I'm reading from the book of
Luke, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 18, beginning with verse 31,
and I read, Then he, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, took unto
him the twelve, apostles that is, and said unto them, Behold,
we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the
prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and
spitted on. And they shall scourge him, and
put him to death. And the third day he shall rise
again. And they," that is, his apostles,
understood none of these and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken." Let me ask you a question. Who
killed Jesus Christ and why? Who killed Jesus Christ and why? Sometime ago, a movie was made
supposedly depicting the crucifixion or passion of Jesus Christ. I did not see that movie, nor
do I ever intend to see it, for it is, according to Scripture,
idolatry. God expressly forbids the making
of any image, or that is, picture, statue, or likeness of anything
in heaven, earth, or sea, or to use it as any religious symbol. He calls it idolatry, a graven
image, whether it be in a frame or a statue or on a movie screen. Beside the fact that it is utter
blasphemy for a mortal man to pretend to be the son of the
Most High God, to act the part of the holy and righteous son
of the Most High God, and pretend to go through the indescribable
soul sufferings of the Lamb of God. No one who fears God knows
God, worships the Son of God could tolerate any such thing
or take part in such a mockery of the glorious Christ and Him
crucified. That is strong language, but
it is so. Well, in Acts chapter 4 is the
answer to this question. Who killed Jesus Christ? In Acts chapter 4, after that
movie that I just spoke of, After that movie came out, there was
a great debate over who was responsible for killing Jesus. Clearly, the
Jews were involved. The Jewish scribes, Pharisees,
and Sadducees, or that is, rabbis, all had a hand in it. They paid
for it to happen. The Roman soldiers and rulers,
they were the ones who tortured Him. But it says in Acts 4 of
a truth, against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed
both Herod, Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people
of Israel, were gathered together to do whatsoever God's hand and
God's counsel determined before to be done." So who killed Jesus
Christ? Jesus Christ Himself in John
chapter 10 verse 17 and 18 said, No man taketh my life from me. He said, No man taketh my life
from me. In other words, no man can kill
me. He said, I lay it down of myself. He said, I have this power. I
lay it down of myself. And though man took with wicked
hands, in Acts chapter 2, Peter's message at Pentecost, he said,
you with wicked hands have taken and crucified the Lord of glory. They did what they wanted to
do. They did what their evil will
purposed to do. But it says, Peter went on to
say, he was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. They were doing what God Almighty
determined and purposed for them to do before the world began. In Isaiah 53, I'm going to read
here in a moment, they did what God determined to do, what God
before the world began purposed for them to do before Jesus Christ
is called in Scripture, the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world, before the world was made, Jesus Christ was the Lamb
slain. Though men were the means of
His death, they were not the cause. Though men were the instruments
of His death, they were in the hands, they were instruments
in the hands of God Almighty. Four, and this may shock you,
it was God Almighty who killed His Son, Jesus Christ. In Isaiah
53 I read, verse 3, it says, he was despised and rejected,
yes, by man. Verse 5, he was wounded, bruised,
chastised, or whipped. Verse 7, he was oppressed and
afflicted. He was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. Who did this? In verse 10 it
says, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He, that is the Lord
God, made him, put him to grief. He made his soul an offering
for sin. Did you hear that? It was God
Almighty that put Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross and shed his
blood. And Jesus Christ, he said, I
lay down my life, Jesus Christ, as the obedient son of God, willingly,
voluntarily offered himself to God to be killed, laid down his
life, submitted to God to kill him. Oh my! Now this is a declaration What
was just said is a declaration of God Almighty's sovereign will
and purpose, doing as he will, with whom he will, because he
will, to fulfill his will and purpose, and man's responsibility
and man's sin. Man did what he wanted to do,
and therefore he gets the blame. That's what God Almighty holds
the human race accountable for, for killing his son, rejecting
his son. And it's so with all human beings.
They have no interest in the Son of God. To ignore Him, to
be indifferent, is to say, I don't care if He came or not. I'm not
interested. But man did what God purposed
for him to do, to fulfill God's will. Now before someone says,
I don't understand, listen to the next question. Why? Why did God kill His Son? Why did Jesus Christ go to the
cross? Why was he tortured, stripped
naked, nailed to a cross, and why did he die? Even the disciples,
we just read the disciples upon hearing the Lord tell this, they
didn't understand. They didn't know the scriptures.
All of the scriptures throughout the Old Testament foretold his
death, and why? Why did God kill his son on Calvary's
tree? Verse 10 says it pleased the
Lord to bruise him, God that killed him. God put him to grief. Why? Because he says he made
his soul an offering for sin. Verse 11 says he'll see the travail
of his soul. God saw the suffering of his
soul and was satisfied and he would justify many bearing their
iniquity. Why did God kill his son? Because
God said in the beginning, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Sin is the transgression of the
law, breaking God's laws, God's command, God's word. Sin is against
God, therefore. God the creator, the ruler, the
king. Sin is unbelief. Rejecting, refusing
God's word, God's reign, God's rule, God's authority. is not
being thankful. Taking, taking, taking, taking
from God, receiving from God without one word of thanks or
service, which is His reasonable due. Sin is not giving thanks. Sin is not giving glory. Sin
is not giving praise to the God who made us for His glory. Sin
is not believing God's Son, not bowing, not worshiping, not believing. He and He alone is our only hope
with the Holy God. His righteousness, not ours. His death. Sin is not believing God's Son. And soul death, the end of sin,
the payment, the wages of sin is death. Soul punishment. That is hell being cut off from
God because of sin. a rebellious creature being cut
off from the Creator, cast out of His presence. And Jesus Christ
on Calvary's tree uttered the words recorded, prophesied in
Psalm 22, ìMy God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?î Why? It says He was cut off in verse
8, ìout of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people
was He stripped.î Why did Jesus Christ die? as a sin offering
to God. Not man, he was offered unto
God. Now listen carefully. Every offering
of every lamb, goat, bullock, turtleneck, turtle, dove throughout
scripture was unto the Lord, not man. The Methodist denomination
today uses a slogan, ìOffer them Christ.î And every other denomination
believes the same thing, but that is blasphemy. Jesus Christ
was not offered to man then, nor is he now. God didn't say,
I'm putting my son on a tree that whosoever accepts him, his
sin will be payment for them. No, no, a thousand times no. God killed his son. Jesus Christ
offered himself to God as a full, complete sin payment and atonement
for all of God's people. Verse 11 says he'll see the travail
of his soul be satisfied. He justified many, it says, not
all. Verse 12 says he bare the sin
of many, not all. And verse 8 says the transgression
of my people was he stricken. Listen carefully, people, in
the Old Testament, the sacrifice of lambs was ordained by God. The book of Hebrews expounds
the whole Old Testament. And one man entered into the
holy place with the blood of a lamb, and he did that for Israel. Not the world, Israel, God's
elect, and their names, every tribe. was on his breastplate
and shoulders, and he offered that blood of that innocent spotless
lamb on a mercy seat before God Almighty, to God Almighty, and
the people, Israel that is, waited outside to see if God accepted
the sacrifice for them. And if the high priest came out,
the blood was accepted, the payment was made, the people's sins were
atoned for. All of this is a picture of Jesus
Christ dying paying for the sins of his people. And when he arose,
the sin offering was accepted. They were accepted into beloved.
The blood was on the mercy seat. Their sins were gone. What about
faith? Someone said. What about whosoever
will? Well, salvations of the Lord. And repentance and faith are
given to all that Christ died for. All that Christ died for. The power is in the blood, not
your faith. The power is in God's Word, not
your faith. The power is in Jesus Christ's
hands, not yours. The power is in God's call, not
your call. Salvations of the Lord. Who killed
Jesus Christ? God did. Why? As a sin payment. For whom? For God's people. And so it is. that Jesus Christ
made a full, effectual, eternal atonement for all the sins of
all of God's elect. Amen.