Friday, April 7, 2017

JESUS CAME TO DIE - The measure of God’s love is shown by the degree of His sacrifice in saving us from the penalty of our sins: “He gave his only Son.” debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.


Jesus Came to Die
10 Reasons Jesus Came to Die



John Piper 

1. To destroy hostility between races.

The suspicion, prejudice, and demeaning attitudes between Jews and non-Jews in Bible times were as serious as the racial, ethnic, and national hostilities today.
Yet Jesus “has broken down . . . the dividing wall of hostility . . . making peace . . . through the cross” (Ephesians 2:14–16).
God sent His Son into the world as the only means of saving sinners and reconciling races.

2. To give marriage its deepest meaning.

God’s design was never for marriages to be miserable, yet many are.
That’s what sin does . . . it makes us treat each other badly. Jesus died to change that. He knew that His suffering would make the deepest meaning of marriage plain.
That’s why the Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
God’s design for marriage is for a husband to love his wife the way Christ loves His people, and for the wife to respond the way Christ’s people should. This kind of love is possible because Christ died for both husband and wife.

3. To absorb the wrath of God.

God’s law demanded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
But we have all loved other things more. This is what sin is—dishonoring God by preferring other things over Him, and acting on those preferences.
The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted. Since our sin is against the Ruler of the Universe, “the wages of [our] sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Not to punish it would be unjust. So God sent His own Son, Jesus, to divert sin’s punishment from us to Himself.
God “loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation”—the wrath-absorbing substitute - “for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

4. So that we would escape the curse of the law.

There was no escape from the curse of God’s law. It was just; we were guilty.
There was only one way to be free: someone must pay the penalty. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).
The law’s demands have been fulfilled by Christ’s perfect law-keeping, its penalty fully paid by His death.

5. To reconcile us to God.

The reconciliation that needs to happen between man and God goes both ways.
He took the steps we could not take to remove His own judgment by sending Jesus to suffer in our place: “While we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10).
Reconciliation from our side is simply to receive what God has already done, the way we receive an infinitely valuable gift

6. To show God’s love for sinners.

The measure of God’s love is shown by the degree of His sacrifice in saving us from the penalty of our sins: “He gave his only Son” (John 3:16).
The measure of His love increases still more when we consider the degree of our unworthiness. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.

7. To show Jesus’ own love for us.

The death of Christ is also the supreme expression that He “loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
It is my sin that cuts me off from God. All I can do is plead for mercy.
I see Christ suffering and dying “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
And I ask, am I among the “many”? And I hear the answer, “Whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Jesus paid the highest price possible to give me—personally—the greatest gift possible.

8. To take away our condemnation.

The great conclusion to the suffering and death of Christ is this: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
To be “in Christ” means to be in relationship with Him by faith.
Christ becomes our punishment (which we don’t have to bear) and our worth before God (which we cannot earn).
Since our sin is against the Ruler of the Universe, “the wages of [our] sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Not to punish it would be unjust. So God sent His own Son, Jesus, to divert sin’s punishment from us to Himself.
God “loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation”—the wrath-absorbing substitute—“for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

9. To bring us to God.

“Gospel” means “good news,” and it all ends in one thing: God Himself.

The gospel is the good news that at the cost of His Son’s life, God has done everything necessary to captivate us with what will make us eternally and ever-increasingly happy—namely, Himself.
“Christ . . . suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

10. To give eternal life to all who believe on Him.

Jesus made it plain that rejecting the eternal life He offered would result in the misery of eternity in hell: “Whoever does not believe is condemned already. . . . The wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:18, 36).
But for those who trust Christ, the best is yet to come. “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
We will see the all-satisfying glory of God. “This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
For all these reasons and more, Christ suffered and died.
Why would you not embrace Him as your Savior from sin and judgment, and live with God eternally?
God the Father chose to send Jesus to the cross to show His love and the seriousness of our sin.
Jesus accepted to take our punishment, to save all who would believe.
Why not receive God's gift of salvation and become His child?
Open your heart and say this prayer:
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that according to Your Word, I am now born again.
Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your Word - the Bible.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
"WHOSOEVER shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," (Romans 10:13).

https://www.crossway.org/blog/2016/07/10-reasons-jesus-came-to-die/
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“And can it be that I should gain”

   Charles Wesley
   Thomas Campbell
 
The Second Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir and Orchestra directed by Dr. Gabriel Statom. 

CLICK HERE . . . to view complete playlist . . .

lyrics   
And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?

Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
’Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love Divine!
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,

And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!

Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
 


This post is adapted from 10 Reasons Jesus Came to Die, a short-form tract based on the best-selling book, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die by John Piper.
John Piper (DTheol, University of Munich) is the founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He served for 33 years as the senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the author of more than 50 books, including Don’t Waste Your Life, This Momentary Marriage, Bloodlines, and Does God Desire All to Be Saved?






 






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