Would you turn back to Romans
chapter four? I've entitled the message for
this morning, what is the gospel? This question should be answered
in every message preached. A message preached that doesn't
answer this question is a message that ought not to have been preached.
What is the gospel? God uses from Genesis chapter
1 verse 1 to Revelation chapter 22 verse 21 to answer this question. That gives us some idea of the
infinite importance of the Word of God. God inspired this book,
and without this book, we have nothing. All we have is my opinion,
all we have is somebody else's opinion, and we're not gonna
get very far with that, are we? Every word of this book God breathed. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. All scripture. But in this passage I just read,
there is no more succinct summary of Genesis 1-1 through Revelation
22-21 than this one verse of scripture found in verse 25 of
our text. Who, speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. This is a summary as it were
of this whole book. This one verse of scripture encapsulates
the entire word of God. Now let's back back to verse
23 of Romans chapter 4. Now It was not written for his sake
alone that it was imputed to him. And here's our foundation.
It's written. It's written. Oh, thank God it's
written. And what's written. It was not
written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him. What was imputed to him? Well, look in verse six of this
same chapter. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man. You wanna know who a blessed
by God man is? Even as David describeth the
blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth, Righteousness without
works. Now what in the world does that
mean? God imputing righteousness without works. If my checking account is overdrawn,
hope nobody's checking account in here is overdrawn, but it
is. If my checking account is overdrawn, And I say, well, I'm
gonna impute $1,000 into that account. What happens? No good at all. I'm still overdrawn. This thing of imputing something
is not counting something that it's
not. That's the way most people look
at the imputation of righteousness. Well, it's God saying you're
righteous and counting you legally righteous even though you're
not. It's kind of like justification being just as if I never sinned.
If that's the case, I still sinned. That won't do me any good. Imputation has to do with God
imputing righteousness to me because I am in fact righteous. 2 Corinthians 5, 21 says, for
he hath made him to be sin for us. As a matter of fact, why
don't you turn there? I want you to look at this with
your own eyes. 2 Corinthians chapter five. Sometimes I think
it's more effective to see, read it than it is just to hear it.
And I want you to see what this verse of scripture says. 2 Corinthians
5, verse 21, for he, God the Father, hath made him, the Lord
Jesus Christ, sin. Sin. Do you wanna know what sin is? Look at the cross. There it is. When God forsook his son. All the sins of all of the elect
became his sin. He became guilty of the commission
of that sin. Now, he never sinned in his own
person, you and I know that, but when he took on my guilt,
he became guilty of the commission of that sin. For he hath made him to be sin
for us as a substitute who knew no sin. Me and you know sin real well,
don't we? We know it real well. He didn't. He'd never experienced
sin. He knew no sin that we might
be made. What's the next words? The righteousness
of God. In him. Now, when God imputes
righteousness to me, it's because I'm righteous. The righteousness
of God. As a matter of fact, this is
not some kind of a trick accounting move where I changed the ledger. And now all of a sudden, um,
uh, no, nothing like that. God imputes righteousness because
every believer has been made the very righteousness of God
in him. Now understand this, imputation
has to do with reality. It has to do with fact. The reason
he imputes righteousness to the believer is because he made them
righteous and that's what they are. Every believer and go back
to our text in Romans chapter four. Now it was not written for his
sake alone. Speaking of Abraham, that it
was imputed to him, this thing of righteousness, but for us
also. Now I'm interested in this, aren't
you? I'm interested in having righteousness imputed to me. Because I am the righteousness
of God because of what Christ died for me, that greatly interest
me. I want to enter in to this. That was not written just for
Abraham, but for me and you here this morning, April 17th, 2022 for us also to whom it shall
be imputed. And that word shall be is actually
in the present tense. It's not something that's gonna
happen in the future, but it's imputed to us right now if we
believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Now let me ask you a question. I'm not asking you if you believe
you're saved. I'm not asking you if you believe
you're a Christian. I'm asking you if you believe
on him who raised up Jesus. Our Lord from the dead. Today is a day where billions
of people are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And they have no idea why he
died. or no idea why he was raised from the dead. Now this is what
I want us to understand by the grace of God this morning. Why he died and why he was raised
from the dead. Now here is the answer to that
question. Who was delivered for our offenses. That's a good word for sin, isn't
it? An offense to God. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. Now we have to begin here who
was delivered for our offenses, and who was raised again for
our justification. The gospel does not begin with
a what, it begins with a who. Do you know when you're gonna
realize that you're a sinner? When you know who he is, and
not before then. It's all just, and I don't want
to ever use the word doctrine in a negative view because it's
the doctrine of God, but it's all just doctrine that you haven't
experienced if you haven't seen who he is. And if you ever see
who he is, you will know that you are a sinner. And not until then. then your
sins will be offenses, affronts to the God of glory. Who was delivered for our offenses? Everything is predicated on who
He is. And this is the gospel, who He
is. He's a man, obviously, He died. He died. Only flesh and blood
dies. But the fact that he was delivered
for our offenses means he had none of his own. What man could have no offenses
of his own? The God man. The one who died
is the son of God, the God man, the creator of the universe who
took upon flesh and in the flesh he died. Yes, he's the son of
Mary. Yes, he's born of a virgin with
no sinful nature, but he is the eternal, uncreated, son of God,
the God-man, Christ Jesus the Lord, the second person of the
blessed Trinity. Now, hold your finger there and
turn to Hebrews 1. This is one of the most thrilling
statements with regard to the person of Christ that you'll
find in all of scripture. God, Hebrews chapter 1, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the
fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days." Every day that is counted between the resurrection
of Christ and His second coming is the last days. We're in the
last days. We've been in the last days 2,000
years. Are these the last of the last
days? I don't know. I don't know. A lot of people
say they are, and I hope they are. Wouldn't you be happy if
the Lord came back today? Oh, but when will he come back? I don't know, but I know we are
in the last days. Somebody says, these days are worse than any
days that ever been. No, they're not, there've been
worse days. And there will be worse days, there'll be... They are the last days. Hath
in these last days spoken unto us by sun. You know what that
means? Here's what God has to say. Here's
the word of God, this is my son. In whom I am well pleased, hear
ye him. This is God's word. Now look what he says with regard
to his son. whom He, God the Father, hath
appointed heir of all things. God's given everything to His
Son. Everything. You know why He's all? Because
He's all. God has given everything to His
Son. By whom also He made the worlds. Jesus of Nazareth said, let there
be light. And there was light. He is the
creator. All things were made by him and
for him. It's not about me and you. It's
just not who being the brightness of. Notice the word his is in italics. Like he is a reflected glory. He's not a reflected glory. He is the brightness of glory. He is the express image. All you will ever see of God
is Jesus Christ. Somebody says, how can you say
that? Because he said, he that has seen me has seen the father. And what else is said regarding
this person who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. He upholds all things by the
word of his power. The last breath you took, he
willed it. You know, we talk about that
being an involuntary, you know, when's the last time you thought
about it? I need to breathe. You know, we don't even think
about it. We don't even think about it. The only reason you
breathe is because he willed it. And when He wills it, He
can withhold your last breath from you. You're in His hand.
He upholds all things. Everything that there is, He's
in control of. Everything that there is, He
is the first cause of. And you can't take that too far.
He upholds all things and it's not hard for Him. He doesn't expend energy in doing
this. He does it simply by nod. And look what it says next. When
he had by himself, oh, I'm thankful for that. No aid from me or you. When he had by himself purged,
made not to be, washed away our sins, He sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high, having finished his work. You
see, he is the only one who has the ability to do what he did. I mean, you don't have this ability. He kept God's law perfectly.
He never sinned. And he had the ability by his
death for God to be satisfied with what he did. You see, If
I died for you, would God have any satisfaction out of that?
No. You're the one that sinned. And
would there be any saving efficacy in me dying in the first place?
No, I'm a sinner. The only one who has the power
to satisfy the claims of God's offended justice is Jesus of
Nazareth, the Son of God. He satisfied God to this extent. And this is true of every believer.
God is satisfied with you. He's not looking for anything
else. He's not waiting for anything else to happen. God is satisfied
with you. Now that's the one who was delivered
for our offenses. Who delivered him. Who delivered him? Well, the
scripture says in Acts chapter two, verse 23, him being delivered
by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. Listen, the universe was created
for him to be delivered just like this. He was delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Everything is for this,
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, where God makes himself known. There would be no true knowledge
of God apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, apart
from him being delivered. Listen to this scripture, Romans
8, verse 32, But what delivered him up for
us all? How shall he not? What could
possibly prevent him from freely, happy without a cause in you,
What can I do to merit this? Nothing. What can I do to deserve
this? Nothing. Nothing. Don't think
about what you could do to merit this. His reason was found wholly
in himself. He was responding to himself,
not to you. He delivered his son. Oh, the
absolute justice of God. When sin was in his son, God
killed him. He's no respecter of persons.
What love that He would deliver up His Son for folks like me
and you. What glorious obedience on the part of the Lord Jesus
Christ that He would rather die, He would choose death over having
His Father's law dishonored. What love that He would be obedient
to death. God said, go to the cross and
be nailed there. Yes, Father. What obedience. What love to His bride. He would
go to the cross to put away their sin in obedience to his father. He delivered his own son. Why did he deliver him? Who was delivered? Him. God delivered him. Why did he
deliver him? for our offenses. For our offenses. Now I cannot properly understand
this verse of scripture unless I understand who is represented
by our. He was delivered for our offenses. If I say, this building is ours,
and it is, this building is ours. What if somebody across the street
came in and said, well, I'm going to take share of it, too? I wasn't
talking to you. You're not part of the ours.
This building is ours. Well, you said ours. I'm laying
claim. No, you can't. No, you can't. The ours is everybody he died
for. The ours is the elect of God. Not all men without exception.
Now why do I make a point of this? And I have to make a point
of it every time I talk about the atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ. His atonement atoned. And if
I would say he died for somebody and paid for their sins and that
person ends up in hell, even though he died for him, you know
what I'm saying? His death is not enough to save.
Something else is needed. You need to bring something to
the table. You need to do something to activate what he did. That's
not good news. That's called salvation by works. Salvation depended upon what
you do. Now the hours is talking about
everybody he died for. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. He didn't die for goats. He died
for his sheep. And let me remind you, if somebody
starts thinking, well, that's not fair that you didn't die
for everybody. If God gives you what's fair, he'll send you to
hell right now, right now. So don't talk that way. The only
hope you have is what we're talking about. The only hope I have is
what we're talking about, that he died for our offenses. Now,
do you have offenses? What a name for sin, an offense
against God. He died, he was delivered for
our offenses. What an appropriate name. offenses
against God. All sin must be punished because
God is holy. All sin must be punished. All
sin will be punished. There's never been a sin committed
that has not been punished either in the substitute or in you. God is just. He was delivered
for our offenses and When he was in Gethsemane's garden,
a cup was brought before him. And he saw the content of that
cup. And he began to sweat great drops
of blood. Because he saw the content of
that cup. And the content of that cup was
our offenses. And he knew he was called upon
to drink the content of that cup, the most grotesque, hideous
thing anyone could ever imagine drinking sin. He drank that cup. He said, Father,
If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. If there's any
other way they could be saved than this, let this cup pass. But he knew it was not possible. He said, the cup which my father
had given me to drink, shall I not drink it? He drank the
content of that cup. And that's what Peter means when
he says he bear our sins in his own body. He drank the content
of that cup and my sin he drank into his own body. And you know what he did? He
died. He was delivered for our offenses
and he died. You see, he suffered the full
equivalent of eternal hell. Now nobody in hell has ever suffered
the full equivalent of eternal hell because hell lasts for eternity. Why? Because satisfaction can
never be made. God can never be satisfied with
my payment for my sin. It can never satisfy his justice,
but Christ did. But he bore the full equivalent
of eternal hell and he died. Why did Christ die? For our offenses. He was delivered for our offenses. And the scripture says the wages
of sin is death. There's only one reason for death.
It's not cancer. It's not any other kind of heart
disease. The reason for death is sin. He died. Why? Because of our
offenses. They were made his and he died
under the wrath of God. They took him down from the cross
as a lifeless corpse. The God-man died. One of the
great mysteries of the gospel. The God-man died. They took him down as a lifeless
corpse. They put him in a tomb. He was dead. They rolled a stone
over the tomb. He was dead. And sometime during
that stillness and darkness in that tomb, as he lay there as
a dead corpse, all of a sudden, you could see his lungs heave. You could see him take a breath.
His heart began to pump blood once again. He was raised from
the dead. Why? For our justification. He was delivered for our offenses
and he was raised again for our justification. Romans chapter
5 verse 9 says, being now justified by his blood. Now understand this or believe
it. You won't much understand it,
but believe it. If Christ died for you, you stand before God
having never sinned without guilt. And he didn't just wipe the slate
clean. Better than that. You stand before
God as having done everything which he required perfectly. And you've never committed a
sin. That's what justification means. Oh, what rest we have in that. There's nothing else required.
ALL GOD REQUIRES OF ME, I'VE DONE. BECAUSE THE PERFECT DOING
OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS MINE. NOT ONLY DID HE TAKE MY SIN,
HE GIVES ME HIS PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS. AND WHEN GOD SAYS TO ME ON JUDGMENT
DAY, WELL DONE, THOU GOOD, and faithful servant. You say, how
could he say that to me? Because you did well. Because
when Christ did well, you did. He said, thus it becometh us
to fulfill all righteousness. He was delivered. God delivered him for our offenses. He was raised again for our justification. Here's what God sees when he
sees me, and let me emphasize what God sees is the way it is.
The way you and I see, we don't see things the way they are,
we just don't. Especially me, I'm clueless all the time. I have to, I see something and
I don't know what, I can't read between the lines. I'm dependent
on Lynn to tell me what just took place. You know, I can't
see, but God sees real well. He sees perfectly. And the scripture
says with regard to every believer, In Colossians 1.22, we're holy
and unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight. Now that's the power of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, question. How perfect is
Jesus Christ? That's how perfect you are. That is the Gospel. Now the message of this book,
The Foundation of Salvation, is the life, the death, the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the message. That's the
message. I love what Paul said, Who is
he that condemneth? Bring it on! Bring it on! Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea rather, that's risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. Now in closing, he was delivered
for our justification. He was raised again, or he was
delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.
Therefore, therefore, Being justified. Having been justified. By faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the moment the Lord Jesus
Christ died, every believer was justified. When Christ was raised from the
dead, why was he raised? Because of our justification.
There's no reason, sin put away. It's gone. I had no sin. Christ
put it away. Because of who Christ is, he
couldn't stay dead. It was not possible that death
should, he should behold nothing. Peter said in Acts chapter two.
He's raised from the dead. Therefore, having been justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The empty tomb. What's in it? Nothing. Where
are your sins? Don't have any. They're gone. That's what the empty tomb says.
He put them away. Now, by faith, we have peace
with God. Now understand this, faith is
not a leap into the dark. I can have faith that I can fly.
But I don't have any, let's say I think, well, I believe I can
fly. And I go up on the central bank building downtown, tallest
building in Lexington, and jump off. I believe I can fly. Well, what's gonna happen to
me? I'm gonna get, it's not gonna look good. And I'm gonna be dead.
And my faith was totally ungrounded. It was blind faith indeed. I
didn't have any reason to believe that. That's blind faith. Faith is grounded in the empty
tomb. Christ was raised from the dead. It's believing the Word of God.
Faith believes He was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. Here's what that means. Faith is not believing that I'm
saved. Understand this. I've said this
a lot in the last year. I need to say it more. Faith
is not believing I'm one of the elect. Faith is not even believing
that Jesus Christ died for my sins. Faith is believing that
God raised him from the dead and this is all my salvation. You believe that? You don't have
anywhere else to look? This is all my salvation. By faith we have peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I love the way he said,
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That makes us not
look at, that makes us look, no, our peace is all in him. He's the God of peace. He's the
Prince of peace. The gospel is the gospel of peace.
And this peace that every believer has in believing on him that
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. This piece
is through our Lord Jesus Christ and nowhere else. The hardest thing and the easiest thing that you and I are ever called
to do. is to trust Christ alone. So hard that you won't do it
and can't do it unless God gives you the grace. And yet it's the
easiest thing. I don't have, it's not like I'm
given a choice. It's not like I have a couple
of options. I don't have any other options.
Christ only. By faith, we have peace with
God. That's not the faith that created
that peace. He was delivered from our fences
and raised again for our justification. What's the evidence that you're
justified? Can you look at yourself and say, yep, I'm justified.
Look at that perfect life. No, I look to Christ only. Nowhere else. And that is the
evidence. That is what Paul called the
joy and the peace of believing. May God enable each one of us
to enter in to the joy and the peace of believing that everything
God requires of me, he looks to Jesus Christ, his son for. Does that give you joy? Sure
does. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in the high and
the holy and the exalted name of thy son that you would take
this message and create saving faith in the heart of each person
in this room for Christ's sake. Lord, we ask for the salvation
of everybody in this room for the Lord's sake. Deliver everybody
in this room from looking anywhere but thy son. Lord, cause us all
to be shut up to him and to trust him as our perfect righteousness
before you. In Christ's name we pray, amen.