Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalm 22. Psalm 22. Our Bible study this morning
is going to go hand in hand with the message. I'm considering
them a part one and a part two. In this Bible study, I would
like for us to enter into the mind of the gospel. And Lord willing, in the message,
I want us to enter into the heart of the gospel. All right, we
have here in Psalm 22, we're going to look at the first three
verses. And this is something that our eyes are not worthy
to look upon. Our eyes are not worthy to look
upon this. This is our Lord crying out to
God the Father from the cross. This is, if you think about our
God, the Father, Son and Spirit, this is a moment between God. This is a moment between the
throne and the cross. I cannot imagine that there would
be anybody who's old enough to learn something about history
that does not know about the cross. I can't imagine that there would
be anybody that does not know about the cross. The cross is
the issue of life, isn't it? It's the whole reason we're here.
The cross is the message of the gospel. The cross is the centerpiece
of salvation. It's the centerpiece of all eternity.
Everything before it looked to it and everything after it looks
back. Isn't that right? The preaching of the cross is
the power of God unto salvation, but Preaching the cross is not
just preaching that the cross happened. That's what is going
on in churches all over the place this morning. Preaching that
the cross happened. The preaching of the cross is
preaching what happened on the cross. Isn't that right? It's
not just preaching that the cross happened. It's preaching what
happened on the cross. What happened on the cross is
the message of the gospel. There is one gospel message. Isn't that what the apostle Paul
said? There's not another. Is there another gospel message?
No. One. Anything other than exactly
what happened on the cross is not the gospel. Now, our Lord asked his father
a question in the defining moment of our life. This right here
is the defining moment of our lives. And our Lord asked his
father a question, and then he answered the question. And I'm
so glad he asked it. And then he acknowledged the
answer. And what he tells us right here
will forever be the message of the gospel. Verse one, Psalm
22, verse one. He said, my God, my God, why
has thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime,
but thou hearest not and in the night season and am not silent. That was his question. Why has
thou forsaken me? Now the subject of this and the
gospel is why was Christ forsaken? Everybody knows that he was forsaken. Everybody knows that. Everybody
knows that. You believe Jesus Christ died
on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day? Yes,
everybody believes that. The saving Declaration of the
gospel and the preaching and the understanding and the believing
of the gospel is not just that he was forsaken but why was he
forsaken? Why did God the Father forsake
Christ? He gives us the answer in verse
3. He said it's because thou art
holy. That's the reason. It's because
you're holy. Now, if we miss this, we will
miss salvation. If we miss this, we will miss
the gospel. If we miss this right here, we
will miss Christ. On the cross, our Lord asked
the great question of salvation. Why has thou forsaken me? On the cross, he gave the saving
answer. He said, it's because thou art
holy. That's the reason. Now, if we
want to know the truth of the gospel, if we want to understand
what the actual gospel message of the scripture is, we're going
to have to find out what holy means. We're going to have to
find out what holy mean. This all hinges on God's holiness. Every ounce of it. It hinges
on God's holiness. Our Savior said, the reason this
is happening is because you're holy. It's because you're holy. Now, what does that mean? Go
with me over to Psalm 145. Psalm 145 verse 17 says, the
Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. Holy means He must do right. That's what it means. He must
do right. Holy means clean. Holy means
pure. Holy means just. Who is going
to stand in that holy hill? He that has clean hands, a pure
heart, who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully. That's who will stand. If God
is holy, it means he can only do right. If God is holy, it
means he can only do right. Now, what is right? What determines
whether something is right or wrong? Turn with me over to Romans
7. Romans 7 verse 12 says, Wherefore
the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. The law that God gave is holy. This is called the Holy Bible. This is holy. God is holy. God is the law. God is the law. God must do the
law. God can only do the law because
God is the law. When God gave Moses the law,
he said, this is what I demand. What he was telling him was,
this is what I am. If you want to stand in my presence,
how good does a person have to be to stand in the presence of
God? As good as God. And he said,
if you want to stand in my presence, this is what you have to do.
This is what I am. This is who I am. He said, I did not come to put
away the law. I came to fulfill it. I'm the only one who could fulfill
it. Go with me over to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1 says,
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. The apostle
Paul said, I'm about to declare to you the gospel, which I preached
unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand
by which also you are saved. If you keep in memory what I
preached unto you, unless you 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."
What he's telling him, what he's telling all of us right here
is, why? Why did Christ die? Why was Christ
forsaken? He said, 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. What scriptures is he talking
about? The only scriptures they had at that time, the law and
the prophets, the old Testament law and the prophets. He's saying, this is the gospel.
Christ died for our sins according to His holy law. God the Father forsook Christ
according to His holy law. Our Lord asked the question,
while He hung there in that punishment, hung there in that suffering,
hung there in wrath, He said, Why hast thou forsaken Me? And he immediately acknowledged
to the father the answer. He said, it's because you must
do right. You're holy. You must judge according
to the law, what you've written in your holy law. Now, what did
the holy God write in his holy law? Turn with me over to Exodus
23. In chapter 20, the Lord gave
us His 10 commandments and then He continues with these following
chapters, giving laws and giving commandments. And he says here
in Exodus 23 verse seven, keep thee far from a false matter
and the innocent and righteous slay thou not. Don't kill an innocent man. He said, I will not have it.
He said, that's wickedness in my eyes. He went on to say in
verse seven, I will not justify the wicked. That's a holy law
of God. Don't kill an innocent man. Now
turn with me over to Deuteronomy 19. Deuteronomy 19 verse 10 says, that innocent blood be not shed
in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance
and so blood be upon thee. He said if you shed innocent
blood, your life is going to be required for it because that
is sin against me. Look at Deuteronomy 27. Deuteronomy 27 verse 25 says, Cursed be he that taketh reward
to slay an innocent person, and all the people shall say, Amen. The holy God said in his holy
law, whoever kills an innocent person is cursed. And there's so many of them.
I had so many. We could look at Scripture after
Scripture after Scripture. Let me just show you one more.
Go to Proverbs 6. Proverbs 6. Verse 16, These six things doth
the LORD hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him, a proud
look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. God
said, I hate it. I hate it. I will not have it. I won't have it. I will not have
it. Now if that's the case, let me
ask us a question. Why was Christ forsaken? Why did God kill his son? According to God's holy law,
why did God kill his son? It's because he was guilty. When we hear the truth told,
and it is the truth, when we hear the truth told that he paid
our debt, it's called redemption. Paying the price in full. And when we hear that, the flesh
wrongly gets the idea in the mind. This is what natural man
runs to. That we sinners got ourselves
into a debt we could not pay. We were completely bankrupt. In my hand, no price I bring,
right? Nothing to pay. And the great
banker said, that's it, time's up. Pay the debt or suffer the punishment. So Christ, being the rich inheritor of all
things, in his kindness, in his goodness, out of the love of
his heart, reached in to all that he had, all of his abundance,
and he said, how much does he owe? And he paid the price in full,
and the debt was settled, and the banker, the great banker
was happy, and he said to the debtor, you're free to go. If that's the case, why was Christ
punished? Why did God spew out His wrath
on him? Why did he suffer vengeance?
And why did he die? If that's the case, why did he
die? Paying off someone else's debt
is a great honor. It is a great honor. That is
in perfect agreement with God's holy law. All through this law,
He says, Help your neighbor. Love your
neighbor. Why would he suffer vengeance
when honor is due? Why? Why would God kill an innocent
man? Why would God kill an innocent
man? And if in the process Christ
made us innocent, What will stop God from killing us? God kills
innocent men. To believe that is to believe
that God is not holy. It's to believe that God is unjust. You are an unjust God. That's what it's saying to Him.
You will not do right. God is holy though. Look with
me at Acts chapter 8. Acts chapter 8 verse 32. The place of the scripture
which he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened
he not his mouth." Why didn't he open his mouth? Because he was made to be guilty. Verse 33 says, "...in his humiliation."
His judgment was taken away. Who stands in humiliation? Not
the one who has the money in his hand ready to pay. The one
who stands in debt. Turn with me to Galatians 3. Galatians 3 verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. Why was Christ forsaken of God? Why was Christ hung on a tree? It's because He was made to be
guilty. Made to be cursed. Never did He commit sin. Never. He was the spotless substitute. And that's the gospel in one
word. Substitute, substitution. Never did he commit sin, but
for our sake, from the crown of his precious head to the sole
of his precious foot, he became what brought the curse on his
people. sin. He made himself to be, not
take the responsibility of. He made himself to be the actual
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores of sin. It's the only way
God his Father could forsake him. God is holy. God is holy. God the Father looked
at his own son in the moment that Christ, as Hebrews 7 says,
became us. Now, I can't acknowledge the
flip side of that. It's too holy for me. But in this thing of substitution,
He became us. Do you know what we became? I
can't say. It's just too holy. Substitution
is not a theory. It's a transaction. It's a transaction. God looked at Christ and He saw
Gabe Stoniker standing there. God looked at Christ and He stood
there in everything that we are and according to absolute holiness,
God the Father said, you must be forsaken. And God Almighty, according to
holiness and justice, poured out His wrath. and he killed
the guilty man according to absolute holiness and justice. He said,
I will by no means clear the guilty. That's the gospel. That
is the solid rock of our hope. That's why it's such good news. That's why it is so The security
of our hope is built on the fact that He will only do right. He will by no means clear the
guilty and He will by no means condemn the innocent. By no means. As soon as God damned
the guilty man, He turned and He looked at us, having now been
substituted with Christ. When Christ was made to be that
crown of his head, sole of his foot, everything that we are,
all this right here is wounds, bruises, putrefying sores, sin. At that very moment, God looked
at us and you know what he saw in reality? The righteousness
of God. We became holy, we became pure,
we became spotless, and God looked at us and he saw us standing
there made to be every single thing Christ is. And he said, according to holiness,
according to absolute justice, according to the holy law of
God Almighty, you must be set free. You must be. God Almighty said, I can't punish
you. I can't. I'm holy. I'm holy. That would go against my holiness.
That would completely undo my holiness if I punished you. That
cannot happen. Therefore, because of the beauty
of holiness, is holiness not beautiful? Because of the beauty
of holiness, therefore, There is now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. That's in Romans 8. Go with me
over there and we'll close with this. Romans 8 verse 33 says, Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth in
absolute holiness. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Christ was condemned. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Because of what he became. because of what he made himself
to be, because of what he endured and conquered, because he won
the victory over punishment and death, because he did away with
all of the sin of his people, every bit of it, because it truly
is finished. God the Father, in absolute holiness
and justice, has highly exalted him and given him a name that's
above every name. According to holy justice, God
Almighty has declared this is what must happen. This has to
happen. Every single time you hear his
name named, every knee must bow and every tongue must confess
that he's Lord. Must. In agreement with all holiness. God the Father says, my people
are justified and my son is Lord. Absolute, absolute holiness. That's our gospel, isn't it?
That's the gospel. We're going to look into this
more deeply, more deeply in just a minute. We're going to pick
up with part two. All right, you're dismissed.