All right, turn with me if you
would back to John 1. I ask our brother to read that
for us. That is not our text this morning. But I want us to begin here in
John 1. Let me ask us a question that
we all need to ask. This is a question that we all
need to ask, every single one of us. Do we know why Christ died? Do we know why Christ died? Why did Christ die? The Lord Jesus Christ did not
begin on this earth when he was born here like we did. He didn't begin, he did not start
the day he was born on this earth. He left glory and he came here
on purpose. He left glory in order to be
born into the world. I asked our brother to read John
1 verse 1 which says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The Word. Verse 14 says, And
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. That's Jesus Christ, the Word. Now look back at verse 1. In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. God the Son was with God the
Father and God the Spirit in the beginning. These three are
one God. Verse 3 says, All things were
made by Him. God the Son, Jesus Christ, the
One who was born, 2000 years ago, all things were made by
him, created by him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. All right, so God, the father
made all God, the son created all of this without him was not
anything made that was made. And in time, he came down here,
he left glory. And he came down here to this
world on purpose. Before he came to this world. Eternity is eternity. Infinity
is infinity. There's no beginning. There's
no end. Wrap your mind around that. There's
no beginning. When did God begin? He didn't. How long was that? And then he created this world
and he gave us record of about how long it was from the time
he made man till the time he came, 4,000 years. Before he came to this world,
he was holy, sinless, spotless, righteous, perfect. I mean, perfect. And then he
was born into this world and he grew. The God in whose hand
the world is. All of the galaxies were created
with his fingers. He went to the lowest part of
the earth, the womb, and he was born and grew. And he was here
for 33 and a half years. And the entire time that he walked
this earth for 33 and a half years, he was holy. And he was
sinless and he was spotless. Now, why did Christ die on a
cross? Not just God sent somebody from
heaven down here with a message. God came down. The God who created
the world and created the tree that made the cross. Why did God the Christ die? Why did he die? Was it an accident? Did things go wrong? Should the world be crying, bless
his heart, bless his little heart? Was it an accident? There are no accidents with God.
There are no accidents. If you had four years, we could
start at the beginning and I could show you page after page after
page after page how every single thing is on purpose. No accidents with God. No accidents. Christ came here on purpose. The whole time was on a mission
to that wooden cross and he died on that cross on purpose. Why though? Why? Why would he willingly give
his life on a cross in Jerusalem? Why would he do that? What did
it accomplish? What did that accomplish? Okay,
he died. They hung him up and he died.
They took him down, put him in a tomb. What did that accomplish? There is only one truthful answer
to that question. We get it from this book. We
don't get it from our opinion. We don't get it from the book
another man wrote. It's in this book. There is one
truthful answer. If the Lord gives a person faith
to believe the one truthful answer, then that is the evidence that
God has chosen to save that person and redeem him back to himself
for all eternity. And if the Lord does not give
a person faith to believe the one true answer, then that's
the evidence that God is going to, and I painfully say the word,
damn a person for all eternity. That's the truth. That's the
truth. It's painful, but that's the
truth. Now, what is the one truthful
answer? I want to read it and then I
want to explain it. OK, turn with me to our text,
which is John three. John, chapter three. Verse 16. It says, for God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The reason
for Christ dying on the cross in Jerusalem begins with the
love of God. That's where it begins. The love of God. Why did Christ
die? The love of God. That's where
the whole thing starts. It says, for God so loved the
world. How could he? How could he, but
he did. God so loved the world. Now,
what does that mean? What does that mean? God so loved
the world. What is the truth about that
statement? God so loved the world. Did God
love the entire world? It doesn't say God loved the
entire world, did it? Does it say for God so loved
the whole world? He doesn't say that. But is that
what he means? Is that what he means? Did God
love the whole world? Go with me, if you would, over
to Proverbs 6. Proverbs 6 and look with me at verse 16. It says, these six, now if you
have italicized words in your Bible, you'll see that The word
things is in italics and what that means is the translators
added that word to make it more understandable. But the truth
is, is these are not things, these are people. Okay, so it
says, these six doth the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination
unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent
blood, and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that
be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh
lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren." The Lord
said, I hate them. Isn't that strong language? That's
strong language. Not, I love them, I hate them.
Isn't that something? Strong language. Look with me
at Jeremiah 44. Turn over to Jeremiah chapter
44. Jeremiah 44 verse 2 says, Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, you have seen
all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the
cities of Judah. And behold, this day they are
a desolation and no man dwelleth therein. Because of their wickedness,
they have committed to provoke me to anger. in that they went
to burn incense and to serve other gods whom they knew not,
neither they, ye nor your fathers. Howbeit, I sent unto you all
my servants, the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying,
oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. But they hearkened
not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness. to
burn no incense unto other gods. Wherefore, my fury and my anger
was poured forth and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in
the streets of Jerusalem, and they are wasted and desolate
as at this day." You know, do we understand what he just said
there? He said, this is why I destroyed them. I hated what they were
doing, they wouldn't listen, and I destroyed them. People say, God doesn't hate. Isn't that what they say? I don't know why they say that.
Why do they say that? They heard somebody say it and
they liked it and it sounds good. The only problem is God said,
I hate, I hate it. I hate it. People say, well you
see, God hates the sin, not the sinner. You ever heard that? God hates the sin, not the sinner. Go with me to Malachi 1, the
last book in the Old Testament. Malachi chapter 1. What he's about to say here is
repeated in Romans 9. Malachi 1 verse 1 says, the burden of the word of the
Lord to Israel by Malachi. And I'm going to just tell you,
it's a burden. Malachi was a man that God raised
up to tell the truth, to preach His word as He wrote it. And it's a weighty burden. And
I'm just going to tell you why. Whether men and women understand
the truth or not, it doesn't change God's truth. Whether men
and women know what they're going into when they go meet God, it
doesn't change what they're going into. And the truth that God
gives to a sinner, if he reveals that truth to them, he's going
to show mercy to bow to this almighty God. And it's a burden
to tell people, be warned, be warned. People think, oh, yeah,
God is love and God is good and God is all those things. But
that's not all that he is. He said, know me. He told Isaiah,
you go tell him, behold, your God, right? All flesh is grass. To whom will you liken me? And
it is a true burden, this burden of truth. Verse one says, the
burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have
loved you, saith the Lord. Yet you say, wherein hast thou
loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob and I hated
Esau. and laid his mountains and his
heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness. Whereas Edom,
and that's Esau's descendants, that's his heritage, his family
tree. Whereas Edom saith, we are impoverished,
but we will return and build the desolate places. Thus saith
the Lord of hosts, they shall build, but I will throw down
And they shall call them the border of wickedness and the
people against whom the Lord hath indignation forever. Indignation means to abhor, to
curse, to foam at the mouth against, to be enraged by, to hate. That's scary. That's scary. So what is the one truthful answer
concerning God's love towards sinners in the world? What's
the one truthful answer? Look with me if you would at
John 17. John 17 verse 9 he said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. In verse 6 he said, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Out of this entire Gentile world,
not just Israel. God kept saying Israel was a
picture of those people he chose. He said, I've chosen Israel to
be my people, right? But he now tells us through the
gospel of his word, I'm going to show mercy to the entire Gentile
world. That's the good news for us.
You know, the gospel is good news. That's the definition of
the gospel. We're here to hear some good news. Do you know if
he did not say, I'm going to show mercy to the entire world,
we couldn't be here. We couldn't have any hope. We
couldn't rejoice. I'm not a Jew. I'm a Gentile. Anybody who's not a Jew is a
Gentile. And I could have no hope. But he said, I'm going
to love the world. I'm going to I'm going to love
the heathens of the world. Ephesians two, don't turn over
there, it says we were aliens. From the Commonwealth of Israel
and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world. That's where we all that's where
I was. It says, but God did something. God came down, the God man came
down, Christ Jesus. He came down to this earth on
purpose. He died on a cross in Jerusalem
on purpose. He did it on purpose. He did
that because God, his father, chose some sinners. He chose them out of this world. The scripture says they were
scattered abroad. Did he choose just a couple?
It says it's a number no man can number. Isn't that wonderful? But he chose who they would be.
He chose them on purpose, the scripture says, out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation of this world. He chose them on purpose. He
saved them on purpose. Let me tell you something, though.
That still does not answer the question. Why did Christ die? That still does not answer our
question, not fully. Why did Christ die? Why did He
have to die? That's the question we're trying
to get to. Why did He have to die? Why didn't God just save
the ones He wanted to save? Why didn't He just reach down,
pick them up, and put them in heaven? Why didn't He do that? The answer is, it's because He
is a just God. That's the reason. He is a just
God. We must know the truth about
this. He is a just God. Turn with me
if you would over to Psalm 24. Psalm 24. Look with me at verse
3. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully." Let me tell you something, that's none of
us. That's none of us. We could try
to fool ourselves all we want to. We could sit here and try
to pump each other up and you're a good person, I'm a good person,
he's a good person, everybody's good. You're fine, go on. But I'm gonna tell you the truth.
That's not me. I don't have clean hands and
a pure heart. I'm a sinner. I sin in the mind. I sin in the heart. I sin with
the hands. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I've said this before. This house
is not Sinners Anonymous. This is Sinners Tell Everybody.
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. None of us are without sin. First
John 1 10 says, if we say we have no sin, we're making God
a liar. And here's the reason. He said,
all have sinned. And in people come to church
and you know, they want to be saved and they want to know you
just tell me I'm okay and I'll walk out of here happy. Oh yeah,
now you haven't sinned, have you? Nope, haven't sinned. Okay,
you're good. All have sinned. And the reason
we all have sinned is because we are sin. We don't sin in turn
making us a sinner. We sin because we are a sinner. Dogs don't meow. And when a dog is born, we're
not waiting on him to bark just to see if he's a dog. We don't
know what he is yet. But if he barks, then he's a
dog. No, he's a dog. He's going to
bark. And I'm going to sin because
I'm a sinner. And if we say we have not sinned,
we're making our holy, righteous, just God a liar. None of us can stand in his presence. We're not ready to go meet God.
People say, well, he's right with God. I'm not. Not in myself. And you're not. Be warned. Be warned. Go into your mind.
I say that all the time, don't I? Just go into your mind. You
don't even have to go to your heart. Just go to your mind. Oh, the
wickedness, the hate, the lust, the covetousness, the pride. God is holy. God is just. God is only right. He can and will only do what
is right and lawful. He's that judge that no sinner
wants to go stand before. He's going to give the just punishment. He will by no means clear the
guilty. Isn't that what it says? He will
by no means clear the guilty. In this flesh, I'm guilty. The only way that a person can
enter into heaven is if he is not guilty. I'm going to repeat that. The
only way a person can enter into heaven is if he is not guilty. And that's not us. That's not
us. We're guilty. We have broken
God's law. And what's done is done. If I committed murder four years
ago, and they catch me today, I can't say, well, yeah, but
that was four years ago. What's done is done. Right? We cannot undo it. There is no forgiveness in saying,
I'm sorry. He's a just God. He's a just
God. There is no forgiveness in saying,
I'm sorry. There's no forgiveness in trying
to outdo the wrongs with right. I made a list of all the bad
things I did and I'm going to keep writing until I double that
list. It won't do any good. Sin cannot be undone. The only thing it can be is punished. If I've ever told the truth,
I'm telling it right now. The only thing it can be is punished. Because God so loved the souls
that He chose out of this world, the sinful souls that broke His
law and rebelled against Him, because He so loved the souls
He chose out of this world, He gave His only begotten Son. You want to talk about love?
People say, God is love. You don't have any idea. God gave his only begotten son. Gave him to what? What did God
give him to? The sin of man. God gave him
over to the sin of man. Christ could not produce his
own sin. He was spotless. He was perfect. He was holy. There was no sin
in him. He could not sin, but God laid on him and pressed into
him the sin that he took out of and off of those people he
loved, those people he chose out of every tribe, nation, kindred,
tongue, generation. And when God the Father took
those sins off of his people and pressed them into Jesus Christ,
every single one of those people became sinless. when He took them out, when He
took them off, they were still there. There's the sin. And He pressed it into His only
begotten Son. And at that moment, every single
soul He did that for became sinless. Perfect. Holy. By this transaction
of the Father, His people were made to be what Christ was. And the sinless one, Christ,
made Himself to be what they were. He made Himself to be their
sin. Christ did not die on a cross
in Jerusalem as a martyr for His cause. I believe in this
so much, I'm going to take it all the way to the grave. That's
not what He did. Christ did not die on the cross to be an example
for His people to follow. Christ died on the cross because
He made Himself to be guilty before God. When God looked at
Him, He said, You're guilty. You have all that sin on you. Christ died on the cross because
he had to die. He had to die. God's own justice
demanded it. That has to be punished. Christ died on the cross being
the substitute for his people. He died to set them free. I mean set them free. And they
had to go free. His own justice demanded it.
No sin. You're free to go. Well done,
thou good and faithful servant, to death with you. We started this by asking the
question, what did it accomplish? What did it accomplish? The answer
is absolute deliverance for His people. Absolute deliverance
for His people. Now go with me back to John 3. John 3 verse 16 says, For God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The question is asked in the
scripture The question is still asked in the hearts of men and
women today. What must I do to be saved? What must I do to be
saved? The answer that he himself gives
is believe on him. Believe on him, this is what
he said he did. This is what he said God is. This is what he said I am. This is what he said Christ accomplished. Believe on him. Believe on him. What does it mean to believe
on him truly? Believe what? Believe everything
he said concerning salvation. Everything. Believe the one true
answer that he himself has given. Now, what has he said concerning
salvation? What did he say about the salvation
of his people? This is what he said. It is finished. It's finished. Every soul that
his father chose is safe and secure. Absolutely safe and secure. Rest in the person. Rest in the person. Rest in what
he did. Rest in having a substitute. Just rest right there. Rest in
the fact that through God sending his own son and laying our sins
on him and shedding his blood on that cross in justice, in
judgment. Rest in the fact that God is
satisfied. You know, the scripture says
he's angry with the wicked every day. Christ made himself to be
that for us, and God was angry with him. And because he took
that, we're not wicked. Not in Christ. He's not angry
with his people. Not at all. God is love. God
loves his people for God so loved the world. You rest in the fact
that Christ has made you free. You rest in that. If God gives
us the ability to do that, some will hear, and this is what the
scripture keeps saying, some heard and believed, some heard
and didn't believe. If God does not give us a heart
to say, I believe that's exactly what God's word is saying, then May God reveal it to us. If we
see that, if God gives us the ability to look at this and say,
Christ paid it all. There's nothing left for me to
do. Just trust him, put all my hope in him, if God gives us
that ability. then that is the evidence that
he chose us. He didn't choose everybody, did
he? But if he gives us that faith, that's that evidence that he
chose us. And he says in him, if God chose
us to be in Christ, we're not going to perish. We're going
to have everlasting life. Now, let me just ask the question
one more time here in closing. Do we know why Christ died? Do
we know why Christ died? Was it an accident? Did he fail? What did it accomplish? What
did it truly accomplish? Verse 16 says, For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The
true gospel is not an invitation. I would not like to invite anybody
to be saved. The true gospel is not an invitation. I would not like to invite anybody
to come down to the front or do anything. The true gospel
is a declaration. The true gospel is a notification. God accomplished it and then
he said, now you go tell my people. God the Father chose them. Scripture
says before the foundation of the world. God the Son died for
them. And God the Spirit comes and
He says, let's notify them of what is finished, of what's already
done. It's a notification. Now, in
response, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe what He's
done and thou shalt be saved. All right, let's all stand together.