THE MAIN THEMES IN SCRIPTURE:
1. It was prophesied: Indeed the truthfulness of God was on the line,
due to the prophets message to Israel. Ps 22:1-31, Ps 69:1-21, Is 52:12-53:12,
Dan 9:24-26.
2. The Old Testament sacrificial system was a picture of the death of
Christ. The dieing of the Lamb of God. Heb. 9 & 10 The study of the
passover lamb and The Lamb of God is of great interest if you need something
to do sometime for a sermon series.
3. Reportedly there are around one hundred and seventy-five references
in the New Testament to the death of Christ.
4. The Old Testament prophets were interested in the salvation that
it would bring. I Pet 1:10-11, "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired
and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto
you, Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was
in them did signify, when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ,
and the glory that should follow."
How glad I am to be living in this age. You know how interested I was
in the impeccability of Christ, so I think you can know how frustrated
I would have been to be a prophet trying to figure out what I was saying
and what it meant.
5. The angels also are interested in this salvation. I Pet 1:12, "...which
things the angels desire to look into." They are interested in what God
is doing with them. We in turn wonder at His dealings with them as well.
Are we ever satisfied with how God is dealing with us as an individual,
or do we wonder why He blesses so and so, so much and me so little?
6. His death was the topic of discussion at the transfiguration. Lu
9:30-31, "...spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem."
This verse relates to the fact that He laid down His life and they did
not take it from Him. We will see this shortly. (Jn 10:17-18)
7. It is the topic of worship and a song in heaven. Rev 5:8-12, "...thou
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood...."
HIS DEATH WAS NEEDED:
1. It was according to the purpose of God. He planned that He would
save mankind through the shed blood of His Son. He planned and He purposed
the very death of His Son. Acts 2:23, I Pet 1:19-20, Rev. 13:8.
2. It was needed to fulfill prophecy. Not that the prophets said something,
and He needed to follow through on their promises, but that He planned
and purposed and then revealed this, before the fact, through the prophets.
Matt 26:52-54, Lu 24:25-27.
3. It was needed to provide salvation to man. God had foreordained that
the Lamb of God would die, before the foundation of the world. Christ's
death was a prerequisite to God saving mankind. Indeed, there is no other
plan, no other act that would have fit the purpose of God. Jn 3:14-16,
Jn 12:24.
4. It was to obey the will of the Father. If the Son were to follow
the will of the Father He must die. This was the struggle of the garden.
He did not want to carry the burden of man in His death, but He was submitting
to the will of the Father. Jn 10:18 in the context of His dieing stated,
"...This commandment have I received of my Father." Philip 2:8
ABOUT HIS DEATH:
1. It was a separation from God. Matt 27:46, "...My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?" The ramifications of this statement, and other
questions that arise from it will have to be done in your own research,
because we do not have time to cover it. Was this a separation of God from
Christ's humanity or deity? Was this a separation as in a split in the
trinity?
2. It was a separation of the spirit and the body. Matt 27:50, "Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the spirit." When
man dies the body goes to the earth for rot, and the spirit and soul go
to be with the Lord for eternal joy.
We know it, we believe it, we preach it, yet when it comes down to ME
dieing, I become uncomfortable. Yes, I am ready to meet the Lord. Yes,
I know to die is gain. Yes, I know there will be no more pain. Yes, I know
there will be joy. No, I am not comfortable with that last moment of transition.
Haven't you heard? I dislike change! It is an experience I look forward
to, yet I am hesitant to desire its closeness.
3. It was voluntary. Jn 10:17-18, "Therefore doth my Father love me,
because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it
from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."
He did not have to die. He could have walked through the crowds. He could
have floated down off the cross. He could have done millions of things,
yet He chose to lay His life down for you and me.
4. It was vicarious. I Pet 3:18, "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 made alive by the Spirit," Vicarious means
= "...sympathetic participation in the experience of another" Webster.
He suffered in our place. We benefit because of His death. We probably
couldn't count all of the benefits that His death brought to us! Lu 9:30-31
5. It was sacrificial. I Cor. 5:7, "...For even Christ, our passover,
is sacrificed for us." Without sacrifice there can be no improvement for
mankind in its sin. The slaying of the animals for Adam and Eve's sin,
benefited their error. The killing of animals under the law was specifically
linked to covering the sin of man.
6. It was substitutionary. I Pet 2:24, "Who his own self bore our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed." Christ, in His sacrifice
died in our place. We should have died spiritually, but He took upon Himself
that punishment that we might have spiritual life.
7. It provided redemption. Eph. 1:7, "In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace,"
Matt 20:28
8. It was propitiatory. [Webster defines propitiatory as, to appease
or satisfy.] Rom. 3:25, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past, through the forbearance of God;" Note should be taken that
it was propitiation through faith in His blood. There is no propitiation
by the blood alone. Man must mark his claim to salvation on his faith in
the work of Christ on the cross. I Jn. 4:10
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR BELIEVERS:
1. He saved us from the curse of the law. Gal. 3:13
2. He secured for us forgiveness. Rev. 1:5, I Jn 1:9
3. He justified us. Rom. 5:9
4. He saved us from wrath. Rom. 5:9
5. He provided new life to us. (Regeneration) II Cor. 5:17
6. By His death are we sanctified. Heb 10:10
7. He provided our adoption as children of God. Gal. 4:3-5
8. We are reconciled to God through His death. Rom. 5:10
9. We can be cleansed by His blood. I Jn 1:7
10. We can have eternal life. Jn 3:14-16
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR NON-BELIEVERS:
It provides salvation ready for the taking for all nonbelievers. Jn
1:29, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." I Tim 2:6, Heb
2:9
Every man woman and child that has ever been upon the earth has had
this provision made for him or her. The problem is in the taking and receiving.
Few benefit from His gracious provision.
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR SATAN AND THE DEMONS:
1. It defeated them. Jn 12:31, "Now is the judgment of this world; now
shall the prince of this world be cast out." Col 2:14-15
2. It condemned them forever. Jude 6, "And the angels who kept not their
first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Rev. 20:10 mentions
the devil being cast into the lake of fire.
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR THE UNIVERSE:
There was a reconciliation of all things in the universe. Col 1:19-20,
"For it pleased the Gather that in him should all fullness dwell; And,
having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all
things unto himself by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or
things in heaven." Rom. 8:20-22
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR HIMSELF:
1. There was a return of His glory. Jn 17:1, "These words spoke Jesus,
and lifted up his eyes too heaven, and said, Gather, the hour is come;
glorify thy Son, that thy son also may glorify thee."
2. There was an exhaltation. Philip 2:8-9, "And, being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death
of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly exhalted him, and given him
a name which is above every name,"
3. There was joy in it for Him. Heb. 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand
of the throne of God."
THE RESULT OF CHRIST'S DEATH FOR THE FATHER:
1. There was a revealing of the love of God. Rom. 5:8, "But God cammendeth
his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us."
2. There was a revealing of the wrath of God concerning sin. Matt 27:46
speaks of the anguish of Christ on the cross just before His death.
3. There was final provision for Him to have a people for all of eternity.
THE RESULT OF CHRIST'S DEATH WAS FINAL:
There was a final sacrifice. Heb 9:25-27 mentions "...But now once,
in the end of the ages, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself." vs 26 Heb 10:11-12
UNSCRIPTURAL IDEAS CONCERNING HIS DEATH:
(Theissen has a detailed rebuttal of some of these theories if you are
interested. P 315 ff.)
1. That it was the death of a Martyr. Theissen states of this view,
"He was killed because He was faithful to His principles and to what He
considered His duty, by a generation that did not agree with Him in these
respects. We are to learn fidelity to truth and duty from Him. The only
thing needed to save a man is to reform him. Christ's example is to teach
man to repent of his sins and to reform." 1
There is no basis for this thought. The Scripture is quite plain that
He laid down His own life. The death of a martyr can't save anyone. If
it could we could go preaching the gospel of Stephen or of the modern martyrs
such as the gospel of Elliot.
2. That it was accidental death. Theissen states of this theory, "This
view sees no significance in the death of Christ. He was a man and as such
subject to death. His principles and methods did not appeal to the people
of His day, and so they killed Him. It may have been unfortunate that so
good a man was killed, but nevertheless His death had no meaning for anyone
else." 2 That he was crucified in error. He had the plan all worked out
how He would be set free but the Jews called for Barabus instead.
Others might suggest that the mob just took over and got out of hand.
The fact that He fortold His coming death several times before the fact
would prove this thinking incorrect.
3. That His death was a good moral example. Again Theissen states, "It
holds that Christ's death is the mere natural consequence of His taking
human nature upon Himself, and that He merely suffered in and with the
sins of His creatures. The sufferings and death of Christ are similar to
those of the missionary who enters a leper colony for life, in order to
save the lepers. The love of God manifested in the incarnation, the sufferings
and death of Christ, are to soften human hearts and lead them to repentance."
3 Who would die to set a moral example? No one in their right mind. Those
that suggest this, feel that the sinner has only to look upon the Lord's
death, and he will change. If this be the case then why did not the Jews
that crucified Him change their ways?
4. That His death was to show God's displeasure for sin. If this be
so then why not crucify just any plain old sinner and not the perfect God-man?
Theissen calls this the Governmental theory.
5. That His death was the execution of a criminal. So why did Pilate
find no fault in Him if he were a criminal.
6. That it was a phoney. In the past, and in recent years there have
been some thought given to the fact that there wasn't really a death. That
he was only drugged and after He was taken from the cross that He revived
and went away. A man by the name of Schonfield relates some of this thinking
in his book THE PASSOVER PLOT.
CONCLUSIONS:
God gave His son and He will also give us many other blessings. Rom.
8:32, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"
There are some fairly lengthy studies on the results of His death in
the area of redemption, propitiation etc. to be found in Ryrie's theology
p 286-297 and in The Teachers manual for the TEN STEPS series by Campus
Crusade.
Walvoord has a lengthy section on the death as well. PP. 153-190
Walvoord has a paragraph that I would like to share.
"In the study of Christ in His sufferings and death, one is in a holy
of holies, a mercy seat sprinkled with blood, to which only the Spirit-taught
mind has access. In His death Christ supremely revealed the holiness and
righteousness of God as well as the love of God which prompted the sacrifice.
In a similar way the infinite wisdom of god is revealed as no human mind
would ever have devised such a way of salvation, and only an infinite God
would be willing to sacrifice His Son." 4
I would like to close with some devotional thoughts from Spurgeon. In
commenting on Matt. 27:14 where it states, "He answered him to never a
word." he mentions:
"He had never been slow of speech when He could bless the sons of men,
but He would not say a single word for Himself. 'Never man spake like this
Man,' and never man was silent like Him. Was this singular silence the
index of His perfect self-sacrifice? Did it show that He would not utter
a word to stay the slaughter of His sacred person, which He had dedicated
as an offering for us? Had He so entirely surrendered Himself that He would
not interfere in His own behalf, even in the minutest degree, but be bound
and slain an unstruggling, uncomplaining victim? Was this silence a type
of the defencelessness of sin? Nothing can be said in palliation ["to cover
by excuse or apologies" Webster] or excuse of human guilt; and, therefore,
He who bore its whole weight stood speechless before His judge."
He goes on to say, "Evidently our Lord, by His silence, furnished a
remarkable fulfillment of prophecy. A long defence of Himself would have
been contrary to Isaiah's prediction. 'He is led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.'
By His quiet He conclusively proved Himself to be the true Lamb of God."
5
END NOTES:
1. Henry C. Thiessen, "LECTURES IN SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY," Grand Rapids:
Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1949, p 316
2. Thiessen, Lectures, p 315
3. Thiessen, Lectures, p 316
4. Taken from: "JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD"; Walvoord, John F.; Copyright
1969, Moody Bible Institute of Chicago; Moody Press. Used by permission.
p 153
5. Charles H. Spurgeon, "MORNING AND EVENING," Mclean, VA: Macdonald
Publishing, p 186
HANDOUT
THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST
THE DEATH OF CHRIST IS ONE OF THE MAIN THEMES IN SCRIPTURE:
1. Ps 22:1-31, Ps 69:1-21, Is. 52:12-53:12, Dan. 9:24-26
2. Heb. 9 & 10
3.
4. I Pet. 1:10-11
5. I Pet. 1:12
6. Lu. 9:30-31
7. Rev. 5:8-12
HIS DEATH WAS NEEDED:
1. Acts 2:23, I Pet. 1:19-20, Rev. 13:8
2. Matt 26:52-54, Lu. 24:25-27
3. Jn. 3:14-16, Jn. 12:24
4. Jn. 10:18; Philip. 2:8
ABOUT HIS DEATH:
1. Matt. 27:46
2. Matt. 27:50
3. Jn. 10:17-18
4. I Pet. 3:18, Lu. 9:30-31
5. I Cor. 5:7
6. I Pet. 2:24
7. Eph. 1:7, Matt. 20:28
8. Rom. 3:25, I Jn. 4:10
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR BELIEVERS:
1. Gal. 3:13
2. Rev. 1:5, I Jn. 1:9
3. Rom. 5:9
4. Rom. 5:9
5. II Cor. 5:17
6. Heb. 10:10
7. Gal. 4:3-5
8. Rom. 5:10
9. I Jn. 1:7
10. Jn. 3:14-16
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR NON-BELIEVERS:
Jn. 1:29, I Tim. 2:6, Heb. 2:9
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR SATAN AND THE DEMONS:
1. Jn. 12:31, Col. 2:14-15
2. Jude 6, Rev. 20:10
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR THE UNIVERSE:
Col. 1:19-20, Rom. 8:20-22
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR HIMSELF:
1. Jn. 17:1
2. Philip. 2:8-9
3. Heb. 12:2
THE RESULT OF CHRIST'S DEATH FOR THE FATHER:
1. Rom. 5:8
2. Matt. 27:46
THE RESULT OF CHRIST'S DEATH WAS FINAL:
Heb. 9:25-27
Heb. 10:11-12
UNSCRIPTURAL IDEAS CONCERNING HIS DEATH:
1. That it was the death of a Martyr.
2. That it was accidental death.
3. That His death was a good moral example.
4. That His death was to show God's displeasure for sin.
5. That His death was the execution of a criminal.
6. That it was a phoney.