Let me welcome everybody here. It's good to see everybody out
today on this Lord's Day where we can worship and sing praises
and gather together and hear a glorious message from the Word
of God. As you can see, the title of
my message here is Christ Delivered and raised again. Now, you know,
we talk about Christ delivered and raised again in every message.
I mean, if we don't talk about that, it's not a gospel message,
but we're going to talk about some specific things here from
Romans chapter 4 and verses 23 through 25. Let me tell you what
I want to kind of zero in here on first and then we'll get into
these verses. Many scriptures speak of a connection
between the death of Christ and the many benefits that are belong
to those for whom Christ died. The connection in the scriptures
is unmistakable. Christ died for a people, and
the benefits that Christ earned for those people belong to those
people, and those people will have them. There's no doubt about
it. No uncertainty in the scriptures about it. Now this connection
is not a small thing or a light matter. It's a vital thing, and
that's why I want to talk about it a little this morning. Look
with me at the last statement in Romans 4 in verse 24b and
25 here. He's talking about believers
here who believe on Him, a just God and Savior that raised up
Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. The pronoun our
there represents the same group of sinners. Same names, same
number. a particular number, particular
names. Those Christ died for and those
who are justified by his death are one and the same. That's
what the scripture tells us. There is in the scriptures that
connection between the death of Christ and the benefits that
he earned for them that will be theirs for every sinner. They are theirs and they will
be given to them in their lifetime. Christ's death was not an offer
to God in the hopes that Christ would maybe please God and that
maybe someone would be saved. There's no maybe about salvation
in the scriptures. Salvation is a certain thing. Christ's death was an offering
to God that did completely satisfy God and that did, without fail,
save those sinners he died for. The Lord Jesus was delivered
for the offenses of a certain particular multitude of sinners,
and he was raised again for the justification of that same particular
multitude of sinners. I want us to look at some details
of this verse 25, but let's first understand the context here of
Romans 4. We always like to understand the context. Like Bill said in
the back, there's nothing more important in interpreting the
Scriptures than the context you're looking at. The fourth chapter
of Romans is all about, from the beginning to the end, it's
all about the justification of Abraham. There's never a question
whether Abraham was justified or not in Romans 4 now. The issue
in Romans 4 is how Abraham was justified, not by works, but
on the basis of that which the Messiah would work out in his
life and death. Abraham was justified on the
basis of Christ's righteousness accounted, Christ's righteousness
imputed to him, just like every sinner in every generation who's
justified before God. It's on the basis of righteousness
imputed. Moses first wrote about this
in Genesis 15, verse 6. And it says, and he, that is
Abraham, believed in the Lord, and God, that he is God, God
counted it to him for righteousness. Abraham believed in the Lord,
capital L-O-R-D, Jehovah who saves. He believed God's promise
to give him a seed, physical seed, but also a spiritual seed
to give him the Messiah. He believed that the Messiah
would come through his lineage. He believed that through that
Messiah, Christ, all nations of the earth would be blessed,
even unto final glory. It says in Galatians that God
preached the gospel unto Abraham. So, do we know that Abraham understood
the righteousness of God? Yeah, because what does the gospel
always contain? always contains the righteousness
of God. Therein is the righteousness
of God revealed in that gospel, always. So God counted it, that
it. He counted it to him. That's
all the merit of Christ's whole work of mediation. He counted
that to Abraham for righteousness. Now look on with me to the entire
context of Romans 4 and verse 23 through 25. It says, now,
it was not written for his sake alone, that's Abraham, it wasn't
written for Abraham's sake alone that it was imputed to him, but
for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered
for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.
Well, first of all, nothing was written for Abraham's sake. Nothing
was written to benefit Abraham. Why? Because there was no writing
in Abraham's day. God spoke to Abraham directly.
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible many years after
the life and death of Abraham, so it wasn't written for Abraham's
sake. So this should read, and I would
interpret it this way. It was written with a view to
Abraham. It was written regarding Abraham
and others who believe like Abraham. What was written was that all
the merit of Christ's whole work of mediation was imputed to Abraham. That's what Moses wrote back
in Genesis 15 and verse 6, that verse we just looked at. Yet,
the whole merit of Christ's work was imputed to Abraham. Abraham
trusted the righteousness Christ would work out, the righteousness
he would bring in when he came. He rested in Christ's work alone
for all his salvation, as well as all the salvation of his spiritual
seed in every generation. But the blessed fact that righteousness
was imputed to Abraham was not written, it wasn't written regarding
him alone. That is, this thing about righteousness
imputed to a sinner, and that sinner standing forever justified,
forever unchangeably righteous in God's sight, that wasn't written
just for the sake of Abraham. It wasn't written just regarding
Abraham. It was written for every believer
and every generation to whom righteousness is imputed. There
are others besides Abraham who enjoy this benefit. This good
news is written regarding us also, he says. Written for us
also. Regarding us also, to whom righteousness. And it says, shall be. There's
no future in this verb here. This is a present tense verb.
It's written regarding us also to whom righteousness is. And
then there's an emphatic word used here. It's a word of emphasis.
Certainly, is certainly imputed. You could say it's certainly
being imputed. Not that it's being imputed today or yesterday
or tomorrow. Righteousness was imputed to
all God's elect at the same time. I believe that happened in eternity.
But it's not an individual thing. It's something that God himself
reckons to the account of sinners. All at the same time, not individually. This good news is written regarding
us also to whom righteousness is certainly imputed. There are
others other than Abraham to whom righteousness has most assuredly
been imputed. Now, who are they? Well, they're
those in every generation, as it says, who believe on him that
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. There are those in
every generation that look to the same God Abraham looked to.
There are those in every generation that rejoice in the same Savior
Abraham rejoiced in. Abraham looked to Christ. Abraham
looked to the righteousness Christ would work out in his life and
death. He looked to him for all his justification before God.
In John 8 and verse 56, Christ said, Abraham rejoiced to see
my day. And he saw it and was glad. that
Christ's righteousness was imputed to Abraham is written not just
regarding Abraham, but regarding those also in every generation
who look to the same God, the same Christ, the same justifying
righteousness Abraham looked to. In other words, it's written
to true believers in every generation. Look back at Romans 4 and verse
25 now. He's talking about Christ who
was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our
justification. That hour now has been qualified
by those who believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from
the dead. By those to whom, it's those to whom righteousness has
been imputed. It's those who believe the gospel.
It's those who trust Christ, who rest in him for all of salvation. It says here that Christ was
delivered. It's speaking of his substitutionary death on behalf
of his sheep. You see, Christ was a substitute.
He stood in the place of others. He was delivered up as a sacrifice. He was delivered up to the cross.
He was delivered up unto death. He suffered the just punishment
that sin deserved. He suffered the punishment God's
justice deserves of every soul that sins. But how could that
be? since Christ had no sin and did
no sin. The Bible uses emphatic statements
concerning the purity of Christ's person. For instance, 2 Corinthians
5.21 describes Christ as one who knew no sin. 1 Peter 2.22
says that he did no sin. Hebrews 9.14 declares that Christ
offered himself without spot to God. And 1 Peter 3.18 says
he died the just for the unjust. And I'll have you look at Hebrews
7 and verse 26. Now, we know that Hebrews 7 is
about the superiority of Christ. I mean Hebrews in general. The
whole book is about the superiority of Christ. He starts out with
the superiority of Christ over angels, but in these verses he's
talking about the superiority of Christ as a high priest over
those high priests under the old covenant. So, in verse 26
he says, for such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens,
who needeth not daily, as those high priests under that old covenant,
to offer up sacrifice first for his own sins. That high priest
under the old covenant had to offer, first of all, a sacrifice
for his own sins. You see, he was a sinner, but
Christ is not a sinner. Christ never did sin or knew
sin. Who needed not daily as those
high priests to offer up sacrifice first for his own sin and then
for the people's for this Christ did once. Once for all when he
offered up himself. He didn't have to make but one
sacrifice because that one sacrifice got the job done. For the law
maketh men high priests, which have infirmity. But the word
of the oath, thou art a high priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek. The word of the oath, which was
since the law or after the law, maketh the son who is consecrated
forevermore. It's clear from the scriptures
that Christ was sinless. that His person was unpolluted,
uncontaminated by sin, yet He was delivered up unto death,
even the death of the cross. Let's ask and answer three questions
concerning Christ's deliverance. Who delivered Him? Why was He
delivered? And what was the result or the
benefit of His deliverance for every sinner He died for? First,
who delivered Christ up to the cross? Well, Most would say,
and you might say this, evil men did. Wicked men did. Self-righteous men did. They
delivered Christ to the cross. And if you say that, you'd be
right. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 23, when Peter preached
at Pentecost, he told his audience, him, that is Christ, being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Wicked men
took Christ. They crucified him. They slew
him. Wicked men did deliver Christ to the cross, but these evil,
wicked, self-righteous men were only doing what God himself,
a just God, had predetermined, predestined to be done. Look
at Acts chapter 4 and verse 26 through 28. It says, The kings of the earth
stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the
Lord and against His Christ. That's the whole world there
in that phrase right there. That's everybody. That's all
there is. For of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, Both Herod and Pontius Pilate
were the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together.
That's everybody there. I got ahead of myself a little
bit. But this is talking about everybody in the world stood
up against Christ. Nobody stood with Him. Everybody
stood against Him. But why did they do it? For to
do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to
be done. It was God Himself who determined
Christ's death. It was God Himself who delivered
Christ up to the cross. But how could He? How could a
just God send an innocent man to the cross? Since Christ did
no sin and knew no sin, how could He rightly, justly suffer under
the punishment of sin? How is that possible? Well, this
is the second question. Why was Christ delivered? God
delivered Him. Why was He delivered? He was
delivered because the time had come for the surety of the sheep
to pay the debt that He had agreed to pay before the world began. As the surety of God's elect
people, Christ had obligated Himself to pay to His Father
everything owed by those sinners the Father had given Him. He
was under obligation. Now there's a clear passage of
this language found in the book of Philemon. We'll look at this in just a
second. I'll read it. But let me talk about the book of Philemon.
You know the story about Philemon. Philemon was a wealthy landowner,
probably a wealthy man. And he had a slave named Onesimus.
And Onesimus left him. He deserted him. He fled from
Philemon. But in Onesimus' fleeing away,
he came under the sound of Paul the Apostle's preaching, and
God saved him. God delivered him. And Paul is
talking here about Philemon receiving Onesimus back as a brother beloved,
and he's using the language of assurity ship here. You see,
assurity is one who intercedes on behalf of another. He takes
their legal obligation upon himself and really becomes responsible
for that legal obligation. Look at here in these verses.
Paul is talking here, and he's talking to Voliman, and he says,
if thou count me therefore a partner, receive him, that is Onesimus,
as myself. If he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee aught, put that on mine account. I, Paul, have written
it with mine own hand. I will repay it. Now Paul's talking
here about Onesimus. He's talking to Vilemon. But
these are words that Christ spoke to his father in eternity past. As the surety of the sheep, he
said of every one of those that the father had given him, each
one individually, he said, if he has wronged thee or owes you
anything, put it on me. Put it on my account. Charge
it to me. I will repay it. Christ came
to pay the debt, the elect owed to God's justice because of sin.
Now that debt's clear. As Bill said in the back, the
wages of sin is death. The soul that sins, that soul
shall surely die. But as we've already seen, Christ
wasn't suffering for His own sins. He died the death of a
substitute. He died because of imputed sin. He died because God laid on Him
the iniquity of all His people. He died because the sins of His
people were imputed to Him. It was a legal transaction. Look
back at Romans 4 and verse 25. It says, who was delivered for
our offenses and was raised again for our justification. That for
is because of. He was delivered because of our
offenses. Christ represented a particular
people. He substituted himself for a
chosen, the chosen of God, a remnant according to the election of
grace. He died for those sinners. He bore the sins of those sinners.
It's a particular number known only to God whose names are written
in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
On one occasion, Christ's disciples, they'd been sent out two by two
and they were rejoicing that the spirits were subject to them.
They were rejoicing at the great victory they had had over sin
and over Satan that they had encountered. But Christ said,
rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather
rejoice because your names are written in heaven. That's Luke
20 and verse 10. Christ was delivered for those
whose names have always been written in heaven. It was their
offenses that caused him to be delivered. He was delivered unto
death because the offenses, that is the legal guilt and the condemnation
of those sinners he represented had been charged to him. Without
this legal transaction, Christ could not have rightly, justly
suffered the punishment of sin. He did no sin. He knew no sin. He could only suffer justly because
the sin of others had been charged to his account. He suffered what
his people deserved, and they deserved eternal death. Their
sins were made his sins by imputation only. As the surety of these
sinners, Christ came to pay the debt to law and justice that
these sinners owed. They were the cause of Christ
laying down His life unto death. He was delivered because of our
offenses. Christ's death was not a universal
death. He didn't die for all without
exception. He died only for those sinners the Father had given
Him. Only for those whose salvation the Father had entrusted to Him. Why was Christ delivered? He
was delivered to bear the sins of those particular sinners His
Father had given Him to save. He was delivered for our offenses.
Now the last question. The Father delivered him. He
was delivered for those particular sinners and for the offenses
that were laid on him by imputation. What are the results, the benefits
of Christ being delivered? Look at the last part of Romans
4 in verse 25. who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for or because of our justification. Christ didn't just die in hopes
that someone would benefit. Rather, his death accomplished
sure and certain benefits for every sinner he died for. God
didn't just send his son to the cross. He did send him there,
but he didn't just send him there hoping that someone would be
saved. He sent his son to the cross to accomplish the salvation
even under final glory of every sinner he died for. Did Christ
successfully deal with the punishment of the offenses he bore? Did
his death on behalf of his sheep extinguish every possibility
for their punishment? In other words, he died for them. Can they still be punished? Did
His death on their behalf ensure that God's wrath would never
fall on those He died for? The Scriptures declare that it
did, and the Scriptures declare that His sacrifice put away sin. Look at Hebrews chapter 9, verses
24 through 26. It says, Christ is not entered
into the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the
true, but in the heaven itself now to appear in the presence
of God for us. Nor yet that he should suffer
often, that he should offer himself often as a high priest entered
into the holy place every year with the blood of others, 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 by the sacrifice of himself. How effective was Christ's
death in putting away the sins he bore? Well, he put away sin
so completely that those sins will never be brought up again
in the court of God's justice. God will never account legally
those sins to the sinners Christ died for. The language of the
scripture is clear on this. Look at Isaiah 38. Isaiah is
writing here about one of God's elect in his generation, Hezekiah.
Behold, for peace I had great bitterness, but thou hast in
love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for
thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. It's written of Hezekiah. God cast all my sins behind thy
back. And look at Psalm 103 in verse
12. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath God removed our transgressions from us, from
those he loved, from those Christ died for, from those who are
justified by the righteousness of Christ alone. Christ put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself, put it away so completely that it will never be brought
up in the court of God's justice again. And not only did Christ's
death put away the sin of every sinner he died for, his death
also brought in the everlasting righteous that Daniel prophesied
in Daniel 9. Christ's death established the
one righteousness by which God justifies every sinner Christ
represented on the cross. The coming of Christ in time
marked, it began the final age of this world. This age will
end when Christ returns in that second coming. Look at Hebrews
9, 27, the last verse in chapter 9. So Christ was once offered
to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Christ is
coming again. That's the promise of the scriptures.
He's coming without sin, without even the presence of sin. He's
coming for the full and final salvation of his sheep. He's
coming for them that look for him. The question is, who in
this religious world is looking for him? Who is looking for him
who bore the sins of a particular people? Who is looking for him
whose death itself ended God's just demand for the punishment
of those sinners? Who is looking for him whose
obedience unto death established the one righteousness by which
God justifies ungodly sinners? There's only one right answer
to these questions. The only ones looking for Him
are those who know what Christ accomplished at His first coming.
The only ones looking for Him are those who know that His sacrifice,
His death, did indeed put away the sin of every sinner He died
for. And it put it away so completely that it'll never be brought up
again. You're either in Christ this morning, Everybody listening. Me, you, everybody. You're either
in Christ or you're not. Christ either put away your sin
or he didn't. But this is certain. The sacrifice
of Christ put away the sin of every sinner he died for. The
death of Christ put away the sin of every sinner he represented
on the cross. Look back one more time at Romans
4.25. This is that unmistakable connection
the Bible is clear about. Christ went to the cross bearing
the offenses of those particular sinners the Father had given
Him. And He was raised again because of the justification
of those same particular sinners. He was raised from the dead because
He had done everything necessary for God to declare each sinner
He died for righteous in His sight. He had done everything
necessary for the justification of every sinner whose offenses
he bore on the cross. No sinner Christ died for will
perish. No sinner Christ died for can perish. Christ's obedience
unto death His obedience unto death alone has delivered each
of those sinners from all punishment and provided them a righteousness
by which God declares them eternally, unchangeably righteous in his
sight. Now, in case you're thinking
I just overplayed this verse here, in case you're thinking
I got more out of this verse than it's worth, Consider this
same connection in another context that speaks of this unmistakable
connection between Christ's death and the benefits to those for
whom He died. Look at Romans 8 and verse 32.
God that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Now, the apostle asked a question,
but in the apostle's mind, the answer to the question he asked
here is an obvious question. God shall freely give all things
to those for whom Christ was delivered up. He was delivered
up for those sinners. His death accomplished all things
for them, and each of them will receive the full benefits of
His obedience unto death. Justification, sanctification,
reconciliation, regeneration, pardon of sin, forgiveness, final
glory, all those benefits already theirs, just waiting to be communicated
unto the gospel to those sinners. Look at another context that
talks of this same connection. Look at Isaiah 53, verses 4 and
5. Surely Christ hath borne our
griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Speaking prophetically,
Isaiah said, with his stripes we are healed. The Apostle Peter,
referring to this same passage, says, by his stripes, we were
healed in 1 Peter 2, 24. The message is this. His stripes
healed every sinner whose griefs Christ bore, whose sorrows he
carried, whose transgressions and iniquities he was wounded
and bruised for. These sinners don't need to be
healed. They already are healed. They only need to learn what
Christ has done himself to heal them. And that's why we preach
the gospel in this generation. That's why we send it out to
the whole world. Let's look at one more context,
and I'll be through with this subject. Consider 2 Corinthians
5, 21. For God hath made him, that is
Christ, to be sin for us, Christ who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. God made Christ to
be sinned legally by imputation for a multitude of sinners. And
that same multitude of sinners has been made the righteousness
of God in him. The same just God that delivered
Christ up to the cross also raised him up again. God delivered him
for a purpose. He delivered him to pay the debt
of his people, and he raised him again because that debt had
been paid in full. He raised him again because the
sinners he died for are forever justified by the righteousness
his obedience unto death provided. Christ's resurrection from the
dead is a declaration from God that law and justice have been
satisfied, that righteousness has been established, that the
sinners Christ died for are free from all legal guilt and forever
righteous based on Christ's imputed righteousness alone. Christ's
death for those sinners and the benefits he merited by his death
are inseparably connected. The good news of the gospel is
that Christ's death has brought salvation to a multitude of God's
choosing. It's a declaration that Christ's
death and the benefits of his death for every sinner he died
for are inseparable. The command of the gospel is
look to Christ. Look to Christ alone for all
your standing and acceptance with God. Look to Christ, the
one I've attempted to set before you here. Look to Christ because
in Him is plenteous redemption. Look to Christ because He will
save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. Christ
delivered and raised again. Delivered to pay the debt of
His people. Raised again because He paid
that debt in full. Who could want, who could rest
in any other but Him?