THE CROSS OF CHRIST - 3

THE DEATH AND THE SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST

When Adam ate the forbidden fruit, what happened was a shift from the spirit faculty of man to the physical faculty of man. Adam sinned, and since the wages of sin is death. Adam must pay for it.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross was a payment for the sin of Adam. Jesus Christ is referred to as the last Adam because he came to pay for the error of the first man, Adam.

In the first Adam, we all sinned against God. In the last Adam, we all paid for the sin.

All humanity was in Adam when he committed the sin. When Christ died on the cross too, the all humanity was also in him. We did not commit a sin before we became a sinner. Neither will anyone do any good before he becomes righteous.

He died that those who believe that he died for them should partake in his death, he resurrected also that those who believe in his resurrection and its purpose should also partake in the benefit of his resurrection.

Remember when Adam sinned, suddenly they discovered that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves for themselves to cover their nakedness.

But when God appeared unto them, God gave unto them an animal’s skin to replace the leaves they had first used.

The leaves they had first used represent religion. Religion is an attempt to cover the shame and imperfections of man but it is not sufficient. Imagine what it looks like, leaves us as clothes. What kind of wind can that stand? How long will the leaves last before they begin to tear?

The animal’s skin recommended by God to the first man represents the sacrifice of the lamb (i.e Jesus Christ) for the remissions of the sins of humanity.

Leaves came in as a result of man’s idea. Man started religion, God did not. Religion was mankind’s search for victory over the shame and deformations caused by sin

Religion is a means man had devised to serve God. God didn’t introduce religion to man. Man introduced religion to God.

Religion had existed before the laws of Moses. There had been various attempts by man to please God by obeying some sets of codes and rules which they seem best for the cause.

So prophetically, when Adam used religion to cover their nakedness, God introduced salvation by the sacrifice of a lamb.

This was the first prophetic sign of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sin of the whole world.

This is exactly what John the Baptist meant by saying “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world…” John 1:29

And since man sinned against God, it requires man to pay for this sin and hence the death of a sinless man. The sacrifice requires a man who has no sin, in order for God to accept the sacrifice.

God would not accept a sinner as a sacrifice for sinners; a saint must be sacrificed for the sinners.

That Jesus Christ was the only qualified man is clear. He was the only man to walk the earth without sin.

He was born of a virgin and of God the Holy Spirit to qualify him for the blameless sacrifice.

Jesus Christ accomplished this for humanity. He was the sinless and blameless man who died as a sacrifice for all of us. Jesus did not come to start a religion; he came to sacrifice himself for humanity.

Paul said this same thing in 2 Cor 5…“…He who knew no sin, was made sin for us…that we might become the righteousness of God”

Some Jews have claimed that the death of Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for sins does not meet the requirements of some of their laws. Whether true or not, it is now clear that the sacrifice of one man for the entire human race was a prophecy and a plan of God before the laws of Moses.

The sacrifice was the goal of God since the fall of man. Jesus Christ was born for this purpose.

He told Pilate “to this end was I born…”

Remember again, God prophesied the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent? Note that God said the seed of the woman not the seed of the man? This is because Jesus must be born solely by the woman and not by the intercourse between a man and a woman. This again is a prophecy of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ who will bruise the head of Satan at the cross.

Jesus is our sacrifice!

Jesus is our savior!

There is no more sacrifice for sins! See how the writer of Hebrews puts it “But this man, after he had offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOREVER, sat down on the right hand of God” Heb 10:12

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross is a ONE-TIME SACRIFICE and it has PAID FOR OUR SINS FOREVER! FOREVER means past, present and future! Hope you get?

We have received eternal forgiveness of sins by the reason of his sacrifice! One man Adam gave us condemnation, one man Jesus gave us Justification!

You were not a sinner because you sin; you were a sinner because of what Adam did. If that’s the case then if you believe, you are now a saint because of what Jesus Christ did. Halleluyah!

His sacrifice on the cross has justified you eternally! You are righteous by the reason of his sacrifice as your sin! He did this all for you! All for you!

Glory be to unto Jesus!

Philip Oklu

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REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD