American Gospel 2 #6
American Gospel • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
Announcements
Prayer Requests
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Tonight we’re going to look at the cross of Jesus Christ and see how amazing our salvation is as we could never earn or deserve what Jesus did for us. It’s only by grace that we are saved and through the atonement of Jesus on the cross that we have access to our God. Tonight’s lesson on the atonement is such an important one for us to reflect on as many people believe wrong things about why Jesus died and why He had to die in the first place. As we’ve been studying through Hebrews this year, we’re reminded that the atonement of Jesus is important for so many reasons
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.
16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
The only way that we have access to our God is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ - this is good news!
Let’s watch this video and pay careful attention to the people who question key things about the atonement of Jesus and His taking our place on the cross
(Video)
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What does the word atonement mean?
The reconciliation between God and mankind
In other words, How can God save sinful people while still being just?
We see the need for this even in the Old Testament in Isaiah as the Bible says this
5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs.
7 He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.
Our sin presents a problem before a holy God. Our sin must be atoned for - for Isaiah in this vision the atonement was through a coal taken from the altar and it cleansed his lips… how is this mediated for us, though? The end of Isaiah addresses this question.
4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.
6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.
We all have sinned. We all are dead in our sins. We all need a resurrection to take place. Many in our world reject this line of thinking because they’ll say that they’re fine just as they are and that sin is not as serious as the Bible claims that it is. They’ll say that they’re just a little bit sick and that sin is like a virus and nothing more. The Bible presents sin as a cancer that is terminal inside of us and it’s going to keep on growing and growing and one day it will take our lives as sin eventually leads to its end in death
15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.
This is problematic! We’re sinners. Sin separates us all from God. Our goodness cannot remove our sin. We’re sinners and our sin will kill us and lead us to eternal separation from God. Therefore, something must happen and it can’t be something that we do, God must intervene and this is what we see in Scripture that God has done for us!
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
This is great news! Through Jesus Christ, there is atonement or reconciliation between sinful man and holy God! How does this work, though? How can one person dying on a cross save people thousands of years later? This is why studying the Bible matters to answer questions like these that many people ask - I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people ask me that question - Jesus lived a perfect life 2000 years ago but that has nothing to do with me today. I’m going to be a good person and let the chips fall where they may. That’s fine to think that way, but there are consequences for wrong beliefs and actions. Tonight we’re going to do a bit of a deep dive into the “Why” of the death of Jesus and the “What” that His death accomplishes for sinners like you and me - and the best way to do this is to look at several different explanations behind the atonement of Jesus that were thrown out during our lesson video. This is significant to us because, as Leon Morris states, “The atonement is the crucial doctrine of the faith. Unless we are right here it matters little, or so it seems, what we are right elsewhere.”
Some hold to a view called
Christus Victor. This atonement views Jesus’ work on the cross as destroying the power of evil, conquering death, and winning the victory for His church.
One of the dangers of having a pastor who likes to sing is you get song lyrics in each sermon whether you realize it or not - earlier this afternoon as I was trying to finalize tonight’s lesson, I was thinking of hymns that speak of different atonement languages. Think of a hymn that talks about the death of Jesus in victory language - any takers? Victory in Jesus! “O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever! He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.” This is Christus Victory language - Jesus, on the cross, defeated our enemy. He sought us and redeemed us. As much as I love modern hymns like He Will Hold Me Fast, Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery, Christ Our Hope in Life and Death, In Christ Alone, and others, and as much as I love our classic hymns like Amazing Grace, Great is Thy Faithfulness, Victory in Jesus, and others, we always have to check our songs with Scripture to make sure it matches up. 1 Corinthians 15 speaks of the victory of Jesus on the cross and Hebrews 2 does as well.
14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—
15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.
We see this language of victory in Scripture
Ransom. This atonement view says that Jesus’ work on the cross pays what is owed for rescuing sinners. Some view that this is a ransom paid to Satan, to sin, or even to the Father.
Think of the hymn, “I Will Sing of My Redeemer” - “Sing oh sing of my redeemer, with His blood He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt and made me free.” This is ransom language - there was a debt to be paid and Jesus paid that debt on the cross. We see this language throughout Scripture as well as Matthew 20:28 tells us
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
This is true and Biblical - but some mistake who the ransom is paid to.
Moral Example. Others view that Jesus’ death serves as an example to His followers to live a life of selflessness rather than one of selfishness.
Think of the hymn One Day that Casting Crowns used for their song Glorious Day, “One day when heaven was filled with His praises, One day when sin was as black as could be. Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin, dwelt among men my example is He.” We see in Scripture that we are to follow Christ’s example of loving others and forgiving others as the sermon on the Mount demonstrates
43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Peter Abelard - Jesus is a magnet and His love shines through the cross so much that everyone is drawn into Him and changed through His example
Everyone wins in this model
Use example of Dever with person diving into the ocean to save someone and losing their own life in the process - their sacrifice saves someone and benefits the person. But if someone is fine on the shore and the person jumps in to save them and perishes without saving anyone, that’s a wasted sacrifice and their work was in vain.
Dever - issue without substitution. We are all dying and in need of saving because of our sin. Jesus must take our place! This is essential.
What is dangerous with this view of “just follow Jesus’ example and you’ll be fine?”
We can’t because of our sin!
Don’t really have much else to say here positively as this is what many universalists view the atonement as. We know that we can’t imitate Jesus perfectly. And we know that if the lesson of the cross is go and be like Jesus, we’re hopeless because we all fall short here because of our sin… we need to gain something from the cross, and this is where Penal Substitutionary Atonement comes in
In SBC life, we largely promote, practice, and preach the view called Penal Substitutionary Atonement. PSA states that, “Christ died on the cross as a substitute for sinners. God imputed our sins to Christ and He in our place bore our punishment. This was a payment for sins as He satisfies God’s righteousness and wrath so that God can forgive sinners while still maintaining His justness.”
Jesus didn’t sin - we did. We deserved to be punished and die because of our sins - Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death.
God is completely holy
We are fallen sinners with sinful natures
We have broken God’s perfect law because of our sin
Jesus is fully-God and fully-man
Only God can forgive sins and only a man can stand in the place of mankind - Jesus had to be fully God and fully man
4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
This is the atonement - Jesus living a perfect life and dying on the cross for sinners, willingly, in our place, and giving us His perfect righteousness
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Penal Substitution separates Christianity from every other religion
Heresy:
Socinianism
Denied deity of the Son of God
Argued that God is unitarian and not Trinitarian
God can forgive sins without a payment for sin
“If God forgives, He shouldn’t demand a payment.”
“I just have to kill someone.” That doesn’t sound nice. But Biblical forgiveness always requires sacrifice
Why is a sacrifice necessary for our forgiveness and salvation?
22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Because of God’s holiness and the seriousness of our sinfulness - because God is just. We deserve punishment and there must be a sacrifice in light of that sin.
Luke 15 example
In order to bring the younger son back into the fold, who had squandered his money and inheritance, the Father had to eat those funds himself… He doesn’t make the son pay him back. This is the Gospel. God doesn’t give us what we deserve, He eats it upon Himself!
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
God is Love - our video defined love as “God eternally gives of Himself to others” - how does this definition vary from our worldly definition of love.
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.