How many of you have ever thought about dying? How many of you have thought about what would be the best way to die? I have, and to tell you the truth, the way I want to go is in my sleep with a smile on my face! I want to go to bed in the night, close my eyes and just drift off.
I have seen people die. I sat in the hospital when I was young and watched my gran die, and it wasn't nice! It wasn't comfortable for her! I saw the panic on her face, the distress as she cried out for water, and I don't want to go that way! I want a peaceful, painless death!
And if I can't have that, then I want to go instantly! I don't know if it is me or if other people have ever thought like this, but I remember one time with my friend, we went to Cardiff Castle, which is a big castle in the capital of Wales, and we went on a tour there and at the end, in the gift shop, we began looking through a book of torture.
And as we were reading and looking at the pictures we were discussing what would be the best way to go. We were Bible college students at the time and full of zeal and sure that someday we would be martyred and we were looking for the best way to die.
And let me tell you, none of them were peaceful or pain free! I don't want to go into any detail but trust me, they were ALL terrible! But we had to choose a way, and we came to agreement that the guillotine would be the best way as the blade was guaranteed to severe the head and death would be instantaneous.
And if I had my choice right now, if I was in control of the universe and I could decide how my end would be, the 1st thing on my list would be no death at all! Enoch walked with God and was then no more! Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire!
And the Bible speaks of the Rapture, when Jesus comes again and those who are His will be taken up into heaven, not tasting death at all! That's number 1 on my list!
Number 2 is a painless, peaceful death in my sleep. And number 3, the bottom of my list would be an instantaneous death.
And today I want us to look at the Death of Jesus! This is probably the most important thing that has ever happened in history! The Birth of Jesus was a fantastic event, but His death is the reason He came! While His birth changed history, His death changes lives!
And the 1st question we have to ask is 'Why did Jesus have to die?' we began to answer that question when we looked at the purpose for His coming, and that was sin. To Adam and Eve God said that there is punishment for sin 'If you sin you will die'.
And just to recap on that basically sin is 'not doing what God wants us to do.'
This is God's universe, we are God's creation and we are to live under God's rules. If you go to the UK you live under UK rules. If we live in Korea, you live under Korean rules, Korean law. And if we break these rules, these laws then there are consequences, there are punishments.
God has set out His standards. This is what is acceptable to Him! This is how He wants people to live, and anything short of that, anything short of His standards, not my standards or your standards or the world's standards, but His standards is sin! And there are consequences to sin!
And those consequences are separation from God which ultimately lead to death and eternal separation in hell. And you know what, it doesn't matter if we agree with that or not, if we think that is harsh or not, that is the way it is!
God is holy and demands holiness. God is just and demands justice! God is perfect and demands perfection! He demands perfect holiness and perfect justice! God's holiness and sin can't be together! He hates sin and can't look upon it and WILL destroy it!!!!
Even the smallest of sins! If I lie, it is a sin and therefore will be punished! If I steal, that is if take something that isn't mine, then I sin and will be punished! If I murder, then I sin and will be punished! If I'm angry with someone, if I covert something, if I put anything before God then I sin and I will be punished!
And the punishment for sin is death!!! Physical and spiritual, for eternity!
But out of love, God doesn't want to punish us! Out of love He doesn't want us to be separate from Him! Out of love He doesn't want to cast us out of His presence for eternity in hell!
But because of His justice someone HAS to be punished! His justice MUST be satisfied! For God to just overlook sin without any justice would make Him NOT a just God! Do you follow?
So we have a Just God who must judge and deliver justice accordingly. In this had we have us people who have broken the law of God, who have fallen short of His holy standards. When we meet, He will judge us and deliver His justice which is eternal punishment and separation in hell!
But also God is love and He doesn't want to send us to eternal punishment and separation in hell. So He had to make another way for His justice to be satisfied. He had to make a way wrath and judgement to be poured out and satisfied!
And the only way was coming Himself! Only a spotless, perfect sacrifice could satisfy God's justice! And only through death and the shedding of blood is there forgiveness of sins! There was no other way!
But the interesting thing is this; God didn't have to save us! 2 Peter 2:4 '' He could have chosen to leave us in our sins and then on the Day of Judgement satisfied His perfect justice by unleashing His full wrath against us. And He wouldn't be wrong in doing so!
Just like the rapist sentenced to life in prison, or the mass murderer sentenced to death- we applaud the judgement of the court because it is just and right! And if God decided to send us to hell for our sins then He would be perfectly just!!
But He didn't! Jesus, the 2nd person of the Trinity, knowing the requirements of the law and the required justice of God the Father, volunteered to come to into the world and be the atoning sacrifice for us!
He willingly got up off His throne, knowing that death awaited Him, knowing that death was the only way, and still He came and offered Himself as a propitiation for us! (Rom 3:25) and what that means is that He became the sacrifice that bore God's wrath so that God would look favourably upon us!
There was no other way to save us! There was no other way to reconcile us to God! Jesus paid it all!
