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Introduction:
Following His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples
several times over 40 days. Mark
16:15-18 is a summary of Jesus’ charge to His apostles
during those days. These statements then are of utmost importance.
Notice how Jesus began in Mark
16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to
all creation.” In Jesus’ final charge to His apostles, he
commanded them to teach the gospel. But why? Romans
1:16-17 provides the answer. The gospel is the power of
God to save everyone who believes. II
Thessalonians 1:7-9 says a day will come when Jesus will
appear with His mighty angels in flaming fire and deal out
retribution to those who do not obey His gospel. Clearly, the
gospel instructs us to obey. If we do, we are saved from God’s
wrath. If we do not, we pay the penalty of eternal destruction. On
the surface, that sounds simple, but Satan has found a way to
throw a wrench in the works. Read Galatians
1:6-9. Christ established His gospel, but Satan has
propagated other so-called gospels. However, they are not gospels
at all. They do not provide salvation. We learn five lessons from Galatians
1:6-9. 1) Different gospels exist. 2) Some of seeming
authority will proclaim different gospels. 3) Good, sincere people
will follow different gospels. 4) Only one gospel has the power to
save. 5) It is our responsibility to learn what is the only saving
gospel and obey it. This leads to our pressing question. What is
the gospel of Christ and how do we obey it? Paul provides a hint
regarding how to discover the true gospel in Galatians
3:24. The Law (the Old Testament) was established to lead
us to Jesus Christ that we may be justified by faith in Him.
Examining the major themes and lessons of that Old Law will lead
us to the New Covenant and the saving gospel Jesus established.
Therefore, let us look back to the Law and see what we can learn
of the saving gospel. Discussion: I.
God is holy and we are not. A.
The Old Covenant begins with the words, “In the
beginning, God…” (Genesis
1:1). If we are to understand anything about the saving
gospel, we must first know the God who authored it. We could spend
an entire lesson learning the characteristics of God. We could
learn about His omnipotence, His omniscience and His omnipresence.
However, the most important characteristic we must learn is His
holiness. Psalm
5:4 says, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in
wickedness; no evil dwells with You.” God is so holy, Habakkuk
1:13 says, “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and
You can not look on wickedness…” I am not sure we can fathom
such holiness. B.
Yet, when this holy God created man, He created us in His
image (Genesis
1:26-27). The implication is the holy God created a holy
man with the intention of having fellowship. His standard is
demonstrated throughout the Old Law, especially in Leviticus.
Repeatedly God says, “Be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus
11:44-45 et al).
Therefore, God made man to be in holy fellowship with Him and He
established a law for mankind in Genesis
2:16-17. C.
Sadly, man’s fellowship with God was broken. In Genesis
3:6, Adam and Eve broke God’s law. Their holiness was
shattered and their fellowship with God was ruined. Sadder, is the
fact that all men have followed in their footsteps (Psalm
14:1-3). Paul quoted from this passage when he concluded
in Romans
3:23 that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s
glory. D.
God explained the consequence of sin with that very first
law. In Genesis
2:16-17, He proclaimed that in the day they sinned, they
would die. Many have been confused because Adam and Eve continued
to live physically. The death God predicted was spiritual.
Physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body,
spiritual death is the separation of our spirit from God. Isaiah
59:1-2 is abundantly clear. When we sin, a wall is erected
between us and our God. The fellowship God intended is destroyed.
We become dead in sin (Ephesians
2:1). E.
However, along with God’s holiness we see two more
characteristics that provide us with hope. According to Psalm
89:14, God’s holiness is demonstrated by justice and
lovingkindness. The balance of these characteristics provides the
saving gospel. II.
God’s justice demands death and His lovingkindness
provides mercy. A.
Remember from Genesis
2:16-17 that the consequence of sin is death. Ezekiel
demonstrated the certainty of that consequence in Ezekiel
18:4, 20. The person who sins will die. There is nothing
we can do to avoid the consequence of sin and once we have paid
the penalty, we are dead. Justice means paying the price when we
have committed the crime and God’s justice demands our lives,
that is, our deaths. B.
However, God’s lovingkindness provides mercy. In Ezekiel
18:23; 33:11, we learn God actually takes no pleasure in
the death of the wicked. He wants them to turn away from their
wickedness and live. But there is an immediate problem. God’s
justice demands our lives, repentance does not pay that price. In
His lovingkindness, God developed a plan that paid the price of
death and provided the grace of life. C.
The plan was a plan of sacrifice. From the earliest days of
man’s history, God taught His followers to sacrifice in order to
have fellowship with Him. At the very least, as early as Genesis
4:3-4, mankind learned to sacrifice. Some suggest that the
animals slain to provide covering for Adam and Eve in Genesis
3:21 indicates sacrifice there. Under the Old Covenant,
sacrifice was constant and pervasive. The covenant began with a
sacrifice on Mt. Sinai (Exodus
24:4-8). Then the tabernacle was built and sacrifice
became the rule of the day. Read Numbers
28-29 to see exactly how pervasive sacrifice was in the
Old Testament. The priests were to offer two sacrifices every day,
one in the morning and one in the evening (vss.
3-4). On every Sabbath, they offered four sacrifices (vss.
9-10). On the first day of every month, they offered two
bulls, one ram, seven male lambs and one male goat, 11 sacrifices
in addition to the 2 daily sacrifices (vss.
11, 15). Then there were the special feasts. Numbers
28:16 does not describe the Passover sacrifice, but we
know that all the Israelite families were to offer a Passover
sacrifice. Then during the Feast of Unleavened bread, they offered
two bulls, one ram, seven male lambs, one goat and the two daily
sacrifices for seven days in a row (vss.
17, 19, 22-24). On the Feast of Weeks (the day of
Pentecost) this same set of 13 sacrifices were offered (vss.
27, 30-31). Numbers
29 demonstrates the seventh month as an extremely bloody
month for Israel. They offered their new moon sacrifices (vss.
1-5). Then on the tenth of the month, the Day of
Atonement, they repeated the cycle of 13 sacrifices—plus two
more we will notice in a moment—(vss.
7-11). Then, beginning on the fifteenth of the month, they
offered the same 13 sacrifices every day for eight days during the
Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Booths (vss.
12-38). In Numbers
29:39 God said that was in addition to votive offerings,
freewill offerings and burnt offerings. If you want to know more
about these sacrifices, study Leviticus
1-9. There the numerous sacrifices are described and
demonstrated. I want you to picture for a moment the tabernacle
and then the temple for a moment. The place was covered in blood.
The stench of death, raw meat and cooking flesh must have hung
heavy in the air. Then God established the law that all the males
of Israel were to come present themselves before the Lord during
those three feasts filled with sacrifices. What a way to impress
upon the Jews the lesson of sacrifice. D.
Leviticus
17:11
explains why God set this system up. The life of the flesh is in
the blood. When Israel poured the blood of these innocent and
spotless animals out before the altar, they were shedding the life
of the animal. The animal paid the penalty of death so those who
offered the sacrifice did not have to. The Day of Atonement, the
tenth day of the seventh month was an especially significant
sacrifice. In Leviticus
16:30, God explains through the atoning sacrifices Israel
would be cleansed of their sins. But notice how the sacrifices
worked on that day (Leviticus
16:7-10, 15-22). The priest would figuratively place the
sins of the nation on the head of one goat and send it out into
the wilderness, demonstrating that the sins of Israel had been
taken away from them. Then he would slaughter the other goat,
pouring its life out on the ground. As he wore the linen ephod
with the names of the tribes of Israel inscribed on the two stone
on his shoulders (cf. Exodus
28:9-12), he figuratively brought the entire nation with
him into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the life of the goat on
the Mercy Seat before the merciful God of Israel. Thus, the sins
of the people were placed on the innocent sacrifice and the death
of the sacrifice was placed on the guilty sinner. Through this
system, God meted out the demands of His justice and the desires
of His lovingkindness. E.
There are four things we need to recognize about this Old
Covenant sacrificial system.
1.
The sacrifice was to be sinless. These animals were amoral
and therefore sinless. 2.
As an illustration of their spiritual perfection, they had
to be physically spotless. The sacrifice without spot could pay
the price of the spotted and defiled sinner. 3.
Action had to be taken. Simply believing in the sacrificial
system did not cut it. The believers actually had to offer the
sacrifice. Thus, we learn what saving faith is—belief based
action. 4.
Finally, the Israelites did not deserve the forgiveness
that came through these sacrifices. This was a system of grace.
How could killing an animal or dozens of animals or thousands of
animals earn forgiveness? It could not. Despite what many teach,
the Old Testament is a system of grace. F.
However, I am sure you have already recognized a problem
with this scenario. How could the death of an animal actually pay
the price for the sins of men? In the New Covenant, Hebrews
10:1-4 explains that there was indeed a problem. God had
simply established this Old Covenant sacrificial system as an
overwhelming object lesson. Because, in reality they did not work.
If nothing else ever happened, those sacrifices could not take
sins away. Consider five problems. 1.
The sacrifice was an animal, not a man. 2.
The sacrifice was never really in fellowship with God and
the penalty is actually spiritual death, the severance of
fellowship with God. 3.
The sacrifice was a purely physical death and did not pay
the penalty of spiritual death. 4.
The offerer had to atone for himself as well as the other
sinners. 5.
These sacrifices had to be repeated. III.
God’s justice and lovingkindness were brought together in
the ultimate sacrifice. A.
God, however, had developed a plan to overcome these
issues. He was preparing the ultimate sacrifice. These thousands
of years of animal sacrifices were simply the schoolmaster that
prepared us to understand the ultimate sacrifice. In Isaiah
53, God prophesied the ultimate sacrifice that would take
away the sins of the world once and for all. His servant would
come into the world and would bare our griefs and our sins. He
would be pierced through for our transgression, crushed for our
iniquities. Our iniquities would fall on Him. The stroke was due
us, but God’s servant would take the penalty for us. He would be
our guilt offering and bear our iniquities. Through this sacrifice
He would intercede for the true transgressors. For hundreds of
years, if people read this prophecy correctly, they realized their
daily, monthly and yearly sacrifices were only biding time. The
true sacrifice was coming that would pay the penalty of their
sins. God’s justice would be meted out and His mercy would be
extended. B.
Imagine for just a moment you had been brought up under
this legacy of sacrifice. For years you had traveled to Jerusalem
and seen the bloody temple three times every year. You had heard
the squeal of the animals as they were slaughtered. You had seen
their lifeblood poured out before the altar. Then you heard of an
amazing teacher named John. All Israel was turning to him and
following after him. You follow him and heed his teaching. Then
one day you see his cousin coming toward you and John says,
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
(John
1:29, 36). What lesson was John teaching? Jesus is the
Christ, the sacrifice for our sins. C.
Just consider some of the verses that describe what Jesus
did. According to I
Peter 1:18, we were redeemed with the precious blood of
Jesus Christ. According to Matthew
20:28, Jesus gave His life as a ransom for man. According
to Matthew
26:28; Jesus poured out His blood for many for the
forgiveness of sins. According to Hebrews
9:11-14, Jesus offered Himself without blemish to God and
His blood will cleanse us from our iniquities. D.
However, notice what happened in this sacrifice. According
to II
Corinthians 5:21, God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin
on our behalf. How? According to I
Peter 2:24, Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sin. However, I want you to notice that
Jesus’ death went further than the animal sacrifices. In Matthew
27:46, Jesus, after six hours on the cross and three hours
of darkness cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken
Me?” This was more than just a quote from the psalms. Jesus was
demonstrating the true death He was experiencing. He whose
fellowship with the Father had been deeper and more intimate than
we can possibly imagine, was separated from the Father. He not
only poured out His blood for us, but He paid the penalty of
spiritual death as well. According to II
Corinthians 5:14-15, Christ died for all, therefore all
died. Do you see what God did? God placed our sins on Jesus on the
cross. Then God attributed Christ’s death to us. The demands of
God’s justice were met and the desires of God’s mercy were
given. But do you remember earlier in our lesson that we learned
the gospel was not just a message to be taught. It was something
to be obeyed (II
Thessalonians 1:8). How do we obey? IV.
To obey the gospel, we must die with Christ. A.
II
Timothy 2:11
says, “If we died with Him, we will also live with Him.” Colossians
2:20 explains we are to die with Christ. Colossians
3:3 says those who are saved have died and their lives are
hidden with Christ in God. Galatians
2:20 says we must be crucified with Christ. B.
Therefore, to obey this gospel, we have to die with Christ,
being crucified with Him. This leads us to one big huge question.
How do we accomplish this? When do we die with Christ? When are we
crucified with Christ? When do we get into Christ’s death, so
that His death is applied to us and our sins applied to Him?
Today, many gospels abound about this. Some suggest through
prayer. Some suggest through a moment of faith. These might be
right. But what does the scripture say? C.
Romans
6
stands out loud and clear. Listen to what it says. “How shall we
who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of
us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized
into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through
baptism into death…so we too might walk in newness of life…we
have become united in the likeness of His death…our old self was
crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done
away with…he who has died is freed from sin…you became
obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were
committed…but now having been freed from sin and enslaved to
God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification and the
outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Having
read that, you tell me how does someone die with Christ? When do
we die with Christ? When are we crucified with Him? When do we die
to sin? When do we enter Christ’s death? When we are baptized. Conclusion: This is the gospel, God’s amazing plan to redeem you. No wonder Jesus said in Mark 16:15-16, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” Do you believe the message you have just heard? Have you obeyed it? Have you died with Christ? If not, let me assure you today is a good day to die—die with Christ in baptism that is.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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