What Did Christ Accomplish?

Over the past 24 hours, we have answered 2 incredibly important questions: Who is Jesus and why did He come? What we are going to do tonight is answer the third question of: What did Christ accomplish? We know from Colossians 1 who He is, we know what He came to do from 1 Timothy 1, now we need to know did Christ actually accomplish the work that He set out to do? We need to be able to answer that question if we are to be always ready to give a defense for the hope that is in us. A question that I want you all to think about tonight is this: Did Christ’s death on the cross merely make salvation possible? Or did Christ’s death on the cross make salvation an actuality. Did Christ’s death on the cross just open the door of salvation to us or did it accomplish the work of redemption? Tonight we are going to learn about a word that is critical to the Christian faith and that word is atonement. If you’ve heard me teach before, we talked about the atonement a whole lot. What do I mean by atonement? If I were to atone for something, I would be making up or making amends for a wrong that has been done. In Christianity, we use the word atonement to talk about what Jesus Christ does on our behalf when it comes to the wrongs that we have committed towards God. Jesus Christ amends the relationship that has been torn apart between God and man through what He does on the cross. Well how does He do it? How does He accomplish it? He accomplishes it by being our substitute. What’s a substitute? It’s something that takes the place of something or someone else. In Christianity we talk about what Jesus does as substitutionary atonement. Jesus atones for our sins by being our substitute, by standing in our place to receive the sentence that we deserve. To understand what Jesus accomplishes, to understand what the Gospel is, we need to know the truth and that truth includes some harsh realities about us. The Gospel is good news but before we recognize it as good news, we must have the bad news revealed to us. Francis Schaeffer, a great apologist and theologian from the 1900’s was asked how he would present the Gospel to someone if he only had an hour to do it and Schaeffer said that he would spend 45 minutes on the bad news of sin and separation from God because the man needs to know just how far removed he is from God and then he would spend the remaining time on the good news. Well we don’t have an hour, we have about 30 minutes. What I want to do tonight as we look at what Christ accomplishes is spend about 15 minutes on the bad news, 10 minutes on the good news, and 5 minutes on the best news of all. Let’s open up in prayer and then we are going to read Romans 5:1-11.

Romans 5:1–11 NASB95

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

The Bad News

In these 11 verses, we see bad news, good news, and great news. Now what’s beautiful about what we have read in these verses is that even where we see negatives, Paul concludes them with positives. There are four verses that I want us to look at first, verses 6, 8, 9, and 10. How does Paul describe the person that is separated from God. Well look first at first 6. Paul describes those that are separated from Christ as helpless. The unsaved man or woman is totally helpless when it comes to saving themselves. In fact, they have no desire to save themselves. When we ask the question to people: Do you want to be saved? The response is sometimes, saved from what? They don’t recognize the predicament that they are in. The greatest need in your life is a Savior. You could have everything in all creation and lack a Savior and have nothing of eternal value. What we all need to understand is that the unsaved man or woman is not slowly dying in sin, they are completely dead in their sin. Jesus does not throw you a rope while you are bobbing up and down on stormy seas and then once you grab hold of it, then He pulls you to shore. That’s not what salvation is. No, you are dead at the bottom of the sea and unless Christ dives down and brings new life to you, you are going to stay dead in the bottom of the sea. Paul says in Ephesians 2:1–2 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” The unsaved man or woman not only has no desire to save themselves, they cannot save themselves! No one has escaped this. We all need a Savior. Paul says in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” No matter how much work you think you put into God’s good graces, outside of Christ you are accomplishing nothing. You are helpless to save yourself. Jonathan Edwards used to say that we contribute nothing to our salvation but the sin that makes it necessary. We aren’t just helpless outside of Christ, we are powerless outside of Christ. James Montgomery Boice writes, “We are unable to help ourselves. It is what theologians mean by total depravity, not that we are all as bad as we could possibly be, but that we are all equally and totally incapable of doing anything to save ourselves. We are not able to seek out and eventually come even to understand the way of salvation.” The unsaved person is helpless. The other aspect of the bad news is that we are sinners. To understand what sinners are, we need to know what sin is. Sin is anything that is contrary to God and His word. It is a direct assault on Him and his holiness. I love how John Piper defines sin. He says, “Sin is the glory of God not honored, the holiness of God not reverenced, the greatness of God not admired, the power of God not praised, the truth of God not sought, the wisdom of God not esteemed, the beauty of God not treasured, the goodness of God not savored. The faithfulness of God not trusted, the promises of God not believed, the commandments of God not obeyed, the justice of God not respected. The wrath of God not feared, the grace of God not cherished, the presence of God not prized, and the person of God not loved.” Sin has impacted every part of our lives. You are born in sin and you have never gone a day without sin. It is from one single sin that the fall of mankind took place in Genesis 3 and if there is enough evil in just 1 sin to do that, how much evil is in us? When we do nothing but sin? R.C. Sproul used to say that we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. Paul says in Romans 3:10-18

Romans 3:10–18 NASB95

as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; “Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

As sinners we have all turned aside, we have not sought God, we have done no good, and because of that, if we stay in that, destruction and misery are in our paths. Guys you need to understand that every sinner stands condemned before God. There is no such thing as one little white lie or one little sin, every sin will be judged before God almighty. You will stand before God Almighty and you will not stand before Him as accepted, as loved, and as His child and friend, you will stand before Him as an enemy. We see this as the third aspect of bad news in verse 10. You are an enemy of God. It would be better if the entire world, if all the assembled armies of all of time and space were assembled against you than to have this God against you. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” You would have better odds taking on all the world than taking on the living God. The prophet Nahum says in Nahum 1:1-6

Nahum 1:1–6 NASB95

The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither; The blossoms of Lebanon wither. Mountains quake because of Him And the hills dissolve; Indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, The world and all the inhabitants in it. Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire And the rocks are broken up by Him.

Who can endure before this Judge? What sinner, what enemy of God will escape? None. None unless that sin is atoned for and if it is not atoned for, God’s wrath will be poured out on you. Your sin must be dealt with and it must either be dealt by you or dealt by Christ. Either Christ must pay to the last cent or you must pay it but if it is not paid for, God’s perfect and righteous wrath will not be held back. You will not be spared and that is why we need Christ. There is no neutrality to God and the Gospel. You are either saved by Christ or you are not saved at all. You are either dead to sin or dead in your sins. Do you not understand what your sin has done? It has condemned you and it has carried Christ to the cross. Without Christ you have no peace with God. You cannot have peace with God. Paul says in Romans 8:6–7 “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,” In our sins, we are actively making war with God but that is a losing battle. David Livingstone was a missionary that spent years among the Zulu people of South Africa and one time when he and his family went into the interior part of the tribe to minister, he came out and discovered that an enemy tribe had attacked and slaughtered several of the Zulus and had captured the chiefs son. The chief didn’t want to war with the other tribe but he asked Livingstone, “How can I be at peace with them while they hold my son prisoner?” Commenting on that, Donald Grey Barnhouse said, “If this attitude is true in the heart of a savage chief, how much more is it true of God the Father who trample under foot His Son, who count the blood of the covenant wherewith they were set apart as an unholy thing, and who continue to despise the Spirit of grace.” There’s the bad news. We are powerless to save ourselves, wrath is due to us, we are sinful enemies of God. But what is the good news? Praise be to God that despite all of the bad, He is a good and merciful God that offers good things to us.

The Good News

What is the good news? Christ died to save sinners. Look again at all of verse 6: “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Who are the ungodly? It’s us. As we read yesterday in 1 Timothy 1:15, Christ Jesus died to save sinners. Sinners just like you and me. Martin Luther said, “He died at that time when we were still weak, that is, when we were neither righteous nor sanctified, but helpless and lost.” Paul goes on to say in verse 8 that God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Not only does God die for us, He loves us. The greatest demonstration of His love is seen at the cross. It is through what Jesus does that we have peace with God. We didn’t have that before; we were enemies of God but now because of what Christ has done, we have peace with God. Romans 5:10–11 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” If Christ has died to save you, this means that not only are you reconciled to God, you are completely justified in the eyes of God. The moment that you come to faith in Christ, you are completely justified in the eyes of God. This means that every sin that you have ever sinned, are currently sinning, and will ever sin have been completely paid for by Jesus Christ. At the cross, all the punishment for your sin and my sin fell upon Jesus and because of the cross, all of His perfect righteousness is given to us. Now whenever God looks at you, He sees a redeemed and saved child of God. Not because of what you have done, solely because of what Jesus did. As we go through these verses, we see that Jesus has done more for us than make salvation possible. He has made salvation certain for all that believe. Do you believe? Have you come to Jesus Christ? Know that everyone that comes to Jesus will not be cast out. He is the friend of sinners. Are you truly a Christian? Have you been born again? I don’t care if you know about Jesus and know about the Bible, I want to know if you have been born again! I want to know if what Paul says in Romans 5 applies to you. You need salvation in your life today! You need Christ now and if you do not possess Him, the only reason that you have rejected Him is because of your own sinfulness and your own spiritual blindness and I pray that God would remove that blindness from you. Before God restores your heart, He must first break it. Before you are brought high, you must be brought low. Don’t push off to tomorrow what needs to happen today. Do you have peace with God? Because peace and salvation can only be found in Jesus Christ. Have you repented of your sin? Have you admitted to God that you have sinned against Him and that you need a Savior? Have you asked that God would give you the gift of faith so that you would stand faultless before Him? Have you confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord? Guys, if you cannot say that about yourself, you are not a Christian! You are lost in sin, you are destined for wrath unless Christ makes you whole. Won’t you come to Christ and live? George Whitefield use to preach to the masses with tears in his eyes and would say, “You blame me for weeping, but how can I help it when you will not weep for yourselves, though your immortal souls are on the verge of destruction.” Today, Christ offers Himself to you today. If you have not taken Him, won’t you do it now! Know that you can stand loved and accepted before God. What then is the Gospel? What is the Good News? Tim Keller puts it like this: “We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” All of this leads us to the best news.

The Best News

The best news is that because we belong to Jesus, everything changes and we have peace with God forever. Our salvation is not here today and gone tomorrow, it goes forever. When we have Jesus in our lives, everything about our lives changes. Even our outlook on life changes because we recognize that even death does nothing more than make us better. Paul says in Romans 5:3–5 “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Will we go through hard times? Yes. Will we go through pains? Yes. Is God still on the throne, loving us perfectly? He always has been and He always will be. Will we be with Him forever? Forever and always. A time will come for all Christians where we will finally see that the shadow of this world was nothing more than a small and passing thing. There is light and high beauty forever beyond the darkness’ reach and it’s ours. Do you want to know what is coming for us as Christians? Glory. Not only do we receive peace with God, we receive God Himself! God Himself has come to us. Before we worship, I want you to just reflect on the beauty of what is to come. In Revelation 21:1-7 the apostle John gets a glimpse of the future of all of God’s people and this is what he writes:

Revelation 21:1–7 NASB95

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

The good news is here, God is yours, go and take it. Let’s pray.