The Truth About the Cross
These study notes correspond with Study #4 of the Jesus on Prophecy series. Click here for the YouTube link.
To download a pdf of this study, click here.
The Cross & the Gospel!
· It is undeniable that the death of Jesus Christ, that greatest of sacrifices, is a most essential part of God’s plan of redemption. In fact, in order to preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ we must understand just what happened at the cross. The accurate preaching of the cross is in fact the gospel! Christ & Him crucified is an essential knowledge that all who are saved must have... (Mark 16:15-16, Romans 1:16, 1 Corinthians 1:18)
Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
· Let’s consider the first thought of this sacrifice. Why exactly did Jesus have to die? The Bible teaches it is because death is the price that sin demands. Sin is expensive and it is because of our sin that our Saviour had to die. Though “we esteemed Him stricken of God,” this sacrifice was not a price demanded of God but a price that God paid to save us. “THE WAGES (price) OF SIN IS DEATH”… (Romans 6:23, Isaiah 53:4-6)
“O brethren and sisters, He did not bear some other grief or some other sorrow, but He bore our griefs and our sorrows. He was pierced through by them, and the Lord permitted it, because there was healing in it for us; not that He might appease God or reconcile Him unto us.”
- “February 12, 1897 N/A, GCDB” 13.4
“Christ is the price of our pardon; that is true. But let me state it: Jesus Christ is NOT the price paid to the Father for our pardon; but He is the price which the Father paid to bring us to a repentant attitude of mind, so that he could pardon us freely…Christ was the free gift of God, to bring us to the place where he could pardon us freely.”
- “February 15, 1897 N/A, GCDB” 19.4
· What is sin beloved, that it should demand so high a price, that it should demand the life of the only begotten Son of God to save us? We know that sin is the “Transgression” or breaking of God’s law (1 John 3:4). We want to better understand the nature of sin. In order to appreciate the solution we find in Jesus we must first understand the depth of the problem...(Isaiah 59:1-2)
· The Bible says that our iniquities, which are the sins we know and continue in (Is. 59:12), SEPARATE US FROM GOD! Consider that. God is omni-present. Is there anywhere in thiw whole wide universe that we can go where His presence cannot be found? Not according to the Bible (Ps. 139:7-10). His presence is everywhere in this universe! HOW THEN can sin separate us from Him? the only possible way is if sin were to literally end with our non-existence. This is precisely what the Bible means when it says that sin brings death (James 1:15). It isn’t merely the way to the grave but into eternal non-existence, separated from God. This is what Jesus died to save us from! Only He, sinless as He was, could enter into the tomb and emerge victorious over the grave! Because He was sinless all His life (1 Pet. 2:22, Heb. 4:15) the grave had no power to keep Jesus there. But to those who remain in sin, it is sin’s price that we forever be separated from God. This is the true nature of sin!
“The utter extinction of those who reject the Lord is not an arbitrary act of vengeance on the part of God, but is the inevitable result of their rejection of Christ, who is "the way, and the truth, and the life." Since they reject "the Author of life", who is the only life, the One in whom alone men can live, and move, and have any being (Acts 17:28), it inevitably follows that they must cease to be. And wherever God is, He must reign. Therefore when men say that they will not have Him to reign over them, that they will not be led by Him, and that they will not have His right hand hold them, because they wish to be "free from restraint," and declare that they will not live in His presence, it is plain that there is no place for them in the universe. The only place where they can flee from His presence is to get out of existence. And God, who gives to every man the desire of his heart, will graciously send them there. It is not necessary that He perform any arbitrary act in order to do this, but simply to let them be; when His life is withdrawn from them, according to their wish, they at once sink into nothingness. Outside of God there is nothing.”
- “December 7, 1899 EJW, PTUK” 772.3
How Did Jesus Have to Die?
· The cross was not a means to clear the guilty. We perished in Christ right there...(Exodus 34:5-7, Galatians 2:20)
· The soul that sinneth “IT” shall die. Therefore, in order to die for any man, Christ must become that man... (Ezekiel 18:20)
· Christ was able to taste death for everyman because HE BECAME every man... (Hebrews 2:9, Hebrews 7:26)
How Much Like Us Was He?
· Jesus came to save people who were enslaved to a sinful nature (sinful flesh). The only way to reach us is to enter our experience. He was sent “IN THE LIKENESS” (not the unlikeness) “OF SINFUL FLESH”. In other words. Christ took on Himself our sinful nature. He did not of Himself have a sinful nature, it did not belong to Him. He took on Himself OUR SINFUL NATURE... (Romans 8:3-4, Hebrews 4:14-15, Hebrews 2:14-18)
“As one of us He was to give an example of obedience. For this He took upon Himself our nature, and passed through our experiences. "In all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren." Heb. 2:17. If we had to bear anything which Jesus did not endure, then upon this point Satan would represent the power of God as insufficient for us! Therefore Jesus was "in all points tempted like as we are." Heb. 4:15. He endured every trial to which we are subject. And He exercised in His own behalf no power that is not freely offered to us. As man, He met temptation, and overcame in the strength given Him from God.”
- “The Desire of Ages” pg. 24.2
· BUT JESUS NEVER SINNED!? How is this possible? Keep in mind that our sinful flesh (nature) is not what makes us sinners. It is the carnal mind that does that! It is true Jesus took on Himself our sinful nature and He did not take our sinful mind. He brought to us a new element, a new mind, “the mind of Christ,” so that we, though living in sinful flesh, could live a victorious life over sin just as He did... (Romans 8:6-7, Ephesians 2:15, Philippians 2:5)
· It is important that we recognize “THIS SAME JESUS” spoken of in Scripture. In Him alone do we have victory! In Him alone are we made free! His ability to secure us depends on these facts. Any other Christ, according to the Bible, would not be Jesus but the spirit of antichrist...(1 John 4:1-3)
