Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Jesus Christ came into the world
for the very purpose of bearing the sin dead of His people, which
were given to Him before the foundation of the world, as that
lamb without blemish or spot. The significance of Him being
without spot or blemish is that He was without sin, untainted
and pure in His person and in His work. In no way was the spotless
Lamb of God ever tainted with our sin, though He was tempted
in all points, like as we are, and had the full weight and condemnation
of our sin laid upon Him as our substitute and sin-bearer. He
was made sin for us by imputation, which is an accounting term and
has reference to the legal act of his taking the blame for our
sin upon himself and satisfying the law in our behalf. He was
condemned by the law which we broke, and he suffered the penalty
for that broken law in our behalf, in order that he might be just
and the justifier of those which believe in him. He was ordained
to this work before sin ever entered the world or man ever
fell. The purpose for which he entered
the world was to be our substitute. He has always been an acceptable
sacrifice. Because he was without sin is
the very reason he could take upon himself our sin debt and
to be made sin for us by the transfer of our guilt to himself. He was born of a virgin. Not
only was that lamb to be without spot or blemish, but it was to
be the firstborn. Actually, this is but another
mark of the lamb's purity, in that it had not even shared the
womb with another. In the case of Jesus Christ,
he was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin
Mary. The sin of Adam is passed to all of his natural progeny
by imputation, and all of his natural descendants share in
his guilt and blindly follow in his footsteps, gladly sinning. Jesus Christ was not Adam's offspring
and therefore was without sin by natural generation or by imputation
as the rest of humanity. He was without sin except for
the sin of his elect, which was legally imputed to him in the
same fashion in which his righteousness was imputed to them. He is a
faithful high priest. The members of the Aaronic priesthood
had to make offerings for their own sins as well as that of the
people. But he who was of the order of Melchizedek never had
the taint of sin upon him in any sense. Otherwise, he could
not have gone into the holy place where he is now, ever living
to make intercession in our behalf. He was laid in a new tomb. It
was necessary for this to be done because the scripture said
he would not see corruption, which literally meant he would
not be tainted by it. He gladly embraced his father's
will. Many assumed that when he prayed for the cup to pass
from him, that he had reference to the prospect of crucifixion.
I don't think that he feared pain or death, since he is the
God of life and death. Many martyrs have gladly laid
down their lives without regard to death, so this was not his
dilemma. The struggle which gripped him was as the full weight of
our sin debt was laid upon him. He who desired to be pleasing
in the Father's sight knew that he would have to become unpleasing
in his father's sight, bearing the guilt of our sin condemned
as a sinner, in order to ultimately fulfill his father's will, which
thing he gladly did. He rose from the dead by his
own power. Those that are in Christ, whose
bodies now sleep in tombs and ash pits around this world, shall
one day awaken to the sound of his voice. He has become the
firstfruits of them that slept. There is no resurrection of life
to those who are condemned sinners, but those who stand in the imputed
righteousness of Christ shall be raised by his power over whom
the grave and hell hold no authority, for in him is no sin. Hereafter
I will talk much with you, for the prince of this world cometh
and hath nothing in me. He is triumphant over sin and
death. He ascended back to the right hand of the Father. This
is a clear testimony to his acceptance with the Father and is a witness
to his deity, as well as an acknowledgment of suitability of his sacrifice. He is now and forever the priest
and king of all those for whom he shed his blood, being both
just and the justifier of them. From that lofty dwelling place
he will return to earth, even as he promised, to gather his
elect from the far reaches of land and sea. And so shall they
ever be with the Lord. Is Christ your sin bearer and
mediator, or do you expect to plead your own case before the
judge of all the earth? For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net