Topical - Cross - Why Jesus Died
Introduction:
A. He Died That We Might Live Through Him (1 John 4:9-10).
1. Death is no respecter of persons.
a) All have sinned (Romans 3:23).
(1) Jairus’s daughter was only 12 years old… the widows son was “a young man,’ perhaps in his late teens or early twenties, but he died. We get the impression that Lazarus was an older man, but Lazarus died.
(2) If these three persons teach us anything it’s that death is no respecter of persons. Children, young people and adults are sinners.
b) The issue isn’t decay but death.
(1) When Jesus arrived at Jairus’s house, the little girl had just died. The young man out of the funeral procession had been dead at least a day & Lazarus had been in the grave 4 days.
(2) QUESTION: which of these persons were the most dead? Well, we understand that there are no degrees of death; however, there are degrees of decay.
(a) Jairus’s daughter wasn’t decayed at all; in fact it looked like she was sleeping.
(b) Decay was starting in the young mans body
(c) As for Lazarus, Martha warned that after four days in the tomb, her brother smelled.
(3) The Point: while all are lost sinners, not all are in the same state of decay:
(a) Some could smell like a pigpen (Luke 15:15-17; 2Pet.2:22).
(b) Some are clean on the outside, but filled with corruption on the inside (Matt.23:25-28).
(c) The lost sinner who says, “Well, I’m not as bad as other people,” is missing the point.
(d) The issue isn’t decay, where some sinners smell worse than others, but the issue is death, “for the wages of sin is death.”
2. Death needs life.
a) Life can come only come from Jesus Christ (John 5:26).
(1) You and I can nurture physical life, but we can’t give life to someone who’s dead, only God can do that. How does Jesus impart this gift of eternal life?
(2) Hearing His Word – in each of the resurrection narratives were studying:
(a) Jesus spoke to the dead person: “Young man I say to you, arise” (Luke 7:14).
(b) Jesus spoke to the little girl saying “arise” (Luke 8:54).
(c) Jesus spoke to Lazarus saying “come forth!” (John 11:43).
(d) Also, lets not forget that Jesus healed the paralyzed man at the pool by His Word (John 5:8), as well as the Nobleman heard & believed the Word of Jesus (John 4:50)
b) Scripture’s Role in Salvation (2 Timothy 3:15)
(1) The words of Scripture themselves—or an intellectual knowledge of them—do not grant salvation, but rather “the wisdom” they impart “leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
(2) While God’s existence, and some of His attributes, can be discerned from nature (Rom. 1:20), saving knowledge of Him comes only through the Scriptures.
Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, the ones that are clean on the outside "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me…" "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me." (John 5:39, 46)
(3) So, the first work the Word does is bring believers to salvation (Ps. 19:7; Mark 4:14–20; John 5:24, 39; Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23). The truth of Scripture, when mixed with faith in Christ and energized by the Holy Spirit, leads to spiritual life.
The apostle Paul asked the Romans, “How shall they [unbelievers] hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14) and later explained that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (v. 17).
Listen to Luke 11 And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!" But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:27-28 NKJV)
Listen to the wise words of Solomon "My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh." (Proverbs 4:20-22, NKJV)
3. That we may give evidence that we are alive.
a) By our walk and appetite – Jairus’s daughter (1 Peter 2:2-3; Mark 5:42; Luke 8:55).
(1) With the new nature within us, the child of God receives a new appetite for the things of God.
(2) If the resurrection of the dead is an illustration of the spiritual resurrection of dead sinners, then all who trust in Christ should give evidence of their new life by their walk and appetite.
As Paul explained that "Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4, NKJV)
To give further evidence that we are alive, Paul said that "If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:1-2, NASB95)
Only Jesus Christ can nourish us with the truth that satisfies us within "Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:16, NKJV)
b) By our speech – The young man (Luke 7:15).
(1) The young man gave evidence that he was alive by sitting up and speaking. If we truly have new life within us, it will be revealed by what we say and how we say it.
(2) If the heart is changed through faith in Jesus Christ, then the speech must also be changed:
To the Pharisees, Jesus said "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34, NKJV)
The new life will reveal itself by speaking truth, not lies, "Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another…" "Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds," (Eph.4:25; Col.3:9, NKJV)
Our speech will also be gracious, pure, kind and loving: "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth…" "Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." (Col.3:8; 4:6)
(3) Our new speech will definitely magnify the Lord Jesus Christ:
Perhaps the young man could not stop talking about what Jesus did for him: "Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul. " (Psalm 66:16, NKJV)
The apostles said that "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”" (Acts 4:20, NKJV)
!!!! c) By our grave clothes being loosed (John 11:44).
(1) Lazarus gave evidence that he was alive by coming out of the grave and his grave clothes being taken off. Why would a living person want to be bound like a corpse and smell like one?
(a) God’s children have taken off the filthy garments of sin and have put on the garments of God’s grace, the righteousness of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:21; Isa. 61:10; 64:6).
(b) We have “put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Col. 3:9-10).
(c) Just as Jesus commanded the grave clothes to be removed from Lazarus (John 11:44), so should we put off by faith the grave clothes of the old life.
(2) You find him seated with Christ at the table (John 12:2), and all believers are “seated with Christ” in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6), enjoying spiritual food and fellowship.
(a) Because of the great change in Lazarus, many people desired to see him; and his “living witness” was used by God to bring people to salvation (John 12:9–11).
(b) Also, because of his living witness, people wanted to kill him (John 12:10-11).
(c) There are no recorded words of Lazarus in the Gospels, but his daily walk is enough to convince people that Jesus is the Son of God.
B. He Died That We Might Live For Him (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
1. We have a new Master.
a) We no longer live for ourselves (Galatians 2:20).
(1) When Jesus died on the cross, He defeated every evil master that controlled out life.
(a) The world – (Gal.6:14; 2Tim.4:10; 1Jn.2:15-17)
(b) The flesh – (Gal.5:24-25)
(c) The devil – (Col.2:15)
(2) Since Jesus Christ is our new Master, we ought to make it our aim to please Him (2Cor.5:9-11; John 17:4).
2. We have a new motive.
a) God’s love toward us (2 Corinthians 5:14).
(1) It was love that motivated the Father to give His Son to be the Savior of the world (John 3:16; Rom.5:8; 1Jn.4:9-10).
(2) It was love that motivated the Son to give His life for the sins of the world (John 15:13).
(3) It is this love that compels us to live for Him (2Cor.5:14; 1Jn.3:1)
(4) This love that we have is not our own but by the Holy Spirit (Rom.5:5; Gal.5:22).
3. We have a new measure.
a) We look at people differently (2 Corinthians 5:16).
(1) How do you view people who are lost? What do see in your heart when you see unsaved people acting like unsaved people? Do they irritate you, make you angry?
(a) Jesus was moved with compassion (Matt.9:36).
(b) The Pharisees criticized Jesus because of Jesus welcomed sinners (Luke 15:1-2).
(2) We live by a new measure. We value people, not because of what they own or what they can do for us, but for what they can be when they trust Jesus Christ (2Cor.5:17).
(a) Love always brings out the best in others (1Cor.13:7)
!!! 4. We have a new mandate.