The Debt That You And I Owe.

Understand that, in this message, it will be very difficult to

separate the Church from the individual Christian.

A. If I should use one, know that it could also apply

to the other, as well.

What I hope to make clear, at this point, is the fact that

Christ went through everything that He did for us.

A. I know that we have heard and repeated this, but

let me try to restate it.

1. I should have been whipped.

2. I should have been spit upon.

3. I should have stood before a howling mob.

4. I should have been traded for a murderer.

5. I should have carried the cross up that hill.

6. I should have been stripped naked.

7. I should have been hung on the cross.

8. I should have been in torments and thirsted.

9. I should have died...died once physically...

died a second death in hell.

Isaiah 53:3-5 - 3 He is despised and rejected

by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted

with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces

from Him; He was despised, and we did not

esteem Him. {Webster - Esteem - To value

highly; have great regard for; prize; respect}

4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried

our sorrows; Yet we esteemed HIM stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted. BUT He was

wounded for our transgressions, He was

bruised for our iniquities; {Webster -

Iniquity - Lack of righteousness or justice;

wickedness; sin} The chastisement for our

peace was upon Him,{Webster -

Chastisement - Punishment; beating} (We

only could have peace and be reconciled to

God by Christ’s torture and crucifixion)

And by His stripes we are healed.

** The long and the short of it is this...Jesus Christ stood

in our place and took everything that was intended for

us.

1. Only because He was God could He overcome the

curse of death which was intended for us.

a. He experienced our hell and brought us back

from its brink.

This is a season for thankfulness.

A. We are thankful for many wonderful things that we

have or experience.

1. Family

2. Jobs

3. Homes

4. Cars........etc., etc., etc., etc..

a. It is good to be thankful for all of these

things.

1.) This should be an ongoing thanks-

giving...throughout the year.

But what of the most important things of all.

A. Wouldn’t you know it...you can’t even see them.

1. Eternal life

2. Cleansing of our sins.

3. Adoption into the family of God.

4. Joint heirs with Jesus....etc., etc., etc., etc.,......

We need to be most thankful for the one who has made all

of these things a reality...a personal reality.

A. I know that I couldn’t have faced what Christ

faced for me.

1. What He did for us was completely beyond

our capabilities.

a. In other words, without Christ and what

He did for us, we would be hopelessly

lost to damnation.

1.) Only He was the perfect and sinless

sacrifice that could pay for our sins.

2.) Only He, as God, could purchase

the Church and make it His Body.

3.) Only He could face the horrors of

the cross...not just the physical

torment, but the spiritual torment

that came at the cross.

I. Christ left a treasure that we cannot even imagine.

Phil. 2:5-7 - 5Let this mind be in you which was also in

Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God, did not

consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7but made

Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,

and coming in the likeness of men.

I Cor. 2:9 - 9But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,

Nor have entered into the heart of man

The things which God has prepared for those

who love Him.”

** If this is a promise to us of the wonders that we shall

behold...understand that it was from these wonders

that Christ voluntarily came forth.

A. Philippians, chapter two tells us that Christ was

EQUAL WITH THE FATHER.

1. But what it further states, is that He was

willing to give up this equality with the father.

2. That He was willing to give up His God

nature.

3. That He was willing to give up His home and

way of life that He had enjoyed for eternity.

a. And that the only thing that He counted

worth doing all of this for was YOU.

B. This wasn’t “little sonny boy” that the Father

created for this sole purpose.

1. People become confused about all of this.

a. The Father “begat” the Son in the

physical or fleshly form.

1.) In other words Mary was made to

conceive and Jesus was born

through her womb just as any other