The Gospel of Jesus Christ

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So with Easter being 3 weeks away, we’re going to begin a short Easter series dealing with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What is the gospel?

We know the gospel to be - the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ...

and we get that from

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

This is the Gospel - the death, burial, and resurrection...

and so we’re going to devote a sermon to each phase of the Gospel...

First up = the Death of Jesus Christ

If you remember back to last year at this time, we walked through an Easter Series where we started out looking at what the Jews of the 1st century would have been looking for in the coming Messiah...

What were they expecting?

They were looking for a Messiah would come and fix ALL their - PHYSICAL problems...

They were under Roman Oppression and so they wanted PHYSICAL freedom...

They were expecting the Messiah to set up a PHYSICAL kingdom - at that time

And we saw that belief play itself out in Scripture:

Matthew 16:21–22 ESV

21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

So here we have - Peter - Peter knows that Jesus is the Son of God...the Messiah (he said so 5 verses before this)

So Peter knows who Jesus is - God Himself in the flesh...and yet... When God in the flesh tells him that he must SUFFER and DIE...

Peter takes Jesus over in the corner and says - That's NOT GONNA HAPPEN TO YOU!!

Why would Peter say that? BECAUSE according to Jewish theology, there was no CONCEPT of a Suffering Messiah....

And so when Jesus would talk about being KILLED…it was hard for them to grasp that truth...

That’s why 1 Cor 1:22-24

1 Corinthians 1:22–24 ESV

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The thought of a Suffering Messiah was repulsive to the Jews... It was the biggest stumbling block to them BELIEVING the gospel...

Here you had a guy who was claiming to be God...

and yet He was getting pushed around by man...

This guy claiming to be God getting spit on...

Having His beard pulled from His face... Getting owned...

And the DISCONNECT between the claim of Jesus being God and what was HAPPENING to Him... ...caused the RELIGIOUS Leaders to MOCK Jesus...

The irony is that the Religious Leaders at the time…the Jews at the time...

they didn’t CONNECT the dots of their history!

Their history was littered with BLOOD SACRIFICE!

They OVERLOOKED the importance of BLOOD SACRIFICE in their own history...

SLIDE: Blood Sacrifice: Established the Old Covenant

Blood Sacrifice

You remember the Covenant ceremony that Abraham experienced in Genesis 15?

Remember - God told Abraham to cut the animals in half, lay one half on this side...

…and the other half on the other side?

Remember the blood path that was created?

That God Himself walked down?

During the Patriarchal Age, it was the fathers who offered sacrifices to God...

Not only that, but UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES....we see it was the Levites who offered sacrifices...

Exodus 24:4–8 ESV

4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Leviticus 2:8–9 ESV

8 And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord, and when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. 9 And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

See under the Law of Moses, it was the priest who would offer the various types of sacrifices seen in the OT.

NOW - the OT sacrificial system was a SHADOW of the things to come...

It was an outward expression of a person of community’s inner desire to restore the broken relationships between God and man...

And there are actually 5 different types of offerings made in the OT...

SLIDE: The first type of offering we see found in Lev chapter 1, and it’s the Burnt Offering

Old Testament Sacrifice

The purpose of the burnt offering was for a general atonement for sin, and an expression of devotion to God.

The offering could be a bull, sheep or goat, dove or pigeon...

and the animal was to be burned whole…overnight

SLIDE: Another type of offering we see in the OT is the Grain Offering

Old Testament Sacrifice

The purpose of the Grain Offering was a voluntary expression of devotion to God, recognizing His goodness and providence.

SLIDE: A 3rd type of offering we see in the OT was the Peace Offering

Old Testament Sacrifice

The offering could be cattle (3:1), sheep (3:7), or a goat (3:12). It could be male or female, but must be without defect.

The purpose of the Peace Offering was to consecrate a meal between two or more parties before God and share that meal together in fellowship of peace and a commitment to each others’ future prosperity.

SLIDE: Another type of offering we see in the OT is the SIN Offering

Old Testament Sacrifice

This offering, as an atonement offering, contained elements of a Burnt Offering (4:25), yet at the same time had elements of a Peace Offering (4:26)

SLIDE: And the last kind of offering we see in the OT is the Guilt Offering

Old Testament Sacrifice

This offering doesn’t apply to the CONSCIENCE of a person, but rather to something someone owes on account of SIN...

And so as such - The purpose of this offering was to make reparations for one’s sin

NOW - all of these aside from the GRAIN OFFERING - required blood

Not only that, but look back to the Passover:

Exodus 12:1–14 ESV

1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.

SLIDE:

What’s the theme throughout OT Jewish History - Blood Sacrifice brings blessing

OT Jewish History

And so for us looking back - it makes complete sense that when Jesus shows up on the scene...

…John the Baptist calls Jesus by this title:

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!

For us - on this side of the Cross, it makes sense that Jesus would suffer and die...

a LAMB to the SLAUGHTER

But for the Jews of the 1st century, they didn’t connect the dots of their past…with the REALITY of their present

NOW - the Good News of the DEATH of Christ (the Sacrifice of Christ) is not that He’s the continuation of the OT sacrificial system...

BUT that He was the end of it!

Listen to this passage in Hebrews chapter 10:

Hebrews 10:1–18 ESV

1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ” 8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The offering of Christ - was ONCE FOR ALL...

And all of it HIGHLIGHTS the glory of God...

If you remember back to the very beginning - God’s glory dwelt in the - the Garden

From there we see that a Tabernacle is eventually built...

SLIDE: Tabernacle

and IN that Tabernacle, the presence of God dwelt, within the Holy of Holies…BEHIND the curtain…the veil

And under the Law, ONLY the HIGH PRIEST could enter the Holy of Holies

So in Genesis chapters 1 & 2 we saw UNhindered worship between God and man...

God and man dwelt together...

But then SIN entered reality...

and the result was SEPARATION...

NOW - a veil separated God from man...

and ONLY ONE MAN (the high priest) could enter into the Holy of Holies...

man dealt with God THROUGH ONE MAN...

Do you see where this is heading?

That was OT law...

THEN - Christ came!

Colossians 1:19 ESV

19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

In the beginning the glory of God dwelt in the Garden...

then - the Glory of God dwelt in the Tabernacle...

Now - the Glory of God dwells in Jesus Christ...

Do you want to see the Glory of God...

Experience the Glory of God

Taste the Glory of God?

Look to Jesus!

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The word "dwelt" here...is the same word used in the Greek translation of the OT that refers to the Tabernacle. It's the verb form of the noun (Tabernacle)

So basically it says - The Word Tabernacled among us... ...AND THAT IS WHY - the rest of that verse says...

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the tabernacle!

He is the place where you meet with God.

That's why after He died on the cross, what happened to the curtain at the Temple?

It ripped in two.

Christ came to remove the barrier between us and God.

It's all about Christ:

He is the tabernacle

He is the temple

He is the Lamb that takes away the sins of the world, making it possible to Worship

He is the Light of the world

He is the bread of life

He is the blood on the mercy seat

HE is the GREAT Sacrifice…ONCE FOR ALL!

His DEATH - the shed BLOOD of Jesus Christ

Our GREAT High Priest....forever

The GOOD NEWS of the Death of the Son of God...

why is it good news?

Because - through faith - His death becomes our death!

Romans 6:1–3 ESV

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

The fact that each of you are sitting here right now,

points to the reality that each of you, at one point in time...

...were in your mother's womb.

I can say that with certainty... And so we all know that when we look at a mother who is with child, we know that there is a special union there that is playing out.

If a mother, who is with child, gets sick and dies...left to themselves...

what happens to the child?

The child dies... Left to themselves...the child dies...100% of the time...

The mother's death...becomes the child's death.

why? Because of the nature of the union they share.

The mother's death becomes the child's death.

Romans 6:2 ESV

2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Notice that Paul is speaking, yet claiming that he has died... a death has occurred.

How can we (that includes himself) who DIED (past tense)...

And so we might think...I've died? Let's have Paul explain it...

Romans 6:3 ESV

3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

So what's this saying?

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus - He's speaking to a specific group of people - those who have been baptized into Christ...

This is not water baptism. This is talking about a Spiritual New Birth. ...being born again.

The bible is full of metaphors is it not?

God takes divine truths, and wraps them in human language to help us understand them better...

Jesus spoke in parables to help us understand divine realities..

So this specific group of people - THOSE who have been baptized in Christ (those who have faith in Christ)...

...those people - Do you not know that those people were baptized into His death...

Do you see - His death, through FAITH, becomes our death?

And still you might say - who cares...

back to verse 2:

Romans 6:2 ESV

2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

This death...that becomes ours...through faith

...is a death TO SIN.

And so let's think through this now...

If we are united to Christ's death, through faith...

And the death that we're united to is a DEATH TO SIN...

...then that means Christ's death must have been a DEATH TO SIN...

jump down to verse 10:

Romans 6:10 ESV

10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

Here's the union.

His death, through faith, becomes our death. A death to sin...

And if the wages of SIN is death...

How great it is that the death of Christ is a death TO SIN...

and that through FAITH we too DIE to sin...

It’s effect no longer over us…death itself!

It TOOK DEATH to conquer - DEATH!

And so as we draw closer to this coming Easter,

meditate on His death

thank Him for His death...

Let’s Pray...