WHY DID JESUS DIE?
(Based on the Alpha talk, Why Did Jesus die?)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16))
1) The Problem
“… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23)
What is sin?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and, Love your neighbour as yourself. “(Luke 10:26)
Awkward truth: compared to Adolf Hitler we’re all good.
i) What causes our sin?
“anyone who sins is a slave to sin” (Jn.8:34)
“He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ” (Mark 7:20-23)
ii) The Consequences of sin.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
2. THE SOLUTION
“[Jesus]—bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1Peter 2:24)
i) Jesus is our substitute
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
ii) The cross frees us from the power of sin in our lives
“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
“Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Galatians 5:16)
(iii) On the cross, Jesus paid the PENALTY of sin
“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace…” (Romans 3:23-24)
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world—that’s you and me—to himself.” (2Cor.5:19)
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for dying for me on the cross. I’m sorry for the things in my life that have been wrong. I now turn away from everything that I know is wrong. And I now receive your gift of forgiveness. I put my trust in what you did on the cross for me. And I ask you, please, to come and fill me with your Holy Spirit, to give me the strength to lead the kind of life that deep down I’m longing to lead. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen.
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I want to know more:
- To Read: The Case Against Christ, Lee Strobel
- to Read: Vintage Jesus, Mark Driscoll
- To Read: The Reason for God, Tim Keller
- To view online: Two Ways to Live: http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/
- To Listen: “How Sin Makes us Addicts”, by Tim Keller http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/how-sin-makes-us-addicts