There is a plague that has overrun mankind. It is called sin, and it is the reason people die, both physically and spiritually. This is not an apologetic study to prove the existence of God, the existence of the soul, the existence of truth, or anything along those lines.
What this is, is an introduction to a Man, Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of a plethora of Jewish prophecies. "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be Ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2). The Israelites, at the time, were in captivity to the Assyrians. Hearing that a Ruler - that a Savior - would come was the greatest news that they could hear.
The patriarch Abraham foresaw the day of Jesus in his life, but perhaps the most stunning picture of Jesus is in Genesis 22. It is the one of only two times that God has ever called for a human sacrifice. He asks for Abraham's son Isaac in verse 2. So faithful Abraham ventures up to Moriah with Isaac and straps Isaac to the pyre, when God suddenly offers up an alternative: a ram caught in the thickets. As Abraham raises his knife to slay his own son in obedience to the word of God, God stops him. Because of God's goodness and the substitute provided, Isaac was spared.
The other time God required a human sacrifice is in Matthew 27, but this time it is different. This time the sacrifice is Jesus Christ. And He died not for His own sins, but for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). He came as God in the flesh to redeem those under the Law (Galatians 4:4). As human beings, you and I and the rest of the world are entitled to pay for every crime we have ever committed. And the only way to ever pay an infinite debt to an infinite God is by going to hell to suffer infinite pain for an infinite amount of time.
But when Jesus died on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, He paved a different way. When God's knife came up to slay His Son, it came down and killed Him this time. He turned His back on His one and only Son (Matthew 27:46) so that we may have the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). The only person righteous enough to stand in the presence of God is one who has the righteousness of God. Without it, we fall short (Romans 3:23). So by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are able to accept the gift of eternal life and enjoy an infinite amount of joy in the presence of an infinite God for an infinite amount of time. And so again (like with Abraham and Isaac), because of God's goodness and the substitute provided, we are spared from eternal condemnation.
The Israelites waited many years before their Savior came from Ephrathah Bethlehem. Now He has come, having died for our sins and risen from the grave. He sits now at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for the saints (Romans 8:34). He is saying to His Father, "Father, I paid for that man's sins. He is mine. I died for Him. He believes in My work and has called upon My name to save Him, and I have. Do not punish him, Father. Remember when You punished Me on Calvary? I paid for all that man's sins then and there." The Savior-Messiah has come! Will you not accept His gift of eternal life?
The patriarch Abraham foresaw the day of Jesus in his life, but perhaps the most stunning picture of Jesus is in Genesis 22. It is the one of only two times that God has ever called for a human sacrifice. He asks for Abraham's son Isaac in verse 2. So faithful Abraham ventures up to Moriah with Isaac and straps Isaac to the pyre, when God suddenly offers up an alternative: a ram caught in the thickets. As Abraham raises his knife to slay his own son in obedience to the word of God, God stops him. Because of God's goodness and the substitute provided, Isaac was spared.
The other time God required a human sacrifice is in Matthew 27, but this time it is different. This time the sacrifice is Jesus Christ. And He died not for His own sins, but for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). He came as God in the flesh to redeem those under the Law (Galatians 4:4). As human beings, you and I and the rest of the world are entitled to pay for every crime we have ever committed. And the only way to ever pay an infinite debt to an infinite God is by going to hell to suffer infinite pain for an infinite amount of time.
But when Jesus died on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, He paved a different way. When God's knife came up to slay His Son, it came down and killed Him this time. He turned His back on His one and only Son (Matthew 27:46) so that we may have the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). The only person righteous enough to stand in the presence of God is one who has the righteousness of God. Without it, we fall short (Romans 3:23). So by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are able to accept the gift of eternal life and enjoy an infinite amount of joy in the presence of an infinite God for an infinite amount of time. And so again (like with Abraham and Isaac), because of God's goodness and the substitute provided, we are spared from eternal condemnation.
The Israelites waited many years before their Savior came from Ephrathah Bethlehem. Now He has come, having died for our sins and risen from the grave. He sits now at the right hand of God the Father, making intercession for the saints (Romans 8:34). He is saying to His Father, "Father, I paid for that man's sins. He is mine. I died for Him. He believes in My work and has called upon My name to save Him, and I have. Do not punish him, Father. Remember when You punished Me on Calvary? I paid for all that man's sins then and there." The Savior-Messiah has come! Will you not accept His gift of eternal life?
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