Why Did Christ Die?

Q: What does the Bible say about why Christ died?

The Bible teaches that Christ died because it was God's will, to fulfill prophesy, and to provide salvation for His chosen people. Christ's death was not a mere accident or a response to unforeseen circumstances; rather, it was ordained by God before the foundation of the world. Scripture reveals that Jesus is the Lamb slain for an elect people and that His suffering was the fulfillment of God's predetermined plan (Acts 2:23). He died to make atonement for sin, to satisfy God's justice, and to bring redemption to those who believe in Him (Romans 3:25).

Q: How do we know Jesus is the Son of God?

We know Jesus is the Son of God through His miraculous works, His teachings, and the testimonies of prophets and apostles. The identity of Jesus as the Son of God is affirmed by His divine works, such as healing the sick and raising the dead, which no other man has performed (John 5:36). The testimony of the Father at Christ's baptism and the Transfiguration further confirms His divine nature (Matthew 17:5). Additionally, the Old Testament prophecies consistently point to the coming Messiah, and the New Testament confirms that Jesus fulfilled those prophecies, establishing Him as Lord over all creation (Philippians 2:9-11).

Q: Why is the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

God's sovereignty reassures believers that He is in control of all things, including their salvation. The sovereignty of God is fundamental to the Christian faith, as it reveals that God has a divine plan and purpose that extends beyond human comprehension. Understanding God's sovereignty provides comfort and assurance during trials, as believers can trust that nothing happens outside of His divine will (Romans 8:28). This belief also underscores the grace in salvation; it is not based on human effort but solely on God's sovereign choice (Ephesians 1:4-5), which encourages believers to live in gratitude and reliance on Him in all aspects of life.

I'm going to try something. There's only one way to sing
this song, and I'm going to try it. Hail, sovereign love that
first began the scheme to rescue fallen men. Hail, Maxwell Spree,
eternal grace that gave my soul a hiding place. Against the God
who rules the sky, fought with hand uplifted high. Despise a mention of His grace,
we're proud to seek a hiding place. Indignant justice stood in view
this time, as fiery mouth I see. But justice cried with clowning
face, this mountain is no hiding place. But thus the eternal counsel
ran, almighty love arrests that man. I felt the arrows of distress
and found I had a hiding place. Along a heavenly voice I heard
and verse's angel pour a sea. She led me on with placid pace
to Jesus as my hiding place. Should storms of sevenfold thunder
roll and shake this globe from pole to pole, no flaming boat
will dock my face, for Jesus is my hiding place. On him almighty vengeance fell
at once, and sunk a world to haze. He bore it for a chosen
race, and thus became their hiding place. If he more ruling sends
at most, will land he safe on fame and truth. There I shall sing a song of
grace, I love to sing of sovereign grace,
of Jesus Christ, my hiding place. I feel almost like applauding that,
don't you? Oh, that's one of my favorite,
most favorite songs. I love that so very, very much. And I love those prayers of the
Scriptures, that prayer that Brother Paul read, Solomon's
prayer. I've got in the front of my Bible,
I have eight or ten of the prayers of different men in the Scripture,
Solomon, David, Hannah, Hannah's prayer. the different prayers, Elijah's
prayer, and I read them frequently. They're a blessing to me. I just
enjoy them so much. And I tell you, my heart was
blessed by Brother Terry's prayer. I appreciate it so deeply. You know, Brother Paul introduced
me as his pastor, and I occupied that office for a number of years. It was an honor to do so. But
when I'm over here, he's my pastor. And I, knowing him as I do, respecting
him as I do, I like that arrangement. He's my pastor when I'm here.
I believe in the authority of a local pastor. When we come
together, in that place where God has given him the overseership
and the responsibility, whoever's there, he is in subjection to
that pastor. And you're blessed to have the
pastor you have, and nobody knows him better than I do. He's a
special blessing to me, and I owe to you You know, sincerity and
faithfulness in the ministry is so difficult to find in this
day. There are a lot of preachers. I'm interim pastor now of three
churches besides the church where I'm pastor. I'm interim pastor
at Pipeville, Kentucky, at Turkey Creek, Kentucky, and at South
Webster, Ohio, groups meeting together. And I and our elders
are supplying the pulpit for these people till they find a
pastor. And we're waiting on the Lord in every situation,
because he's got to reveal to them and to the man whom he would
have to serve them. And I tell you, as I told them,
preachers are dime a dozen. They're all over the country.
Armco Steel Mill's got three or four hundred out there working
at the plant. But godly, God-called, faithful,
gospel-preaching, people-loving, sheep-feeding servants of God
are hard to find. I mean, they—and those—I say
to the people who have such a pastor, thank God for him, pray for him,
hold his hands up and support him and encourage him. It's a
blessing. Oh, my, my, it's a blessing.
And I'm just celebrated two eventful days this year. I haven't been
here in a year. It's hard to believe it's been
that long. I apologize. But that's not because
I didn't want to come. But I've crossed two milestones. One's my 65th birthday, Joe. I'm 65 now. I got a Medicare
card. I meet the mailman October the
3rd, September the 3rd. That's when the check comes,
you know. Called Brother Scott the other day. It was the 3rd
I called him. It was, let's see, this is the
6th. It was the 3rd. And I called
Brother Richardson and I said, what are you doing? He said,
I've been sitting out by the mailbox since the sun came up,
waiting on my check. He said, I'm afraid somebody
will steal it. And my second milestone is my
40th anniversary at 13th Street Baptist Church. We're going to
have a little get-together next Friday night and celebrate 40
years, Virgin, 40 years, pastor of the same place. I'm on the
fourth generation up there. A young man came to me recently.
Ricky, Paul know him real well. Of course Juanita and Jim know
him. Dale Simpson. And he's a granddaddy now. Got two grandchildren. But he
came to me the other day in the back of the church and he said,
you preach the gospel to my father. And he said, then you preach
the gospel to me. And then you preach the gospel
to my two sons and two daughters. And I said, I've got grandchildren.
Would you hang around 40 more years and preach to them? I said,
well, that's an honor. And you don't know how grateful
I am. You want me to hang around that
long, you know, to preach to your grandchildren. But God's
blessed us up there, and I'm thankful. Turn in your Bibles
with me to Matthew 27. Matthew 27. I'm going to read a few verses
from Matthew 27, beginning with verse 33. Matthew 27, 33. It says, And when they were come
unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of the
skull, They gave him vinegar to drink, mingle with gall, and
when he had tasted thereof he would not drink. And they crucified
him and parted his garments, casting lots, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken to the prophet. They parted my garments
among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots, and sitting
They watched him there, and they set up over his head his accusation
written, This is Jesus. And one of the other evangelists
said they wrote, This is Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. Now, the whole world knows that
a man named Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross. The whole world
knows that. Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross. I'm sure you've thought of this
many times, but I'll bring it to your attention again. The
calendar that hangs there in your kitchen on the wall—most
of you ladies have a calendar there by your desk or somewhere
in the kitchen—that calendar tells you that Jesus of Nazareth
died on a cross because we measure the years in this fashion. so many years A.D., which means
Anno Domini in the year of our Lord, and so many years B.C.,
that's before Christ. So the calendar tells you that,
that Jesus Christ died on the cross 2,000 years ago, approximately
1,991 years ago. You know, that sounds like a
long time, 2,000 years ago, but now think about it. It's not all that long ago. My
father was born in 1892. If my father were living, he'd
be a hundred years old next year. A hundred years old. So that's
one twentieth of that time. My life and my father's life
spans one twentieth of that 1900 or 2000 years. So take 40 men, father and son,
and you're back to the days of Christ. Isn't that amazing? You
stop to think about it. It's not all that long ago that
Jesus of Nazareth lived on this earth. He died on that cross.
That's a fact. That's a recorded fact. Scripture
records it and history records it. Then another thing, I went
over to preach in 1968. in Spain and France and England. And we made, we preached in England
first and then went down to France and down to Spain with Bill Clark,
whom all of you know. And I walked down in Spain on
a highway that was built by Hannibal when he brought the elephants
north. You remember reading the historical account of Hannibal
going north? I stood on that highway. It just
seemed like yesterday. This man witnessed that this
is the way Hannibal came, and they built a big arch there.
And he walked that highway, stone highway, three hundred years
B.C. Three hundred years before Christ.
Well, not only that, but we went on down to a little village or
town, a little city called Tarragona, Spain. And we were walking down
the street and David Estrada, you remember David? Missionary
of Spain, born and raised there. But he stopped me and he said,
Brother Henry, he said, you see that house right there? I said,
yeah, the house with the bust of the man out front on the pole.
He said, you know whose house that is? I said, no, I don't
know whose house it is. He said Pontius Pilate. I said, what? He said Pontius
Pilate lived right there before he went to Jerusalem to reign
as governor, or magistrate, or whatever his reign was, who tried
Christ. I was standing in front of his
house, Joe. You know, we stand and say, this
is where Spurgeon lived, or this is where Isaac Watts preached,
or this is where Lord Jones preached, or this is where somebody...
But I was standing, and it made it seem like just yesterday my
Lord died on that cross. Here's the house of the man who
washed his hands and says, I want nothing to do with this just
man. It was not all that long ago. But now the whole world,
it's a fact, Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross. A man's a fool
to deny that. That's just ridiculous to even
put a question mark on the fact that Jesus of Nazareth lived
on this earth and died on that cross. But the whole world is
divided over these questions regarding that man, Jesus of
Nazareth. First, who is he? Who is he? Who is Jesus of Nazareth? And
that's where the division is, who he is. They're not divided
over the fact he died. They're divided over the fact
who he is. Secondly, why did he die? Why did he die? What did he accomplish in that
death? Now that's where the division is, why he died. Even religions
are divided over that. And the third question is, where
is he now? Actually, where is this man that
causes all this controversy and division and debate? Where is
he now? And fourthly, what do I have to do with him? What's his relationship to me?
What have I to do with this man called Jesus of Nazareth? All right, let's answer the question,
who is he? Now, the Bible, and I gave you
this, I think, last year, and I can't remember. It was about
that time I discovered this statement about a year or two ago made
by one of the old writers. The Old Testament declares from
Genesis to Malachi, and Paul talked about it when he read
that prayer of Solomon, someone's coming. Someone's coming. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ
said, Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote someone's coming.
Moses said he'll be the seed of woman, Genesis 3.15. Moses said he'll be the seed
of Abraham and Isaac. Moses said he'll be that prophet. God will raise up a prophet from
the midst of you, like unto me, him you shall hear. God said,
I'll put my words in his mouth. Moses said he's the seed of woman,
the seed of Abraham, and he's that prophet. And Moses said
he's the Passover lamb. That's what Moses said. And all
the way through the Old Testament says someone's coming. Someone's
coming. He'll be a priest like Melchizedek. He'll be a king
like David. He'll be a Passover lamb, he'll
be a brazen serpent lifted up, he'll be the manna from heaven,
he'll be the smitten rock, he'll be the fulfillment of all these
pictures and types. He'll be the priest, he'll be
the altar, he'll be the mercy seat, he'll be the sacrifice,
and the God to whom that sacrifice is offered. The Old Testament
says someone's coming. Well, the four Gospels declare
he has come. John the Baptist said there he
is, behold, the Lamb of God. Jeremiah said, He'll be the Lord
our righteousness, and the four Gospels declare that He has fulfilled
that righteousness in His perfect life, in His obedience. Job said
that, I know my Redeemer liveth, and the latter day He'll stand
on this earth. John the Baptist said, There
He stands. There He stands. David said, The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand. Thomas said, My Lord and
my God. You know, even the devils knew
who he is. The Old Testament says someone's
coming, and the Gospels declare he's here. He's here. I want
you to turn to this scripture. Mark, Mark chapter 1. Listen to this. Mark chapter
1. Even the demons knew who Jesus
of Nazareth was. And I hate to say was, who he
is. who he was, he is, never will be. He's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. But here in Mark chapter one,
verse twenty-three, listen to this. And there was in their
synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying,
Let us alone, let us alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Now this is the demon speaking
through this demon-possessed man. Art thou come to destroy
us? I know thee. I know Thee, who
Thou art, the Holy One of God." That's who He is. He's that prophet,
priest, and that King. The Father said when Jesus of
Nazareth was baptized, the Father spoke from heaven and said, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I'm well pleased. And when he was
transfigured before Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration,
the Father spoke again from heaven and said, This is my beloved
son, hear ye him. And he said himself, look at
John 5. He gives these witnesses in John chapter 5. You know,
in John chapter 5, verse 31, I want you to look at this. John
chapter 5, verse 31. Who is Jesus of Passover? Now,
he said, if I bear witness of myself, verse 31, John 5, 31,
if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. Now,
in a sense, that's true. In a sense, our Lord's witness
is sufficient, and it's enough. But what he's saying, he's quoting
the Scripture which says, let every word be established by
the mouth of two or three witnesses. Now, that's what he's saying.
So he says, if I'm the only one declaring who I am, who I am,
He said, then my witness is not true. But listen, there's another
that bears witness of me. And I know that the witness which
he witnesses is true. You sent unto John. Here's the
witness, John the Baptist. He bears witness unto the truth.
But I received not testimony from man, but these things I
say, that you might be saved. He was a burning, a shining light. You were willing for a season
to rejoice in his light. I have a greater witness than
that of John. The works that the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works I do, they bear witness
to me that the Father has sent me." It's never been heard of that
a man gave sight to a blind man, but Christ did. What man ever
spake and a dead man came forth from the grave? Christ did. What
man ever touched the coffin of a dead man and that dead man
rise and walk? Christ did. What man ever held
out his hand and the wind stopped blowing and the waves fell at
his feet like a shepherd dog? Christ did. What man ever told
his disciple to go down to the seaside and pull out a fish,
and in that fish's mouth was a coin, and go pay his taxes.
What man ever broke five loaves and two fishes apart and fed
five thousand men, not counting the women and children? Christ
did. He said, The works that I do bear witness. I tell you
who I am. Who I am. I'm the Son of God.
But not only that, listen. Verse thirty-seven, And the Father
himself which hath sent me, he bore witness of me. You've never
heard, hears Boris, nor seen his ship. But he bore witness
of me. In verse thirty-eight, And you
have not his word abiding in you, for whom he hath sent him
you believe not. You search the Scriptures. Now
he's talking to these Pharisees, and they did. They searched the
Scriptures, just like preachers today. They searched the Scriptures
to prove what they already believed, to prove their traditions and
customs, not to find God's way and not to find God's will. and
not to find God's salvation, but to prove what they already
believe. You search the Scriptures. That's why these men search the
Scriptures, to keep people under their dominion and under their
control. You search the Scriptures. Listen,
for in the Scriptures you think you have life, but there they
which testify of me, and you will not come to me that you
might have life. all the witnesses on every hand. John the Baptist, all the prophets
of old. John the Baptist was the last
of the Old Testament prophets, and all of them. To Him give
all the prophets witness. That's what Scripture says. He's
coming. And the four Gospels say He's
coming. He said, He that hath seen me hath seen my Father.
I and my Father one. And if you believe not that I
am, he, but I am." That's the name
he gave Moses at the burning bush, I am. If you believe the
not that I am, you're dying your sins. Who is this man on the
cross? He's the Son of God. He said
to his disciples one day, whom do men say that I, the Son of
Man, am? They said, well, some say you're John the Baptist,
some say you're Elijah, some say you're one of the prophets,
but he said, whom do you say that I am? Peter said, thou art
the Christ. the Son of the Living God. And
he said, Oh, blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonas. Flesh and
blood didn't reveal that to you, but my Father which is in heaven.
So let that issue be settled. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? He's very God of very God. John
wrote this. Now listen. You know this without
looking it up. John chapter one, verse one.
In the beginning was the Word And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. You remember that scripture?
Verse fourteen of that same chapter, he said, And the Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. Now take
the first verse. In the beginning was the Word.
Verse fourteen, And the Word was made flesh, and the Word
was with God, and He dwelt among us, and the Word was God, and
we beheld His glory. That's who He is. Nothing less. And He can't be anything more
equal with God. God was manifest in human flesh. Do you understand what I'm saying?
I'm not saying Jesus Christ was a messenger, though He is. I'm
not saying He was a son of God, though He is the Son of God.
I'm saying He's God Almighty. And that's what Isaiah says.
Isaiah said, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be on his shoulders, and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. That's who he is. He's God Almighty. Great is the mystery of God,
that His God was manifest in human flesh. And thank God here
in Rocky Mount, Virginia, Central Baptist Church, Out here on the
side of Highway 220, there's a group of people that know and
are persuaded and are sure in their hearts, taught by God,
Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. And don't take that lightly,
because everywhere they don't believe it. They don't believe
it. Jesus Christ has come into flesh. If a man preaches that, he's
of God. If a man doesn't preach that, he's not of God. I don't
care what he preaches. That's how you discern the true
and the false part. Second question, why did he die
on that cross? Why did he die on that cross?
Well, I'll give you some answers to that, and you can get the
tape later, or you can jot it down, but I think there's something
here. I've got some powerful material right here. Why did
he die on that cross? Powerful material. Now listen
to that. Number one, he died because the Heavenly Father willed
it. That's the first reason. His
death was not an accident. His death was not some sort of
arrangement that God made after everything else failed. No, sir. He was the lamb slain before
anything else was made to fail. He's the lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. Before God ever laid the foundations
of this earth, before Almighty God ever hurled a star into space
and called it by name, before God Almighty ever divided the
night from the day and made the sun to rule by day and the moon
by night, Jesus Christ was a surety of an everlasting covenant. The
Lamb slain for an elect people and the shepherd of the everlasting
covenant, the surety and shepherd before God Almighty ever made
anything. You see, known unto God are all
His works from the beginning. You don't catch God by surprise. There was a preacher on television
the other night, Larry Lee, preaching over in London. And he's getting
300,000 prayer warriors together because he said, quote, verbatim,
Verbatim, this is what he said, God said to me. Now, anytime
anybody tells you something God said to him that he doesn't read
out of here, he's lying to begin with. But he said, I wondered
what language God spoke, you know, and whether he had a high
voice or a low voice. God said to me, Larry, son, if
you will get together 300,000 prayer warriors Hold your seat now. He said,
I'll rearrange things in heaven. I'm telling you the truth, my
dear friends. I've got it on tape. I saved it. I'll rearrange
things in heaven, and I'll give you nations to hear you preach
the gospel. And then he added, you see, Russia's
already coming around. My friends, God arranged things
before the world began. He declares the end from the
beginning. God doesn't rearrange anything
because of what happens in time. What happens in time fulfills
His arrangement. That's right. I declare the end
from the beginning, from ancient times of things that are not
yet done. Jesus Christ died on the cross, the appointed Savior,
at the appointed time, the appointed death for the appointed people.
That's just so. It's all prophesied in the Old
Testament. He said, for this cause came
after this hour. Father, the hours come. What
hour? The hour predestined and ordained
and appointed of God before the world began. We're not in the
hands of fate or chance. We're in the hands of a God of
purpose. And he works with all things
after the counsel of his own will. That's not hard. That's
blessing. That's truth. That's soul. That's
a foundation. That's comfort. God's running
this out there. God—the God rules over all, the
Scripture says. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, God Almighty decreed his death. God Almighty
delivered him into the hands of men. Let's turn to Acts chapter
two. Listen to this. I'm answering
the question, why did he die? He died because the Father willed
it. And Acts chapter 2, listen to this. Acts 2, Peter preaching
the first sermon after our Lord arose from the grave, Pentecost.
And he says here in verse 23 of Acts 2, Him, verse 22, said,
You men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth. That's
what he's talking about. Now verse 23, Him being delivered
By the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God you have
taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain." God delivered
him into your hands. Christ said that. He said it
to Pilate. You can have no authority over
me at all except my Father give it to you. Pilate said, I have
the power to let you go or crucify you. He said, nonsense. You ought to do what my Father
permits you to do. They did what they wanted to
do. They did what their wicked hearts devised to do. Look at
Acts 4. Turn over there just a moment. Acts 4.22. Listen to this. Acts
4.26. Acts 4.26. Listen. The kings of the earth. Thou hast anointed both Herod,
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel. What
a motley crew. We're gathered together. People
that never got along before got along now. People that never
united for any cause united in hatred of Christ. Verse twenty-eight,
To do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determine before,
before what? Before all things to be done. He died because God willed it.
God decreed it. God delivered him into their
hands. God designed his death. It was
Almighty God who bruised him. He said, no man takes my life
from me. Men can't kill God. What's wrong
with our thinking? Only God could do that to him.
They couldn't touch him all during his life. He said, don't you
know I could call from heaven, my father would send 10,000 angels,
legions of angels. He was no helpless, impotent
reformer. He was the appointed, anointed,
ordained Savior who went to his ordained death, decreed by God,
and delivered into the hands of men to lay down his life for
his sheep. All right, secondly, turn to
Romans chapter 14. Why did he die? Why did he die? Romans 14. Listen to this. Verse
9. This is so plain. Listen. Romans
14, 9. Underlined it nearby. Romans
14, 9. Here's why he died. Far to this end, for this cause,
Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord
both of the dead and the living. He's Lord. What am I saying?
King of kings and Lord of lords. I hear these preachers say, make
Jesus your Lord. Too late. God already made Him
your Lord. He made Him your Lord and my
Lord and every other man's Lord by decree, by design, and He
purchased that right on the cross. He bought this universe. That's
right. He's not some poor little feeble,
impotent Jesus up there hoping somebody will let Him have His
way. He's seated. at the right hand of God, expecting
his full will to be accomplished, his work to be done, and his
enemies to be made supposed to. He said, Thou hast given me authority
over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given me. That's right. He has the power,
he quickeneth whom he will. I'll tell you this, if Jesus
Christ wills to save you, you'll be saved. I hear preachers say,
well, he wants to save everybody. If he does, he'll do it. It's
not God's will that any should perish, then they won't. I guarantee
you, then they won't. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Now, a little peanut impotent,
God may not be able to save you, but the God of the Bible can
save you. He saved Noah He called Abraham, who's seventy-five years
old, and Abraham answered. He said, My sheep hear my voice. They heard my voice. He said
in Matthew 28, 18, when he sent his disciples out to preach,
he said, Now you, you learn this before you go preach to every
creature. You learn this. What did he precede? I know the
great commission, going to all over and preach the gospel to
every creature, but you know what he preceded it with? What
did he say? All power and authority is given
to me in heaven and earth. Now you go preach the gospel.
You're not representing some poor little feeble, fickle, frustrated,
failing reformer. You're representing the King
of kings and Lord of lords. Now you go in my name and you
command men to repent and you command them to believe the gospel.
That's right. My king is king. And my Lord
is Lord. He bought that right. This world
belongs to Him. Every bit of it. That's the reason
He'll do with it what He will. That's the reason He said to
Pharaoh, I raised you up to dump you in the river for my glory. I raised you up. For this cause
raised I you up to show my glory. And every man is going to serve
his purpose. And every woman is going to serve
the purpose of my Lord. Either to glorify His justice
or glorify His mercy. And that's just so. And that's
not hard, that's just so. He's either king of kings and
lord of lords or he's not. He's either got, huh? That's
right, to the glory of God. He has all power or no power. To talk about God wanting to
do something and not being able, that's dumb talk. What kind of
God is that? What kind of God is it that wants
to and can't, that wills to and you won't let it? that created
a creature that binds his hands. It's impossible. Our God reigns. That's what the Scripture says.
They said, David, where's your God? All these heathen, they
had their gods set up in their little places and shrines. They
said, David, talking to the psalmist King David, where's your God?
He said, my God's in the heaven. What's he like? He hath done
whatsoever he pleased. Whatsoever he pleased, that's
what he did in heaven and earth and the seas and all deep places.
Psalm 135, Psalm 115. That's where my God is, and that's
who my God is. And he died and bought that right. He died that he might be what?
Capital, L-O-R-D, Lord of the dead and the living. All men. That's right. God has highly
exalted him, given him a name above every name. All right,
turn to Romans 3. Why did he die? He died because
God willed it. He died secondly that he might
be Lord. He bought the universe. He died
thirdly to declare God's holiness and God's righteousness. Now
get a hold of this. In verse 25 of Romans 3, we're
talking about Christ here now. Verse 24 says, "...being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus,
whom God..." Christ Jesus. God set Him forward. God put
Him on display. God put Him out in a prominent
place, hung Him between heaven and earth on a cross. God set
Him forward. to be a propitiation, what's
that word mean? Mercy seat, a covering, an atonement,
through faith in His blood, to declare God's righteousness. You know, you'll never rightly
understand the death of the Lord Jesus Christ until you understand
that His death was toward the Lord. It wasn't toward you, it's
for you. was toward the Lord. He didn't
die to get your pity. That's right. He didn't even
die to get your allegiance. He'll have that when the Holy
Spirit breaks your will. But he died to display and honor
and satisfy God's righteousness. You see, God's holy. The chief
attribute of our God is not love, it's holiness. His love is a
holy love. God is holy. God is righteous.
God cannot forgive sin without sin being paid for. God cannot
justify a sinner until that sinner has perfectly obeyed his law
and satisfied his justice. And we can't do that. Christ
did it for us. Look at that verse again. God
set him forth to be a mercy a propitiation through faith in His blood to
declare God's righteousness for the remission of sins that have
passed. Whose sins are those? The Old Testament saints, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David, those who died and lived and
died before Christ died. But God's mercy until Jesus Christ
came was looking to His coming, and God's patience and longsuffering
overlooked. those sins, so Christ came and
paid for them. And he saved those people on
the promise that Christ would die for them. Isn't that right?
You know what I'm saying? The forbearance of God, the longsuffering
of God, the patience of God, and Christ was set forth to be
a propitiation, verse twenty-six, to declare, I say, at this time,
God's righteousness, that God may be just. and the justifier
of you that believe. Now, brethren, let's face it. God's holy, immaculately, unapproachably
holy, dwelling in a light to which no man can approach. Man
is wicked and sinful and separated from God on the dunghill of sin.
How can that holy, just, righteous God ever look with favor on you
and me? Well, I guarantee he's through
nothing we'll ever do. We're going to lie right there
in the dunghill. But Jesus Christ came right here, God-man, nature
of God, nature of man, and obeyed the law for those flesh creatures
and met God's justice. God laid his wrath on Christ,
and Christ Jesus endured all of the wrath and judgment of
God for our sin. And now God can look on me with
love and favor, and lift me, and wash me in the blood of his
Son, and receive me in this presence, because I'm as just as he is
in Christ. I'm as holy as he is in Christ.
God's got nothing to charge me with in Christ. Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Why?
Because of what Christ did. Not because I walked down an
aisle. Not because I was baptized. Not because I preached. Not because
I give an offering. Not because I win souls. God
said, if I need anything, I wouldn't ask you. I don't give Him anything. He gives it all to me. And He
gives it to me because of what Christ did. Because of who Christ
is. That's why He died. It says that
right there, that God may be, verse twenty-six, just and justified. Now I tell you, if you don't
have a just God and a holy God, you don't have a living God,
you don't have the one God. See, He's not going to change.
I'm the Lord, I change not. But thank God He loved us and
regards us and looks upon us and receives us and accepts us
in the beloved. in the villa. If you're in Christ,
you're accepted. If you're in Christ, you're holy. If you're in Christ, then God
can look on you with favor, but nowhere else. I hear preachers
talking about God loves everybody and everybody's on the favor
of God. That's not so. Everybody in Christ
is loved by God. The love of God's in Christ Jesus.
Listen, he that believeth not on the Son The wrath of God abides
on him. A holy God can't love you out
of Christ. What is there about you lovable?
Well, somebody said, well, he loves the center, but not his
sins. They won the center and his sins.
If it wasn't for the center, there wouldn't be no sins. You
take the center out of this world, there's no sin in this world.
We're the sin. That Brother Jack Shanks ran
a Christian school down in Houston, Texas. And he not only had children
of Christian parents, he had all the troublemakers in the
neighborhood that got kicked out of the other school. And
so one dear mother came to see the principal, Brother Shanks.
You remember Jack Shanks? He's been here. And he's a good
friend of Jim's. They get together every once
in a while. Anyway, Jack's mother came to see Jack. She had a boy
in the school. And she sat down across the desk
from Brother Shanks. She said, Brother Shanks, I put
my boy in this Christian school. And she said, I expect you to
keep him from running with the wrong crowd. Brother Shank says,
Mama, I hate to tell you, your boy is the wrong crowd. We're the wrong crowd. God loves the sinner and hates
the sinner. Where in the world did we invent things like that?
Same place we got age of accountability. Same place we got a lot of other
things. It's just not in the Word of God. God loves men in
Christ, and I wish I could tell the whole world this. Don't bank
on mercy outside of Christ. Now, don't do it. It's a fool's
goal. It's a fool's hope. Now, he died
that God may be just. Well, let me move on quickly.
Look at verse Hebrews 9. I'll tell you why he died. These
verses tell us why Jesus of Nazareth died. Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9. Look at verse 26. Hebrews 9 verse
26. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin. Why did he come? To put away sin. by the sacrifice
of himself. Where are our sins? Christ on
the cross, Henry, put them away. Once and for all. He said, I'll
remember your sins no more. He cast them behind his back.
I don't know where the back of God is. God's everywhere. So
that means, that just means our sins are not even to be heard
of. They're just in no words big.
He separated them as far as the east is from the west. That's
infinity. Those two never meet. He cast
them into the depths of the sea. He blotted them out. He put them
away. That's why He came to put our
sins away, effectually put them away. All right, let me give
you another verse, Galatians 1 forward. Why Christ, why Jesus
of Nazareth died? Galatians 1 forward, listen. Verse 3, Galatians 1 3, Grace
be to you, Grace and peace from God the Father. I tell you this,
you won't have any peace from God the Father till His grace
visits you in Christ. Grace comes full peace. And the
reason we have peace with God is because of His grace. Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus
Christ who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us
from this present evil world according to the will of God
our Father, not your will, God's will. He delivered the two kingdoms,
the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God's dear Son. And
he died to deliver us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom
of God's dear Son. We're like Abraham. We're pilgrims
here. We're not of this world. His past is not of this world. Abraham dwelt in tents with Isaac
and Jacob looking for a city. He didn't count this place his
home. That's right. He's delivered us. We're of God. The whole world lies in wickedness.
As He is, so are we in this world. Was Jesus Christ, when He came
down here, you say, well, He just came down here from heaven
for a little while and went back. That's us too. We're here for
a little while. This is not my home. He's translated
me from the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of death to the
kingdom of His dear Son. That's why He died. Oh, I turned
to Titus 2.14. Tell you another reason why. These are all just plain scriptures. Why Christ? Titus 2.14. Listen. Titus 2.14. Who gave
himself for us. Titus 2.14. He gave himself for
us that he might redeem us from all iniquity. And. And. Now before I read after that
and, listen to me. I want to lay this down. He gave
Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity. We believe that, don't we? I
have a perfect righteousness legally, judicially, before God
in Christ. He has put away all my sins.
I don't have any sin. In Christ Jesus, there is no
sin. Judicially, legally, I have no
sin. But let me tell you something
else. He gave himself and purified unto himself a people, a peculiar
people, a different people, a new people, a godly people, a separated
people, zealous of good works. Let's don't ever forget that.
If any man's in Christ, he's a new Christian. He has a new
attitude. See, God not only judicially
and on the record books puts away my sins, and does something
for me, but He does something in me. That's right. His people, like Him, are people
who love. They're people who are generous.
They're people who are gracious. They're people who are kind.
God, the Holy Spirit, dwells in us. We're God's people. And
that's why He died. Isn't that right? They walk in
godliness. They walk in honesty. They walk
in truth. Sure, they fail. They're not
perfect. They're perfect before God in
Christ, but they sure would like to be perfect right here. And
they're longing for the day when they'll be perfect. And they
hate sin. And they walk in righteousness
before God and before people. That's why he died. He died,
he says here, to redeem us from all iniquity. But I'll tell you
this, he died to purify unto himself a people zealous of good
works, of peculiar people, of different people. I'll tell you
this, when the Lord saves a person, I heard a man say this, I didn't
actually hear him say it, but one of the men in the church
came and told, not at 13th Street, another church, and he said,
if you're elected and Christ died for you, it doesn't matter
how you live or how you conduct your business, or how you treat
people. He said, you'll be in heaven.
And I told the man, I said, go back and tell him that's not
right. He's deceived. He's deceived. Any man who justifies
his sin by the election of God is a man who knows nothing about
God. Any man that justifies a bad attitude and a bad spirit and
a mean spirit just because he believes a little Bible doctrine,
he's a fool. God's people are new creatures,
and they're growing. They grow in grace, and they
grow in the knowledge of Christ, and they grow in love, and they
grow in the fruit of the Spirit. They have stronger faith and
deeper love and greater patience and more humility because God
gives it to them. They're different and peculiar. And I don't mean peculiar in
the sense that they can't get along with anybody. I mean they're
peculiar in the sense the world thinks they're peculiar. All
right, let me give you another one, and I'll try to bring this
to a close. Ephesians 2. Why did Christ die? To purify unto himself a people
zealous of good works, new creatures in Christ. But here, look at
Ephesians 2, verse 8. I beg your pardon, Ephesians
2, verse 4. Ephesians 2, 4. But God, who
is rich in mercy, For His great love wherewith He loved us, and
we love Him because He loved us, even when we were dead, dead
in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. When Christ died,
we died, and He's buried with us. When He rose, we rose. By
grace are you saved. And He hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Why? That in the ages to come. He
might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. You know why Christ died for
you? To make you one of God's trophies. God's gonna gather
together all things in Christ someday in His presence, and
He's gonna say to the whole universe, look what I did. I found Him
on a dunghill, and I died for Him. and called him, put my spirit
in him, and here he is conformed to the image of my son. Look
at here. I hear people talk about when they get to heaven, they
gonna line up and get rewards for what they did for Jesus.
You let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. We're
his trophies. He's our reward, and we're his
trophies. He gonna show us off. He's gonna
show off his people. He's gonna show to the whole
universe the exceeding riches of His grace for us. And I'll be glad to be one of
those trophies, won't you? Let all the crowns be on His
head and at His feet. I don't deserve anything. Anything
that I have, He gave me. Anything I know, He taught me.
Anything I do, He enables me. And a gift I have, He gave it,
and He can take it away tomorrow just quickly as He gave it today.
He died that He might show us all. Well, the third question,
I won't stay long. Where is he now? Scripture says
he's seated at the right hand of God. What's he doing? He's
interceding for us. And let me tell you something.
He doesn't have to say a word. His presence is sufficient. The
wounds in his hands and feet are sufficient. The scar on his
side is sufficient. We are written on his heart,
on his breastplate, and on his hands. He doesn't have to say
anything. His presence is our intercession, because He's our
head. He's our forerunner. He's our
representative. Where is He now? At the right
hand of God, interceding. What have I to do with Him? Well,
one verse, and I'll let you fill in all the blanks. Acts, this
will be the last, till I get another shot in the morning,
this will be the last word. Acts 17, 31. What have I to do
with Him? While you're looking, look. He
said, Ebeneezer gonna bow in heaven, earth, and under the
earth and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. But now watch
this verse. Acts 17, 31. Because God hath
appointed a day in the which he'll judge this world in righteousness
by that man, by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he
hath given assurance unto all men. in that he raised him from
the dead. What have I to do with him? Everything.
Everything. That's the judgment. If I'm in
Christ by faith, I have everything. If I'm not in Christ, I lose
everything. That's just it. Christ Jesus,
King of kings and Lord of lords. I'm so glad I believe that. Glad
I believe him. It's not a that, it's him. All
right, thank you, Paul. Stand with me and I'll dismiss
some prayer. Just what I needed. Let's bow
for prayer. Our great God, how we thank you
for Christ. And we thank You for Him who
loved us and gave Himself for us. We thank You for telling
us the story of Him, the gospel of our salvation that we heard
this evening. Lord, deliver us from ever growing
tired of it, but rather let it grow more precious to us with
each and every hearing. And we thank You for telling
it to us tonight in such a plain, clear, and bold fashion. We thank you. Every good and
perfect gift comes from above. That is, the gift of preaching
the gospel and the gift of discernment, of understanding that gospel,
is from God. We thank you that you've enabled
the preacher to tell it. And we thank you, I thank you,
that you've enabled me, some, to understand it. And yeah, even
more, even greater, to believe it, to believe Christ. And we
thank you. for him, for Christ. And thank
you for this man, and I ask that you would bless him and fill
him up again as long as he's here with us. Be with us tomorrow,
Lord. Bring us back to hear the gospel
again. It's been good to be in the house
of the Lord. In Christ's name we pray and
give thanks. Amen. I think that's it. And the basis to the task is
to make sure that there's content to learn from, and there's content
to want to learn from, and there's content to expect, and there's
content to want to learn from.

Why Did Christ Die?

What does the Bible say about why Christ died?

How do we know Jesus is the Son of God?

Why is the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

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Why Did Christ Die?

What does the Bible say about why Christ died?

How do we know Jesus is the Son of God?

Why is the concept of God's sovereignty important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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