Salvation Is God’s Divine Plan To Redeem Mankind.

Introduction:

The underlying theme pertaining to the Doctrine of Salvation is the relationship between the redemptive blood of Christ and the sins of mankind. Strong’s New Complete Dictionary of Bible Words’ meanings for sin are to transgress or to stray. God gave Adam specific instructions not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and He also gave Adam a clear warning that death will come to him on the same day that he disobeys His command (Genesis 2:17). Adam disobeyed God, and his action required justice, but God chose fit to create a redemption plan through salvation. This sermon will cover three topics. It will explain how the scriptures were fulfilled; it will describe the new birth, and it will discuss other important elements of salvation.

I. Fulfilling the scriptures

A Before Jesus was born, the scriptures foretold of savior who would be born and would die to redeem mankind and reconcile its relationship with God.

1 Jesus understood that if He did not fulfill His role in God’s plan for salvation, then mankind would forever be lost. He endured torturous beatings and continuous humiliation but did not waiver from His commitment to ensure that the scriptures were fulfilled. In Psalms 22:18, David provides a clear narrative illustrating how Christ would suffer and would be crucified. This passage reads, “They divided My garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots.” Hundreds of years later, John 19: 23, 24 delivers a vivid account of the soldiers in action as they parted Jesus’ garment into four sections and passed the sections among themselves and then cast lots for ownership of the whole tunic rather than rip the garment.”

2 As Jesus hung on the cross, he knew that the hour was at hand. Verse 25 gives a description about the interactions he had with the criminals who was hung with him. Verses 26-28 provides details about Jesus making provisions for His mother once He passes from His flesh. It tells us that He told His mother to behold a disciple whom He loved as her son, and He told His beloved disciple to behold Mary as his mother.

3 After Jesus made provisions for His mother, with his strength dried up and tongue stuck to the palate of his mouth (Psalms 22:15), He says “I thirst” (Verse 28). In verse 29, they gave him sour wine, and in verse 30, Jesus proclaimed that “it is finished.” With those words, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. The bible tells that the soldiers came back to the cross to break the legs of those who were crucified, which was a common practice to make malefactors or criminals, if you will, suffer. However, when they went to break Jesus’ legs, He was already dead (John 19:33). The scriptures were fulfilled.

B The depth of Jesus’ love: He bowed His head and gave up the spirit.

1 Jesus, the man whom we call Christ did several things to show his love as He hung on that old rugged cross. He showed the loving act of asking asked God to forgive His transgressors (Luke 23:34). He also showed love when he forgave one of the malefactors who hung next to Him on the Cross and promised him a place in the kingdom (Luke 23:43). In addition he showed love towards his mother by making provisions for her (John 19: 26, 27). In the ninth hour, humiliated and in enough pain to where he asked God “why have thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27: 46), he loved mankind enough to commit His spirit (Luke 23:46) and give up the ghost.

2 His actions forever changed the relationship between God and mankind. When Jesus died, the veil of the temple ripped in two (Matthew 27:51). Let’s stop and focus on the veil for a second. The veil, or curtain if you will, that the bible speaks of is the one in the temple. According to the Life Application Bible, the temple (identified in the King James’ version as the Covenant Tabernacle) consisted of the courts, the Holy Place where only the priest could enter and the Most Holy Place where only the high priest could enter. The high priest could only enter the Most Holy Place once a year in order to atone for his sins and the sins of the nation through blood offering. The courts, Holy Place and Most High Holy Place were separated by veils.

3 When Christ died, the second veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was removed, symbolizing the removal of the barrier between God and mankind. At this point, man had access to God rather than having to rely on priests for access. Jesus’ death in essence invalidated the old covenant that required yearly blood offering and replaced it with a new covenant in a more perfect tabernacle not made from hands. This covenant required the use of Christ blood as the redeeming or saving blood for mankind’s transgressions (Hebrews 9:1-15).