Question 1:
When have you been frustrated by your
inability to fix something?
THE POINT
Forgiveness is possible
because Jesus died for our sins.
THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
“I can do that!”
If you get stuck, don’t worry. Whether you’re trying to install a Model #237H water faucet or repair the back door lock of a 2010 Ford Escape, someone very likely has created an online video showing you what to do.
It feels good, too, when you can step back and see that you fixed something on your own. Even if it took you much longer than the professional, you can say, “I did it!”
You can’t fix everything, though. Sometimes you have to call the licensed plumber or trained mechanic—and nobody would recommend that you attempt to perform your own heart surgery!
A broken relationship with God is something else you can’t fix on your own. Plenty of religions and philosophies suggest you can, but their methods are ineffective. Only one Person can fix your sin problem.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
John 19:8-11
8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?” 11 “You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
If you were to take a close-up view of a television screen, you would see nothing but a series of red, green, and blue dots. Those dots would fill your vision, none of it making very much sense at all. But as you step back a bit, the colors start making little patterns. Little pockets of color would start peppering in among the seemingly random scatter of colored light. The further you move away from the TV screen, the more those dots blend together until they become shapes you recognize: a person’s face, a landscape, or text on the screen. One single pixel on a screen might look like it is blinking on and off, changing colors seemingly at random, but what is really happening is that pixel is being controlled by a main chip that has a much bigger picture in mind. It only seems random because you have to be farther away to see the full picture.
John 19:8 picks up about halfway through the account of Jesus’ death. One of His disciples had already betrayed Him. The authorities had arrested Jesus, dragged Him out in front of an angry mob, and had Him flogged. The Jewish leaders were calling for Jesus to be crucified. Now He was in yet another private meeting with Pilate, the Roman official governing over Judea. On the surface, it might seem like everything was spiraling out of control for Jesus, His mission, and His Messiahship, the result of terrible timing and randomness.
Question 2:
What evidence do you see in these
verses that God was in control?
Pilate was in a bit of a pickle. As far as he could tell, the tension between Jesus and the Jewish leaders was just that: tension. Jesus had said things the Jewish leaders didn’t like. Prior to having Jesus flogged, Pilate had told the Jewish leaders: “I find no grounds for charging him” (John 18:38). In Pilate’s eyes, Jesus was innocent.
But the angry mob outside was causing problems. If Pilate didn’t give them what they wanted, he ran the risk of seeing his district descend into a riot. Pilate had the full authority to release Jesus or crucify Him; in fact, he was the only one able to order the death penalty. He reminded Jesus of that fact: “Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?” (v. 10).
Jesus’ response was significant: “You would have no authority over me at all . . . if it hadn’t been given you from above.” Think of what all Jesus could have said or done. He could’ve fought for His innocence. He could’ve started an argument. He could’ve changed everyone’s minds with the snap of His fingers. Instead, He humbled Himself and turned Himself over to the whims of the angry mob.
Jesus understood that even though things seemed to be spiraling into chaos, everything was actually functioning perfectly within the Father’s plan. Like the TV when we step away from it, we see the fuller picture: this was all part of God’s plan.
God is a perfect and just God, and the work for salvation was perfectly complete when Jesus died. Even when the circumstance seemed out of control, Jesus was able to complete His task, knowing full well He was held perfectly in the center of God’s will.
John 19:16b-18
As Jesus’ trials concluded, He was led away for execution. He was not alone, though, for they crucified two criminals with Him. The three men were taken to the “Place of the Skull” outside the walls of Jerusalem. The place received its name probably because the shape of the place resembled a skull (which is Golgotha in Aramaic and Calvariae in Latin, the word from which we get Calvary).
The incredible event that took place on the Skull was captured in three words—“They crucified Him”—but those three words are powerful. The apostle John did not go into the graphic details of how extreme and horrific crucifixion was. The first readers of this account would have understood, since it was a common form of execution.
As Jesus carried the cross by himself up to Golgotha, He was walking a path reserved for us. We are the ones deserving death. As He was nailed in place, His hands and feet were nailed when it should’ve been our hands and feet. And when He died, He died a death we deserved to pay a price we could never afford.
Question 3:
What emotions do you experience when you
think about Jesus’ crucifixion?
John 19:28-30
28 After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
When God made Adam and Eve, they lived in perfect community with Him. But it didn’t take long for them to break that community by placing their desires above God’s command to them. When they did this, they brought sin into a world where it previously had no hold. Throughout the Old Testament, God wanted to help His people understand just how serious sin is—how damaging it is to our relationship with Him.
Question 4:
What do you find hopeful about
Jesus’ declaration, “It is finished”?
Jesus was a Rabbi who taught Scripture, and He is the Messiah who also fulfilled Scripture. And because He is the Son of God, He completed God’s plan for salvation once and for all. When Jesus said, “I’m thirsty” (v. 28), He was doing two things.
- He was expressing His thirst! It’d been a long day, and Jesus had gone without food and water since the Passover meal with His disciples. He had lost a lot of blood from the flogging and the crucifixion, and the body needs fluids to replace lost blood, so Jesus experienced extreme thirst.
- He was calling attention to the fulfillment of Scripture. Both Psalms 22 and 69 are about a suffering servant—accused, insulted, humiliated, and in need of rescue.
Jesus was completing the picture He’d been painting with His whole life. He was proving He was the final substitutionary sacrifice who would bring salvation. As God’s Son, Jesus didn’t bring salvation from an earthly ruler; He brought deliverance from the force of sin and death that has plagued us since sin first entered the picture with Adam and Eve.
John wanted his readers to know without a doubt that every part of Jesus’ death was according to God’s plan of redemption. God is sovereign. Through the Son of God, the plan of salvation was fulfilled. “It is finished” (v. 30).
Question 5:
Why is the crucifixion of Jesus an
essential element of the gospel?
GOD’S COSTLY LOVE
In the first column, list several costly ways you’ve shown love to someone.
In the second column, list several costly ways someone has shown love to you.
In the third column, list ways Jesus’ death cost God in order to lovingly forgive and save you.
My Ways Others’ Ways God’s Way
Write a short prayer expressing your response to God’s costly love:
“When the time came to completion, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those
under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
GALATIANS 4:4-5
LIVE IT OUT
Jesus’ death was the final sacrifice that covered the sins of the world. In light of this historic moment, choose one of the following applications:
Give thanks. Reflect on all Jesus has saved you from. Spend time in prayer, thanking Him for forgiving your sins.
Offer forgiveness. Since you have been forgiven by the blood of Christ, identify someone in your life who has wronged you and reach out to them with a word of forgiveness.
Share the message. The forgiveness and salvation Jesus provided through His death is available to all. Share this truth with a friend who does not know Christ.
There are lots of things we can do for ourselves—and we can have fun doing them. But forgiveness for our sins was accomplished on the cross through Christ once and for all. We have only to receive that forgiveness by repenting and turning to Him in faith.
Teacher's Notes:
Video: Mel Gibson The Passion of The Christ
Love. That’s a word that gets thrown around a lot, and it’s used for a lot of things that aren’t really love. “I love my car.” “I love ice cream.” “I love the Tigers.” “I love my job.” And, “I love my spouse.” Out of all of those, only the last one is really related to love, all the others are just measures of extreme likes.
While the message of
sin and separation from God was seen in the Isaiah 59 passage, there is good
news. God loves us — He loves you. Despite the fact that humanity has sinned
and rebelled against God, He still loves us. He loved us so much that He did what
we could never do for ourselves. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to bear
the punishment we rightly deserve for our sin. The work of Jesus provides a way
for all us — including you — to be forgiven and experience salvation.
Q: In
your opinion, which was more important, Jesus' death on the cross or His
resurrection from the dead?
A: Both Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection from the
dead are equally important; they cannot be separated from each other. Without
Jesus’ death, we have no hope of God’s forgiveness; and without Jesus’
resurrection, we have no hope of eternal life. Like the two wings of an
airplane, both are essential!
Why is this? The
reason is because our greatest need is to be forgiven of our sins. Sin
separates us from God, and until we’re forgiven and cleansed of our sins, we
have no hope of eternal life in heaven. But we can’t cleanse ourselves of
our sins, no matter how hard we try—and that’s why we need Christ. He was
without sin, but on the cross all our sins were placed on Him, and He took the
judgment we deserve. In other words, on the cross Jesus became the final and
complete sacrifice for our sins.
John 19:8-11
8 When Pilate heard
this statement, he was more afraid than ever. 9 He went back into the
headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not give him
an answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you
know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify
you?” 11 “You would have no authority over me at all,”
Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why
the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
1.
Jesus’ death was under God’s control.
While it was Pilate who
held Jesus in custody, make no mistake, God was in control. There was nothing
about any of this that surprised God. In order for the penalty for sin to be
paid, Jesus had to be arrested and stand trial. This was all in God’s plan.
Verse 11 reflects Jesus’ understanding that what was happening to Him was not
because of Pilate’s authority, but because of God’s. From our vantage point in
history, we understand the spiritual ramifications of Jesus’ arrest and
crucifixion. Yet, we may struggle with the realization that God was in control
of the events that led to Jesus’ death. Galatians 4:4-5 reminds us that God, in
His own timing, brought about these events that would lead to the redemption of
humankind.
- Jesus was arrested, accused, and condemned,
although He had done no wrong, by a people who refused to acknowledge their own
guilt before a righteous God.
- The Lord loves us and befriends us; but we need
to exercise caution in presuming on His goodness to the neglect of fearing and
revering Him as Holy God.
- Sometimes the best answer to those who falsely
accuse us is no answer.
- We need to honor, respect, and fear the
sovereign rule of God over that of human authorities, expectations, and
regulations.
- Each person is accountable for his or her
sin—now and in the day of eternal judgment.
Why was Pilate so
afraid?
The Jewish leaders based
their demands on Jewish law whereby one who blasphemed God — as they were
saying Jesus had — must be put to death (Lev. 24:16). Moreover, in their view,
death on a cross would add to Jesus’ humiliation (Deut. 21:23).
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was even more afraid.
The saying was the
demands in verses 6-7 that Jesus be crucified for claiming to be “the Son of
God. He probably was afraid, if for no other reason, for his political future.
No one wanted to experience the disfavor of Caesar. He likely was a
superstitious man too; and his wife had already shared her concerns with him
(Matt. 27:19).
Possibly, growing out of his own interview with Jesus, Pilate, who had declared Jesus’ innocence three times, may have developed a fear of the divine, for he realized something unusual about this man before him that did not seem to match up to the picture his accusers had painted to him in their charges (Luke 23:1).
Therefore, Pilate went again into the judgment hall to have another conversation with Jesus. His question was simple and direct: Where are You from? In his earlier conversation, Jesus had said to Pilate He was “not of this world” (John 18:36). Pilate did not pursue that response then, but now, having heard the phrase Son of God used in reference to Jesus, Pilate may have wanted to know just who he was dealing with. Could this indeed be some kind of God-man? But Jesus gave him no answer. “His silence echoes the silence of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:7. He is silent, it seems, because Pilate has already revealed that he is not a man of truth and thus would not benefit from an answer to his question.” 1 Jesus knew Pilate wouldn’t understand, for he obviously had not understood Jesus in the earlier encounter (John 18:33-38).
Spiritually, Pilate was unable to grasp who Jesus was. The tone of Pilate’s reaction to Jesus’ silence may have been one of exasperation. “Do you refuse to speak to me? It was not a question that actually called for an answer. It was designed to set up what he would say next. Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you? Power denotes “power of choice, authority.” The statement was true in terms of Pilate’s legal position. He had the authority to execute and the authority to acquit.
Yet from the view of divine, salvation history, were it not so sad, it could be laughable that this weak governor actually believed the destiny of Jesus, who truly was God’s Son, lay in his hands or would be determined by his word. So, to this assertion, Jesus did respond. He might not speak in His own defense, but He felt compelled to challenge Pilate’s errant thinking. You would have no authority over me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. Jesus’ reply is a reminder to Pilate that no matter what authority one has, someone above has more. The political or governing authority Pilate had was given to him by the authority of the emperor in Rome. And maybe—if Pilate was beginning to realize Jesus was no mere man—Jesus seized this as a moment to remind Pilate that another greater authority existed; one who truly came from above, denoting the authority of God.
Neither must we miss the importance of the words against me. When it came to Jesus, neither Pilate, the Jewish rulers, nor the emperor in Rome could hold sway over Him. Jesus had come under the authority of His Father. Even in the throes of death, that had not changed. His destiny was according to the Father’s plan and purposes. Jesus’ words were an indictment of Pilate and a reminder that he had responsibility for the way he exercised his authority. At that moment he stood on the threshold of using his power in opposition to God. By turning Jesus over to death, he would be personally rejecting Jesus as One sent from God. Yet, Jesus added, “The one who handed me over to you has the greater sin” . At least two questions arise. Who was Jesus talking about? And how are we to understand the idea of there being greater sin?
In John 18:35 Pilate told Jesus His own people and the chief priests were the ones who had handed Jesus over to him. So, even though the words are grammatically singular
in form, Jesus could be
speaking collectively of the people who rejected him. Or he could be singling
out Caiaphas, the chief priest, who by abuse of his authority blatantly rejected
Jesus and persuaded others to do the same, thus intensifying the depth of his
own sin before the very God he professed to represent. Furthermore, he was
guilty of manipulating Pilate and the Roman system to accomplish what he could
not do otherwise—kill Jesus.
Sin is sin, no matter what form it takes. Sin is that state in which we live in violation of God’s law, whether in thought or action. Sin is the human refusal to acknowledge the authority of the holy, sovereign God who has made Himself known in His Son Jesus. Therefore, to reject Jesus is to rebel against God, thus committing sin. We are responsible to God personally for our sin. Jesus spoke to the concept of accountability in Luke 12:48. We are accountable for what we know, what we have been given, and what we do. We are not informed enough to know how that greater accountability will be measured and judgment administered. But neither should we have the desire to test it to the point of finding out.
John 19:16b-18
16b Then they took
Jesus away. 17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called
Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they
crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the
middle.
2.
Jesus’ death was for us.
Jesus endured the awful death by crucifixion to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus was completely sinless and didn’t deserve to die. But His death was foretold in Scripture. The events that took place were all fulfillments of Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Savior, the Messiah.
Crucifixion was the
cruelest death the Romans could devise. They reserved crucifixion for the most
serious of crimes. The Romans didn’t invent crucifixion. It was originally used
by the Assyrians and Babylonians. The Romans, however, refined the punishment.
Their goal was to inflict as much pain and blood loss as possible before
crucifixion, but just to the point of death. Then they would let the victim
hang on the cross in terrible pain until they could no longer breathe. Rest
assured of this fact: Jesus endured the pain of the cross for you and for me.
Why is the crucifixion
of Jesus an essential element of the gospel?
·
Christ suffered and died for the sin of the
world.
·
Jesus’ atoning death is the centerpiece of the
gospel.
The typical cross
resembled a T, with no top part against which the criminal could rest his head.
At the place of execution, the soldiers laid the cross flat on the ground and
fastened the criminal. Sometimes they might tie a criminal to the cross by
ropes, but they also used nails. This was certainly the case with Jesus, since
Thomas referred to the nail marks in Jesus’ hands. Then the soldiers raised the
cross so that the criminal was upright, perhaps only two or three feet from the
ground. In this position, the criminal experienced a number of agonies: severe
inflammation, swelling of wounds caused by nails, torn tendons, throbbing headaches,
burning thirst, inability to breathe, and incredible discomfort from the
strained position. As terrible as the pain was, it often was not enough to kill
a person, so the criminal was left to die from hunger and thirst, or
asphyxiation. Some criminals were known to hang on a cross for a week, driven
mad by their unbearable conditions.
John 19:28-30
28 After this, when
Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be
fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting
there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it
up to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is
finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
3.
Jesus’ death completed the work of salvation.
Jesus endured the pain
of the cross and the agony of crucifixion until all of Scripture related to
God’s plan for salvation had been accomplished. Verse 28 makes it clear that
Jesus was still understanding all that was taking place. He knew that the Scripture
was fulfilled. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant that the work
necessary for salvation—God’s redemptive plan—was completed. He had done
everything He had to do in order to provide the gift of salvation to you and
me. To be complete means there was nothing else that needed to be added to what
He had done. Yet, we still try to earn salvation by our works, don’t we? What
could we do that would be greater that what Jesus has already done for us? The
penalty of sin is death. Either you can pay the penalty, or you can accept
the price that Jesus paid for you in His death.
What does the price
Jesus paid for our forgiveness communicate about the weight of our sin?
·
Jesus’ sufferings and death were real.
·
Jesus accomplished all the Father had sent Him
to do.
·
Jesus gave of Himself freely that we might be
forgiven and saved from sin.
When God made Adam and
Eve, they lived in perfect community with Him. But it didn’t take long for them
to break that community by placing their desires above God’s command to them.
When they did this, they brought sin into a world where it previously had no
hold. Throughout the Old Testament, God wanted to help His people understand
just how serious sin is—how damaging it is to our relationship with Him.
The Point: Forgiveness
is possible because Jesus died for our sins.
Conclusion:
The crucifixion of
Jesus, while carried out by Romans soldiers under Pilate’s authority, was God’s
plan.
God was in control of all of the events of Jesus’ death. Jesus’ death was for
all of humanity, even though it was over 2,000 years ago. And Jesus’ death
completed—fully—the work of salvation. There is nothing that you need to do, or
can do, to earn your salvation. Jesus paid the price for you. Forgiveness of
your sins is possible because Jesus died for your sins.
7 Reasons Christ
Suffered and Died
God’s purposes for the world in the death of Jesus are unfathomable, writes John Piper in his latest book, The Passion of Jesus Christ: Fifty Reasons Why He Came to Die. He adds, “Infinitely more important than who killed Jesus is the question: What did God achieve for sinners like us in sending His Son to die?”
How vital it is that we grasp–and share–the sovereignly designed purposes behind the Passion of Jesus Christ. Here are seven of them:
1. To achieve His own
resurrection from the dead.
The death of Christ did
not merely precede His resurrection – it was the price that obtained it. The
Bible says He was raised not just after the blood-shedding, but by it. The
wrath of God was satisfied with the suffering and death of Jesus. The holy
curse against sin was fully absorbed. The price of forgiveness was totally
paid. The righteousness of God was completely vindicated. All that was left to
accomplish was the public declaration of God’s endorsement. This He gave by
raising Jesus from the dead. When the Bible says, “If Christ has not been
raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians
15:17, ESV), the point is not that the resurrection is the price paid for our
sins. The point is that the resurrection proves that the death of Jesus is an
all-sufficient price.
2. To show His own love
for us.
The death of Christ is
not only the demonstration of God’s love (John 3:16), it is also the supreme
expression of Christ’s own love for all who receive it as their treasure. The
sufferings and death of Christ have to do with me personally. It is my sin that
cuts me off from God, not sin in general. I am lost and perishing; all I can do
is plead for mercy. Then I see Christ suffering and dying. For whom? Ephesians
5:25 says, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” And John
15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for
his friends.” And Matthew 20:28, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” And I ask, Am I among the
“many”? Can I be one of His “friends”? May I belong to the “church”? And I hear
the answer, “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right
to become children of God” (John 1:12). My heart is swayed, and I embrace the
beauty and bounty of Christ as my treasure. And there flows into my heart this
great reality–the love of Christ for me.
3. In order to cancel
the legal demands of the law against us.
What a folly to think
that our good deeds may one day outweigh our bad deeds. First, it is not true.
Even our good deeds are defective, because we don’t honor God in the way we do
them. “Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” Without Christ-exalting
faith, our deeds will signify nothing but rebellion. Second, this is simply not
the way God saves us. If we are saved from the consequences of our bad deeds,
it will not be because they weighed less than our good deeds. There is no
salvation by balancing records. There is only salvation by canceling records.
The record of our bad deeds (including our defective good deeds), along with
the just penalties that each deserves, must be blotted out–not balanced. This
is what Christ suffered and died to accomplish (Colossians 2:13). He endured my
damnation. He is my only hope. And faith in Him is my only way to God.
4. To provide the basis
for our justification and to complete the obedience that becomes our
righteousness.
To be justified in a courtroom is not the same as being forgiven. Being forgiven implies that I am guilty and my crime is not counted. Being justified implies that I have been tried and found innocent. The verdict of justification does not make a person just. It declares a person just. (The moral change we undergo when we trust Christ is not justification. The Bible usually calls that sanctification–the process of becoming good.) Justification is a declaration that happens in a moment. A verdict: Just! Righteous! In the courtroom of God, we have not kept the law. Therefore, justification, in ordinary terms, is hopeless. Yet, amazingly, because of Christ, the Bible says God “justifies the ungodly” who trust in His grace (Romans 4:5). Christ shed His blood to cancel the guilt of our crime: “We have now been justified by his blood” (Romans 5:9). But canceling our sins is not the same as declaring us righteous. Christ also imputes His righteousness to me. My claim before God is this: “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ” (Philippians 3:9). Christ fulfilled all righteousness perfectly; and then that righteousness was reckoned to be mine, when I trusted in Him. Christ’s death became the basis for our pardon and our perfection.
5. To obtain for us all
things that are good for us.
“He who did not spare
his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him
graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). I love the logic of this verse.
Not because I love logic, but because I love having my real needs met. The two
halves of Romans 8:32 have a stupendously important logical connection. The
connection between the two halves is meant to make the second half absolutely
certain. If God did the hardest thing of all–namely, give up His own Son to
suffering and death–then it is certain that He will do the comparatively easy
thing, namely, give us all things with Him. God’s total commitment to give us
all things is more sure than the sacrifice of His Son. But what does “give us
all things” mean? He will give us all things that are good for us. All things
that we really need in order to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans
8:29). All things we need in order to attain everlasting joy. “In any and every
circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance
and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians
4:12-13, emphasis added). Notice “all things” includes “hungering” and
“needing.” God will meet every real need, including the ability to rejoice in
suffering when many felt needs do not get met. The suffering and death of
Christ guarantee that God will give us all things that we need to do His will
and to give Him glory and to attain everlasting joy.
6. To bring us to God.
What is the ultimate
good in the Good News? God Himself. Salvation is not good news if it only saves
from hell and not for God. Forgiveness is not good news if it only gives relief
from guilt and doesn’t open the way to God. Justification is not good news if
it only makes us legally acceptable to God but doesn’t bring fellowship with
God. Redemption is not good news if it only liberates us from bondage but
doesn’t bring us to God. Adoption is not good news if it only puts us in the
Father’s family but not in His arms. There is no sure evidence that we have a
new heart just because we want to escape hell. It doesn’t take a new heart to
want the psychological relief of forgiveness, or the removal of God’s wrath, or
the inheritance of God’s world. The evidence we have been changed is that we
want these things because they bring us to the enjoyment of God. This is the
greatest thing Christ died for. “Christ also suffered once for sins, the
righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
7. To give us eternal
life.
In our happiest times
we do not want to die. The wish for death rises only when our suffering seems
unbearable. What we really want in those times is not death, but relief. We
would love for the good times to come again. We would like the pain to go away.
We would like to have our loved one back from the grave. The longing of the
human heart is to live and to be happy. God made us that way. “He has put
eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are created in God’s image,
and God loves life and lives forever. We were made to live forever. And we
will. The opposite of eternal life is not annihilation. It is hell. Jesus spoke
of it more than anybody, and He made plain that rejecting the eternal life He
offered would result not in obliteration, but in the misery of God’s wrath:
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). And it
remains forever. Jesus said, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but
the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). All that is good–all that
will bring true and lasting happiness–will be preserved and purified and
intensified. We will be changed so that we are capable of dimensions of
happiness that were inconceivable to us in this life. “What no eye has seen,
nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined … God has prepared for those who
love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). For this Christ suffered and died. Why would we
not embrace Him as our treasure, and live?
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