Download Jesus - Mike Fuller

Last week …
Who
is
Jesus?
 What sort of “faith”?
Who
is
Jesus?
Faith: a decision to trust based on a
careful examination of the evidence
 What sort of “faith”?
 Historical evidence
 Reliability of the Bible
 Was He only human?
 What Jesus claimed
 His teaching, works
character; prophecy
 The problem of the
resurrection
Why
did
Jesus
die?
Why did
Jesus
die?
Crucifixion - God caught
out by the unexpected?
… but makes the best of a bad
job with resurrection?
“This man (Jesus) was handed over to you by
God’s set purpose and foreknowledge …” Acts 2
23
Why did
Jesus
die?
Crucifixion
Why did
Jesus
die?
 one of the cruellest
forms of execution
known to mankind
 Cicero: “the most
cruel and hideous of
tortures”
 took hours to die
 abolished in 315 CE
by the Romans
Questions to address this
evening …
Why did
Jesus
die?
Why is Jesus’ life remembered by a cross?
Why do the Bible writers spend so much
space on Jesus’ trial and execution?
What did Jesus’ death achieve?
Why does Christian worship focus on the
“broken body” and “shed blood” of Jesus?
What does it mean when the New
Testament says Jesus died “for our sins”?
The greatest problem …
We all do things that we know are wrong
Why did
Jesus
die?
Existential Philosophy: “Man is in despair because of
the gulf between what he could be and what he is”
Somerset Maughan: “If I wrote down every thought
I have ever thought and every deed I have ever
done, men would call me a monster of depravity”
The Bible: “All have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God”
Romans 3 23
(A “sinner” was an arrow that
didn’t even reach the target)
The greatest problem …
We all do things that we know are wrong
Why did
Jesus
die?
The pollution of sin
Jesus said, “What comes out of you is what makes
you ‘unclean’. For from within, out of your hearts,
come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft,
murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness,
envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils
come from inside and make you ‘unclean’.” Mark 7 20-23
Even if you are only a little polluted,
you are no longer clean!
The greatest problem …
We all do things that we know are wrong
Why did
Jesus
die?
The power of sin
Jesus said,
“Everyone who sins is a slave to sin”
John 8 34
 sin becomes an addiction
 addictions to alcohol or non-prescription drugs
 addictions to temper, arrogance, pride,
selfishness, sexual immorality and much more
 addictions to patterns of thought or behaviour
which we cannot break
The greatest problem …
We all do things that we know are wrong
Why did
Jesus
die?
The penalty for sin
 Something in human nature cries out for
justice in the face of wrong
 We rightly feel that sins should be punished
 One day we will all be judged by God
 The Bible connects the fact of human sin and
the fact of death: “The wages of sin is death”
Romans 6 23
The greatest problem …
We all do things that we know are wrong
Why did
Jesus
die?
The partition of sin
 Doing wrong damages relationships. Until someone
takes the initiative and puts it right, there is
separation.
 The Bible tells us that our doing wrong has
created a barrier to relationship with God
“Your iniquities have separated you from your God”
Isaiah 59 2
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
God sees our predicament, and takes the
weight of our sin on himself in Jesus
 God loves us so much he does not leave us in the
mess we have made of our lives
 The “self-substitution” of God
(John Stott)
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree …
by his wounds you have been healed”
1 Peter 2 24
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
The solution to the problem …
Why did
Jesus
die?
We all have a need to deal with sin in our lives
The result …
Why did
Jesus
die?
a picture from the Law Courts
the penalty of sin paid
 according to God’s justice, we are guilty
 because of His love, He pays the price
“God did this … to demonstrate His justice”
Romans 3
26
The result …
Why did
Jesus
die?
a picture from
the Market Place
the power of sin broken
 serious debts in Jesus’ time could result in
being sold as a slave
 it was possible to set someone being sold as
a slave free by paying a “ransom price”
“Redemption … came by Jesus Christ”
Romans 3 24
The result …
Why did
Jesus
die?
a picture from
the Temple
the pollution of sin removed
 in the Old Testament, laws were laid down
about sacrifice to bring cleansing for sin
 the New Testament talks about Jesus’
blood with this picture in mind
Jesus said, “The Son of Man came … to give His
life … as a sacrifice for many”
Mark 10 45
The result …
Why did
Jesus
die?
a picture from
the home
the partition of sin destroyed
 putting right broken relationship - like the
“prodigal son”
 God (the Father) wants his relationship
with us (rebellious children) to be put right
… and watches and waits for our return
“… the Son of God … who loved me
and gave himself for me” Galatians 2 20
Why did
Jesus
die?