Answer this question. Find the answer to this question
and you will have no trouble understanding everything else
written in the book of God. Why did Christ have to die? That's my subject. Why did Christ
have to die? Without question, the most wondrous
of all God's works is the work of redemption. When we attempt
to contemplate what that great work involved, we're utterly
lost in astonishment. When we think about the unutterable
depths of shame, sorrow, and woe into which the Lord of glory
humbled himself, and was brought at last in death as our substitute,
were utterly staggered with amazement. God the Son became one of us. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. God took on himself our nature,
became one of us, and made himself of no reputation He who is Lord
of all and creator of all became servant. He took on himself the
form of a servant. This one who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God. And he did so that he might lay
down his life at last as our substitute. As we trace the path
of our Lord from the throne of life to the tomb of death. And we behold what we can of
all he endured. We're lost in unfathomable depths that we
cannot begin to comprehend. We recognize without question,
we understand that all these things our Lord Jesus endured
exactly according to the purpose of God as it was ordained before
the world was made. And yet His path through this
world was a path of unutterable, immeasurable sorrow and anguish,
ignominy, pain and woe, and was consummated at last when He was
made sin for us and forsaken of his father, and his father
cries awake, O sword, against the man that is my fellow, smite
and slay the shepherd. Standing as I want and try and
pray for grace every day and every hour to do, as I now do
and I hope God will give you grace to do at the foot of the
cross, As we behold Him nailed to the cursed tree, covered with
His own blood, covered with the spit of men, made sin for us. We stand here in amazement. The hymn writer put it this way,
yonder amazing sights. I see the incarnate Son of God
expiring on the tree and weltering in His blood. Behold, a purple
torrent run down from His hands and head. The crimson tide puts
out the sun. His groans awake the dead. The trembling earth, the darkened
sky proclaim the truth aloud, and with the amazed centurion
cry, This is the Son of God. Or as I am, overcome with reverence
for Him, still this question demands an answer. Why? Why did the Son of God suffer
these things? Why did the Lord of Glory take
on Himself our nature? Why did He bear our sin in His
own body on the tree? Why did He die the just for the
unjust? Why did Christ have to die? We are told He died to save our
souls. I know that. You know that. He died that we might live. He
suffered that we might never suffer. But was there no other
way for the omnipotent God to save me, to save you. We're told that he did all of
this to demonstrate his great love for us. And truly the scriptures
declare, God commendeth his love toward us, and that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Hereby perceive we the
love of God, because he laid down his life for us. John said,
herein is love. This is where it is. Not that
we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Yes, He died to show us the love
of God. But surely, surely, surely, God
could show us His love without sacrificing His Son. I know your
love for me and not one of you has died for me. I know that
woman's love for me and she hasn't died for me. Surely then, God
could show us his love without sacrificing his Son. What necessity
was there for the Son of God to suffer and die upon the cursed
tree? Now, get the answer, and I want
to show it to you as plainly as I can from the Scriptures.
Christ had to die because the justice of God had to be satisfied. No, God didn't have to save anybody. Salvation is entirely up to Him. Salvation is God's sovereign
prerogative. But having chosen to save sinners,
the only way God in His justice could save such wretches as we
are, the only way God could forgive sin and not cease to be God is
through the satisfaction of His own justice. that no other way
without the shedding of blood is no remission of sins. Now this is a matter of paramount
importance. The satisfaction of justice by
the sacrifice of God's Son, the satisfaction of justice by the
bleeding and dying of the Son of God is absolutely essential
to everything called Christianity. Take away the sin-atoning sacrifice
of Christ, and that which men call Christianity is of no more
benefit, of no more use to men than Aesop's fables, Islam, or
Hinduism. The whole of Christianity stands
or falls with the efficacy of Christ's atonement upon the cursed
tree. Among the countless damnable
heresies taught in our day, And it seems like every day somebody
else comes up with some new foolish notion concerning God and His
salvation. Among all the countless damning
heresies taught in our day, none is more common and none is more
destructive to the souls of men, none more thoroughly robs God
of His glory than the denial of Christ's satisfaction. The
Apostle Paul, we looked at it the other day. I've recalled
your attention to it several times the last few weeks. He
said, those who tread underfoot the blood of the Son of God and
count the blood of that covenant an unholy, a common thing, something
equal to and available to and made perfect for all, something
common to men, those men shall bring upon themselves eternal
damnation, and they are worthy of it. Perhaps no passage in
Scripture states more clearly the necessity of Christ's satisfaction
that Hebrews chapter 2. I want you to turn there and
hold your Bibles open to two verses of Scripture. Hebrews
2 verse 9. Hebrews chapter 2 verse 9. Let's just look at it line by
line. Very carefully. Brother Darwin and I were talking
the other night coming back from Pike Point. He said to me, he
said, I'm convinced we read the Scriptures too quickly. We read
over the Scriptures. Let's pause and read this thing
word by word and line by line. We see Jesus. God created man to have dominion
over everything. God created man to have dominion
over the angels themselves. When He created man on the earth,
He told him, said, this is yours. You can have it. Everything here
except this tree by which you will continually acknowledge
my right as God. Everything else is yours. And
Adam refused the commandment of God. And he rebelled against
Him and plunged our race into sin and death under the curse
of the law. But God's purpose hasn't changed.
His purpose is that everything be put under the feet of man.
But we see not yet all things put under our feet. No, but we
see Jesus. We see a man seated on the throne
of God under whose feet God Almighty has put everything in subjection
and under whose feet everything soon shall bow. And in that man,
God's purpose for the universe is accomplished. We see Jesus
with the eye of faith. We see Him because God has given
us eyes to behold Him, because God has revealed Him to us and
in us. We see Him as our Savior, the
Christ of God. We see in Him all the fullness
of the Godhead. I can't stress it enough. He
who is the man, Jesus Christ, our Savior, is Himself all God. All God that is in His body,
in the body of that man, in that human being resides all the fullness
of the triune God. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. inner body. Wow! How do you explain that? I can't
explain that. I'd say he's a lot bigger than I am, but I know
it so. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of divinity. We see him full
of grace. Full of grace. Not having grace,
full of grace. Full of grace. Full of grace
not for himself, but for sinners. Full of grace for his people.
Full of grace as the mediator. And we see in him all the fullness
of redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Redemption through his
blood. We see him as Christ our Redeemer.
We see Him as the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Lord our
righteousness. We see Him as our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Do you so see Him? If you do,
it's because God's called you to see Him. Rejoice and give
thanks. Second, look at the text again. Who was made a little lower than
the angels. He who made the angels. was made
lower than the angels. Made lower than the angels. He
was made of the seed of woman. He was made to be a man. Made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. This is the reason for the incarnation.
This is why Christ was made a little lower than the angels. Look at
this next line. For the suffering of death. Sin couldn't touch Him. Pain couldn't reach Him. Death could not be His, except
He be made a man like you and me. He was made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death, that He might suffer
and die in the room instead of His people. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
God's darling son, did not become a man just so he could be some
little peanut dictator over in Palestine. He did not become
a man to become a religious reformer. He did not become a man so that
he could start a new way of religion. He did not become a man just
to teach men a better way to worship God. He became a man
because that's the only way God could die in our stead. God could
never, never suffer He could never, never die. He could never,
never be put to shame. But the God-man came here so that he could be,
and that's what he endured. We see him, who since he suffered
and died in the place of his people, the Lord Jesus Christ
is now crowned with glory and honor. Christ is exalted. I can't tell you how many times
I've thought about that passage in recent days in regard to so
many things. When Mr. Spurgeon was just a
young man and God was so greatly blessing his ministry after he
moved to London Thousands came to hear him. And they rented
the Surrey Garden Music Hall to hold meetings because they
just couldn't accommodate them in the church building. Thousands
of people. And when Spurgeon preached at Surrey Garden Music
Hall, there were gathered in that assembly, if I remember
correctly, 23,000 people. Huge place. And some fools. in an attempt
to be humorous, cried, Fire! Fire! And the hordes of people
began to scramble to get out of the place. Many were injured. Many were injured. Several were
killed. And Spurgeon was devastated.
Nineteen years old. He just couldn't bring himself
to preach. He was just devastated. He thought he would never preach
again. And one day, His dear wife read to him Philippians
chapter 2, God also hath highly exalted him. And he said to her, wifey, I
believe I can preach Sunday. And he went back to his people
and preached from Philippians chapter 2. on Christ exalted. Understand this, children of
God. He who redeemed you with His
blood sets yonder on the throne in absolute power, with absolute
sovereignty. He dwells in the serenity of
absolute dominion as your Savior and your Redeemer. What does
that mean? That means whoever he puts in
the White House will be okay. What does that mean? That means
whatever he does with me and mine is all right. That means
whatever he does with you and yours is well. All his ways are
wise and just and good. He who is our Redeemer is now
crowned with glory and honor. Look at the next line. Christ
was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for
every man. Now, what are you going to do
with that? I'm going to read it just like
it says. I'm going to read it in its context. And I'm going
to read it with the meaning with which it was intended. The word
every, at the end of the line, or the
word man, rather, at the end of the line, shouldn't be there.
You will often see in writing where men are going to list things.
He did this for every period, period, period, and then you
go listing them, one after the other. That's exactly what the
Spirit of God is doing right here. There is no corresponding
word for man in the text. That's the reason our translators
wrote it the way they did. They translated it with the word
man in there simply to make the sentence read smoothly, not to
stop the sentence. In the context The Spirit of
God tells us plainly for whom Christ tasted death. He did not
taste death for every human being. He did not taste death for all
the sons of Adam. Certainly He did not taste death
for those for whom He refused to pray. He did not taste death
for those who suffer the wrath of God in hell. No. There is
no hint anywhere in this book, there is no hint anywhere in
this book that Jesus Christ died for folks who wind up in hell.
Not a hint of it. Not a hint of it. But what does
the text tell us? Look at this. That He, by the
grace of God, should taste death for every one of the sons He
would bring to glory. Do you see it in verse 10? That
he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every one of
the brethren he's not ashamed to call his own. Verse 11. He,
by the grace of God, tasted death for every member of his church
in the midst of which he sings God's praise. Verse 12. He, by
the grace of God, tasted death for every one of the children
of God the Father, that the Father had given him to save, for whose
sake he assumed flesh and blood. Verse 13. And look at verse 16. He took not on him the nature
of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. What a distinct
way to write. He came here not taking hold
of the seed of Adam. He didn't take hold of the seed
of Adam. He didn't take hold of all men. He took hold of Abraham's
seed. He took on him the responsibility
for the salvation of Abraham's seed, his covenant people, the
chosen seed, that he might take on him the seed of Abraham, God's
elect, and save them. Why was the Son of God made so
humble as to suffer and die for His people? What necessity was
there? Look at verse 10. For it became
him. It was necessary, if God would
save sinners and bring them to glory, that the Son of God must
suffer in their room instead all that the law and justice
of God could demand. The scriptures plainly declare
that this is the necessity for Christ's death. How many times
do you read in the Word of God, especially in the Gospels, about
our Lord Jesus' death as something that must be done? The Son of
Man must be delivered into the hands of the Romans and the Jews.
The Son of God must be lifted up. The Son of God must go to
Jerusalem and suffer and die and rise again the third day.
What's the necessity for it? Well, certainly because God decreed
it. No question about that. He died according to the decree
of God. Certainly he must die upon the
cursed tree because of his covenant engagements as our surety. Certainly
he must do so because all the prophecies and all the types
of the law required that he be lifted up from the earth. He
did so for the election of grace to save his people. And then
Paul says in the next line, where it says, it became him. That
is, it was necessary for God to slay his son, to save his
people, lest we begin to think that somehow this implies a weakness
in God. Unless we somehow begin to think,
well, this somehow limits God's sovereignty. He immediately describes
our God with these words, for whom are all things. We have a wondrous declaration
of the character of God. For whom are all things and by
whom are all things. Well, how far do you carry that? How far do you carry that? Dare
we read that just exactly the way the book writes it? Dare
we? Dare we read it any other way?
For of him, and through him, and to him are all things to
whom be glory forever." God Almighty is that one for whom all things
are. The Lord hath made all things
for himself, yea, even the wicked, for the day of judgment. All
things are for him. Well, Mother Dunn, can you explain
how This thing, that thing, this thing, or that other thing is
going to redound to God's glory? No. No. I can't explain it. And I can't deny it either. And
I don't want to deny it. God's the first cause of everything. Well, that destroys man's responsibility.
Take that up with God if you want to. No, it doesn't destroy
anything. God's the first cause of everything.
He may use Satan to bring you trouble, and He does. He may
use your neighbor to bring you trouble, and He will. He may
use your wife, your son, your daughter, your husband to bring
you trouble, He's still the first cause. What was it that brought
Job's misery? What was it? Well, Satan went
out and brought all this on Job. God said He held Job up before
Him and just kind of shook him in his face. He said, look here
at My servant Job. Have you considered My servant
Job? Alright, you can do this, and you can do that, and you
can do that. No, you can't touch his life. No, you can't do it. He's the first cause of all things.
So whatever your pain is, God did it. Whatever my pain is, my Heavenly
Father did it. God forgive me, I often rebel. I wish I didn't have to acknowledge
that, but honesty compels me to. You see, I'm just a child,
and you who raise children, Did you ever have one to willingly
go get the belt or the paddle? Did you ever have, Daddy, but
I sure messed up. I need to be spanked. Go get
the paddle. I'll bend over here and wait for you. Never saw it
happen. Never saw it happen. But as they
mature and get a little older, oh, Dad, thank you so much for
loving me enough to care. to correct, to teach. Oh, my father, thank you so much
for loving me enough to care, to correct, to teach, to wean
me of this world. If he didn't, Maurice, we'd suck
it like a baby sucking a pacifier till he breaks our of Him, all things. He's the
first cause. All things are for Him and all
things are by Him. Here's His object in bringing many sons to glory. That's what He's doing. Those
whom Christ came to save are many. They are the sons of God. They were His sons before Christ
came to redeem them. But they could not be brought
to glory except Christ redeemed them. He came here. It became
Him in bringing many sons to glory. Sons we are by God's election. We were his sons secretly in
eternal predestination. We are made his sons openly and
manifestly in regeneration when he calls us by his grace. And
we by faith then receive the adoption of sons so that when
God gives us his spirit, gives us life and faith in Christ,
we lift our hearts to heaven, look God square in the face in
the full awareness of our sins and in the full consciousness
of sin forgiven and Christ That's my Father! God's Father, which
art in heaven. Our Father, Abba Father. Bob Duff, you can lift your heart
to heaven and call God your Father. Now, what should disturb you? What should make you uneasy?
Rita, the person By whom God's elect are brought to glory is
Christ the captain of our salvation. He's called the captain of our
salvation because He's the one in charge
of it. He's called the captain of our salvation because He's
the one responsible for it. He's called the captain of our
salvation because He alone can accomplish it. And as the captain
of our salvation, He was made perfect through sufferings. Wait a minute, Brother Don. He
was perfect before He came here. Yes, He was. But He wasn't a
perfect Savior. He was perfect before He came
here. Yes, He was. But He wasn't a perfect Redeemer.
He was perfect before He came here. Indeed He was, but He wasn't
a perfect surety. A perfect man, yes. The perfect
God, yes. A perfect prophet, yes. A perfect
priest, yes. But not yet a perfect Redeemer. The only way He could be made
complete, that's the word. The only way He could be made
complete as our Mediator, as our Savior, as our Redeemer,
is through His suffering death in our room and in our stead. Though He were a Son, yet learned
He obedience by the things which He suffered, and being made perfect,
He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey Him. This is what the Spirit of God
teaches us here in Hebrews 2, 9 and 10. Since it was the design,
purpose, and pleasure of the Almighty to bring many of the
sons of Adam into eternal glory and happiness as the sons of
God, it was necessary for Christ, the darling son of God, to suffer
all that the law and justice of God demanded to the full satisfaction
of justice so that God could call to sinners and bid sinners
come to Him as a just God and a Savior because of His infinite, infinite,
infinite love for our souls. The satisfaction of Christ does
not cause God to love us. It was not to make Jehovah's
love toward the sinner flame that Jesus from the throne above
a suffering man became. It was not the death which He
endured, nor all the pains He bore that God's eternal love
procured, for God was loved before. But by the sacrifice of His Son,
by slaying His Son, by pouring out His wrath upon His Son, until
there was no more fury, no more anger, no more vengeance in Him,
God Almighty poured out His love upon us. and still pours out
His love upon us. For it is through His crimson
wounds, through His precious blood, through the river of His
sin-atoning blood that God pours out His grace continually upon
chosen sinners. John Gill made a statement, I'd
like to give it to you before I quit. I'll wrap it up. He said, let me observe to you
something relating to experience, which you would do well to lay
up in your minds. It may be of use to you hereafter
when you may be tempted to doubt your interest in Christ's satisfaction. Have you any reason to believe
that you have at any time had communion with God? In private or in public? In your closet or in the family
or in the house of God? Under any ordinance? Either the
ministry of the word or prayer or the supper of the Lord? then
you may be assured Christ made satisfaction for you, or you
would never have enjoyed such communion. Shelby and I were talking this
morning after reading, she read to me Spurgeon's scripture reading
for yesterday. He spoke of one who of old Speaking
of Jacob's well, Christ the well of life, and he said, I've been
dipping at this well for many years, and now my thirst for
Him is such that I want to pick the well up and take the whole
thing to my lips. Brother Scott Richardson standing
here many years ago, preaching, said the day may come when I
get Alzheimer's disease Lose my mind and just take a little
bit for God to take away. And I won't know Him or you. And I won't know anything about
my interest in Him. The day may come when I can't
see His blood for the life of me. But that's not the important
thing. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. And His eye is on the blood. It was on the blood before ever
we came into this world. It's on the blood now. And it
will be on the blood forever when we see Him face to face
and enjoy His communion in the perfection of heavenly glory. His eye will still be on the
blood. And that's how sinners draw near to God. Oh, come then
to the Savior. Trust His blood and live forever. Amen.