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Question: Why did Jesus have to die?

Intro:
1. To give us victory over sin and over Satan (Gen. 3:15).

2. His death was the only thing that would atone for sin (Isa. 53).

3. His suffering and death were essential (Matt. 16:21).

4. In order to be the ransom for us (Matt. 20:28).

5. For remission of sins (Matt. 26:28)

6. To fulfill the Scriptures (Matt. 26:52-54).

7. To take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

8. As one preacher said, "Because of your crummy sins and mine."
Rom. 3:23.

9. This was the only way that God could be both Just and the
Justifier (Rom. 3:24ff).

10. Heb. 9:15-22

11. The theme of the Bible is the death of Christ, and His
triumphant resurrection from the dead. What wonderful mercy what
infinite grace, what immeasurable love!


I. JESUS LIVED IN ANTICIPATION OF THE CROSS.
     A. Matt. 16:21-- a definite, fixed certainty.
          1. Every detail known, the scene, the instruments, the
non-participation of these in the final act of His death, His
resurrection and its date-- all manifested and mapped out in His
sight, and all absolutely certain.
          2. cf. Acts 2-- determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God.
     B. Jno. 2:4-- Mine hour has not yet come.
     C. John 3:14-16-- Even as Moses..
     D. Mt. 12:40-- Sign of the prophet Jonah
     E. Mt. 9:14,15-- Bridegroom taken away
     

II. WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?

     A. His suffering and death were essential (Matt. 16:21).
     
     B. To fulfill the Scriptures (Matt. 26:52-54).

     C. To give us victory over sin and over Satan (Gen. 3:15).
          1. His death was the only thing that would atone for sin
(Isa. 53). 
          2. In order to be the ransom for us (Matt. 20:28).
          3. For remission of sins (Matt. 26:28)
          4. To take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
               a. As one preacher said, "Because of your crummy
sins and mine." Rom. 3:23.

     D. This was the only way that God could be both Just and the
Justifier (Rom. 3:21f).

     E. Heb. 9:14-22
          1. Heb. 9:22- Without shedding of blood there is no
remission.

     conclu. The theme of the Bible is the death of Christ, and His
triumphant resurrection from the dead. What wonderful mercy, what
infinite grace, what immeasurable love!

III. HIS SUFFERING AND DEATH
     A. Think about these passages when you see Jesus on His way to
Passover for the last time (Matt. 26:17ff).
          1. The time spent in teaching right up to the end.
     B. The institution of the Lord's Supper Mt. 26:26ff.
     C. Gethsemane Mt. 26:36ff
     D. His betrayal and arrest; His disciples forsook Him and fled
          (v.56).
     E. Scourged and crucified Mt. 27:26ff.
          1. No where do we learn so vividly the wrath of God
against sin.


conclu: "Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut His glories
in, When Christ, the mighty Maker died, For man the creatures's
sin."
     
     "There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel's
veins; And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their
guilty stains."

Our response:
"Bring Christ your broken life,
So marred by sin;
He will create anew,
Make whole again.

Your empty, wasted years
He will restore,
And your iniquities
Remember no more.








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