Paying the Price for sin, Jesus died and rose again

Greg’s ticket story

My friend Greg who came up with this acronym of the GOSPEL, shares this story of getting a ticket for rear ending another driver.... He told the officer he was guilty, got 4 points gone, $110 ticket, etc....but then getting the check returned a few weeks later with a note that said "No Offense Charged" …He was forgiven of a guilty charge.

This is like how Isaiah describes what Jesus did for us on the cross

Isaiah 53:5-6

But he was pierced for our transgressions;he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,and with his wounds we are healed.6  All we like sheep have gone astray;we have turned—every one—to his own way;and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

A Price had to be paid

Hebrews 9:22 “ Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

God’s sense of JUSTICE has to be fulfilled.

The wrong must be righted

The Day of Atonement

Leviticus 16

The scape goat: Two goats....one sacrificed and one survive but “bearing the sins” out into the wilderness. The priest would then take the blood from the sacrifice and put it on the ark of the covenant.

Hebrews 9:24–28 ESV

24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

When Christ died on the cross, it was enough to cover all sins, for all people, for all time

Propitiation: God’s wrath is satisfied by what Christ did on the cross

John 1:29 ESV

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

The Cross is where the Love of God and the Justice of God Combine

God’s love led to action

2. An Exchange had to be Made

$20.....

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

God exchanges our sin for His righteousness

3. A Victory had to be displayed

Colossians 2:13–15 ESV

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

He disarmed Satan.....Satan can’t use our sins to beat us down.

Victorious Roman armies paraded their defeated enemies around.

Acts 1:3 ESV

3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Upward

We can’t pay the price, only Jesus can. That’s why trying to earn your way back into God’s good graces through your own efforts is like a slap in the face of God. He sacrificed His only Son to give us this free gift. If you think you can live a good enough life or be a good enough person, and earn your own way, then according to the Bible, you have no real idea what God’s holiness and judgment are all about—or what His love is all about.

Inward

Jesus sacrificed everything for us on the cross. Are you willing to sacrifice for Him?

Popularity

Comfort

Pride

Time

Think about one thing in your life you can change this week that would demonstrate your gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifice Jesus made for you.

Outward

This week I want to challenge you to start a conversation with a friend by asking them to share their own take on the following question: Why did Jesus die on the cross? Listen, ask questions and get the dialogue going. Then share what the Bible has to say about Jesus paying the price for our sins by dying on the cross and rising from the dead.