The Loneliness and Significance of Christ's Sacrifice
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I believe on that first Good Friday as our Savior Jesus Christ hung on that Roman cross with nails through his hands and feet, with his brow torn by a crown of thorns, his back ripped to shreds from beating, his beard ripped out in handfuls by soldiers, his side pierced by a centurion's spear, totally abandoned by his disciples and, worst of all, by his heavenly Father. The cross of Calvary was the loneliest place on Earth. [00:28:08] (29 seconds)
It's Good Friday. It's good for us. It wasn't so good for Jesus, but praise God that in humble submission to the Father, he went to the cross and he died for us. We're continuing our sermon series, Iconic, looking at the unequaled and unparalleled life of Jesus Christ. We have already looked that his birth was totally different than any other person's because it was virgin birth. We know that he was different in his life from any other person that's ever lived because he lived a sinless, virtuous life. [00:28:48] (34 seconds)
Jesus was born with the shadow of the cross upon him, with the shadow of the cross upon his heart. He learned to walk, he learned to talk, he learned to work. From his earliest moment upon this earth, it was his burden by day and his palate by night. 2,000 years after Jesus left this earth physically, the universal symbol of the movement that he began is not a cradle, it is not a crown, it's a cross. The cruelest instrument of execution known in the ancient world, and it has actually been banned for over 1,500 years. [00:29:48] (35 seconds)
See, we will never understand the death of Jesus until we understand its relationship to sin. Death is universal and death is inevitable. Medicine can postpone it but it can't prevent it. What we call living we should call dying because at the end of the day we're all going to reach the end of the day. Everybody at some point asks the question is there life after death but nobody has to answer the question is there death after life because we already know the answer to that question. [00:31:52] (31 seconds)
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The soul that sins shall die. The wages of sin is death. See, death is God's righteous and inescapable punishment for human sin. Before man's sin, death was impossible. Since he sinned, death is inevitable. See, not one single sin can go unpunished. God is holy. God is righteous. God must punish sin. But listen, Jesus was sinless. It raises this question. Because Jesus was sinless, and since sin is the cause of death, Jesus should not have died. [00:35:22] (37 seconds)
The only person who voluntarily chose to die was the one who did not have to die. And that was the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 17. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. [00:37:51] (29 seconds)
And Matthew chapter 27, verse 50 says, And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. He died a voluntary death for our sins, and that's why we call it a sacrificial death. There was a chaplain going around Army Hospital talking to wounded soldiers, and he came up to a young man who had his right arm missing, and he said to him, Son, I just want you to know that you lost your arm fighting in a great cause. And he said to the chaplain, he said, chaplain, you're wrong. I didn't lose my arm. I gave it. [00:38:50] (31 seconds)
It was the war on sin, and Jesus won that war. He has victory because he died a sacrificial death for us. Second, we see he died a substitutionary death for sinners. Peter says, for Christ also suffered once for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous. Now, if we think about something, it'll make perfectly good sense to us. If sin is the only cause of death, and Jesus had no sin, there can only be one cause for his death, and that is our sin. [00:39:21] (31 seconds)
John Stott was a great theologian. He was not a heretic. Listen to what he said. The concept of substitution may be said then to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation, for the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be. God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. [00:41:25] (30 seconds)
Jesus became the focal point of God's wrath. When the Son of God was crucified, the wrath of God was satisfied. And that's why we can rejoice because Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1 verse 8, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There's no wrath left. Friends, you don't have to go to hell. You don't. Jesus paid it all. We just sang that song. [00:55:15] (27 seconds)
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It's Good Friday. It's good for us. It wasn't so good for Jesus, but praise God that in humble submission to the Father, he went to the cross and he died for us. We're continuing our sermon series, Iconic, looking at the unequaled and unparalleled life of Jesus Christ. We have already looked that his birth was totally different than any other person's because it was virgin birth. We know that he was different in his life from any other person that's ever lived because he lived a sinless, virtuous life. [00:28:48] (34 seconds)
Jesus was born with the shadow of the cross upon him, with the shadow of the cross upon his heart. He learned to walk, he learned to talk, he learned to work. From his earliest moment upon this earth, it was his burden by day and his palate by night. 2,000 years after Jesus left this earth physically, the universal symbol of the movement that he began is not a cradle, it is not a crown, it's a cross. The cruelest instrument of execution known in the ancient world, and it has actually been banned for over 1,500 years. [00:29:48] (35 seconds)
See, we will never understand the death of Jesus until we understand its relationship to sin. Death is universal and death is inevitable. Medicine can postpone it but it can't prevent it. What we call living we should call dying because at the end of the day we're all going to reach the end of the day. Everybody at some point asks the question is there life after death but nobody has to answer the question is there death after life because we already know the answer to that question. [00:31:52] (31 seconds)
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The soul that sins shall die. The wages of sin is death. See, death is God's righteous and inescapable punishment for human sin. Before man's sin, death was impossible. Since he sinned, death is inevitable. See, not one single sin can go unpunished. God is holy. God is righteous. God must punish sin. But listen, Jesus was sinless. It raises this question. Because Jesus was sinless, and since sin is the cause of death, Jesus should not have died. [00:35:22] (37 seconds)
The only person who voluntarily chose to die was the one who did not have to die. And that was the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 17. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. [00:37:51] (29 seconds)
And Matthew chapter 27, verse 50 says, And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. He died a voluntary death for our sins, and that's why we call it a sacrificial death. There was a chaplain going around Army Hospital talking to wounded soldiers, and he came up to a young man who had his right arm missing, and he said to him, Son, I just want you to know that you lost your arm fighting in a great cause. And he said to the chaplain, he said, chaplain, you're wrong. I didn't lose my arm. I gave it. [00:38:50] (31 seconds)
It was the war on sin, and Jesus won that war. He has victory because he died a sacrificial death for us. Second, we see he died a substitutionary death for sinners. Peter says, for Christ also suffered once for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous. Now, if we think about something, it'll make perfectly good sense to us. If sin is the only cause of death, and Jesus had no sin, there can only be one cause for his death, and that is our sin. [00:39:21] (31 seconds)
John Stott was a great theologian. He was not a heretic. Listen to what he said. The concept of substitution may be said then to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation, for the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be. God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. [00:41:25] (30 seconds)
Jesus became the focal point of God's wrath. When the Son of God was crucified, the wrath of God was satisfied. And that's why we can rejoice because Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1 verse 8, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There's no wrath left. Friends, you don't have to go to hell. You don't. Jesus paid it all. We just sang that song. [00:55:15] (27 seconds)
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