Ephesians: Session 2 – The Amazing Price Jesus Paid for Us

Notes:

The Amazing Price Jesus Paid For Us – Ephesians 1:7-12

  • Eph. 1:7-8. Redemption involves the payment of a price to buy someone out from slavery. (1 Pet.1:18-19; Rev.1:5; Matt.20:28).
  • The Bible teaches the doctrine of ‘penal substitution’. Jesus’ death was ‘penal’ = He paid the penalty for sins which the justice of God demanded; it was a ‘substitution’ = He died for us.
  • This is what the apostles taught. But it also has its critics within the Church. They argue that it depicts God as angry and vindictive, and the Cross as a form of ‘cosmic child abuse’.
  • These critics contend that the death of Christ had no God-ward benefit. Sin, they say, is not an offence against the holiness of God demanding a death penalty. In fact, it does nothing to God, only to us. The wages of sin is no more than the law of reaping and sowing.
  • We never have to choose between whether the purpose of the death of Christ was God-ward or man-ward. It was both. But it is vital to understand that Christ first died to meet the demands of the law in respect of sin, so that God could legally and righteously reconcile us to Himself. Then the redeemed are made recipients of the many blessings of the gospel.

Understanding The Cross From The Backdrop Of The Old Testament

  • Sin is opposition to God’s will as expressed in His law (Gen.3:1-6; Rom.4:15;  1 Jn.3:4).
  • The law is a transcript of God’s nature. Violation of the law is an assault upon the Lawgiver.
  • God hates sin with His whole being, and has to respond to it in judgment. God’s judgment upon sin is death, (Gen.2:17; Rom.6:23). This is primarily separation from God, (Isa.59:2).
  • So, the judgment of God against sin is not just consequential; it is punitive also.
  • This is clearly seen in many instances. For example, in the case of the Flood (Gen.6:7), the judgment of Sodom (Gen.18:20-21), etc., etc. See also Rom.1:18-19&32.
  • More examples: (Num.15:31;  1 Chron.10:13; Psa.11:6; Psa.75:8). Notice in the last two references that the wrath of God is referred to as His ‘cup’. And Jesus spoke of His death as drinking the cup that the Father had given Him, (Matt.20:22-23; Lk.22:42).
  • Punishment of sin vindicates the righteousness of God. God by no means clears the guilty, (Ex.34:7; Psa.119:137; Psa.5:4-5; Nah.1:2).
  • When sin entered Eden and Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, God removed these and covered them with the skins of a slain animal, (Heb.9:22). The wages of sin is death, i.e. sin demands the forfeiture of life. But God accepts a substitute.
  • In Egypt, as God’s judgment passed over the land, the nation of Israel was spared because of the blood of the Passover Lamb which was applied to their homes. The 5 Levitical sacrifices.

 The Cross Fulfills The Righteousness Of God

  • It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins, (Heb.10:4). Only Jesus could take away the sins of the world, (Jn.1:29).
  • Is it conceivable that God would allow the terrible suffering of His Beloved on the Cross if it was not a necessary payment for sin? (Matt.26:39; Gal.3:21)
  • Sin is so awful that the penal substitution of Jesus is its only solution, (Isa.53:5-6).
  • Forgiveness of sin through the death of Christ is so thorough that it results in a complete restoration between us and God. He remembers our sins against us no more. There is no condemnation, i.e. expectation of judgment. We are sons of God and objects of His immeasurable grace and favour. We are righteous, and blessed with every spiritual blessing.
  • If the death of Jesus Christ was not a judgment for our sins, then there is no judgment awaiting those who are still unrepentant and unbelieving, (see Jn.8:24; 3:36).
  • The heart of the gospel is this: I owed a debt I could not pay; He paid a debt He did not owe (2 Cor.5:21). This and this alone is the amazing grace of the gospel!


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