Sermon Notes

THE KING HAS COME TO DIE

The reason for this good news is because Jesus has overcome the bad news. 

Romans 3:23

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

1 Timothy 1:15

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”

He says, “It is common in some quarters of the church to think that the message of the Gospel initiates us into the Christian Life and then we move on to other strategies when it comes to growing in Christ. This is a fundamental mistake. We will never grow truly as long as we retain this error. The gospel is not a hotel to pass through but a home to live in. Not only a gateway into the Christian life but the pathway of the Christian Life. Not jumper cables to get the Christian life started but an engine to keep the Christian life going.” - Dane Ortlund

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

God has designed that through consistent reflection on the most tragic event in history will lead to the greatest joy possible in us.

Romans 3:22-26

For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

1. HE DIED TO DECLARE US RIGHTEOUS V. 24a

Justification - When a sinner is declared righteous before God by God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2. HE DIED TO SET US FREE V. 24b

Redemption - God's freeing of sinners from the devastating effects of sin.  

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. - Galatians 5:1

Romans 6:10-14

“For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not  sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

3. HE DIED TO PROTECT US FROM THE WRATH OF GOD V. 25

Propitiation - God's way of averting the wrath of God away from believing sinners.

“The Bible says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We glorify what we enjoy most. And it isn't God. Therefore sin is not small, because it is not against a small Sovereign. The seriousness of an insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted. The Creator of the universe is infinitely worthy of respect and admiration and loyalty. Therefore failure to love him is not trivial; it is treason. It defames God and destroys human happiness.” - John Piper