The Suffering of Jesus Christ - Lesson 1
The Suffering of Jesus Christ • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction and Review
Introduction and Review
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 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.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
1 To Absorb The Wrath of God
1 To Absorb The Wrath of God
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 1: To Absorb the Wrath of God
If God were not just, there would be no demand for his Son to suffer and die. And if God were not loving, there would be no willingness for his Son to suffer and die. But God is both just and loving. Therefore his love is willing to meet the demands of his justice.
This is really at the heart of the Gospel. The wrath of God and the love of God. Its at the cross where the two intersect.
In order for us to understand this we have to know some things about God. Who is He and what is He like? Otherwise this makes no sense to us, Jesus suffering and dying. The cross is unintelligible to us apart from an understanding of who God is.
Can’t God just forgive our sins without the cross?
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Paul says the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Who are they? The unsaved, the unbelievers.
If we say that Jesus died on the cross for our sins it has some huge implications, and we need to understand what they are.
If we say that Jesus died on the cross for our sins it has some huge implications, and we need to understand what they are.
I believe this above all else is where we must begin. To make sense of the cross, and really the whole reason for Christ’s coming we need to understand some things about God.
1. He is holy and just
13 You who are of purer eyes than to see evil
and cannot look at wrong,
why do you idly look at traitors
and remain silent when the wicked swallows up
the man more righteous than he?
3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Definition of Holy:
Set apart, separate. Morally perfect and pure.
There is no other being like God.
Isaiah
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
In God’s holiness and perfection He is just and righteous. This means that God cannot tolerate sin. All sin is in opposition to God, it is an offense to Him. Sin is personal to God. As one theologian said “we don’t just sin into thin air.” We can’t even begin to fully understand how offensive sin is to God.
We like to think of “small” sins as less serious ones. Small meaning not really that big of a deal.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
Rom
So… just one single sin is worthy of death, death in hell forever. That may seem severe or extreme but it’s only because we don’t understand fully who God is.
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 1: To Absorb the Wrath of God
sin is not small, because it is not against a small Sovereign. The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted. The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty. Therefore, failure to love him is not trivial—it is treason. It defames God and destroys human happiness.
So the seriousness and severity of the punishment for sin in is direct proportion to the level of dignity to the one who is sinned against.
Some years ago someone asked R.C Sproul what he thought was the biggest issue in the church today and he said “We don’t know who God is.” We forget just how holy righteous, and perfect God is. His ways are not our ways.
Not only is a correct understanding of who God is necessary for us to fully embrace Christ and His substitutionary work on the cross but for us to live and think correctly.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This means that sin and the need for redemption is universal. All of mankind is under the just judgement and wrath of God outside of Christ. This is a result of the fall.
This may seem strange to us to say that we deserve to go to hell. Would we say that? In the final analysis it’s really the only thing you could say that God owes us, punishment.
31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.
In the end we aren’t judged by our standards, but Gods.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom
You don’t earn a gift right? Otherwise its not a gift. This is how how Christmas is celebrated is so backwards.
“Be good or you don’t get a present” If being good is the basis for gifts, than they aren’t gifts, they would be rewards right?
6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Okay, so we might say if sin equals death than being good, or not sinning, equals heaven.
10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
Romans 10
No one does good?
23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.
We cannot earn our way to heaven and we cannot atone for our own sins.
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
psalm
This is why we need a savior.
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
How does the death of Christ display or show God’s righteousness?
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 1: To Absorb the Wrath of God
Since God is just, he does not sweep these crimes under the rug of the universe. He feels a holy wrath against them. They deserve to be punished, and he has made this clear: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).
There is a holy curse hanging over all sin. Not to punish would be unjust. The demeaning of God would be endorsed. A lie would reign at the core of reality. Therefore, God says, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them” (Galatians 3:10; Deuteronomy 27:26).
But the love of God does not rest with the curse that hangs over all sinful humanity. He is not content to show wrath, no matter how holy it is. Therefore God sends his own Son to absorb his wrath and bear the curse for all who trust him. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).
God does not just excuse our sin, not at all. He deals with our sin and thus vindicates His holy justice.
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 1: To Absorb the Wrath of God
This is the meaning of the word “propitiation” in the text quoted above (Romans 3:25). It refers to the removal of God’s wrath by providing a substitute. The substitute is provided by God himself. The substitute, Jesus Christ, does not just cancel the wrath; he absorbs it and diverts it from us to himself. God’s wrath is just, and it was spent, not withdrawn.
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Salvation and eternal life is a gift and the only way to receive this gift is through faith. Trusting in Christ and all that he’s done.