He Died...

Remember He did not come to Jerusalem to be made King but to die!

Jesus predicts his suffering and death:

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 'For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.'”--Luke 18:31-33

Q. Why does death exist?

A. The Fall

In the Garden of Eden, God commanded Adam, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die.--Genesis 2:17

Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God and eating from the tree. (Genesis 3:6) The result was a physical death,

By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”--Genesis 3:19

Q. Why did man have to die?

A. Because of the sin of the fall of Adam all of mankind was separated from God.

For the wages of sin is death--Romans 6:23

Q. Why do I have to die?

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, --Romans 5:12-14

Adam and Eve could say as Paul did in Romans 7:9-13:

I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.--Romans 7:9-13

Q. But why did Jesus have to be beaten?

A. And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.--I Peter 2:24-25

Q. But why did blood have to be shed?

A. Because of the covenant

Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.--Hebrews 9:18-22

This is interesting; Christine and I live in a neighborhood subdivision that has a so called set of sub-division covenants--but they are enforced as long as the originator and his wife are still alive.

Q. What does the shedding of blood have to do with the forgiveness of sins?

A. The blood was a temporary covering for sanctification

When Adam and Eve sinned theirs eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” and he said I heard the sound of thee in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked ; so I hid myself.--Genesis 3:8-10

And the Lord made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them.--Genesis 3:21

Note the skin came from animals and thus the animals had to die to make a temporary covering for the man and his wife. In a similar way animals were put to death and the blood of the animals was sprinkled on the altar to make a temporary covering for the sin that man had committed.

Q. So why did Jesus have to die?

A. 1. Because of the covenant. For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. (Hebrews 9:18-22)

A. 2. Because He loved us.

Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. “You are My friends if you do what I command you.--John 15:13

Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate permanent covering for sin. No longer were the animal sacrifices acceptable in God’s eyes for they were only a temporary covering of sin from the very beginning. As a matter of fact the blood sacrifices were done away with when the curtain was torn by God from top to bottom. No longer would the high priest have to go behind the curtain to tabernacle to offer up sacrifices for sin.

As Paul writes in I Corinthians 13:10:

When the perfect comes the partial will be done away with.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.--Hebrews 9:11-15

And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
“And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.--Hebrews 10:11-18

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.--Matthew 7:13-14

Since God does not accept sacrifices or good works for the forgiveness of sin we are left with two choices.

1. Accept Jesus’ payment for our sin and gain access to heaven

2. Reject Jesus’ payment for our sin and earn the just punishment death and hell.

In terms that today’s generation can understand God is saying

“Its My way or the highway”.

God’s way to Heaven or our own way. Note choosing our own way is the same as choosing the highway to hell. Each of us must make that choice.

RECAP

1. Death exists because of the Fall.

2. We are all infected with sin and deserve to die to pay the just punishment for sin.

3. Jesus was beaten and suffered for our sin that we might be healed from the effects of sin and be able to stand before the Holy God sanctified and that justice would be served i.e., the punishment would be paid.

4. Jesus died as an act of love for us so that justice could be served without our death.

5. God no longer accepts the sacrifices of dead animals and the sprinkling of their blood for a covering for sin. “Its My way or the highway”.

6. Since God does not accept sacrifices or good works for the forgiveness of sin we are left with two choices.

Again, God is saying “Its My way or the highway”.

“My way to heaven through the narrow gate or any other way which is the highway to Hell”.

Each of us must make that choice.