What Jesus Did For Us on the Cross - Easter Message

The Gospel of Luke chapter 24 verse 1 Go ahead. You don't have to say right and okay. That's alright.

No. We're back now. The angel went on to say he is not here but he is risen. Praise the Lord. That's the story. Praise the Lord.

Yeah. Now with these words the angel announces what the Bible says is the most pivotal event in human history. An event that we're here to celebrate this Easter weekend and that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. However, we must understand that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not an isolated event. It is inextricably linked to Jesus' atoning work on the cross.

Listen. Romans 4 25 the Bible says Jesus was delivered to death for our sins. There's the cross.

And was raised to life for our justification. There is the resurrection. My friends, the cross and the resurrection are joined at the hip. The cross gives meaning to the resurrection and the resurrection authenticates Jesus' work on the cross.

I want to say that again. The cross gives meaning to the resurrection and the resurrection authenticates Jesus' work on the cross. You say, but Lon, what if I'm not really sure that the resurrection actually happened? Oh, well listen. I got you covered. I do. I want you to go to mcleanbible.org slash sermons and what you'll find there is you'll find in yellow and black a sermon entitled Jesus Rose from the Dead.

Impossible? And in that message I'll give you four pieces of compelling evidence to prove to you that the resurrection really did happen. So if you have any doubt at all, mcleanbible.org slash sermons, the yellow and black message, and we will help you fix that problem. Today I want to talk to you about the other side of the biblical coin and that is what Jesus did for us on the cross. Remember we said the cross and the resurrection are linked together.

Today we're going to focus on the side of the coin that deals with the cross. So are you ready? We don't sound ready. Are you ready? Good, good, good.

All right. No verse, I believe, in the Bible explains better what Jesus did on the cross than 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. Here's what it says. It says, for God made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that we might become righteous in God's sight through him. Now this verse has four key phrases that teach us four key truths about what Jesus did for us on the cross. And so what we want to do is we want to take this verse apart and look at all four of the phrases separately and then we'll put it back together again and we'll talk about what does that mean for you and me.

So here we go. Phrase number one, the Bible says God made him who knew no sin. Phrase number one tells us about the greatest person in history, him who knew no sin, obviously the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Bible is uncompromising in this claim that Jesus knew no sin, that Jesus had no sin. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 says Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are, say the next words with me, yet without sin.

Right. John chapter 8 verse 46. Jesus was talking to his enemies, not his friends, and he said which one of you can prove me guilty of a sin and Jesus' enemies had no answer. You know the Bible tells us that Jesus frequented the temple in Jerusalem all the time, but the Bible never tells us that Jesus offered any sacrifices for his sins there because he didn't need to. The Bible tells us that Jesus prayed, Father forgive them, but never does the Bible tell us that Jesus prayed, Father forgive me.

Why? Because he didn't have to. Now why is this truth, that is the sinlessness of Christ, something that is so important and that the Bible stresses so deeply? Well the answer is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7 where the Bible says Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. If you remember, Passover is all about God's judgment of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the tenth plague, but how God's judgment passed over the Israelites who were hiding behind the blood of the Passover lamb on their doorpost. Well 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7 says that in the same way people who hide behind the blood of Jesus Christ as their only payment for sin, God will pass over them in judgment just like he did the Israelites. Do we understand that?

Do we got that? However, there is a hitch and the hitch is Exodus 12 verse 5 which says that the Passover lamb shall be without defect. The point being that for Jesus to be the Passover lamb for the entire human race whose blood can protect every person alive from God's judgment for sin, he has to be without defect. He has to be without sin of any kind which is exactly how the Bible says that Jesus is. Phrase number 2, God made him who knew no sin, here it is, to become sin on our behalf. In phrase number 2 we learn about the greatest transaction in history carried out by the greatest person in history and that transaction is what? Well the verse says he became sin on our behalf.

Isaiah 53 verse 6 says all of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord laid on him. Who is him? Well the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, right?

Good. Laid on him the sins of us all. And where exactly did this transaction take place? Well folks it took place on the cross. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 24 says he himself, the Lord Jesus, bore our sins in his body where say it?

On the cross. Friends in a divine transaction that you and I will never fully understand, God the Father took the sins of the entire world and transferred them onto Jesus Christ so that he paid for my sins and he paid for your sins as he hung there on the cross. And even though you and I will never understand this fully, that's okay. Because listen, in order for this transaction to be mine, in order for it to be yours, you don't have to understand it fully. In order for this transaction to be yours or mine, we don't have to be able to explain it, all we have to do for this transaction to be ours is believe it. Praise the Lord.

That's all we got to do is believe it. Now, what was the result of all this? Well let's look at phrase number 3, God made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, here comes the third phrase, that we might become righteous in God's sight. Phrase number 3 tells us about the greatest offer in history as a result of the greatest transaction in history that was made by the greatest person in history, namely that as unholy as we are, God offers to make us righteous in his sight. Romans chapter 10 verse 4 says that Jesus Christ is the end of the law for what? For righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans chapter 5 verse 1 says therefore having been declared what? Righteous in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 5 verse 19 says for just as through the disobedience of one man, Adam in the garden, many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one man, the Lord Jesus on the cross, many shall be made righteous. Yes, friends, this is the great, great news of the Bible, praise God, the great news of the Bible, yes. Now you say, but Lon, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, we're not really righteous, I mean even after we put our faith in Jesus, we're still utterly sinful people, true? Well true.

You say well then how in the world can God agree to see us as righteous when we really aren't? Well that's a wonderful question and to answer it let me just say it's a lot like Supergirl. You all been watching Supergirl?

Yeah, it's not bad. Okay, well anyway, you know if you've been watching that Supergirl has all these incredible powers and one of the powers that she has is what? X-ray vision, right? Yeah, but there's one thing that Supergirl even with all of her x-ray vision cannot see through, what is it?

It's lead, that's exactly right and so if you were standing behind a lead screen, Supergirl would never see you, all she'd ever see is the lead screen, right? Yeah, okay, well the Bible says that this is exactly how the blood of Jesus works, that when we hide behind the blood of Jesus, when we take refuge behind the blood of Jesus as our only payment for sin in God's holy sight, Jesus' blood becomes a lead screen, it becomes a lead shield that God's holy eyes refuse to see through, that God agrees he won't look through. Now, can God see through to see our unholiness?

Of course he can, but the great news of the Bible is that God's offer to us is that when we hide behind Jesus' blood as payment for our sin, God agrees that he won't see past the blood of Christ. Yeah, and this is what the Bible means when it says Colossians 3, 3, that as believers in Jesus, watch, our life is now, say the next word, hidden, say it again, hidden, say it a third time, it is hidden with Christ in God because we as believers in God's sight are hidden behind the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. We call this theologically imputed righteousness because the righteousness is not really ours, it's been donated to us, it's been given to us, it's been imputed to us, it's been credited to our account by the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we all see that? Yes. Now friends, this is the foundation of God's plan of salvation for the human race, imputed righteousness, and this is how God gets sinners to heaven not on the basis of our righteousness, but on the basis of Jesus' righteousness that covers us and is imputed to us in the sight of God. You got it? You got it?

Yeah. Now, all that leads us to phrase number four. God made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that we might become righteous in God's sight, while great, through him. There's our fourth phrase, and phrase number four tells us about the greatest proviso in history, namely that God's offer to do all of this for us is available only, what does the verse say? Through him, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And friends, the Bible is crystal clear about this point. John 14 six, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the light. Say the next word with me. Say it again.

Say it louder. No one, no one, no one comes to the Father except through me. Acts chapter four verse 12, salvation is found in none other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we can be saved. By which we can get eternal life and go to heaven.

Listen to me. God does not offer to make us righteous in his sight through Buddha. He does not offer to make us righteous in his sight through Mohammed. He does not offer to make us righteous in his sight through Confucius or Joseph Smith or Lao Tzu or L Ron Hubbard or anybody else. He only offers to do it through Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ only.

That's the offer. You say, but Lao, listen, in our pluralistic world, in our tolerant and diverse world, I mean, how can you justify such a narrow position as that, such an exclusive position as that? Well, it's easy, simple. Buddha's tomb isn't empty. Confucius' tomb isn't empty. Mohammed's tomb isn't empty. L Ron Hubbard's tomb isn't empty. Nobody else's tomb is empty, but the tomb of Jesus Christ is empty. Hallelujah.

And remember what we said earlier. We said that one of the great purposes of the resurrection is to authenticate what Jesus did on the cross as the only way to heaven that works, that will really get you there. And that's why God raised him from the dead, at least in part so that looking at all these different options where everybody's telling us this is the way, this will work, this will get you to heaven, we can know which one is actually going to work. Praise God. We love to say it here at McLean Bible Church, follow a dead savior and you'll end up just like him. But the great news of the Bible is that we don't have a dead savior. We have a living savior.

We have a risen savior, a savior whose blood is so powerful, a savior whose blood is so efficacious in God's sight that it can cover the foulest sinners that this world can produce like me and make us righteous in God's sight. And you know what? When I came to Christ, I was the foulest person I knew.

And now, 45 years later, on the inside, I still am the foulest person I know. You say, well, Lon, that kind of disturbs me a little bit to hear you say that. Why?

Why does that disturb you? Folks, listen to me. If you've got enough guts to let the Holy Spirit take you on a guided tour of your heart, you'll find out that you're the foulest person you know. Is that true? That's true.

And if you don't believe me, you ask Him to take you on that tour and then you buckle your seatbelt for what you're going to find. You are the foulest person you know. I am the foulest person I know. But you know what?

It doesn't matter. As long as we're hidden behind the blood of Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter because Jesus Christ hides us, covers us, and in God's sight, no matter how foul we are, we are righteous before God because of Christ. Amen. There you go. So let me conclude today and say, want to know what Easter is all about?

Hey, here's what it's about. For God made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might become righteous in God's sight through Him, and then God raised Jesus from the dead to prove and authenticate Him. That is Easter, my dear friends, right there.

Now, let me tell you the best part of all of this as I close, and that is the best part of all of this is that this offer is open to everyone. I love what Romans 10 4 says. It says, Jesus Christ, we read it earlier, is the end of the law for righteousness to whom? Everyone who believes. Listen, look here at me.

Look here. It doesn't matter what you've said. It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter whom you've hurt.

It doesn't matter how badly you've messed up, and it doesn't matter how often you have messed up. You may be the worst person you know. But you're still part of everyone, aren't you?

Yeah? Aren't you still part of everyone? And this offer is open to everyone. You don't have to fix yourself up. You don't have to clean yourself up. You don't have to dress yourself up. All you got to do is come to Christ.

That's it. And God will take care of the fixing and the dressing and all the other stuff once He gets a hold of you. And my friend, if you're willing to renounce every other way you've ever trusted to try to pay for your sin and get to heaven and get eternal life, and you're willing to instead believe in and trust in the way God made for you to do this through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross to pay for your sin and hide you from God's judgment, then we can do this right now.

You can go from however you came in here to being righteous in God's sight today. And we're going to give you a chance to do that. Let's bow our heads together. And with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, here's what we're going to do. We're just going to say a short little prayer. I'm going to pray with you, and I'm going to say one phrase at a time out loud. I'm going to ask you to say that same phrase silently as we pray and ask God to cover you with the lead shield of the blood of Christ.

Here we go. You pray silently. I'm going to pray out loud. Lord Jesus, I come to you today because I want to be righteous in your sight. I want you to cover me today with the blood of Christ. I want to take you up on your offer to put a lead shield between me and your judgment for my sin. And that lead shield is the blood and the work of Jesus on the cross for me. So today I renounce every other remedy that I've ever trusted to get me to heaven, to pay for my sins, and I place my trust completely in the work of Christ on the cross for me.

Thank you for raising Jesus from the dead to prove to me that I'm not following some hoax, but I'm following the truth and the real way to heaven. So come into my heart today. Forgive my sins.

Become my Lord and Savior. I surrender my life to you today. In Jesus name.

Amen. Dear Jesus, how glad we are that you wear the victor's crown. And Lord, even though on this earth sometimes it doesn't look that way, even though we got all kinds of people on this earth who think that they wear it.

Lord Jesus, you have never taken it off and you never plan to. And so we can rest and be confident that when all the dust settles here on this earth, the victor's crown will still be right where it belongs on your head and no place else. So, Lord Jesus, we look forward to the day when every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Not them, but you. To the glory of God the Father. Lord, we are proud to belong to you as your children. Lord, we are proud to be part of your family. And Lord, we are thrilled to worship the one who wears the victor's crown. Remind us that every day is Easter for us.

That the resurrection happens every day you're alive. Help us worship you with all of our heart every day as the risen Christ. And we pray these things in Jesus name and all of God's people said, Amen. Hey, the Lord is risen. The Lord is risen. Amen. And he will be on Monday and he will be on Tuesday and he will be on Wednesday. He'll be that way the rest of your life and all of eternity. God bless you. Have a great Easter. You