It is an age-old
question, but perhaps more important now than ever
before.
The heart of the apostle Paul
can be expressed with the words: “God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and
I unto the world.” Jesus Christ was the “Lamb of God
that takes away the sin of the world.” “He bore our
sins in His body on the tree.” “He was made sin for
us.” “Jehovah has laid on Him the iniquity of us
all.” “He is the propitiation for our sins.” “He
tasted death for every man.”
All of these statements from
the Scriptures describe the substitutionary nature
of the death of Jesus Christ. Because of His death,
the believing sinner is placed in God’s estimation
beyond his own execution, and the ground of
condemnation is forever past (John 3:17-21). God
sees us as having been punished for our sins in
Christ’s death. God removed through the death of
Jesus every moral and spiritual hindrance to His
righteousness in the believing sinner. Because of
the atoning death of Christ, God can now exercise
His love without reservation. Nothing now stands in
the way to hinder it. God in grace reaches down to
the sinner to save him for all eternity.
But not only does He forgive
the guilty sinner, He places the sinner in eternal
glory in the very image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
That is the greatest thing God can possibly do in
and for the believing sinner. “Christ in you, the
hope of glory” (Col. 1:17). “After a little while
the world will no longer see Me, but you will see
Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day
you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me,
and I in you” (John 14:19-20).
Jesus suffered our death so
that the righteousness of God could be fully
satisfied. That fact is so crucial that a personal
acceptance or rejection of Christ is the declaration
that determines the final eternal destiny of every
person.
Jesus Christ died as our
substitute (Isa. 53:5-6; Jn. 1:29; 3:16, 18, 36; 2
Cor. 5:14, 21; Heb. 2:9; 1 Jn. 2:2).
He died a death, once for all,
that you and I might never have to die for the wages
of our sins. His death fully satisfied the infinite
righteousness of God. The divine transaction for our
sins was completed when Jesus declared, “It is
finished!” The all-sufficient ground of salvation
for every sinner was completed on the cross. Christ
removed the cause of our enmity in His death.
In a legal sense, all have died
in the death of Christ because Christ died for all
(2 Cor. 5:14). The value of that death has been
secured for all. The greatest thing that can be said
of us is that Jesus died for us. However, that death
does not save the world automatically. It does make
salvation of the individual possible because
salvation depends upon a personal appropriation
through faith in Jesus Christ. In the cross of
Jesus, God has fully accomplished a work for every
unsaved person. The blood of Jesus Christ has
redeemed us.
God in love now awaits each
individual to personally trust in the finished work
of Jesus Christ. The righteous judgment for sin has
been fulfilled in the death of Christ. If anyone
goes to hell it is only because every possible mercy
from God has been rejected by that individual.
“And there is salvation in no
one else; for there is no other name under heaven
that has been given among men by which we must be
saved” (Acts 4:12).
The universal message is “God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son.” However, no one is saved by that universal
message alone. Because “God so loved the world” and
“He gave His only begotten Son”, anyone who
“believes in Him” can be saved today.
The great invitation of a
loving God is for all to believe on Christ today and
be saved. “The Lord is not slow about His promise,
as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,
not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to
repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
God has provided all that the
sinner can possibly need. Jesus said, “He that
believes on Me has everlasting life.”
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's written consent.
Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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Reports on what God is doing through Bible believing evangelical Christians in Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, India and Ecuador. Jesus said, "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you" (John 15:7).
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