The Legacy of the Sin-Bearer

commanded me to preach and what
we have sung and what we have read. I wish that I could preach through
each of those as well. I hope that the passage that
I’ve selected will harmonize. It was amazing to me. I don’t
think we collaborated because I don’t think until about 11
o’clock last night I knew for sure which direction I was going
to go. But The Lord is gracious to knit
the service together, and he did, as you will see, even down
to the readings that were selected and and the hymns as well. I want to take you to Paul’s
second epistle to the Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, chapter five.
We’re only going to look at one verse. Certainly you folks know that
if I can stretch one single word out three weeks, certainly I
can get through one verse. It may be a daunting task this
morning, but we’ll make a go of it. Our modern day understanding
of the word legacy has been somewhat altered or transformed from its
original intent Originally, we’ll look at what the word originally
meant. But what the word has come to mean or imply is the
memory that you leave behind, kind of your list of accomplishments,
your fame, or perhaps even your infamy, your accomplishments. By what are you remembered? And there are athletic legacies,
how many home runs a person hits, how fast they ran, how strong
they were. There are legacies of heroism,
battlefield exploits and daring rescues. There are academic legacies,
contributions made in the field of science or math or some other
discipline. There are business conquests
that are called legacies. People like Carnegie and Rockefeller
and Trump. The word often is used to describe
the lasting impression that you leave. The things for which you
are most remembered, and in fact, it even has found its way into
Christian song. There is a popular Christian
song and I love the song. And I’ve told the kids on a number
of occasions that expresses even the desire of my own heart. The
song just says, I want to leave a legacy. And what the writer
goes on to describe is they want the world to know they want to
be remembered as following Christ. And in that sense, it’s a good
song. But I want to tell you, that
isn’t really what the original word meant. The original word
meant a literal gift by will. In other words, the last will
and testament. In other words, what may be left
to you as an inheritance, what is bequeathed to you upon a predecessor’s
death, an inheritance, something that is received upon someone’s
death. And when it’s the word is considered
in light of that fact, there is no legacy. that we can conceive
that even compares with the legacy that is left by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Not just a lasting memory of
what He was like, but a concrete reality. A concrete gift that
He left to each of us. I want to set the context for
you. And in order to do so, I’ve got to take you essentially through
three chapters of the book of Second Corinthians. If you would
turn to chapter three. In chapter three, we are well into the section
that is typically called the greatest and most crucial passage
for ministry in the Bible. When you talk about Christian
ministry, no passage of Scripture from end to end talks more completely
about the ministry than this. Now, there are plenty of other
places, as we’ve seen, that we can turn for the character of
the eldership and for the message of the gospel, the message of
the ministry. But here, when you begin to stand
back and look at this passage and the structure of it overall,
you see the ministry, almost the doctrine of the ministry
played out. Follow with me. In chapter three, verse one,
you see the calling and equipping of ministry. Look at verse four.
Such confidence we have through Christ towards God, not that
we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming
from ourselves. Remember, not even Peter would
commend himself to the ministry. Peter said, depart from me, O
Lord, for I am a sinful man. Paul sums it up by saying, but
our adequacy is from God who made us adequate. A servant of
a new covenant. God is the one who calls and
equips for ministry. Not only that, but look at the
glory of the ministry in verses 7 through 18, and I’m going to
summarize it with one single verse, verse 9. For if the ministry
of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness
abound in glory. Ministry is a glorious endeavor. It brings God honor and glory
and pleasure. Not only that, but if you would
look at chapter four, verse one, where here in this section we
see the methods and character of ministry. Specifically, look
at verse two. But we have renounced the things
hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating
the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves
to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And here you
have not only the methods of ministry, but the character that
is supposed to attend and undergird the ministry. Paul here essentially
says that he is committed to God’s method of ministry, that
we are to have biblically derived practices and a biblically consistent
life to go with it. In chapter 5, verse 10, if you
would turn. In chapter 5, verse 10, we have
the hope of ministry. Specifically, look at verse 7. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the surpassing greatness of the power may be
of God and not from ourselves. Look down at verse 16. Therefore,
we do not lose heart. But though our outer man is decaying,
yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. Paul lived constantly
in view of the hope of grace. The realization that he was being
changed and transformed even day by day, and that one day
he would be ultimately transformed and glorified. One day he would
receive a new body, a perfect body in heaven forever. In chapter 5, verse 11 through
17, we have the motivation for ministry. Look at verse 14 just
for the summary of it. For the love of Christ controls
us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all
died. And he died for all that they
who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who
died and rose again on our behalf.” What is our motivation in ministry?
Service to Christ. Service to Christ. Finally, the
specific duty of ministry. Paul narrows it down and you
can see him. First, he talks in broad terms about ministry
and in almost, you know, cryptic terms. And then he begins to
narrow it down and he begins to narrow down at the end of
verse or chapter five in verse 18, the specific duty of ministry. Now, all these things are from
God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation. Namely, that God was, in Christ,
reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses
against them. And He has committed to us the
word of reconciliation. The ministry is a service of
reconciliation, bringing others who are at odds with a holy God
to the holy God to be at peace with Him. It’s a beautiful calling,
the ministry. And finally, and for our purposes
today, the message of the ministry. The message of the ministry right
here in chapter 5, verse 21. that is, God the Father, made
Him, that is, Jesus Christ, given the context, He made Him who
knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him. This passage has been called
the heart of the gospel. It is the gospel. One said it
is one of the most tremendous statements ever written by the
Apostle Paul. And if you think of Paul writing
the majority of the New Testament, almost with the exception of
the Gospels and a few other books, that is a huge statement. I’ve titled this little passage,
The Legacy of the Sin Bearer. What did Christ leave? What did
Christ bequeath to us? This isn’t just the lasting memory
of a Savior. It isn’t just the gospel accounts
of a good example. What did Christ in his death
accomplish? What did Christ do? What did
Christ give us? What is the inheritance? The
inheritance gift that we have from Christ. Consider. First of all, this
morning, I want to just look at the simple sentence. It’s
there in your bulletin if you care to look, and it places there
for notes. And it’s laid out in such a fashion
that I hope you can see the simple sentence. That’s all we want
to look at first. And in verse 21, the message of the ministry
is that He, that is God the Father, made Him, that is Jesus Christ,
to be sin. It’s a striking sentence and
it ought to be. It should catch us off guard.
What do you mean God made Christ sin to be sin? And the only way that you can
understand it is if you go back into the Old Testament and understand
the Jewish ritual specifically regarding the Day of Atonement. The priest was directed to a
place, as it were, symbolically. The sins of the people upon the
head of a goat. And to send that goat abroad,
he was the scapegoat. That’s where the term comes from.
Leviticus 16.21 Just listen as I read. Then Aaron shall lay
both of his hands on the head of the live goat and confess
over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their
transgressions in regard to all their sins. That would take some
time, wouldn’t it? And he shall lay on the head
of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the way
of the hand of the man who stands in readiness.” And that wasn’t the only place
that an animal was used. We’ve already mentioned it both
verbally and in prayer that the sacrificial lamb becomes the
image that comes into play here. When it says that He made him
to be sin, that image of the Lamb suffering as a sacrifice
comes into play. In the Old Testament economy,
God required animal sacrifice to symbolize the need He wanted
the children as they raised up this little creature in their
home. He wanted them to befriend it. He wanted them to see this
beautiful, innocent little creature. And then on the appointed day
to have the father go and kill this lamb, God wanted the people
to know how horrible sin is and what a great cost, what a great
price. Exodus 29. Exodus 29. 36 says, each day you shall offer
a bull as a sin offering for atonement. You shall purify the
altar when you make atonement for it. Then you shall anoint
it to consecrate it. Not only goats and lambs, but
bulls. And not only goats and lambs
and bulls, but doves. All kinds of innocent creatures. It’s hard for us to listen to.
It should be. That’s the imagery that God designed. That’s the vehicle that God wanted
to use to tell us just how despicable our sin is. Leviticus. Chapter one, he shall lay his
hand on the head of the burnt offering that it may be accepted
for him to make atonement on its behalf. It was symbolic,
but in so doing what the priest was doing was imparting the sin,
imputing the sin upon the creature. And then when the creature was
slain, the sin was forgiven. He shall slay the young bull
before the Lord, Aaron’s sons, the priest shall offer up the
blood and sprinkle the blood all around the altar at the doorway
of the tent of meeting. It was graphic. It was horrible,
and it was designed to be just that. And in the New Testament,
Christ is repeatedly presented as that perfect sacrifice on
whom our sin rests. Romans five, we just read it
while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died
for the ungodly. He goes on to say that God demonstrates
His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. Much more than having now been
justified by His blood, we should be saved from the wrath of God
through Him. Our sin went on to Christ. He
was the sin bearer. Hebrews 9.28, Christ also having
been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second
time for salvation. to those who eagerly await for
Him. Christ also suffered once for sins, not repetitively like
the Jewish sacrifice demanded. He didn’t die for his own sins because
he committed no sins. He died for the sins of the people.
The sins of the people were placed on Him. He was the sin bearer.
so that He could make payment for them, so that He could bring
about remission of those sins, so that He could make reconciliation
to the Father and take those sins and put them away once and
for all. God appointed Christ to be the
representative of sin and sinners. He treated Him as sin and sinners
are treated. Christ was our scapegoat. Christ
was our lamb. Christ was our sacrifice. He
was the representative of sin. What I want to look at this morning is not just at the fact that
Christ was the sin bearer, but what was his legacy? What do
we gain from it? What’s left to us by virtue of
the fact that Christ is the sin bearer? I want to look at three
elements of this legacy this morning. First of all, the sin
bearer was sinless. The sin bearer was sinless. He, that is God the Father, made
Him, that is Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin. He knew no sin. In what sense? Because he certainly knew the
nature of sin. He certainly knew that the nature
of sin is a transgression against a holy God, a holy and perfect
God who’s completely apart from all sin. Christ, more than anyone, knew
the nature of sin. Christ knew what sin was. He
knew the origin of sin. He knew the corrupt heart of
man. He knew our natural tendencies from the fall forward. He knew
the heart of Satan who would put in to every man’s heart this
proclivity, this tendency towards evil. Christ knew the origin
of sin. So if he knew the nature of sin
and the origin of sin, how can it be said that he knew no sin?
He also knew the punishment of sin, the sad consequences of
sin, sin that will destroy people’s lives and take them down and
make them helpless and hopeless and hurt. In what sense can it
be said that Jesus knew no sin? Except that Jesus lived a perfectly
righteous life. He never sinned. He never sinned. The modern church is almost ashamed
to say that. The modern church is almost ashamed
to claim that Christ was a perfect man, a sinless Savior. But that’s what Scripture lays
out. That’s the only reason that Christ’s sacrifice was accepted.
He was a perfect, unblemished, unspotted lamb, unstained by
any of the sin that just seems to cling to you and I. Jesus. Take you to Luke 23, a
book that I hope to preach someday. Jesus was arrested, taken by
the Jews before the Roman authorities. Remember this? And then Pilate
said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no guilt in
this man. This is a heathen who, for casual
purposes of his own, just for his own pleasure, would have
loved to find some thing to complain about Christ, something that
would have sent him to prison or to the cross. Pilate again,
later on in that same chapter, he said to them, You brought
this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion. Behold,
having examined him before you, I find no guilt in this man regarding
the charges that you make against him. I mean, here’s Pilate. He didn’t need anything to be
pushed towards hatred, an evil man, a cruel man. This is a third
time, it says, Luke’s gospel records. Why? What evil has this
man done? I have found in him no guilt
demanding death. Therefore, I will punish him
and release him. Even that punishment was unjust. He was a perfectly
righteous man and Pilate had a sense of that. There was a
sense that Pilate had of Christ that said, you know, this is
an innocent man. In fact, even after the crucifixion,
remember, even after the crucifixion, one of the Roman soldiers, one
who participated in the arrest, participated in the abuse, participated
in the crucifixion. When the clouds rolled in, and
the sky darkened. The centurion saw what had happened
and he began praising God, saying, certainly this man was innocent. There were those, not only Pilate,
not only the Roman soldiers, there were those that saw in
Christ perfect righteousness. Perfect humanity blended with
perfect deity. The 53rd chapter records such
a beautiful description of Christ. Listen to it. Who has believed
our message? To whom has the arm of the Lord
been revealed? He grew up before him like a
tender shoot, like a root out of parched ground. He had no
stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor
appearance that we should be attracted to him. In other words,
it wasn’t his physical appearance that drew people to him. It was
spiritual. He was despised and forsaken
of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, like one from whom
men hide their face. He was despised and we did not
esteem him. We didn’t see him for what he
was. We didn’t worship him as we ought, Isaiah says. Surely,
our griefs he himself bore, our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves
esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he
was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging
we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone
astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord
has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” And only a perfect sin-bearer,
a sinless sin-bearer, could bear that burden. Later on in that same chapter,
it speaks of Christ after His death on the cross. It says that
His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with the rich
man in His death. And because He had done no violence,
nor was there any deceit in His mouth. I mean, imagine how difficult
that is to say about you or I. No deceit. And the Scripture
The Scripture just that is part of the core of who Christ Christ
is Hebrews four. We do not have a high priest
who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been
tempted in all things as we are. Yet, without sin, Christ never
sinned. In chapter seven. of that same book of Hebrews,
there’s a lengthy comparison of Jesus Christ to the other
priests, the human priests. The high priest, as it were,
of Jesus Christ compared to all the other priests. It says it
was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent. I mean, how many different ways
can you say it? Holy, innocent, undefiled, separated
from sinners and exalted above the heavens. Christ was perfect.
Christ was led into the desert, led before Satan, led by Satan
into the wilderness and tempted repeatedly. He came out sinless. Certainly, even a more difficult
temptation existed as Christ faced the cross, and yet repeatedly
during His arrest and crucifixion, it was said of Christ that He was sinless. 1 Peter summarized it this way.
1 Peter 2, 21, Christ also suffered for you who committed no sin.
I mean, could it be any more blunt and graphic than that?
Not just during his crucifixion. Peter is speaking categorically
of Christ’s life. He committed no sin, nor was
any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did
not revile in return. I mean, if there was ever a justified
moment of rebuke, that was it. While suffering, he uttered no
threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. First Peter 119 opens the gospel
with these very familiar words, you are not redeemed with perishable
things. like silver and gold from your futile way of life,
but with precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless. And that imagery conveyed to
every Jew a perfect sacrifice. You would bring no crippled lamb
to a sacrifice. You would bring no spotted lamb.
You would bring a perfect lamb. And that’s what God sent. 1 Peter
3.18, Peter had it down. Peter understood here. 1 Peter
3.18, Christ also suffered and died for sins once for all, the
just for the unjust, the one who is righteous. And you might
as well put it in all capitals, the just, the righteous for the
unjust. How can it be said then that
God made him to be sin? Christ never sinned. It can be
said In the sense that God laid our sin upon Christ. He imputed it to him. He reckoned
Christ a sinner. He counted Christ a sinner. Even though he was innocent.
Christ didn’t become a sinner. God the Father treated Christ
as if he were a sinner. And had him die as a substitute
to pay the penalty of the sins of all of us who believe in him. One said it this way, if Christ
had not been free from sin, he could not have taken the place
of sinners. Under the old dispensation, the sacrifices were required
to be without blemish. And that is the point, people.
Christ was a pure and perfect, sinless sacrifice. But that’s only the first element
of his legacy. Not only was the sin bearer sinless,
secondly, the sin bearer was our substitute. We’ve already
read it. It certainly has been implied
repeatedly. But let’s go back to the verse.
God, he rather, that is God the Father, made him, that is Jesus
Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf. A lot of substitutes in life, aren’t
there? There are a lot of things that can be substituted. Players
in an athletic contest. Sugar has its substitute in sweet
and low, such as it is. Teachers can be substituted.
Driving routes, I found over the last few weeks, thankfully,
can be substituted. And there are things in life
for which there are no substitutes. A good cup of coffee. Your own bed. Air. Water. Family fellowship. But a cinder. Who could be a suitable substitute
to bear our sin? The sinless Christ, as we’ve
already seen. Thomas Watson, the great Puritan,
said it this way. We, by our sins, had infinitely
wronged God. And could we have shed rivers
of tears and offered up millions of holocausts and burnt offerings?
We could never have pacified an angry deity. Therefore, Christ
must die that God’s justice may be satisfied. It was absolutely
necessary for us to have a substitute because all of us dying collectively,
all the world’s people dying collectively wouldn’t have saved
one person. That’s how bad sin is. Our sinfulness left us deserving
judgment. As Peter said, as we just read,
he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross. Paul, writing
to the Galatians, said almost the same thing. Christ redeemed
us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. That’s what sin is. Our sinfulness
left us deserving judgment. And we being sinful deserve the
penalty of sin. Christ didn’t. But He became
our substitute. He willingly took on our sins. I love the way the old confessions
say it. The office of mediator, the Lord
Jesus did most willingly undertake. Jesus didn’t have to be tricked
into this. Jesus didn’t have to be coerced. or convinced the
office of the mediator, the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake
and underwent the punishment due us, which we should have
borne and suffered. He was made a curse and a sin
for us, enduring the most grievous sorrows in his soul and the most
painful sufferings in his body. He was crucified and died. And
all that Christ did willingly. Thomas Watson again said that
Jesus Christ leaped into the sea of the Father’s wrath to
save His spouse from drowning. All of us, like sheep, have gone
astray. Each of us has turned his own
way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall
on Him. He’s our substitute. And people,
He is the only substitute. Charles Spurgeon. I mean, who
could say it more clearly than Charles Spurgeon? In one word,
he said, the great fact on which the Christians hope rests is
substitution. The vicarious sacrifice of Christ
for the sinner, Christ suffering for the sinner, Christ being
made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Christ offering up a true and
proper substitutionary sacrifice in the place of as many as the
Father gave Him, who are recognized by their trusting in Him. This
is the cardinal fact of the gospel. There’s no hope for us outside
of Christ. There is no other substitute outside of Christ.
There is no other way to the Father except through Christ. It is infinite righteousness
that has to satisfy, pacify that angry deity for our sins. And
He did. It’s an infinite God that’s offended
by us and an infinitely holy God. And if our sin is ever to
be pardoned, it is infinite mercy in God that has to pardon us.
If we can ever be reconciled to God, it must be infinite merit. If ever our heart and lives are
going to be changed and our soul renewed and saved forever, it
must be infinite power that changes us. And if our soul is going
to escape hell and be saved ultimately, it must be infinite grace and
it was in the person of Jesus Christ. Dear Mr. Warfield said it this
way, The title Redeemer gives expression not merely to the
sense that we have received salvation from Him, but also to our appreciation
of what it cost Him to secure this salvation for us. It is
the name specifically of the cross of Christ. Whenever we
pronounce it, the cross is placarded before our eyes and our hearts
are filled with loving remembrance that not only Christ, not only
Christ gave us salvation, but that he paid a mighty price for
it. We deserve the cross. We deserve
to die. Christ didn’t. But he’s our substitute. Thirdly, not only is the sin
bearer sinless, not only was he our substitute, but the sin
bearer is our Savior. We come really here to the purpose
clause of the whole sentence. Read along again with me, if
you would. He, that is God the Father, made Him, that is Jesus
Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf. Why? That so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him. Come up with a thousand definitions
of what righteousness is. It’s simple. There’s divine moral
excellence. That is the standard. That’s
how you get into heaven. Simply live a perfectly righteous
life and you’re in. And for thousands of years, that’s
what people have been trying to do ever since God gave the
law. People have been trying to live
up to the law to get in. Justification, on the other hand.
Justification, on the other hand, is the declaration that the individual
has been restored to a state of righteousness in God’s sight.
It’s nothing that we do. It’s no level of righteousness
that we’ve achieved on our own. It is merely a pronouncement
of God that you are righteous. You say, well, how do we get
that? Because we know that we are thoroughgoing
sinners. How can it ever be said that
we might become the righteousness of God? I don’t need to illustrate
to you or to prove our sinfulness. Our own consciences bear witness
to the fact that we have all sinned and fallen short of the
glory of God. I’ve never had to prove to anybody
that they’re a sinner. Justification, as the Bible presents
it, is instantaneous. I mean, how do you like that? One minute you’re a wretched
sinner, bound for hell forever. And the next moment, God declares
you righteous. You didn’t do anything. The one who believes in the Lord
Jesus Christ immediately passes from spiritual death to eternal
life. Just that quick. It is a declared
righteousness, not an actual righteousness. It doesn’t mean
that you are actually now the best person on your block. It’s not a process. It’s a declaration
that God makes about the sinner. What he sees in you is Christ’s
righteousness. Justification takes place in
the courtroom of God, and he bangs his gavel and declares
you innocent. Not because you are, but because
you’ve placed your faith in Christ. It changes the sinner’s status,
not his nature. It’s an immediate decree. It’s
a divine, not guilty verdict on behalf of the sinner. It doesn’t
mean that you’ve arrived at some level of perfection. You can’t
earn it. You can’t achieve some measure
of righteousness. Charles Hodge, the great theologian,
said it this way. We are righteous with the righteousness
of God, not with our own, which is but a filthy rag, but with
that with which He provided and with which consists the infinitely
meritorious righteousness of His own dear Son. It’s the only
way we get in. That’s the only way anybody’s
ever gotten into heaven is by the righteousness of Christ.
And just like our sin, was laid on Christ. Christ’s righteousness
is imputed or laid upon us. Martin Luther knew this well,
he learned it. And he said this in the dying
years of his life, Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness. I am
your sin. You have taken upon yourself
what is mine and given to me what is yours. You. You have become what you were
not so that I may become what I am not. In other words, Luther
said, I am not righteous, but you have laid it upon me. You
are not sinful, but you have taken that upon yourself. Because of that, The believer
stands justified before God. We have the privilege to stand
before God, to come before a holy God in prayer. If we were called
as such to stand before Him, we would have the privilege to
do so. I have no doubt that we would fall on our face as well
we should, but we have the privilege to be there because of Christ.
It’s a perfect righteousness outside of ourselves. It’s reckoned
to us by faith. One Puritan said it this way,
how are we righteous in the sight of God? It is assuredly in the
same respect in which Christ was made to be sin that he might
be dealt with as a sinner, not for his own offenses, but for
those of others. It is in the same manner assuredly
that we are now the righteousness of him because we are judged
in connection with Christ’s righteousness, which we have put on by faith. People, we are justified by faith. We stand before God, righteous
in Christ by faith. Romans 1, I’m not ashamed of
the Gospels of power of God for salvation to everyone who believes
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness
of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the
righteous man shall live by faith. We can’t ever achieve some level
of success in Christian life. We can’t ever achieve some moral
standard on our own. Richard Hooker, the great Puritan,
said it this way, such we are in the sight of God the Father,
as is the very Son of God Himself. Do you get that? Do we really
grasp that? that if we are, as Paul says
repeatedly in the book of Ephesians, if we are in Christ, that’s what
God sees. He doesn’t see us bumbling through
the week, bumbling through life. He sees
us as the very Son of God Himself. And He goes on, “…let it be
counted folly or frenzy or fury whatsoever. It is our wisdom
and our comfort. We care for no knowledge in the
world but this.” That man has sinned and God has suffered.
That God made Himself the sin of men and that men are made
righteousness of God. You say, maybe I can make it
on my own. Maybe I can live up to God’s
standard. I don’t think so. In fact, I know so if what Scripture
says is true. Unless we behold Christ, and
place our faith in Him as the mediator, the Savior, the sinless
substitute, we will know no salvation. No wonder that book of ministry
in 2 Corinthians, it closes with these words in 2 Corinthians
5. When Paul says, now all these
things are from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, going out and calling people
to a holy God, calling them to a Christ that stands ready to
forgive them, calling them to righteousness that equips them
to stand before a holy God for eternity. He gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
not counting the trespasses against them. And He has committed to
us the word of reconciliation. Why? Therefore, we are ambassadors
for Christ. As though God were entreating
through us, we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Let’s examine our hearts. Our merciful God, we do plead for Your mercy. Because
we know the natural tendency of the human heart is to try
to do something or live in a certain way that will please You. And
in the end, purpose to stand before You and argue our case
that we lived a relatively purposeful and pure life. Lord, apart from our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no hope. Lord God, for those
of us who know you, we humbly thank you. We know in our hearts
we could have never done anything to save one soul. But by your
one perfect sacrifice on the cross, you saved your people. You saved sinners. and made them
to be righteous. Lord, we humbly thank You. We
pray these things in Jesus’ name, Amen. Good morning. Hi, Jan. How was breakfast? It
was good. Smells good. Yeah. Bye, Bob Beal. Hey, when are we going to get
to meet your wife and Seth? Tuesday. Really? Yeah. Tuesday nights?
Your wife maybe come then? I got one of her notices all
over her brain. Good. OK. I love that message. Well, thanks, Brian.