THE DEATH OF CHRIST IS ONE OF THE MAIN THEMES IN SCRIPTURE:

1. It was prophecied: Indeed the truthfulness of God was on the line, due to the prophets message to Israel. Ps 22:131, Ps 69:121, Is 52:1253:12, Dan 9:2426.

2. The Old Testament sacrificial system was a picture of the death of Christ. The dieing of the Lamb of God. Heb. 9 & 10 The study of the passover lamb and The Lamb of God is of great interest if you need something to do sometime for a sermon series.

3. Reportedly there are around one hundred and seventy five references in the New Testament to the death of Christ.

4. The Old Testament prophets were interested in the salvation that it would bring. I Pet 1:1011, "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, Searching what, or what manner oof time the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify, when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."

How glad I am to be living in this age. You know how interested I was in the impeccability of Christ, so I think you can know how frustrated I would have been to be a prophet and trying to figure out what I was saying and what it meant.

5. The angels also are interested in this salvation. I Pet 1:12, "...which things the angels desire to look into." They are interested in what God is doing with them. We in turn wonder at His dealings with them as well.

Are we ever satisfied with how God is dealing with us as an individual, or do we wonder why He blesses so and so, so much and me so little?

6. His death was the topic of discussion at the transfiguration. Lu 9:3031, "...spoke of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem." This verse relates to the fact that He laid down His life and they did not take it from Him. We will see this shortly. (Jn 10:1718)

7. It is the topic of worship and a song in heaven. Rev 5:812, "...thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood...."

HIS DEATH WAS NEEDED:

1. It was according to the purpose of God. He planned that He would save mankind through the shed blood of His Son. He planned and He purposed the very death of His Son. Acts 2:23, I Pet 1:1920, Rev. 13:8.

2. It was needed to fulfill prophecy. Not that the prophets said something, and He needed to follow through on their promises, but that He planned and purposed and then revealed this, before the fact, through the prophets. Matt 26:5254, Lu 24:2527.

3. It was needed to provide salvation to man. God had foreordained that the Lamb of God would die, before the foundation of the world. Christ's death was a prerequisite to God saving mankind. Indeed, there is no other plan, no other act that would have fit the purpose of God. Jn 3:1416, Jn 12:24.

4. It was to obey the will of the Father. If the Son were to follow the will of the Father He must die. This was the struggle of the garden. He did not want to carry the burden of man in His death, but He was submitting to the will of the Father. Jn 10:18 in the context of His dieing stated, "...This commandment have I received of my Father." Philip 2:8

ABOUT HIS DEATH:

1. It was a separation from God. Matt 27:46, "...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The ramifications of this statement, and other questions that arise from it will have to be done in your own research, because we do not have time to cover it. Was this a separation of God from Christ's humanity or deity? Was this a separation as in a split in the trinity?

2. It was a separation of the spirit and the body. Matt 27:50, "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the spirit." When man dies the body goes to the earth for rot, and the spirit and soul go to be with the Lord for eternal joy.

We know it, we believe it, we preach it, yet when it comes down to ME dieing, I become uncomfortable. Yes, I am ready to meet the Lord. Yes, I know to die is gain. Yes, I know there will be no more pain. Yes, I know there will be joy. No, I am not comfortable with that last moment of transition. Haven't you heard? I dislike change! It is an experience I look forward to, yet I am hesitant to desire its closeness.

3. It was voluntary. Jn 10:1718, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." He did not have to die. He could have walked through the crowds. He could have floated down off the cross. He could have done millions of things, yet He chose to lay His life down for you and me.

4. It was vicarious. I Pet 3:18, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit," Vicarious means = "...sympathetic participation in the experience of another" Webster. He suffered in our place. We benefit because of His death. We probably couldn't count all of the benefits that His death brought to us! Lu 9:3031

5. It was sacrificial. I Cor. 5:7, "...For even Christ, our passover, is sacrificed for us." Without sacrifice there can be no improvement for mankind in its sin. The slaying of the animals for Adam and Eve's sin, benefited their error. The killing of animals under the law was specifically linked to covering the sin of man.

6. It was substitutionary. I Pet 2:24, "Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed." Christ, in His sacrifice died in our place. We should have died spiritually, but He took upon Himself that punishment that we might have spiritual life

7. It provided redemption. Eph 1:7, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace," Matt 20:28

8. It was propitiatory. [Webster defines propitiatory as, to appease or satisfy.] Rom 3:25, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;" Note should be taken that it was propitiation through faith in His blood. There is no propitiation by the blood alone. Man must mark his claim to salvation on his faith in the work of Christ on the cross. I Jn 4:10

THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR BELIEVERS:

1. He saved us from the curse of the law. Gal. 3:13
2. He secured for us forgiveness. Rev. 1:5, I Jn 1:9
3. He justified us. Rom 5:9
4. He saved us from wrath. Rom 5:9
5. He provided new life to us. (Regeneration) II Cor 5:17
6. By His death are we sanctified. Heb 10:10
7. He provided our adoption as children of God. Gal. 4:35
8. We are reconciled to God through His death. Rom 5:10
9. We can be cleansed by His blood. I Jn 1:7
10. We can have eternal life. Jn 3:1416

THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR NONBELIEVERS:

It provides salvation ready for the taking for all nonbelievers. Jn 1:29, "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." I Tim 2:6, Heb 2:9

Every man woman and child that has ever been upon the earth has had this provision made for him or her. The problem is in the taking and receiving. Few benifit from His gracious provision.
THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR SATAN AND THE DEMONS:

1. It defeated them. Jn 12:31, "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Col 2:1415

2. It condemned them forever. Jude 6, "And the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Rev. 20:10 mentions the devil being cast into the lake of fire.

THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR THE UNIVERSE:

There was a reconciliation of all things in the universe. Col 1:1920, "For it pleased the Gather that in him should all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his crross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." Rom. 8:2022

THE RESULT OF HIS DEATH FOR HIMSELF:

1. There was a return of His glory. Jn 17:1, "These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes too heaven, and said, Gather, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy son also may gloriy thee."

2. There was an exhaltation. Philip 2:89, "And, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath hightly exhalted him, and given him a name which is above every name,"

3. There was joy in it for Him. Heb. 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

THE RESULT OF CHRIST'S DEATH FOR THE FATHER:

1. There was a revealing of the love of God. Rom. 5:8, "But God cammendeth his love toward us in that, whelle we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

2. There was a revealing of the wrath of God concerning sin. Matt 27:46 speaks of the anguish of Christ on the cross just before His death.

3. There was final provision for Him to have a people for all of eternity.

THE RESULT OF CHRIST'S DEATH WAS FINAL:

There was a final sacrifice. Heb 9:2527 mentions "...But now once, in the end of the ages, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." vs 26 Heb 10:1112