That's our subject this morning.
I want you to turn with me in my text over to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. If you
have a few Bibles, it's found on page 1,252. I've just got one verse I want
to read. Verse 3. I want us to meditate
on this this morning, and as I speak of it, such a mysterious
and wonderful subject, such an essential subject to preach,
essential subject to hear, and certainly one to be believed
if we're ever to be saved. In verse 3, the Apostle Paul
said, For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scripture. And that's my subject this morning.
Christ died for our sins. Boy, so many people have died.
Untold numbers of people have died in the history of this world
from the beginning of time. And I imagine if you and I knew
there's a reason, there's a cause, and there's an effect in everybody's
death. You and I think of soldiers or
military men that have died, and they've died for us, haven't
they? They've died that you and I might continue the liberties
and the freedoms that we've enjoyed as a nation, and that's happened
down through the centuries of time. people dying for other
people, paying the ultimate price. You think of the hundreds of
thousands and millions of men who died in all the wars, the
World War I and the World War II and the wars that we've had
in our generation, one man dying for another. We also think of
it this way. There's been children who died
for a sinning parent, for the correction of the sinning parent.
I think of David. It shall die to correct him. There have been children who
died to bring a mother's straying heart back to God. Look at Naomi
and her sons dying and her returning to the land of promise. There
have been criminals, bad men, who died for us, not willingly,
but they died for us that we might maintain the law and order
in this country. There is a sense, one man said,
in which the old world died in the flood that the rest of humanity
might live. There's a cause and there's an
effect for everybody's death who has ever died. And the Apostle
Paul even tells us that those rebel Jews that died in the wilderness,
they died for us. Because they died as an example
that you and I should not follow their steps. So there have been
many, many people who died for other people in some sense of
the word. But here in my text is the most
amazing death that you and I could ever read about. Christ died. Christ died. That would baffle
the mind of the most intelligent angel. God, could we say that? Could we not say here that God,
manifest in the flesh, has died? Wouldn't that baffle the minds
of the wisest theologians? If we sit and think about that,
Christ died. Here's what the apostles said
about Him. They said our eyes have seen
Him, our hands have handled Him, of the Word of life, and yet
He died. We've heard Him. We've showed
unto you that life eternal that was with the Father and was manifested
unto us. And yet the Bible says He died. For life to die? That's amazing,
isn't it? But the very fact that Jesus
Christ died is amazing. You and I remember that the wages
of sin is death and that Jesus Christ had no sin? that He was
holy, harmless, and undefiled, separate from sinners, and yet
He dies. And this shows us that the cause
of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was not for any sin of
His own. I do believe, brothers and sisters,
that if the Lord Jesus Christ had not willingly gave up His
life, that He would have lived in our humanity forever. Men
die because of sin. He had no sin. He could have
lived forever. This tells us that when Christ
died, it all must have been voluntarily on His part. He had to submit
Himself to it. He had to willfully and graciously
lay down His life. It could not be forced upon Him. Now He was the Sovereign Lord
of heaven and earth while He dwelt here in this earth, was
He not? When we think of who Jesus Christ
was, that He was the Lord of glory, and though He was here
in our humanity, everything was subject to Him. He ruled over
everything. He was subject to our infirmities
in our flesh, But you know, He ruled the raging of the sea and
the mighty winds. They woke Him up from His weary
sleep in the midst of a storm. And what did He do? He rebuked
the waves and said to the winds, Be thou still. And it all laid
down at His feet like a little puppy. Why? Because He is the
Lord of glory. And yet He dies. The underworld
of wicked spirits and fallen spirits were subject to Him. None of them could resist His
will and His voice. The Bible tells us that the devils
were subject to His Word. He cast them out with His Word. And He tells us also that He
had power over all flesh. What is it that He did not rule
over when He walked here in this life in our humanity? That vile,
that corrupt, that rebellious thing we call flesh, He rules
over it. And He did when He was here.
Everything was subject to Him when He lived in this earth.
And yet the Bible says He died. I take it from that, brothers
and sisters, that it must have been a voluntary death. Nobody
must have taken his life from him. Nobody must have forced
him. It must have been willing on
his part. Christ died and he must have
died a willing death. And how did he say it? No man
takes my life from me. No man can take my life from
me. They tried it before He died, but no man could. I have power
to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. He must
lay down His life. But think of something else here
the Apostle Paul said about the death of Christ, and he mentions
this little word, how that Christ died. And the meaning of that
word is in what manner He died. Think of the manner in which
Christ died. He died in such a manner that
would draw tears from the hardest heart of any man. For He died
a most tormenting death. He died the death of a suffering
man. Think of the whip that was upon
His back until it cut the white of His bones. I gave my back,
He said to the smithers, and they made long their furrows.
Think of the open hands that slapped Him, or the closed hands
that smote His face. And think of the crown of thorns
upon His head. Think of those blessed hands
that touched the leper and healed him. Or stopped the lady's son
who was dead in a bra and raised him from the dead. Those hands
were pierced. Those feet that walked the dusty
roads of Palestine bringing words of life eternal and forgiveness
of sin, those feet were pierced. And think of this man, Christ
Jesus, who was so meek and lowly and modest, hung naked upon the
cross before the multitude. Think of this mouth who had no
guile, that never lied, that never spread a rumor, that never
spoke a hateful word, had to listen as men mocked Him in His
suffering hours? Oh, if you and I just thought
of the manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ died, it would be
enough to touch the wellspring of our eyes and make us weep. He that had been a friend to
all hanged forsaken. He whose heart was full of pity
now could find none from any. Listen to what he said. Reproach
hath broken my heart. I am full of heaviness. I looked
for some to take pity and there was none. And I looked for comforters,
but I found none. And they gave me gall for my
meat. And in my thirst, they gave me
vinegar to drink." They gave him vinegar mixed or mingled
with gall. All of us know what gall is.
You ever had a gallbladder attack? And you spit up the old bowel,
the old greenish, yellowish bowel that will strangle you if it
gets in your lungs? They used to kill animals. And
they would take the gallbladder from animals and dump the old
liquid bowel out and mix it with vinegar and give to these criminals.
And it was so bitter it would almost take your breath. They
gave me gall in my thirst to drink. But note this. This is not the
most important aspect of the death of Christ. It may draw
tears, and it should, from the hardest heart, but still leave
that heart untouched and the mind uninformed as to the design
of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ." And that's what we want
to get at this morning. What was the design of the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ? And someone might say, well,
He died to leave us an example. And brothers and sisters, we
believe that, don't we? With all our hearts, the Lord
Jesus suffered, leaving us an example that we should follow
His steps. His obedience unto death should
teach you and I as His children for us to take up our cross and
follow Him. And yet we're surprised, aren't
we? When it comes time for us to bear shame for His sake, to
suffer for His sake, to take up the cross, it may be an outward
cross in persecutions, it may be the inward cross that you
bear, but all of God's children have the cross that they have
to bear. And yet it surprises us sometimes
when it happens. We wonder what's wrong. It seems
strange when we suffer for the cause of Christ. But He left
us an example that we should follow His steps. And here is
the way He did it. When He was reviled, what did
He do? Did He lash out? Did He defend
Himself? He reviled not again. When He
suffered, He threatened not. What did He do? He committed
Himself to God who judges righteously. One man said, when you're right,
you don't have to defend yourself. You leave it with God to take
up your cause. I've often told you about a dear
old friend. Some of us knew him well. I've thought of him so
much lately. John Mitchell. He was a preacher
of the gospel for 50-something years. And how that dear man
suffered reproach. He used to preach funerals and
they'd get so violent that some of the congregation would stir
up and start shouting at him. Some of them left his church.
Even his own son got mad at him and left his church and broke
his heart. But you know something? That
dear old man never got bitter. You know what he often told me?
God knows. God knows. That's what Jesus our Lord said. God knows. In other words, He
didn't defend Himself. He committed Himself to God who
judges righteously and He left us an example that you and me
should follow His example in His steps. But you know, that's not the
main design behind the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is not the main purpose to leave us an example that we should
follow His steps. Here we get at it in verse 3
in my text. Here is the principle design
and what is it? Look at my text again. Christ
died for our sins. That's the design. And when you
read that, read it like this. Christ died as a sacrifice for
our sins. To make an atonement for our
sins. I made a statement yesterday,
and I even wrote it down before I realized that I don't think
I've ever made this statement in all my life. Christ died as
a human sacrifice for sins. I don't think I've ever made
that statement. I've said He gave His body, His soul was made
an offering, but I don't think I've ever stopped to think and
say Christ offered Himself as a human sacrifice to God for
our sin. Did you ever wonder why the human,
why some nations, the heathen nations, offered virgins to atone
for sin? Do you ever wonder where they
got that idea? We were down in the Yucatan,
the Mayan Indians, and they showed us one of the places that still
has the blackened soot in one of the rocks there. And they
say they used to bring virgins up there and burn them. I wonder
where they got that idea. It's some warped idea, I'm sure
they have, of this very text, this very principle that the
Son of God came into this world in our humanity And He gave Himself
to God in His whole humanity to atone for our sins. I think that's where they get
that. Jesus Christ Himself has did it. But for the Lord to do anything
for us, and to us, and in us, He had to do something about
our sins. And I tell you, this is one of
the most humbling things. If you sat here this morning
and you've been thinking good about yourself, and you've been
thinking God owes you something, or there's something that you
can do to win His favor, listen to this. Before He could ever
do anything for you or me or anyone else, our sins had to
be dealt with. And it just didn't take anybody
to deal with those sins. It took the Son of God. And not
living, but dying. He gave Himself, not for our
goodness, not for any potential that He saw in us, but He gave
Himself for our badness. If you wonder why? So many has
quit preaching the gospel and emphasizing this and what it
implies. I tell you why. Because it humbles
flesh. This virgin used to say there's
no ground around the cross to grow pride. It's all level. It puts us all on the same level
and tells us all that we're guilty before God. And here the Son
of God, and the only way to save us, and so mercy could freely
come to us, and give us life eternal, was first and foremost
dealing with our sins. Christ died for our sins. Paul tells us here in our text,
This chief design of Christ's death was to atone for our sins.
We find this three times here. He proves this to be the chief
design. First of all, he says it. Just
Paul saying it is proof to us that this is the chief design
of Christ's death. For he writes it here under the
pen of inspiration. Christ died as a substitute for
our sins. Christ died as an atonement for
our sins. That settles it, doesn't it?
Why did Christ die for our sins? And then He does this. He proves
it by another way. He says, I received this truth. Where did He receive it from?
This is not something that He conjured up in His thoughts.
This is something that He received Himself. He said, Brother, the
Gospel that I have received is not of men. I neither was taught
it by man, neither did I learn it of man, but I received it
by revelation of Jesus Christ. Where did he get this doctrine
that Christ died for our sins? Christ Himself taught him that.
Christ Himself said, Paul, listen. I have dealt with sin. I have
died for sin. And then we go to this, and I
want to spend just a minute or two on this. Here in the third
proof, he said Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. What does the Old Testament Scriptures
say about the death of Jesus Christ? Well, listen, that He
was wounded for our transgressions. that he was bruised for our iniquities. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken, and that his soul was made an offering to
atone for sin. That's what the Old Testament
says about the death of Jesus Christ. And William Jay, an old
man that lived all the way back in the late and early 1700s and
1800s, listened to this quote from William Jay. He said exclude
Christ's dying to atone for our sins and the Old Testament becomes
perfectly embarrassing and silly, unintelligible. Exclude this and what becomes
of the legal sacrifices? What becomes of all of those
animal sacrifices if you exclude Christ's dying for our sins?
He says they are shadows without a substance. They prefigure nothing. There is no relation between
them and His death as a martyr or as an example. But there is
a full conformity between them and His death as an atoning victim
for our sins. What does all of those old sacrifices
Point two. They shatter something, don't
they? If you've got a shatter, you've got to have a substance.
You don't see shadows except it's reflecting off of something
else. There's a person, there's a tree,
there's a rock, there's a building. You have to have a substance
to cast a shadow. And when you go back in the Old
Testament and look at those animals, pouring out their blood and sprinkling
the mercy seat. What's that a shadow of? That's
the shadow of the cross. Christ and Him crucified. And
He's casting the shadow in those tops in the Old Testament. I want you to take your Bible
and turn with me right quickly. And I want to show you one example
in Leviticus chapter 16. In Leviticus chapter 16, this
was the day of atonement. If you have your pew Bible, it's
on 141. I want you to see this. If you
don't have a Bible, please grab a pew Bible. If you don't have
one, somebody will get you one. I want you to see this. Leviticus
chapter 16 and verse 34. And as I read this, I want you
to remember this is a shadow of Jesus Christ the dead crucified.
Leviticus chapter 16 and look in verse 34. This tells us what
this day is about. Leviticus chapter 16 and verse
34. And this shall be an everlasting
statue unto you. As long as this ceremonial law
stands, this is going to be a statue to you. To make an atonement
for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. Now, this is what this chapter
is about. One day a year they made an atonement. Now, I can't
read all of this to you. It would take too long. But I
want you to go through this with me. And I want you to remember
this. And at your leisure, I want you to go look at this and see
Jesus Christ in this. This is what happened. In verses
5 and 6, the high priest took four sacrifices. He had four
animals. He had two goats, he had one
ram, and one bullock. You see that there in verse 5
and verse 6. In verses 7 through verse 10,
the priest takes the goats before the Lord, and he kills one of
them, and he keeps the other one for a scapegoat. Now in verses
11 through verse 14, the priest kills the bullock, that's for
his self. He takes a censer, they have these little cups,
full of hot coals from off the burning altar. In the other hand,
he takes a whole handful of sweet incense. And the high priest
goes into the most holy place where the mercy seat is. He takes
that incense and he dumps on that hot coals and this sweet
incense, this cloud covers the mercy seat. And then he comes
and gets the blood of this bullock and he sprinkles it seven times
upon the mercy seat. And then in verses 15 and verse
16, the high priest goes outside, he kills the first goat He brings
its blood into the mercy seat and He sprinkles the blood for
an atonement for the sins of the children of Israel. Now I
want you to look at verse 16 and verse 17 and let me read
this to you. And He shall make an atonement
for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children
of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all of their
sins. And so shall he do for the tabernacle
of the congregation that remaineth among you in the midst of your
uncleanness." They had a tabernacle that they gathered around to
worship. And the very fact that they were there made the place
unclean. So they had to offer a sacrifice
to cleanse the place of its uncleanness. And look in verse 70. And there
shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth
in to make an atonement in the holy place until he came out. and have made an atonement for
himself and for his household and for all the congregation
of the children of Israel." You notice this? Who is doing all
this atonement? Nobody else is allowed to lift
a finger. The priest had to go into the
presence of God take the blood and sprinkle it on the mercy
seat, and it was that blood that made atonement for the children
of Israel. Now listen, the Lord Jesus Christ
is not only the high priest that must do the offering to God,
but He is the victim. He's the sacrifice that must
be offered. And 2,000 years ago, before you
were born and before I was born, before our sins were ever committed,
God laid them upon His dear Son. And upon Calvary's tree, by Himself,
through the offering of His own Holy Body, He atoned for the
sins of spiritual Israel. Isn't that wonderful? And here
you are, you've committed all of these sins and you're burdened
about them and you weep over them. And you'll never get rid
of them until you look to Him who took them all away. Now in verses 27 through verse
31, this is amazing in and of itself. This scapegoat, he took
the one goat, he killed it. He took its blood in and sprinkled
it on the mercy seat. And now he has this live goat.
And look, it becomes a substitute. Look in verse 20. And when he
hath made that end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle
of the congregation and the altar, he shall bring the live goat.
And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live
goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all of their transgressions, and all of their sins." Why did
He do that? Look. "...putting them upon the
head of the goat. And He shall send him away by
the hand of the fit man unto the wilderness. And the goat
shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited,
and He shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Is this not
the Son of God set right before our eyes? Did God the Father
not put upon Him our sins upon the cross? And when He says it
is finished, did He not take those sins unto a land that is
not inhabited? As far as the East is from the
West, in the depths of the sea, never to be found? When Paul
said Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
he had these Scriptures in mind. Christ is that blood of that
bullock that atoned for sin. He is the blood of that goat
that satisfied the justice of God. He is that scapegoat that
bore all the sins away into land that is not inhabited. Here's
the shadow reflecting from the cross of Calvary. Then if you want to go on and
read on here, you'll read, look in verse 29, for example. And
this shall be a statue forever unto you, that in the seventh
month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall humble your souls,
and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country
or a stranger that sojourneth among you. For on that day shall
the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you that you
may be clean from all your sins before the Lord." That's Christ. Christ died. That's the design,
brothers and sisters, of the death of the Son of God. To atone
for sin. To make His people clean before
God. Let me show you another design
right quickly. If you'll turn quickly, one or
two more places, and I'll let you go. Look at Romans chapter
5. The first design is to atone
for sin. Put our sins away by the sacrifice
of Himself. Look here at this design. Right
along with it. These things go hand in hand.
But look in Romans chapter 5 and verse 10. For if, when we were
enemies... Are you there, dear soul? Has
the Lord ever showed you that you've really not been His friend?
That your carnal mind is enmity against God? I had a young man
come to pick up my daughter when she was in high school to take
her out for the prom, I think it was. And I knew, I didn't
know him very well, but I knew he was a religious kid. And I
said to him, I said, son, have you ever been God's enemy? He
said, of course he was scared of me anyway. But he said, if
I thought that I had ever been God's enemy, that would frighten
me to death. I said, you better be frightened
then, son. Because you were born God's enemy. And you'll live
God's enemy and you'll die God's enemy if you can't find out that
you've been reconciled to God by the death of His Son. When
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. That's the design of the death
of Christ. To make reconciliation for His
enemies. Now listen. You may not understand this.
I don't understand all this myself. But the covenant God has never
been against His elect people. But God as the moral judge of
the earth has. When we fell in Adam, the justice
of God condemned us. We offended God. We left Him. We become His enemies. And I
tell you, His justice became our enemy. And the Bible says
we were condemned, and therefore reconciliation had to be made
between us and God. And how was that made? Upon the
cross of Calvary, in the death of the Son of God. And you're
here this morning, dear soul, and you feel the condemnation
in your conscience? you feel yourself to be under
the displeasure of God, look to Christ. Look to Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Look to Him in the tomb. Look
to Him seated at the right hand of God. And you know what you'll
see when you do that? You'll see God's smiling face. The Jews used to tell us God
has many faces. I was listening to a Jew preach
the other day and he said in the Hebrew language there is
no such thing as face. And I got to looking and that
is so. It is faces. Cause thy faces to shine upon
us. And he said the reason was the
old Jew said that God was a God of many faces. And old Martin
Luther says you don't want to see his bad face. You want to
see his smiling face. At Sinai, we see His frowning
face. Adam saw His frowning face. But
He said if you want to see His smiling face, if you want to
see His gracious face, you must see Him in Jesus the Savior. See Him in Christ. Jesus had
made reconciliation for His enemies. He's reconciled us to Himself. Then look. Throw down your weapons. and look to Christ. I tell you,
reconciliation is one of the sweetest things, is it not? I
had a dear couple, relatives of mine. I loved them dearly.
And they separated. They separated. I mean, it got
pretty bad. It broke their family's heart. It broke my heart. And I thought,
boy, it's over with with them. But they were reconciled. And
when they were reconciled, the rest of their life, He died,
but the rest of their life they had such sweet fellowship and
friendship one with another. I just rejoiced every time I
saw them. And that's the way it is when
poor sinners are reconciled to God. That enmity that's there
is gone. The Lord Jesus takes God by one
hand. And He reached down and takes
us with the other. And He brings us together. Ye
who sometimes were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. All made nigh by the blood of
Christ. Let me read you one more. A couple
more right quickly and I will close. I promise. Look in Titus
chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. Here is another design. To atone
for our sins? To make reconciliation? Those
enemies make them God's friends. And look at this in Titus chapter
2. And look in verse 11. For the grace of God, Titus chapter
2 verse 11, page 1300 in your Bibles. Titus chapter 2 and verse 11.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all
men, teaching us, all kinds of men. That's what that means.
Not everybody. The grace of God ain't appeared
to everybody without exception. But it's appeared to all kinds
of men. Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust,
we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world. looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ. Look now, "...who gave Himself
for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify
to Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." What
is the design of the death of Christ? To make us new creatures. to make us people who love God,
and delight in Him, and open up our hearts, and our homes,
and our wallets, and open up our hearts one to
another, and love one another, and serve God, and serve Christ,
and serve His church. Zealous of good works. That's
the design. I can't believe anybody. I can't believe anybody. could
find his sins were washed away in Jesus' blood without being
so full of joy and gladness that he wants to serve the Lord in
any way he possibly can. Make me a doorkeeper. Just let
me serve you. I don't care how I serve you.
Everything I have is yours. Zenlius of good works. Send me
wherever you want to send me. I'm yours. You bought me. I love that passage, and I told
you the other day, I didn't understand what it meant when the Lord first
saved me. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ
God's Son cleanseth us from all sin. Every day, dear child of
God, you live for Him and serve Him, His blood cleanses you,
cleanses you. You're always being cleansed
in this fountain open for sin. When you've sinned, don't get
so down and despair. You say, well, there's no hope
for me. I've sinned. If we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to cleanse us from sin and forgive us of
all our iniquities. And I tell you, the more you
see this, the better you're going to serve Him. The better you're
going to serve Him. A man cannot experience the design
of the death of Christ without being a new creature and have
his heart open to serve the Lord gladly. One more. On over to
your right. And this will be the last one.
1 Peter chapter 3. This is one of my favorite Scriptures.
1 Peter chapter 3 and look in verse 18. This is the design. Oh, what a wonderful design this
is. Look at this. 1 Peter 3, 18. For Christ also has once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust. Look at this. Why? That He might
bring us, or in order to bring us, to God. What's the design in Christ's
death? To bring us to God. Isn't that wonderful? And you
know where that bringing begins? Right here. I hope there's somebody
here this morning that has never come to God. I hope this is the
morning that the design of Christ's death will be fulfilled in you.
I hope this is the morning that you come to God. But you know that doesn't stop
there. It's not just bringing us to God here, it's bringing
us to God hereafter. It's bringing us all the way
to heaven. That's the design of Christ's
blood. John was there in heaven, John the Revelator, and he saw
this multitude that nobody could number. They would come out of
all nations, and tribe, and kindred, and tongue. And one of the angels
came to John and said, How did these get here? And John said,
You know, I don't know. And you remember how they got
there? They washed their robes and made them white. Therefore
are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night
in His temple. You know as soon as a man is
washed in Christ's blood, he's ready for God's presence. He's ready for God's presence
here and he's ready for God's presence yonder. You don't have
to do a thing. Before you're baptized in water,
before you seek out a congregation to fellowship with, before you
give a dine, as soon as you're purged in the Savior's blood,
you're fit to go right into God's presence and call Him your Father. This day, you poor wretched old
thing, this day, You shall be with me in paradise. No wonder
they wrote that song, the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain
in his day. Why? It made him ready for heaven. If you're not washed, you're
not fit for God's presence. But if you are, you are fit for
God's presence. Why did Christ die? To atone for sin. To make reconciliation. that we might become new creatures,
zealous of good works, that we might make heaven our home at
last, even in God's presence. Who wants anything better? Who
wants anything more than that? The Lord bless his gospel.