Good News! Series

First, believe that Christ died for your sins, proved by the fact that He was buried.

Years ago, a woman wrote J. Vernon McGee: “Our preacher said that on Easter Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples nursed him back to health. What do you think?”

McGee replied, “Dear Sister, beat your preacher with a leather whip for thirty-nine heavy strokes. Nail him to a cross. Hang him in the sun for six hours. Run a spear through his heart. Embalm him. Put him in an airless tomb for three days. Then see what happens” (Robert Russell, "Resurrection Promises," Preaching Today, Tape 151; www.PreachingToday.com).

To be sure, Jesus really died on the cross and His burial proves it.

Now, Jesus was more than just a martyr for a good cause. He died for our sins! That is, He died because of our sins just like the Old Testament Scriptures predicted the Messiah would do.

Isaiah 53:4-6 says, “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5: “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

On the cross, God treated Jesus like a sinner so He could treat us as saints. Or to put it another way: God punished Jesus for your sins and mine so He wouldn’t have to punish us.

In C.S. Lewis’ classic fairy tale, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, four London children find a magic wardrobe that leads them to a mystical land called Narnia. There, the White Witch holds the land under a wicked spell, which makes it winter all year round without Christmas.

The Witch seduces Edmund, one of the children, with the false promise of a position in her kingdom if he would bring his siblings to her. He succumbed to her tempting offer, but failed to fulfill the Witch's request, so she imprisoned him in her palace.

Aslan, the Lord of Narnia, rescues Edmund from the witch, after which she demands a meeting with Aslan. Take a look (show Aslan and the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe).

Standing before Aslan, she declares, "You have a traitor in your midst."

Aslan responds, "His offense is not against you."

"Have you forgotten the laws upon which Narnia was built?" asks the Witch.

Aslan growls and answers, "Don't cite the deep magic to me, Witch. I was there when it was written."

"Then you'll remember well that every traitor belongs to me. His blood is my property."

Edmund's brother, Peter, draws his sword. "Try and take him, then."

"Do you really think," asks the Witch, "that mere force will deny me my right, little king? Aslan knows that, unless I have blood as the law demands, all of Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water. That boy will die upon the stone table—as is tradition. You dare not refuse me."