Theme verse for this series:
1 Peter 3:15-16 [NLT] Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way.
TRUTH #5: THE SIN SOLUTION
Mankind’s only hope of redemption is through faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Ephesians 2:8 [NLT] God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
The first thing we should note is that God had a plan for the solution to our sin problem before He created everything.
Revelation 13:8
We have studied the Person of God, and we discovered that He is holy and righteous.
The definition of Sacrifice.
The definition of sacrifice is that something or someone gives up something to pay for or to atone for a wrong they have committed.
Genesis 3:21
When God gave His law to Moses, He made a way for His people to experience true forgiveness of their sins by requiring animal sacrifices.
God’s law required sacrifices, which provided a way to deal with sin before Jesus came.
Notice that God required the shedding of blood to provide forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 9:22
The Bible also tells us that the blood of animals cannot provide forgiveness on its own. (Hebrews 10:4)
The Atonement
Merriam-Webster defines atonement as reparations for an offense or an injury.
Atonement is the English translation for the Hebrew word kippur, which means covering with a price.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, was just observed on October 12.
When we sin or disobey God, we not only sin against another person (often), but we always sin against God.
Psalm 51:4
Our impossible problem is that to atone for our sins, we must die, both physically and spiritually.
This means we will be forever separated from God’s presence.
But because of God’s great love for us, He provided another way.
Romans 5:8
At just the right moment in history, Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice, the atonement, for our sins when He died on the cross. (Romans 5:6)
God washes away our sin and gives us new life when we trust in Jesus’s death and commit our lives to serve Him. (Romans 10:9-10)
How do we know God accepted Jesus’s sacrifice?
The Resurrection!
1 Corinthians 15:13-19
Jesus’s Resurrection is proof that God accepted His sacrifice and that your sins are indeed forgiven.
What are the results of Jesus’s sacrificial death?
We are reconciled to God. Our relationship with Him has been restored by trusting in Jesus’s work.
Romans 5:10
2 Corinthians 5:19
The debt for our sins has been fully paid.
Ephesians 1:7
We have been delivered from the domination of the power of sin.
You were under sin’s power before Jesus set you free. (Romans 6:22)
When you trusted in Jesus and committed your life to Him, He gave new life to your spirit, and He filled you with His Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:4)
We have been delivered from the second death or eternal separation from God.
Hebrews 2:9
Revelation 20:14-15
How can we experience this new relationship with God?
First, God’s Holy Spirit draws you to desire a relationship with Him.
We hear what God has done for us through Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross.
We recognize we have sinned against God, and we ask His forgiveness and commit our lives to Him.
God forgives our sin, declares us to be in right standing with Him, gives new life to our spirit, and adopts us into His family.
APPLICATIONS FOR TODAY:
1. Sin explains the evil in our world. Jesus explains the solution to sin.
2. Sin is a spiritual power that dominates and enslaves all people. The power of sin has been broken by the cross of Jesus.
3. Christians have the answer to the world’s dilemma.
4. Christians have the promise of God’s guiding presence in this life and eternal life in God’s presence.
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