The Suffering of Jesus Christ - Lesson 4

The Suffering of Jesus Christ  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Introduction

Isaiah 53:3-
Isaiah 53:3–12 ESV
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. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

7 To Cancel the Legal Demands of the Law Against Us

Colossians 2:13 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,
Colossians 2:13–14 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.
Key Points
Reminder: The Law vs. Sin
The folly of weighing our good deeds vs. our bad deeds
How God Saves: ‘Nailing it (our record of debt) to the cross’
Salvation through sacrifice
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 7: To Cancel the Legal Demands of the Law Against Us

What a folly it is to think that our good deeds may one day outweigh our bad deeds. It is folly for two reasons.

First, it is not true. Even our good deeds are defective, because we don’t honor God in the way we do them. Do we do our good deeds in joyful dependence on God with a view to making known his supreme worth? Do we fulfill the overarching command to serve people “by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11)?

What then shall we say in response to God’s word, “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23)? I think we shall say nothing. “Whatever the law says it speaks … so that every mouth may be stopped” (Romans 3:19). We will say nothing. It is folly to think that our good deeds will outweigh our bad deeds before God. Without Christ-exalting faith, our deeds will signify nothing but rebellion.

The second reason it is folly to hope in good deeds is that this is not the way God saves. If we are saved from the consequences of our bad deeds, it will not be because they weighed less than our good deeds. It will be because the “record of [our] debt” in heaven has been nailed to the cross of Christ. God has a totally different way of saving sinners than by weighing their deeds. There is no hope in our deeds. There is only hope in the suffering and death of Christ.

Romans 14 ESV
1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 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.
Romans 14:23 ESV
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.
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
These 2 verses alone condemn every single thought, word, or deed that comes from an unregenerate heart as sin. Any “good” deed that flows from a heart of unbelief is done with wrong motives.
It’s not done as an act of faith, and it wasn’t done to bring glory to God.
This isn’t to say that no earthly good can’t come from anything an unbeliever does, no, but it is of no profit to the Kingdom of God and it does absolutely nothing to commend the creature to a Holy God.
Those who attempt to ‘earn’ their place in heaven serve only in one way or another to nullify Christs’ work on the cross. It is a rejection of the free gift of salvation and it thus serves to strip God of His glory. Both the glory of His character and His glory in the salvation of grace.

The Law Vs. Sin

Romans 3:23 ESV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 ESV
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 3:26 ESV
26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Ezekiel 18:20 ESV
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.
The punishment for sin is death, period. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
We aren’t qualified to atone for ourselves, why, because we are sinners? The law requires death for sin.
No good works can undo this and as we’ve just seen, prior to saving faith and repentance there is no good deeds.
Isaiah 64:4 ESV
4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.
Isaiah 64:6 KJV 1900
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Man’s self-perceived righteousness is regarded as filth before God.
Mankind’s problem isn’t one that we can fix ourselves, no we need a saviour. We need to happen what only God can do.
Colossians 2:13–14 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.
Our guilt and the record of our sin debt has to be forgiven, and it has to be cancelled. This verse says it was nailed to the cross. Our sin brought the agony of Jesus on the cross.
This is what theologians call ‘penal substitution’. This means that God’s wrath against sin must still take place and that forgiveness comes to us through Christ’s suffering in our place. God can’t just sweep our sin debt under the rug.
The law requires death for sin. The only way our sin debt can be forgiven is for Christ to bear the punishment for it as our substitute.

8 To Become a Ransom for Many

Mark 10:45 ESV
45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Key Points
What is a ransom?
To whom is the ransom given?
A ransom is the price that is paid to release someone in captivity from their captor. In our case we were held captive by our sin and under God’s condemnation.
The ransom price for our release is the life of Christ. Jesus life was the price paid.
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 8: To Become a Ransom for Many

There is no thought in the Bible that Satan had to be paid off to let sinners be saved. What happened to Satan when Christ died was not payment, but defeat. The Son of God became human so “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). There was no negotiation

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 8: To Become a Ransom for Many

If we ask who received the ransom, the biblical answer would surely be God. The Bible says that Christ “gave himself up for us, [an] … offering … to God” (Ephesians 5:2). Christ “offered himself without blemish to God” (Hebrews 9:14). The whole need for a substitute to die on our behalf is because we have sinned against God and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And because of our sin, “the whole world [is] held accountable to God” (Romans 3:19). So when Christ gives himself as a ransom for us, the Bible says that we are freed from the condemnation of God. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). The ultimate captivity from which we need release is the final “judgment of God” (Romans 2:2; Revelation 14:7).

This verse not only emphasizes Christ’s life as our ransom but also Christ’s freedom to serve us in this way. He came to serve and give His life as a ransom. The emphasis on Christ’s giving, not our taking.
The death of Christ ultimately was Christ giving His life, not any one’s taking of it.
So reason #8 is Christ suffered and died to give His life as a ransom for many.

9 For the Forgiveness of Our Sins

Ephesians 1:7 ESV
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Matthew 26:28 ESV
28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 9: For the Forgiveness of Our Sins

When we forgive a debt or an offense or an injury, we don’t require a payment for settlement. That would be the opposite of forgiveness. If repayment is made to us for what we lost, there is no need for forgiveness. We have our due.

Forgiveness assumes grace. If I am injured by you, grace lets it go. I don’t sue you. I forgive you. Grace gives what someone doesn’t deserve. That’s why forgiveness has the word give in it. Forgiveness is not “getting” even. It is giving away the right to get even.

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die Chapter 9: For the Forgiveness of Our Sins

But this raises a problem. We all know that forgiveness is not enough. We may only see it clearly when the injury is great—like murder or rape. Neither society nor the universe can hold together if judges (or God) simply say to every murderer and rapist, “Are you sorry? Okay. The state forgives you. You may go.” In cases like these we see that while a victim may have a forgiving spirit, the state cannot forsake justice.

This is why we are saying that Jesus suffered and died for the forgiveness of our sins. Our forgiveness costs us nothing but it cost Jesus His life.
It’s at the cross we see the intersection of God’s grace, mercy, love, forgiveness as well as His justice and wrath.
We need to not only see God’s love, but also His justice to fully understand Christ’s suffering. Our love and adoration for Christ will be deepened the more we see this.
Christ really suffered, and really died. He did so that we might be saved.
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