I would like for you to take
your Bibles and open them with me to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
18. Now I'm going to speak to you
today on this subject. Why did Christ die on the cross? Why Christ died? Now everybody
knows that Jesus Christ lived on the earth. All of you know
that. That's an accepted fact. And
everyone knows that he died on a Roman cross. Then here comes
the question of all questions. If he is who he claimed to be,
the eternal son of God, if Jesus Christ is, as he said, Alpha
and Omega, If he is the heir of all things, if he does in
reality have all authority in heaven and earth, if he, as he
said in John 17, has all power over all flesh, if he is the
Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer of his covenant people, why? Did he die on Calvary's cross? Why did he die? Now, according
to the Apostle Paul, a person must take one of two positions
in regard to the cross of Jesus Christ. Now, let me repeat that. According to the Apostle Paul,
a person, that means you or me, must take one of two positions
in regard to the cross of Jesus Christ. And he gives us those
two positions in that verse I mentioned to you a moment ago, 1 Corinthians
1.18, in which Paul says, the preaching of the cross is to
them who are perishing foolishness. But unto us who are being saved,
the cross of Christ is the power of God. You've got to take, in
reference to the cross of Jesus Christ, His death on Calvary's
tree, you've got to take one of those two positions. Either
the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is foolishness, sheer
nonsense, or it is in reality the very power and wisdom of
God. Now, which is it to you? Is it
foolishness? Or is it the power and wisdom
of God? You can't get in the middle now.
Our Lord said, he that's not with me is against me. He that
gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Now I know why the cross
of Jesus Christ is foolishness to those who are perishing, whether
they're in the pulpit or the pew. I know why it's nonsense. Because the cross of Jesus Christ,
the death of the Son of God, deals with a subject in which
most people have no interest. It deals with a subject in which
most people have no concern, and that is the punishment of
sin. The cross of Christ, the death
of Christ, deals with the punishment of sin. God must and will punish
sin. That's what the Scripture says.
They cried, we be not sinners. We don't need a sin offering.
We don't need a sacrifice. But for those who are sinners,
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For in the
death of Christ, God punished our sins. That's what Isaiah
wrote in Isaiah chapter 53. He said, he was wounded for our
transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid upon him. and by his stripes were healed,
all we like sheep had gone astray. We turned everyone to his own
way, and God hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." So you
see the difference? The cross is foolishness to them
who are perishing because it deals with the punishment of
sin. It's the power and wisdom of God to those who believe because
they realize their need of a sacrifice and of a Redeemer and a Savior.
And then the cross is foolishness because it does not recognize
human merit, not to any degree, or human works. The cross drags
our righteousness before the searchlight of God's holy law
and exposes it for what it is, guilt and filth. Filthy rags,
Isaiah said. In Isaiah 64, 6, he says this,
we all do fade as the leaves, We're an unclean thing. Even
our righteousnesses are filthy rags in God's sight. And the
cross literally drags all of our sins, even the sins of our
works, and the sins of our best deeds, and the guilt and filth
of our righteousness before the searchlight of God's law, and
exposes it for what it is, self-righteousness, and pronounces us guilty. And
the natural religionist does not like that kind of language
because he feels like that he is holy. Now, in Christ a believer
is holy, but outside of Christ and in ourselves there is none
good, no, not one. There's none righteous, there's
none holy but God. And then thirdly, the cross of
Christ is foolishness because it has to do with the justice
of God, with the holiness and righteousness of God. In Romans
3.26 the scripture says, Christ died that God may be just and
the justifier of them that believe on Christ. In order to pardon
sin, God's got to remain God. God is just and holy and righteous
and he cannot pardon sin at the expense of his justice. Shall
not the judge of the earth do right? God cannot pardon sin
at the expense of His holiness. God is holy. And the reason the
average person looks upon the cross of Jesus Christ as foolishness
is because, number one, he does not see the exceeding sinfulness
of sin, his own sin. He does not see the exceeding
sinfulness, vanity, and evil of our best deeds. Nor does he
see the necessity of honoring God's law. and the necessity
of satisfying God's justice. And to him the cross is foolishness,
and that's all he can say about it. But when you see that sin
must be punished, when you see that our righteousness is not
equal to the holiness which God demands, when you see that God's
holy law is immutable, it's infinite, it's unchangeable, and it must
be honored, when you see the justice of God must be satisfied,
Then you say the cross of Christ is indeed the power of God and
the wisdom of God. Now what do we mean by the power
of God and the wisdom of God? Well now listen to me for a moment.
First of all, the cross of Christ, the death of the Son of God,
is the power of God to judge and defeat Satan. To judge and
defeat the prince of this world and the forces of evil. Satan
was judged and defeated at Calvary. And then the cross is the power
of God to put away all sin and iniquity. Sin is difficult to
put away. Iniquity is difficult to put
away. All the sacrifices on Jewish
altars through the three thousand years couldn't put sin away.
All the tears that have ever been shed, all the repentance,
and all the decisions, and all the feast days, holy days and
sacrifices and blood offerings, they couldn't put away sin. Sin
can only be put away by the blood of the Son of God. He appeared
in the end of the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. Sin is a stain that's deeper
than any cleansing agent can reach except the blood of Christ.
And His death is the power of God not only to judge and defeat
Satan and the forces of evil, and put them where they can do
no more harm. But his blood is sufficient to
cleanse us from every sin and every stain and every transgression. It's the power of God to put
away sin. And then the death of Christ
is the power of God over sin, over death, over the grave, and
over hell. My friend, death has a claim
on us because of sin. And the grave has a claim on
our bodies. God said, Dust thou art, to dust
thou shalt return. And hell has a claim on us because
of our guilt. But the death of Christ is the
power of God to reconcile the world unto himself and to overcome
the power of death and the power of the grave and the claims and
power of hell. And the death of Christ is the
power of God to bring in everlasting righteousness and establish his
kingdom, where nothing shall enter in that worketh or maketh
alive. One of these days, God's grand
design in redemption is going to be fulfilled. The heaven and
earth shall melt with a fervent heat, and God says, we look for
a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. There'll be no more sin. no more
iniquity, no more death, no more disease, no more darkness, no
more tears, no more sorrow. And that was accomplished by
the death of Christ. His death is the power of God
to bring in everlasting righteousness. And then His death is the power
of God to make men new creatures and conform all whom He saves
to the image of His divine Son. And then the cross is not only
the power of God, but it is the wisdom of God. In the cross of
Christ, we see the wisdom of God in honoring his unchangeable,
infinite holy law. In the death of Christ, we see
the wisdom of God in satisfying his unbending justice and holiness. In the death of Christ, we see
the wisdom of God to answer all problems. Relating to the salvation
of sinners, there is no problem, there is no obstacle, either
in heaven, earth, or hell, that is not met with and dealt with
and answered full and completely in the death of Jesus Christ. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die, would He devote that sacred head For
such a worm as I, well might the sun in darkness hide, And
shut his glories in, when Christ the mighty Maker died, For man
the creature sinned." I see in the death of Christ, I see in
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, I see in that ignominious,
hateful, humiliating agony on Calvary, power of God, the power
of God, and the wisdom of God. There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged by
the grace of God beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains,
for his death is the power of God unto salvation. In Lamentation
1, the prophet Jeremiah said, Speaking of Christ on the cross,
is it nothing to you? What is it to you? All ye that
pass by, behold, and see if there be any sorrows like unto my sorrow,
which is done unto me, wherewith the Lord God hath afflicted me
in the day of his fierce anger. What is it to you? What is it
to you? Is it a pack of foolishness?
Is it nonsense? Sheer nonsense. Well, it is if
you don't see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. If you don't see the
emptiness and corruption and pollution even of our best deeds
and of our own righteousness. And if you do not see the justice
and holiness and majesty of a holy God, which cannot be compromised,
which must be dealt with in honesty and truth, Yes, to you the death
of Jesus Christ is and will remain utter nonsense, but to them who
are being saved by the grace of God, the death of the Son
of God is the power of God, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Now I'm going to give you five
reasons why Christ died, and I'm going to give them to you
from the Scripture. If you care to, you can take some notes or
jot down the Scripture or write to me, and I'll send you this
tape. But here are five reasons from the scripture why Christ
died. Number one, he died that the
scriptures might be fulfilled. In John 19, 28, it says, Jesus
knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scriptures
might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. And after he had received the
vinegar, he bowed his head. and said, it is finished, and
gave up the ghost. He said, I thirst that the scriptures
might be fulfilled. 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 3,
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He was buried
and rose again according to the scriptures. What scriptures are
we talking about? We're talking about the Old Testament
scriptures, Genesis through Malachi, all 39 books of the Old Testament.
When our Lord Jesus Christ was teaching His disciples in order
that they might understand the Scriptures, it's recorded in
Luke 24, verse 44, He said, These are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled. All things must be fulfilled. He died that the Scriptures might
be fulfilled. All things must be fulfilled
which were written in the Law of Moses, that's the first five
books of the Bible, in the prophets, that's the major prophets and
minor prophets, in the Psalms concerning me. And then he opened
their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.
And he said, thus it is written, thus it is written, and thus
it behoove Christ to suffer and to die and to be raised again
the third day. according to the Scriptures.
He died that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. You see, the trail
of blood that ended at Calvary, the trail of blood that ended
at Calvary began in the Garden of Eden, when God slew the first
animal and shed its blood to cover the nakedness of fallen
men. You see that? God slew that first
animal, the first blood shed. was to cover sin. And all the
way down, Abel sacrificing the Lamb, Abraham sacrificing the
Lamb, the Passover Lamb slain in Egypt, the atoning sacrifices
offered in the tabernacle, all of this trail of blood from the
Garden of Eden to the cross, it ended at the cross, this trail
of blood is declaring that God's Lamb will come and die. And that'll
be the end of the shedding of blood. John the Baptist said,
there he is, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. Hebrews 10 verse 12 talks about
all the blood sacrifices Hebrews 10 does in the tabernacle by
the priest. And then it says in verse 12,
but this man, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of God. For by
one offering, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. His blood maketh atonement for
the soul. Secondly, why did Christ die? He died to redeem us from sin,
all sin. It says in Titus 2.14, He gave
himself for us. He gave himself for us that he
might redeem us from all iniquity. and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works." And then 1 John 1, 7 says, "...the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin."
And then 1 Peter 1, chapter 1, verse 18 says, "...for as much
as you know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things
such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ
as a lamb without spot or blemish." What am I preaching? I am preaching
that God will pardon sin. I am preaching that God will
forgive sin, but only, only on the merit of Christ's sacrifice
and Christ's blood. Jesus Christ has appeared in
the end of the world to put away sin, to put away sin, to put
away sin. How? By the sacrifice of himself. Would you be free from the burden
of sin? There's power in the blood. Would your evil a victory
win? There's power in the blood. And
without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin.
I'm telling you as plainly as the scripture declares it. God
said, it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. I have
given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your
souls. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission.
A bloodless religion is a Christless religion, and a Christless religion
is a religion that offers no hope and no salvation. It is
the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. Christ died to
redeem us, to put away our sins. And then thirdly, Christ died
that God may be just and justify. That's what it says in Romans
3.25. Look at it, Romans 3.25. Whom God hath set forth, that
is Christ, God ordained him, God predestinated him, God foreordained
him, God appointed him, God set him forth, God sent him in the
fullness of time to be a propitiation. That's a mercy seat. That's a
sin offering. God sent him to be a sin offering
through faith in his blood to declare God's righteousness that
God may be just and justifier of them that believe in Jesus
Christ. Let me put that as plain and
simple as I can. God is forever eternally, unchangeably,
infinitely holy. So indescribably holy, so unapproachably
holy that you can't even imagine His holiness. And then man is
sinful, unchangeably so. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? Can the leper change his spot? Neither can you do good
that are accustomed to doing evil. There's none that seeketh
the Lord. There's none that understand
it. We're unchangeably evil. The heart is desperately wicked,
deceitful above all things. Who can know it? In order that
God may be just and justify sinners like us, something has got to
take place between God and the sinner. In order that God's law
might be satisfied or honored and God's justice might be fulfilled. And the only way, there's no
other way, is for us to have a substitute. an acceptable substitute,
a God-honored substitute, a God-ordained substitute, a God-appointed substitute,
and he can't be a man full of sin. And he can't just be God,
who can never suffer. God can't suffer, man can't satisfy. He must be the God-man. God became
a man. And as God, he satisfied all
that was required in infinite holiness, and as man, he suffered. under the penalty of death and
the agony of the cross. He died. Christ must die. There's
no other way. He didn't die as an example.
He didn't die as a martyr. He didn't die as a reformer.
He died as a substitute, a sacrificial sin offering, a substitute. Now,
fourthly, why did Christ die? He died that he might be Lord.
Lord. In Romans 14, 9, it says, to
this end, to this end, for this cause, Christ both died and rose
and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and the
living. Now that's what Scripture says.
He died and was buried and rose again that he might be absolute,
immutable Lord of the dead and the living. Christ our Lord died
to fulfill Scripture. Christ our Lord died to redeem
us from sin. Christ our Lord died to enable
God to be just and justified. But Christ our Lord, when he
died, bought the whole creation. He bought the world, the whole
world. Because of his death, God hath
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name. That is the name of Jesus. Every knee should bow in heaven,
earth, and hell, and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord.
And he said in Matthew 28, all authority is given unto me. I
bought it in heaven and earth. He said in John 17, I have power
over all flesh. It says here he's the Lord of
the dead and the living. You can make that believers and
unbelievers, or you can make that dead believers and living
believers, whatever, but he's Lord of the dead and the living.
He died that he might be Lord. He bought the universe. God has
highly exalted him and given him a name above every name,
that in all things Christ might have the preeminence. All hail
the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall, bring
forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all." You'd be wise
to take seriously what I'm talking about this morning, because He's
Lord. And then He died, that He might
show forth eternally the riches of His grace. that in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus." This is the grand design of God
in redemption. He's going to honor the Son.
Christ is going to have the preeminence. The Father is going to honor
the Son. And he'll honor those who honor the Son. And then the
Father is going to put Satan and all evil forces and evil
men where they can do no more harm. You can call it hell, you
can call it everlasting condemnation, you can call it everlasting darkness,
where the worm dieth not and the fires not quench, but almighty
God is going to put all evil men where they can do no more
harm. Almighty God is going to have a new heaven and a new earth.
He's going to populate that new heaven and a new earth with people
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, tongue unto heaven, and
they're all going to be conformed perfectly to the image of Jesus
Christ. And all of that was accomplished
in the death of His Son. It is the power and the wisdom
of God. Now I want to talk to you just
a few minutes this morning about some books which I have written.
I'll ask the cameraman, if he will, to put the camera on those
books and show them to you on the screen. About six or seven
years ago, I began writing some commentaries on the 21 epistles
in the New Testament. And I wrote Romans, as you see
there on the screen, and I wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and
2 Timothy, and Galatians. And we offered these books, and
several of you wrote in and received them. But we ran completely out,
and I had to order some more. So we ordered some more, and
we've got them in stock. Now, if you'd like to have this
book on Romans, that's a verse-by-verse study in the book of Romans.
This one on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, that's a verse-by-verse
study in plain everyday language, plain everyday language, anybody
can understand. And the book of Galatians, send
$5, and we'll send you all three of these books, all three of
them, for $5. If you're right, we'll send them by return mail.
Now also, this message that I just preached, this message entitled,
Why Christ Died, is available on a cassette recording. And
on the other side of this message, Why Christ Died, is a message
that I'll be bringing next Sunday. And you can have both of these
messages for $2. So let me make it as plain as
I can. We're selling them for exactly what they cost us. Believe
me, that's true. God supplies our needs. But the
books, you can have them for $5, all three of them. And then
the tape message, Why Christ Died, and the one I'll be bringing
next Sunday morning on the preacher's theme. Send $2 and we'll mail
you this tape. Now, it's been good to have you
with us on this broadcast, and until next Sunday at this same
time, I bid you a very pleasant good day.