Passion Week: Seven Reasons Why Jesus Died

If we misunderstand or don't understand the lesson today, we miss the heart of Christianity. If we don't understand the lesson today, we demean Jesus Christ. and his death on the cross. Jesus died for reasons.

If you think you understand it all, great. But listen today. Let's not miss these reasons. Let's honor Christ by devoting our attention and our minds to what he has done for us.

and let's be sure we understand the depth of meaning in the cross. Let's pray.

Jesus Christ, you are worthy. You are worthy. You are worthy. Your name is above every name. We bow before you in humble thanksgiving and adoration of who you are.

we have not honored you by putting you first in our lives. Forgive us when we have not honored you by understanding the great significance of your sacrifice for us on the cross. But Lord, this day, this day, we pray to you and we promise you, we will not take for granted the cross.

But we will live in its shadow each and every day. For it's in Christ's we pray. Amen. Why did Jesus Christ die? There's a great famous painting that shows a picture of Jesus Christ working in the carpenter's workshop. And in the imagery of this painting, the artist has captured the sun going down at the end of the day, the shadows coming through, and as the shadows came through, they cast a shadow across Jesus' back, and in the form of the cross.

It's the artist's way of reminding us that Jesus came to earth for a purpose, and the purpose was to die. But why? Why did Jesus die on the cross? Seven lessons that we all need to learn about why Jesus died on the cross. Lesson number one.

It's called substitutionary atonement. That's the theological name. Jesus died for me to absorb the punishment that I deserved. Let me make one quick point here. All of these reasons that Jesus died only become effective for those who have bent the knee to Jesus Christ.

In other words, those who have repented from sin and turned in faith to follow Jesus Christ as Lord.

but one reason, and a reason that I put number one, is substitutionary atonement. You see, there's some key verses I've given you there. One verse that I've pulled out for us to use to think about this reason is this. God, in the second half of that verse, says God sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Some translations say as a propitiation for our sins.

The translators of the NIV thought that was such a big word, they changed it to atoning sacrifice. But often people don't even know what it means to be an atoning sacrifice. The big picture is substitutionary atonement. Here's the background. This is God's legal system, the universal legal system.

And the first thing we need to understand in God's universal legal system is that God is just. God is just. By that I mean that God punishes violations of his law. We would not think a judge in the Greenville County Circuit Court was a just judge if the judge did not punish those who violated the law.

that would be a legal system run amok it would be a legal system that wasn't working and in God's universal legal system God is just he is going to punish violations of his law but God in his legal system and here's the big point has provided a means by which those of us who have violated the law can avoid the punishment.

And in his legal system, he has provided that one can be substituted to take our punishment. Not just anyone. It would take someone who was perfect, who had perfectly obeyed the law, someone who was a human being and had lived under the demands of the law and had perfectly obeyed, would be so significant because of who he was that it could pay for the sins of all humanity. So it took someone who was not only human, but who was also God. But God said in his legal system, if a person like that dies, then I will permit those who trust in him to have their sins paid for by substitution.

by someone else taking the penalty. Does everybody follow this? If you missed this point, you don't understand substitutionary atonement. Now somebody will say, well, that's not fair. God, it's not fair that someone else could die in my place and take my sins.

That's not fair. And God says, you're right, it's not fair. But I tell you what, you don't need to worry about it because the one that's going to die for the sins of humanity It's not one of you sitting out here in the Sunday school classroom, I'm going to send my own son to die. And yeah, it's not fair, but I who am just, who must punish sin, have provided a means by which there can be a substitute to take the penalty, and his name is Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ came and lived a perfect life under the law.

He was the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God, and all who believe in him have their sins counted as if they had been paid for because Jesus Christ died for them. So that God is not only just, but he is also the loving justifier. In other words, he sent his son because he loves us, and we are counted as justified in God's eyes if we put our faith and trust in Christ.

So God is just. Yes, he's going to punish for our sins, but he allows substitution, someone else who's perfect to take that punishment for us. The second reason that Jesus Christ died is justification. Jesus died for me so that I could be, quote, justified, that's another theological term, before God. There are a number of key verses I've given you, and I really encourage you this week to read through these verses.

I pulled out here that says, since we have now been justified by his blood, and when it says by his blood in the text, that means by Jesus' death. Blood is the metaphor for Jesus' death, the symbolism for his death. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him? What does it mean to be justified? It means a couple of things.

It means, first, that through Christ's death, the debt of sin is canceled for all who turn to him in repentant faith. We are forgiven. And secondly, in God's eyes, we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In other words, it's substitutionary justification. So to be justified in God's eyes means the debt has been paid, it's canceled, we are forgiven.

And at the same time, we take on the righteousness of Christ. As Galatians 3.27 says, we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. So that when God looks at us, if we have put our faith and trust in Christ, he looks at us through Jesus Christ, through the robes of Jesus Christ. And so we are accounted as if we have the righteousness of Christ when it comes to determining if we're justified in God's eyes. And so justification means it's just as if I'd never sinned in God's eyes.

Justified sounds like just as if I'd never sinned in God's eyes when I turned to Christ in repentant faith. He cancels the debt. He looks at me as if I have the robes of Christ on me.

and therefore I can enter into God's presence. The third reason that Jesus died is for freedom. Jesus died to free me from the slavery of sin so that I could live in the freedom of the Spirit. I have given you a whole lot of verses here to read and I really encourage you to go read Romans 6 particularly and then Galatians 3 and 4.

But Romans 6.22 says, you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God. How is it, when we turn to Christ in repentant faith, how is it that we are no longer slaves to sin? If we are in Christ, we are no longer slaves to sin. Somebody who says, I'm just as much a sinner as I was before I knew Jesus Christ, has not been saved.

Because we have been freed from the slavery of sin. It doesn't mean we never sin. Sometimes we go back into bondage for a period of time. But we've been freed from the slavery of sin. How is it that we've been freed from the slavery of sin?

Here's how. Number one, we have a new master when we turn to Christ. in other words we no longer give our main loyalty to the world and to sin we give our main loyalty to jesus christ and if we're following him as lord we're saying we're going to do what you want me to do jesus we're going to do what you call us to do so we follow we change and have a new loyalty when we become married we have a loyalty to our spouses that says i'm going to be with you and

that's what happens when we come to Jesus we commit ourselves to him and every day when we're trying to decide what to do we say what do you master want me to do that's the way we avoid the slavery of sin the second way we avoid the slavery of sin is we have a renewed mind when we embrace Christ he fills us with his spirit and he helps renew our minds and when we have renewed minds understand what sin does and this is how we avoid the slavery of sin with our renewed minds we know that sin killed jesus christ and we hate that which killed jesus christ with our renewed minds in christ we know what sin does to us we know what it does to our families we know what it does to our loved ones when we have renewed minds we see through the disguise that satan puts on sin we understand now satan disguises sin he makes it look like something we should want something we should desire something attractive but with our renewed minds we know that sin kills sin destroys sin eats at us it destroys our families we know that Satan wants to use sins to kill us he hates us so we turn from that sin because we now understand what it's like and what it does we should not have the attraction to sin that those who don't know Christ have because we know how disastrous sin is

hasn't sin destroyed families hasn't sin destroyed individual lives we hate it the third way is we have a new power within us that new power within us is the Holy Spirit who indwells us and helps strengthen us to be all God wants us to be that spirit helps us have the fruit of the spirit joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And I don't understand exactly how it works, folks. It's mysterious to me. But when we go to the spirit of the living God and say, help me overcome sin, help me avoid it, the spirit will help us. Typically when we're really struggling with sin in the sense of not being able to overcome it, it's because we're trying to do it in our own strength and we are not going to the source of all power, seeking, beseeching, begging the power of that spirit to help us.

But when we do, he does. He does.

Fourthly, we have a new appetite. When we are in Christ, suddenly we have a new appetite. that which gives us joy is different from what used to give us joy before we knew Christ what gives us joy is Christ and serving him so why do we turn from sin? it's not just because we know in our minds that it's bad we turn from it because we found something better something tastier something that gives us deeper joy. And this is something I think we need to teach ourselves and our children.

You don't just avoid sin by gritting your teeth and saying, oh, I really know I should like that. I mean, I really know I like that, but I just shouldn't do it. What we should get to the point of saying is, I don't really want that. That doesn't give me joy. That's not where I find my delight.

The psalmist says, in your presence is joy. You is my delight. When we're in Christ, we develop this new taste about what is joyful, and that helps us overcome sin. I will tell you, I've got my greatest joy in life by serving the Lord. Let me hike a mountain in Ethiopia.

Let me go play with the Malden maulers in the wheelchair. Anybody who tells you sinful is more delightful than serving the Lord is trying to foist on you the false teachings of Satan. Sin is not more delightful. It is damning. It is hellish.

It is no good. Joy is in Jesus Christ and in serving him. You want the deepest joy? Turn to him. And we've got to develop that new taste so that we go after the deep chocolate of Jesus Christ rather than the rotten food that the world offers.

Lastly, we are new creations. In Christ, we have a new nature that still has to fight with some of that old nature, but we're new creations so that we're no longer slaves to sin. We've been given a new nature in Christ.

I spent more time thinking about this issue for this lesson than any other People say, well, I just have such trouble with sin and overcoming it. I think these are some of the reasons how we overcome sin when we turn to Christ. All right, fourth reason. Why did Jesus die? To demonstrate the Father's love and his own love for me.

Key verses. God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God gave his one and only son for us so we see the love of God in the death of Christ Christ himself gave himself for us so we see the love of Christ for us greater love has no one than this that he would lay down his life for his friends that's what Jesus did for us and Jesus did this even though we were completely unworthy to receive this love he did this the text says while we were still sinners, even though we were unrighteous sinners. So the depth of his love is seen not only in the sacrifice made by Jesus, but he made the sacrifice for very unworthy people,

people who didn't deserve it. Now that's true love when you do something for somebody who doesn't deserve it, and in fact somebody who was spitting your face, rebelled against you, violated your law in all sorts of ways, yet he says, I'm going to die for you, even though you're a rebellious sinner. That's the depth of his love for us. Fifthly, Jesus died to free me from the fear of death. No fear.

No fear of death. He died to free me from the fear of death. Hebrews 2.14-15 says, Since the children have flesh and blood, we're the children. We've got flesh and blood bodies. he, that is Jesus, shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

The death of Jesus frees us from the fear of death. space is not the final frontier the final frontier is death

and we should not have a fear of death now I want to draw a distinction here between the process of dying and death itself no Christian no person looks forward to the process of dying of dying is often painful. It often involves disease. It involves wasting away. It can involve an event that is very tragic and hurts. We may be in pain in the process of dying.

No one, not even Christians, look forward to the process of dying. But when we talk about death itself, not the process of dying, but death itself, that is, passing from this life to the next, being in Christ frees us from the fear of death itself. We no longer have to be afraid of passing from this life to the next. There is a sense in which people who are not Christian should be terrified of death itself. They should scream when they think about their own deaths.

Because when they pass from this life to the next, if they understood fully what's going to happen, they would fear death to the utmost. But those of us who are in Christ need not fear death because death is gain. Death is to our profit. Death is to our advantage. We will be better off when we die if we're in Christ.

And if you don't believe that, you need to go back to your scriptures, be sure first that you're in Christ, and then you need to begin to understand the great gift Jesus Christ has given us. We don't need to be afraid of death any longer. Because when we die, we go to a better place. And when you say, well, I'm not afraid personally of death itself, but I'll be worried about all those I left behind. You know, if I'm not there to care for my children, if I'm not there to care for my spouse, et cetera, well, let me disabuse you of one idea.

God, yeah, puts us here to help protect our spouses and children while we're here, but at root, folks, it's God who's taking care of our families. If 9-11 ought to teach us anything, it ought to teach us that we are only preserved by God's mercy. we protect people all your child has to do is get in a car and you just lost the ability to protect they're in god's hands all they have to do is leave to go to college they're in god's hands so let me assure you that when you go to the next life number one you won't be worried about your children there'll be no more fear in heaven somehow god's not going to let it happen we're not going to be worried about those left behind when we get to heaven i don't know how that's going to be, but that's the promise. We will not be worried about those who are left behind.

But if we fully understand, we will look forward to the day of death. Justin Martyr, who was one of the great writers in the early history of the church, wrote to a Roman emperor, Antoninus Pius, and he wrote to the emperor, Christians were being persecuted at that time, and he said to the emperor, you can kill us, but you cannot do us any real harm.

You can kill us, but you cannot do us any real harm. The Romans didn't know what to do with these Christians. They didn't understand this. What do you mean we can kill you, but we can't hurt you? Really.

This is why Christians have been able to stand through all sorts of stuff, folks, because they know when we die, we go to a better place. It's how the 86-year-old Polycarp, when he was told he was going to be killed by another Roman governor, said, do your worst. it's how a 22 year old woman named Perpetua even though she had a child was able to face death with great calm and dignity when she was killed by pagan Romans

if you're afraid of death go back to the cross make sure you're in Christ and then begin to understand the great promises death is going to be to our advantage

I know everybody's looking at me going, what is he crazy? I'm telling you, we've got to understand this.

Sixthly, good works. Jesus died so that I as his father would eagerly serve him and do the work he has prepared for me. Titus 2.14 says, Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Ephesians 2.10 says we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. We're created in Christ Jesus.

That is, we have new birth in Christ Jesus. We are new creations in Christ Jesus. Christ has redeemed us so that we would be eager. And that word is the word from which we get the word zealot, that we would be zealots in the service of Jesus Christ. Christ has redeemed us for a purpose.

He has prepared works for us to do before we were ever born, before we were ever in Christ. You see what 2.10 says, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. You are here for a reason. God has something that you're to be about if you're in Christ. You need to find out the purpose, do it. And you need to do it with passion and with intensity.

That needs to be your number one priority in life. Everything else needs to come second. I'm not saying you still don't work at your jobs. I'm not saying you still don't care for your families. We're supposed to be good workers. We're supposed to care for our families.

But our mission for Christ comes first. And wherever we are, we serve Him. Lastly,

eternal life. Jesus died to give eternal life. to all who confess that Jesus is their living Lord. John 3, 16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. And 1 Corinthians 2, 9 says, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, but God has prepared for those who love him.

But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. Eternal life is coming. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones said this, without coming to the conclusion that the thing that really differentiates God's people from all others is that they have always been a people who walk in consciousness of their eternal destiny. Do we walk each day in the consciousness of our eternal destiny?

God has given us that eternal life. The reality is that this life is just the preface to the book of life. chapter 1 begins at death

and each chapter gets better after that that's the reality of those of us who are going to inherit eternal life you ever stop to think about what heaven is going to be like

I think if you go to Pisgah on a fall day when the leaves are all colorful you start to get a glimpse of heaven The vegetation will be lush. There will be spraying waterfalls. There will be a river through heaven. When you pick a piece of fruit, the fruit is already replenishing itself after you picked it. There will be people of all races and tongues, all colors.

People will, I think, still be speaking all the languages they spoke here on earth. The difference will be we'll understand every language.

And those who went before us will be there to meet us. my son Joshua's going to come running up to see me when I get to heaven. And then he's going to take me to see the one I want to see most, Jesus Christ. That's what heaven is about. That's what Jesus died to secure for us.

I want us to live like we know that death holds no fear for us. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We need not be afraid, and we can look forward with joy to eternal life in the presence of our Lord.

We need to think more about the cross and what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.