Greetings to you, my friend. We are In Search of the Lord's Way to become a Christian and to live the Christian life. We're glad you have invited us into your home by means of your radio or TV set today to study the Bible. We pray you will be blessed.
It is a genuine pleasure and a blessing to visit in your home today. We are here through the love and generosity of some of your friends who are members of churches of Christ in this area. We hope you will visit one of these churches soon and tell them thank you for the program.
If you think you might want a free CD or audio cassette tape or a printed copy of today's program, you might want to jot down our address right now. It is In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083. Our e-mail address is searchtv@searchtv.org. Or, you might just want to call us. We will even pay for the call at 1-800-321-8633. If you are into computers, you can access the program there at www.searchtv.org.
We have invited one of the busiest men in churches of Christ to be our guest today. Phil Sanders was with us before-- he had an excellent lesson then, a message that you received exceptionally well. He preaches for the Concord Road church in Brentwood, Tennessee. And for those of you who are not familiar with the Tennessee area, Brentwood is a part of the metro area of Nashville. He is doing an outstanding work there. The Concord Road church is growing and growing and growing. We rejoice in his ministry. And in his ministry there, he hosts a television program on station WNPX in Nashville. It is called "God's Answers to Life's Questions." He is also a contributing writer for several fine gospel magazines. He is in demand as a keynote speaker at several university programs. He has recently returned from a very strenuous preaching trip to Africa, and-- oh well, I'm taking time to talk about Phil and he is anxious to-- and he needs-- and he wants the time-- to talk to you about, "Why Did Christ Die?" So after Ken Helterbrand leads us in a hymn, Phil Sanders will be here. He will read from God’s Word and lead us in prayer, and then bring the message.
The scripture reading today comes from the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 14 to 17. “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Let us pray. O Lord, we pray that we may be the kind of people that You want us to be, and that we may love You always and serve You always in every way. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Thank you, brother Mack, for giving me this opportunity to speak today. God gave His Son, Christ Jesus, to the world, because He loved the world. God not only gave His Son, He gave Him to die a cruel and agonizing death on the cross. Now to give the Lord Jesus in that way demonstrated an amazing and deep love. We can’t imagine all the suffering that Jesus endured. The Father wouldn’t have asked Jesus to die on a cross if there were any other way to save mankind.
And to contemplate the death of Christ will have a definite effect on the heart. Nobody can think long and hard about the suffering of Jesus and not be moved by it. We may not understand everything about the death of Christ, but the Bible reveals some very meaningful things. The New Testament mentions the death of Christ 175 times. And it is touching to know that Jesus was willing to give his head to a crown of thorns, his back to a cruel scourging, his hands and feet to nails, and his side to a spear. Asking why Jesus would do this is very, very important.
It is hardly sufficient to say that Christ died for our sins, but the Bible teaches that clearly. The value that his death meant for us was not that he died a martyr or that he set a wonderful example for us, but its value lies in his sacrifice for our sins. He took our place and suffered a death that we should have suffered. The Bible teaches that Jesus himself was sinless. Hebrews 4 and verse 15 says that Jesus “has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” He was the righteous or just one suffering for the unrighteous (1 Peter 3 and verse 18). Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” He lovingly took our place to save us. First Corinthians 15 and verse 3 says that, “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” Romans 5 and verse 8 says that, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Peter said that, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2 and verse 24). Now the death of Jesus was for everybody, but yet it was still very personal. He bore our sins in His body. The Hebrew writer said in Hebrews 2 and verse 9 that, “by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” Some teach that Jesus only died for some people, but John said in 1 John 2 and verse 2 that, “He Himself is the propitiation (that is the atoning sacrifice) for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” That’s why everyone-- including you and me-- can be saved, can find the forgiveness of sins, if he will.
It is strange to me, in light of all these verses, why some people think that a person can go to heaven apart from the death of Christ. They may depend on their good morals as a ground for their salvation. But when they do that, they are actually saying that it wasn’t necessary for Jesus to die as far as they are concerned. My friend, no one can be saved by his or her own goodness. We are all saved by grace; and without grace we would all be helpless and hopeless. There is no salvation except by the way of the cross. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; and no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14 and verse 6). Without His cleansing blood, my friend, there is no salvation and no cleansing.
Second, Jesus died so that He could save and yet be just. God made each person a free moral agent, free to choose right from wrong. And when man sinned, he became guilty before God and stood condemned. Now the only penalty for sin is “death.” God loved man, but His holy character meant that he couldn’t allow man to get away with his sin. Sin stood as a barrier between God and man (Isaiah 59, verses 1 and 2). And so God wanted reconciliation, that is to make friends again, with man and He found a way to make friends or to reconcile the world through Jesus our Lord. Now someone might suggest that God just reach down and pardon man as a father overlooks the errors of his son. But God is not a man, and this couldn’t be. God could not govern all men and just simply pardon people. Merely pardoning might lead mankind to have disrespect for the law and the Lawgiver. The justice of law must be upheld. So God faced the problem of being just, on the one hand, and being merciful, on the other. God wanted to find a way to satisfy His justice without destroying man altogether. What could satisfy that justice? Well, a lamb couldn’t, because animal blood was not a sufficient offering. Hebrews 10 and verse 4 says that, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” So Jesus volunteered to be clothed with human flesh and to die in man’s place. Hebrews 10 and verse 5, quoting from the Psalms, says, “Sacrifice and offering You (that is God) have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me.” Jesus came to earth, took on a body in the flesh, and died for our sins, so that God could save man (now that is His mercy) and yet be just (by punishing Jesus) on the cross.
Paul says of Jesus that, “God displayed Him publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. (Now) This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3, verses 25 and 6). Now by punishing Jesus, God could be just and the justifier for those who would believe in Him. What a shame it would be for anybody to neglect so great a salvation offered at such a great price!
There is a story handed down from antiquity that helps us to understand what God did with Jesus. King Zaleucus of Locris, about 500 B.C., had a problem similar to God’s problem. Now his law had decreed the loss of two eyes for the sin of adultery. Well, you can imagine the emotions that came into the heart of this king when he learned that his own son would be brought before him guilty of breaking the law of adultery and would be blinded. Well, the king wanted to grant mercy to his son, but justice demanded that the king respect his own law. Now how could he blind his own son? He fretted! At last the king found a way to be just and merciful at the same time. He decided to put out one of the eyes of his son and one of his own. Nobody could ever accuse this king of being unjust.
He knew that by taking the punishment on himself, that he could still have respect for his law and save his son’s eyesight. And so God took our punishment in the death of His Son, Jesus. Can anybody ever think of accusing God of not being just and fair? Can anyone look at the cross and think that because God is patient with us that He doesn’t mean what He says in His law? Can anyone look at the cross and think that God is not loving or good to us? “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus is loving to those who will believe in Him and serve Him. But let’s also think about another matter. Is God fair to those who reject Him?
When one considers what great lengths God has gone to save mankind, how that Jesus took the sins of the whole world upon Himself, how could anyone blame God for punishing those who reject Him? If God had not hated sin, that is detested it completely, He certainly would not have gone to such great lengths to punish it. But as much as God loves you, He hates sin-- all sin, your sin and mine. And were it not for Jesus who paid the price for our sins we would all surely be lost. What would you do with those who, after you had given your very best to save them, rejected you and refused to obey you and wouldn’t listen to you? God gave Jesus like that to save mankind, He gave His very best, but those who reject Him must face their sins alone.
Third, we need to know that Jesus showed the importance of obedience by His death. Hebrews 5, verses 8 and 9 says, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source (or the author) of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5, verses 8 and 9). Jesus obeyed His Father by suffering death upon the cross. Jesus didn’t want to endure the physical pain of crucifixion. In fact He prayed that that cup of suffering would pass from Him. You see it was more important to Him to save you and me than it was to escape the pain of death. He willed to die more than He willed to live. And we, too, in order to obey the Father, must make up our minds to do the will of the Father rather than our own wills. Though Jesus paid the price for our sins, the Bible also plainly teaches that there are conditions to our salvation. Christ is the author of eternal salvation. That is true! But He is the source of eternal salvation to “all those who obey Him” (Hebrews 5: 8 and 9). The gift of Jesus’ cleansing blood is for those who are willing to be obedient, just as Jesus was.
In the book of Acts, chapter 2, on the day of Pentecost, whenever Peter preached about the death and resurrection of Jesus, the guilt ridden Jews on that day were cut to the heart; and they cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter replied to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2 and verse 38). Now if a person really, really wants to be right with God, he is not going to argue with God about what the Lord wants him to do. He will obey. If he loves Jesus and he believes that Jesus died and rose again, he will gladly repent of every sin and be baptized in the name of Jesus so that his sins could be washed away. I tell you he wouldn’t wait another day. If Jesus saves the obedient, my friend, obey! It is the blood of Jesus that takes away our sin and looses us from them (Revelation 1 and verse 5). Now baptism is not the blood, but baptism does put us in contact with the blood. Paul asked in Romans 6 and verse 3, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into His death?” Now He shed His blood when He died; and we are baptized into His death. My friend, don’t take the blood and the love of God for granted. See the love of God in the cross of Christ and live obediently to Him everyday. God is waiting for you; will you come to Him? Let us pray together. O Lord, we pray that You will help us everyday to come to count the cross and the love that You have for us as more important in our lives. This is our prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Phil, for this excellent message focused on the very heart of the gospel-- a great lesson-- so well delivered. Come visit us again. We will be having other guest speakers, but we want you to plan to be back with us, too; and we love you.
Say, friend, we hope if you have not obeyed the Lord in faith, repentance and baptism, as Phil taught us today, that you will do it promptly. What a thrill it would be to hear from you that you did so today!!! Our address again is P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083; or by e-mail it is searchtv@searchtv.org. Our telephone number is 1-800-321-8633. Everything we do is free. In Search of the Lord's Way is not a "for profit" business. It is a ministry; it is a ministry of churches of Christ all across America and beyond. God has been so good to this ministry. He has provided all our needs financially and every other way. He has used and continues to use Christians in churches to provide the funds so we don’t have to spend any amount of time appealing for money. That is great!
Churches of Christ are not trying to be just another denomination in spite of what you have heard or maybe what you have thought. We are even trying to be the only right denomination. We are not trying to be a denomination at all, friend. We are trying hard to be just the kind of church you read about in your New Testament. Well, if you are interested in this kind of faith at all, do write us or call us this week. We would like to talk with you about it or you might just attend a church of Christ right there in your town. There must be one not too far from where you live.
I must remind you, too, of our free Bible correspondence course. It provides a systematic study of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, from beginning to end as we say sometimes. You may study at your own pace in the privacy of your own home. Our introductory course consists of eight lessons and these are two of those lessons; and they are all very similar. And when you request it, someone of our staff will send you the first two lessons. And when you have completed Lesson One, mail it back to us. While you work on Lesson Two, we will be grading Lesson One and mail it back to you along with Lesson Three. While you are working on Lesson Three, we will be grading on Lesson Two until you are finished, you see. That is the process; simple and easy. You do it at your own pace in your own home. Then if you would like to enroll in the more advanced course you may do so at that time. It has about 30 lessons in it.
Thank you again for being with us today. We are so glad that you joined us; and we are so happy that you heard Phil’s message about Christ and why He died. He died for your sins and for mine. He died that we might be forgiven. He died that we might have peace with God. He died that we can be reconciled to God. Isn’t that great? We can have a promise of life eternal. We are all eternity bound, friend-- every one of us-- you are and I am and all the rest of us. We want to be prepared for that great transition out of this life into the eternal life. We want to teach from the Bible all the good we can do along the way and no harm at all. And we hope that that is your hopes, also. We plan to be back next week. We hope you will, too. In the meantime you may pray for us and remember us, too. God bless you. We love you.
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