God's Provision - The Gospel (1Cor [15]1-4)
God’s Provision: The Gospel
Text: I Corinthians 15:1-4
Place Preached - (Mississauga International Baptist Church)
Date Preached - (07/15/01)
REVIEW FROM PREVIOUS MESSAGES
God looks at the heart of man. We will stand before Him one day. We will be judged according to truth, and that truth is the Word of God.
No one can keep the Ten Commandments perfectly all their life through. Yet in the book of James the Bible tells us that if a man offends in one point, if he breaks just one point of the law, he is guilty of all of it.
God looks at men in two different groups: either without a relationship with Him, or having a relationship with Him. They either belong to God or they do not belong to God.
God says a man without a relationship is lost, but a man with a relationship has been saved, rescued.
God sees a man who has no relationship with Him as not right, unrighteous. But those who have a relationship, God sees them as having been made right in His eyes, or righteous.
He sees those without a relationship as being unforgiven. Those who have a relationship with God have wronged God also, but God has forgiven them.
Those without a relationship are the enemies of God, and yet the Bible says, there are some who have been reconciled.
Those without a relationship are walking around already condemned by God, but those who are related to God have been justified, made or declared just by God.
Those who have no relationship are under the wrath of God, but he has accepted those who have a relationship with Him.
Finally, those without a relationship are headed to a place called Hell, and those with a relationship are headed to a place called Heaven.
Notice all these promises are things God does in a person's life. They are not things that you and I can do. You can’t find yourself. You can't declare yourself just. You can’t forgive yourself for sinning against God. You cannot save yourself!!
Man tries to make himself right with God. All the good deeds that you and I ever do will never make us right with God.
GOD'S PROVISION
Every man, woman and child is born into this world in trouble with God. We are in trouble with God because of our sin, because we choose to sin against a holy God. Yet the Bible also makes it clear that it is possible to have a relationship with God.
How does this come about? How can it be? Since we can't work our way to heaven, there must be a way somehow for us to get there. There has to be a way provided so that people can have a relationship with God. That is literally what God has done.
What God has done to provide this relationship.
1. THE GOSPEL
In God's provision, He has given us the Gospel. The word Gospel means good news.
Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."
POWER OF GOD -- This Gospel of Christ is the power of God. That word for power there is the same word from which we today now get our word dynamite.
UNTO SALVATION -- Notice this Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It brings people to salvation. How do I get this salvation? How does God rescue me? The Bible says here in Romans 1:16 that God does it by means of the Gospel.
NOT BAPTISM -- Next we need to understand just exactly what the Gospel is and what the Gospel is not. In I Corinthians 1:17 Paul tells us what the Gospel is not. "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel· not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."
Many people today believe that as long as you have been baptized, you are going to be okay. They believe they are going to be in Heaven because baptism takes away sins. But that is not what the Bible teaches.
Paul is not saying that baptism is not important. He is just saying that baptism does not save anyone. It isn't even part of the Gospel. So what is the Gospel then?
DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESSURECTION OF CHRIST -
I Corinthians 15:1-4 "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."
In verse 2 Paul uses the phrase "unless ye have believed in vain." He is not saying you can get saved and lost, and saved and lost. He is saying very simply that if once you believe the Gospel, once you come to know Christ as your Savior and fall in love with Him, you can't ever leave Him again.
OUR SUBSTITUTE -- So what is the Gospel? The Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The Gospel, the good news, is that Jesus died on the cross, He was buried, and He rose again from the dead on the third day.
So why is that good news? First, because He died for our sin. He died as our substitute. Ultimately all are heading for Hell because they have sinned against God. They flagrantly live their own life and do their own thing as they thumb their nose at God. Someone has to pay the price for your sin.
Either you are going to die and go to Hell to pay for your own sin for all of eternity, or you are going to take the way that God has provided to pay for you sin so that you can have a relationship with Him.
The death of Jesus Christ in our place is called substitution.
It is as if you had been sentenced in some court of law and had to pay a five thousand dollar fine. But someone else walked up, pulled out the cash and paid the fine for you. They mark your fine, "Paid in Full." That is exactly what Jesus did when He died on the cross. He paid for the sin of mankind, dying as our substitute. He became our Redeemer, the one who bought us back.
SCRIPTURAL -- Paul said Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. Jesus didn't show up one day and say, "You know what? I think it would be great for me to die on the cross. And after I die on the cross, I'll raise from the dead and solve all of man's problem." That isn't how it happened at all.
The Bible tells us that the coming of Christ to this earth to die for the sins of mankind was planned out before the beginning of time. Down through the generations He had given the prophecies about when Christ would come, about how and where He would be born and live, and that He would die for the sins of the world.
What difference does that make to us today? If Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, if He is the One who can pay for your sins and mine through His death, then He will meet all the qualifications for the Messiah listed in the Old Testament.
That is why the Bible says He died for our sins, according to the scriptures. He rose again from the dead, according to the scriptures. Because everything Jesus did was according to the Scriptures. That ought to be a comfort to us to realize that the death and resurrection of Christ was not just a mere whim but was according to the very plan of God.
Men try to live as good as they can, to somehow get God to forgive them of their sin and hope God will see all the good things they do and overlook the bad things they do. But the Bible says it is the Gospel that saves us. In fact, the Bible plainly tells us that if a man tries to keep the law, he is cursed.
LOOK UP & READ Galatians 3:8-14
When Abraham was saved, God says he was justified. How was Abraham justified? We read in verse eight that he was justified by faith in the Gospel. How could Abraham have faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ since he lived many years before the time when Christ came?
LOOK UP & READ John 8:56-58
Now Abraham didn't understand all the details, but he understood enough of the Gospel to know that God was sending a Messiah that would pay for the sins of the world.
Notice in verse ten it says, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse." If you try to keep the Ten Commandments, the law, you are cursed.
God's truth says that if you offend in one point of the law, you are guilty of it all. You are under the curse of condemnation. You are under God's wrath, and ultimately headed to Hell.
Again in verse ten, he says, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." If you can't keep all the law perfectly, you are cursed. So what are we going to do? What is the answer?
We find the answer in verses eleven and twelve. "the just shall live by faith." Salvation is found in giving up on your own goodness, giving up on trying to get God to accept you, and determining instead to be thankful for what God has done and rest in His mercy and His offer of forgiveness.
He goes on in verse 13 to tell us this good news, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Then in verse 14 he says that just as Abraham was saved by believing on the Messiah that would one day come, we today are saved by faith.
Abraham looked forward to that day by faith, and we look back to that day and by faith believe in what Jesus Christ did on the cross of Calvary.
2. FORESHADOWED
The word "foreshadowed" means a picture. If I were to show you a picture of my family, I would say, "Here is my family." You would understand what I mean. The picture is not my family--it merely reflects my family. It is a representation of my- family.
We find the very first mention of the Messiah that would come in Genesis 3:15. When God offered to make them right in His eyes, what did He do? In Genesis 3:21 we read, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them," Here we have, in the Old Testament, the Gospel of Jesus Christ foreshadowed.
When God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins, He had to kill the animal to get the skins for them. The killing of the animals to clothe Adam and Eve is a foreshadowing on the fact that one day Jesus would come and shed His blood to pay for our sin. He died in our place just like that animal had to die in the place of Adam and Eve.
In Genesis 22 we find another foreshadowing, another picture of the coming of the Lord Jesus. Abraham has been told by God to take his son, Isaac, to Mount Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice to God. Abraham obeyed and set out toward the mountain with the servants, Isaac, wood and fire. Isaac recognized that they were missing one very important ingredient, and asked his father where the lamb for the burnt offering was. In Genesis 22:8 we find his answer. "And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together."
Abraham and Isaac went on to Mount Moriah. Abraham laid his son down on the altar and raised the knife to the sky ready to plunge it into his son's breast and kill him. But then an angel appeared and stopped Abraham. Look again at Genesis 22:13. "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns:and Abraham went: and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." That is exactly what happened when Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary. He died in your place to pay for your sin.
In Exodus chapter twelve we find another Old Testament picture of the death of Christ. The nation of Israel was in bondage in Egypt. God sent many plagues on the nation of Egypt to convince Pharoah to let the Israelites go free. God told Moses as the final plague He was going to kill all the firstborn among the Egyptians and then Pharoah would let them go. These are the instructions that Moses gave to the children of Israel.
LOOK UP & READ Exodus 12:21-33
Each family was to take a lamb, kill the lamb and catch the blood in a basin. Then they were to take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood and sprinkle the blood on the lintel, the top piece of the door, and the two door posts. The death angel passed over the houses that had the blood applied.
The Lamb died in the place of the firstborn. That is exactly what Jesus Christ did when He died on the cross of Calvary. He died on the cross so that His blood could be applied to your life and to mine.
Let's look next at the Day of Atonement found in Leviticus 16:15-16.
Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would kill an animal, carry the blood into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. Only the high priest was allowed into the Holy of Holies, and he was only allowed in once a year on this special day. The blood would cover the mercy seat and make an atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel. God says the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat for an atonement. Maybe one way to look at the word atonement is at-one-ment" or being made at one with God.
He died on the cross to pay for our sins, so we could be at one with God. Remember that word reconciled. We are not brought back together with God because we are good, because we give money, because we get baptized, because we join the church or pray or read our Bible. We are brought back together with God, at one with God, because of a sacrifice that has taken place.
3. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Every Jewish person knew these stories that I have just told you in brief. What do these Old Testament pictures, have to do with the New Testament Jesus Christ?
In John 1:29, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Why does John the Baptist call Jesus the Lamb of God? John the Baptist was a Jew, and he knew as he used those words, every Jewish person would immediately know that Jesus was the Messiah promised by God all through the Old Testament that would die for their sin.
In all those stories, the animal was the picture, but the animal was not the payment. Jesus is the One the picture is all about.
Look at Hebrews 10. We are going to walk through some verses very carefully to help you understand. Verse 1 - "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect." He plainly says that the sacrifices offered every year never made the people perfect, right with God. Every year, the Old Testament priest on the Day of Atonement would have to offer the same sacrifice again. Why? Because that sacrifice never took away the people's sin. Verse 2 - "For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." The sacrifice on the Day of Atonement couldn't take away sin? If it could take away sins, why would the high priest offer the sacrifice again next year? If the sins are gone, they are gone. So if he keeps on offering it, it is because it didn't take care of the sin problem.
Look at verse 4 - "for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." It was not possible that the blood of animals could take away sin because the blood of bulls and goats, as verse one said, was nothing more than a shadow.
Look at verse 10 - "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." How many times did Jesus die? Once. Why once? Because that was all that was needed. One time paid for all the sin. But Jesus died one time because His death was enough to pay for all the sins of the entire world.
Look at verses 11 and 12 - "And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God." The good news is that Jesus died once and forever paid for the sin of mankind.
Hebrews 9:12 says, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." The holy place was that inner room in the temple where no one else was allowed except the high priest, one time a year. But Christ entered into that very holy place by His own blood. The shedding of His blood is what bought His right, if you will, to go into that throne room for us.
Notice then Hebrews 9:13-14, "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" How much more powerful then is the blood of Christ which does literally take away the sin!
The Old Testament sacrifices did not take away the sins of the people. It was like they were saying, "I know my sins are going to get paid for. It is going to be taken care of. They are literally going to be wiped off the books. One of these days it is going to happen.” When Jesus came into the world, He died on the cross, and once for all He paid for that sin. That is why Jesus cried on the cross, "It is finished!"
Look at Hebrews 9:15, "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Jesus Christ is the One who is in charge because He died on the cross for our sins. He is the One who is in charge of taking care of sin. He is the mediator, the go between. When Jesus came and died on the cross, His New Testament, His new covenant, His payment for our sins was also the payment for their sins.
LOOK UP & READ Hebrews 9:24-28
Jesus didn't have to come back and die again and again. ONCE FOR ALL, AND ONCE FOR EVER!! He paid for all the sins of the entire world. He paid for all the sins of every person who had ever lived up to that time and every person who would ever be born down to the end of time. Now He is at the right hand of the Father, interceding in our behalf.
4. QUALIFIED
How do we know that Jesus is qualified? In John 5:31-39, we see the five proofs of who Jesus is.
Number one, Jesus said, "I tell you who I am. But you don't have to listen to me if I'm the only one who says it." Jesus told the people that He was the Messiah, the One who came to pay for their sins.
Second of all, there was John the Baptist. He pointed at Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."
The third proof that Jesus was the Messiah were the works Jesus did, the miracles He performed. How could He do it? Because He is God.
The fourth proof came from God the Father. When Jesus was baptized and Jesus came up out of the water? God spoke from Heaven and said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Again, on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, God spoke out of heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son; hear him"
The fifth proof that Jesus was indeed the Messiah is the Word of God, the Scriptures. This one is the strongest proof of all. We can literally go through the Bible, from beginning to end, and find hundreds of Scriptures that talk about Jesus Christ, telling who He is and identifying Him as the Messiah.
One of those prophecies is found in Micah 5:2. There we find that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. Because of the decree of Caesar Augustus, Joseph and Mary had to go over to Bethlehem in order to register for the census. While they were there, Jesus was born. If it hadn't been for that decree, Jesus would not have been born in that town.
Isaiah 7:14 tells us that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. How can a virgin have a baby? It is impossible apart from the intervention of God. It was definitely a miracle of God. ‘There is no way Jesus could have been just a normal man.’ Jesus has to be God in the flesh, as He claims to be.
There are many passages that talk about the death of Christ and how He would die. Isaiah53:7, 9, and 12 is just one of those passages. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, Isaiah said He would be numbered among the transgressors. The New Testament tells us that there was a thief hanging on either side of Jesus when He was crucified. Isaiah also prophesies that He would make His grave with the rich. Where was His tomb? It was a borrowed tomb, but it was the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea, a very wealthy man.
Isaiah 53:7 says when He died, He was like a lamb led to the slaughter. When Jesus went to the cross of Calvary, He didn't fight back. He could have called the angels to rescue Him. He didn't do it. He went quietly to the cross, bearing shame and humiliation.
Not only are there prophesies of the death of Christ, but there also are all the prophesies about the ministry of Christ and about the life of Christ. We must say that He is indeed the Messiah. He fits all the requirements. He meets all the qualifications. There is no way a mere man could plan all those prophecies to come true.
5. SUBSTITUTE
In 2 Corinthians, 5:21 the Bible says, "For he hath made him to he sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" When Jesus Christ died on the cross He took our negative account, our need to pay for our sin, and He gave us His positive account of righteousness. We just traded places. He died on the cross to pay for our sin. He became our Substitute.
Look again in Galatians3:13. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." The word redeemed means to buy back. It was a word used when you go into the slave market and buy a slave off the auction block. You would buy him back, in order to set him free. Remember we said the law curses us. Because we have broken the law, we deserve Hell itself. But Christ came to buy us back off that auction block of sin, and He bought us back to set us free. Why did Jesus die on the cross? That was where God's curse was. He was being cursed for your sins and mine. He didn't sin. He never had a sin. He was dying in our place. He was taking our place so we could be free from the curse.
LOOK UP & READ Romans 5:8-11
The word commendeth very simply means that God showed, or demonstrated. Christ demonstrated His love to us by sending Jesus Christ to die in our place, to be our Substitute. But when Christ died on the cross, shedding His blood, He made it possible for us to be saved or rescued from that wrath to come.
Notice those two words right in the middle of these verses: “For if” - here is the key. We said that there are two groups of people, those who have no relationship and those who have a relationship with God. We have seen that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world. But there are still two groups of people. How can there still be two groups, if Jesus died for all the sins? He says for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled through His blood, then we have been saved. But if we have not been reconciled, then we are still an enemy of God.
You may understand that you are a sinner and that Jesus died for you. You may even understand that you are an enemy of God. But it is not enough for you to just see it and understand it. You must be reconciled to God. How does a person get reconciled? The Bible says it is by repentance and faith. That is the subject we will discuss in the next message.
Conclusion: (Review)