Today, Palm Sunday, we observe Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We remember what the people cried out that day:
Matthew 21:9 (NKJV) Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
They were welcoming Jesus as a king, but people are fickle. So by that Friday, less than 5 days later, many of the same people were crying out something different:
Luke 23:20–21 (NKJV) Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. 21 But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
And so we are as well. You see the Bible paints a pretty dim view of every individual before coming to Christ. The fact is, and contrary to popular belief, people are not basically good.
But we compare ourselves to others by saying, “At least I’m not a bad as so and so.” What we do not realize is how high and holy God is.
Say we were to make a comparison between the most foul, unrepentant and worst axe murder on death row and place him on one side of this stage and place a good a righteous man like Billy Graham place him on the other side of the stage. Would you agree that most of us would fall somewhere in between? Then, in comparison, where would we place the holiness and goodness of God?
God would not only be on the other side of Billy Graham, but extended far out of the room, we would have to place His holiness, in comparison, outside of city, and on out of the country and across the ocean in comparison. That kind of makes the difference between us and the axe murderer as insignificant, in comparison to the holiness of God. In comparison to the holiness of God, there is not much difference between me and that murderer on death row. We both deserve condemnation. My best before God does not rate.
Isaiah 64:6a (NKJV) But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
An so we are, deserving of death, deserving of God’s wrath, just like that murderer on death row.
Romans 6:23a (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, . . .
As a rebellious sinner, we are subject to the judgment and wrath of God. Jesus’ substitutionary death on that Roman cross makes possible our reconciliation to God. This is the whole reason for Easter.
Romans 5:6–11
We tend to gloss over what Jesus did for us on the cross. “Jesus died for my sins” has become the standard Sunday School phrase that we have heard time and time again. We often take that little phrase for granted. But what does it really mean?
Romans 5:6 (NKJV) For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
This verse clearly tells us we were weak and ungodly. Without strength meant that we had no power within ourselves to saves ourselves from the wrath that is to come. We could not escape God’s wrath. We were powerless to save ourselves. We had no ability to make it right with God and the wages of sins is death.
And we were ungodly. We had no virtue that God would desire, no excellence to commend us to God. There was nothing in us that would rate God owing us a pardon.
But when the time was right, “in due time” Jesus died for us.
Galatians 4:4 (NKJV) But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
It was no accident in history. Jesus came at just the right time. Born in humbles means, lived and taught about the Kingdom of God, then to go to the cross for us. It was at just the right time in history, and as we explored before, there was no other time like it, before or since.
And Jesus did not just died. He died, “for the ungodly.” Let’s do a quick word study of the little word “for,” “hyper” in the Greek. It means “on behalf of” or in context it means “in the place of.” Jesus died in my place. He died when it should have been me on that cross because my sins have greatly offended a high and holy God.
Romans 5:7 (NKJV) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
We look at righteous and good men, those that are righteous and good in our eyes. A righteous man is man we can respect, but I would not want to die for a man I merely respect.
A good man is a man I would love. My father was a good man. He was righteous as well. I loved my father greatly because he was a such a good man and I would consider dying for such a man as my father, because he was good. But how do we rate with Jesus?
Romans 5:8 (NKJV) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God showed how much he loved us. Not because we were righteous or good. The verse says, “While we were still sinners” While we were rebellious, while we were haters of God. Look down at verse 10, it mentions that we were enemies of God. We were ungodly. Yet God still loved us. He loved us so much that Jesus died for us. Yes, its that same Greek word “hyper.” Jesus died in our place while we were enemies, rebellious, and haters of God.
“For God so loved the world . . .” John 3:16 We cannot grasped the amazing love, the amazing grace, God has for us.
Let’s look at the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and see what exactly it did for us. Two key words in the verses 9-11 to look for and we will attempt to understand. The words “justify” and “reconciled” or “reconciliation.” These words are vital to understanding our salvation. To justify, or in some translations, the word is “declared righteous.” This is the judicial or legal portion of our salvation. Reconciliation is the relational side of our salvation. By being reconciled to God, we now have direct access to Him and we enjoy the fellowship with Him.
Romans 5:9 (NKJV) Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
The shedding of blood has long been the payment for the redemption of sin.
Leviticus 17:11 (NKJV) For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’
That word "atonement" speaks volumes. Whole books have been written concerning the meaning of that word.
1 John 4:10 (NKJV) In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. The NIV translate that wod as "atoning Sacrifice." Propitiation is a sacrifice that satisfies the wrath of God. We see that Jesus took the full brunt of the wrath of God in our place. Wrath was satisfied.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Jesus became sin for us. This same Jesus who knew no sin. So what are we saved from? “shall be saved from wrath through Him” God wrath was satisfied. We do not have God’s wrath in our future. But that is not all:
Romans 5:10 (NKJV) For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
We were once enemies but now we have a relationship with the Creator of the universe. We have been reconciled to God. There is a new set of conditions. We are no longer viewed as guilty, rebellious , and condemned sinners.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
We were reconciled by the death of Jesus on the cross: “we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son” But yet there is more: “much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Save by His life? We are not taking about Jesus’ life on earth prior to His crucifixion, we are taking about His life now sitting at the right hand of the Father. If Jesus had the power through His death to put away our sins and to justify us before God, how much more power is there through His current life in the presence of God? What does Jesus do while He is setting at the right hand of God? He is our advocate, our defense lawyer if you will:
1 John 2:1–2 (NKJV) My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
As our Advocate, how does Jesus defend us before God? The Scripture tells us that Satan accuses us before God day and night (Rev 12:12), but Jesus defends us by saying He has already paid the price as the propitiation for our sins.
Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV) Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
That is what Jesus is doing now, defending those who belong to Him. I’m saved from the wrath of God, and not only that, I have been reconciled with Him so that I have a relationship with Almighty God through Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote at the beginning of Romenas 5, we now experience peace with God.
Romans 5:1 (NKJV) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Sin had brought estrangement, alienation, and enmity between man and God. Now Jesus’ sacrificial and substitutional death on the cross changed all of that.
Romans 5:11 (NKJV) And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Yes, Easter is a time of great rejoicing. We have been made right with God and we can experience fellowship with Him. Reconciliation did not just happen, it is a gift, for we received it. “we have now received the reconciliation.” There was nothing we could do for it. It was all Jesus. It was all about what He did for us.
Remember, At the beginning of this message I started quoting Romans 6:23. Let me finish it now:
Romans 6:23 (NKJV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing we could do about our condition. God did it all. We could not go to Him, so He send Jesus to us. Jesus paid it all. Now all to Him we owe.
God call for us through Jesus Christ is clear. We have been saved from God’s wrath, but we were also save to become more like Him. We call that sanctification. He has called us to holiness. We can’t called ourselves saved and live like the rest of the world. A changed life, a life that is moving towards holiness is the best indicator that our soul has been saved.
Will you accept what Jesus has done for you today.
