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THE MESSIAH, HIS SUFFERINGS AND DEATH.
Howard Taylor.
56. Q. Why was all this necessary? Could not God just have cast Satan into hell, and forgiven us our sins more easily? A. The problem is that we have co-operated with Satan. That is Satan's hold over us. If Satan were just to be cast into hell, we would go with him, because we share Satan's guilt. The mystery hidden down the ages and revealed in Christ, is that Christ himself bears our guilt in his own body on the cross, thus setting us free from the power of Satan. 57. Q. How can that be just and righteous, for God to choose an innocent man and punish him in our place? Is this not similar to pagan sacrifice? A. God did not just choose an innocent man and punish him in our place. In a real sense the suffering of Jesus is the suffering of God in and for humankind. God embraces all our humanity in the person of Jesus, so in his death all our sin really is taken away. Each of us can see our own sin represented in some aspects of those who were there when he died. For example, the self-righteous hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders, the cruelty of the Roman soldiers, the cowardice of Pilate, the unfaithfulness of the disciples, the disloyalty of Peter, the indifference of the passers-by are shown in some way or other in our lives today. The sin of all the world was gathered together and focused on Jesus as he died on the cross. This could be so only because he was the eternal Son of God. The price Jesus paid was not an artificial transaction between God and humankind. In a real sense 'we were there when they crucified the lord', as the song says. 58. Q. Does this mean that Christ has borne the sin of men and women who lived before he came, giving salvation to them too? A. Yes indeed. Although Jesus came and died for us about two thousand years ago, he also stands beyond time in eternity, spanning the whole of space and time. It was through him and for him that the world was created. The Bible tells us that he is 'the Lamb killed from before the foundation of the world'. 59. Q. What does the Bible mean when it calls Christ 'the last Adam'? A. The first Adam, in a condition of paradise (the garden of Eden) refused to trust God, and exalted himself in pride, rebellion and disobedience, and as a result fell into sin and death. In union with Adam we all die. Christ, the last Adam, in conditions of suffering, trusted his Father, humbled himself in obedience to death on the cross, and is now highly exalted. He reversed the course of pride and rebellion of man. In union with Christ we are given eternal life and may eat again of the tree of life. 60. Q. What actually does the word 'Christ' mean? A. It means the same as 'Messiah', that is 'the Anointed One of God'. It is through the understanding of this title that we can understand the gospel even better. 61. Q. How can we understand the meaning of 'the Anointed One'? A. Throughout the history of Israel, the people were waiting for the promised Anointed One. In the Old Testament, prophets, priests and kings were anointed. So we can best understand the meaning of Christ and his gospel by considering the meaning of priest, prophet and king. 62. Q. What do we mean when we say that Christ is Priest? A. The work of the high priest in Israel was to take the blood of animals as a sacrifice for the sins of the people into the Holy of Holies, which was the small room inside the temple where only he was allowed to go. He went in past the curtain which was a symbol of the separation between ourselves and God. There, as he presented the sacrifice He would confess the sins of the people. We read in the gospel story that when Jesus died the curtain of the temple was torn in two, symbolising that the barrier between God and humankind, caused by our sin, is now broken down. Christ has accepted in himself the judgement on our sin, and offered himself as a sacrifice for sin. He did not take the blood of animals into the Holy of Holies, but took his own blood into heaven where he is ascended, breaking down the wall of hostility between us and God, and between us and our fellows. Christ has brought reconciliation. 63. Q. What does this mean for us? A. It means that at any time, in any place, anyone who sincerely prays to God in Jesus' name, is heard and forgiven by God. 64. Q. What do we mean when we say Christ is Prophet? A. The prophets of the Old Testament brought the Word of God to the world. Christ is now the Word of God who has actually become man. The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. The whole of Christ's teaching ministry is part of his prophetic work, but more than that, he himself is the Word of God. As we said earlier, it is when we know Christ that we come to know God, ourselves, and the world God has created. His heart of holy love is fully made known to us at the cross. 65. Q. What do we mean when we say Christ is King? A. A good king cares for his people, delivering them from their enemies, and ruling them in justice arid truth. We see Christ as King in his destruction of the powers of evil that bind us. It is our guilt that binds us because guilt lies unalterably in the past, and it is through our guilt that the devil finds his power. Christ deliberately set himself to go to the cross to die in our place, as our substitute. He carried the penalty due to us in himself, and thus set us free from the guilt of sin and the power of Satan. So after he rose from the dead he said 'All authority in heaven and earth is given to me.' He is King of kings and Lord of lords. 66.Q. It means then that Christ is victorious over human pride and rebellion and all their consequences. Is this so? A. Yes, indeed. This also means he is victorious over the final result of sin, namely death itself. REFERENCES 56. Gen. 3:1-6; 1 Cor. 10:20-21; John 8:44, 12:31-33; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8-10; Rev. 12:10. 57. 2 Cor. 5:14-21; 1 Peter 2:22-24; Matt. 26-27; Is. 53:3-12. 58. Rev. 13:8; 1 Peter 1:19-20; John 8:56. Col.1:7. 59. 1 Cor. 15:21-22, 45-47; Rom. 5:12-19; Phil. 2:5-10. 60. Matt. 16:13-17; Acts 2:36; 9:22. 61. Ex. 28:41; Deut. 18:15-16,19; Is. 61:1; 1 Kings 19:16; 1 Sam. 24:6; 2 Sam. 2:4; Luke 4:18-24; Acts 3:22; 10:38; Heb 2:17; 3:1; Matt. 2:2; 21:5. 62. Heb. 4:14-16; 5:1-10; 7, 8, 9; Matt. 27:45-51. 63. Eph. 2:18; Heb. 10:19; 2Cor. 1:20. 64. Heb. 1:1-3; John 1:1-2,14. 65. Luke 9:51; Acts 5:31; Rev. 12:9; 1 John 3:8; 5:19; John 12:31; Matt. 28:18; Phil. 2:9-11; Luke 9:51. 66. 1 Cor. 15:20-22, 54-57. ========================================= If these questions and answers have assisted
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