PROCLAIM THE LORD’s DEATH
Scripture: Rev.14:6, 7 The everlasting Gospel to be preached worldwide.
Isa.53; Rom.10:16 who has believed our report?
1Cor.11:26 You show or proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes.
Close relation between Christ’s death and His second coming.
“When Christ crucified is preached, the power of the Gospel is demonstrated
by the influence it exerts over the believer.” YI 19.1.1893
“The scenes of Calvary call for the deepest emotion. Upon this subject you will
be excusable if you manifest enthusiasm” 2T213
“We should take broader, deeper views of the life, sufferings and death of
God’s dear Son.” ib.215
A study done in 1994 among Adventists, particularly young people, has revealed:
a. A lack of salvation assurance.
b. A certain fear for the coming of our lord.
c. A works rather than a grace relationship with God and Christ.
(See “Ministry” magazine Febr.’94 pp.18-20)
Q. What is the Gospel?
A.1Cor.15:1-8 It is concerning Jesus Christ, His life, death, burial, resurrection,
ascension and we may add His heavenly ministry and glorious return.
Rom.1:1-3”Separated unto the Gospel of God concerning His Son Jesus Christ
our Lord.”
Jesus and His Death.
This was the focus of His earthly mission.
Luke 9:51 “….He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”
Luke 18:31-33 He proclaims His death.
“….in God’s great plan the hour had been appointed for the offering of Himself
for the sins of men, and that hour was soon to strike.” DA486
Disciple’s response: Luke 18:34 “…they understood none of these things…”
So it is with many today, they do not understand any of these things.
For many the gospel is a dark “book”, it is misinterpreted or corrupted
by tradition.
A sociologist statement on TV: Religion is a means to attain to God’s grace and
obtain it by being good and doing good works.
A “Christian” politician: How good a Christian I am, I will find out in the hereafter.
Such statements are expressions of a merit-earning-mind-set.
Concepts about the death of Christ:
1. Natural but violent, not special because He knew about His resurrection.
That would negate the issue of being for salvation or atonement.
2. Miscarriage of judgment, a Roman judicial murder.
This may be true but has no power for salvation.
3. A Martyr’s death.
This also lacks the power for salvation; see 2T.p.215 “The death of the martyrs can bear no comparison with the agony endured by the Son of God”
4. Providing the means to appease an offending God.
The Creator God is not a heathen god to be appeased, He does not demand, but He
gives. John 3:16; Lev.17:11
5. The completed atonement, instead of complete.
What happened at the cross was a complete sacrificial atonement. But the atonement
was not completed. Further atonement takes place in the heavenly sanctuary
Hebr.8:1-3
6. A moral revelation of self sacrifice and love, the so-called moral influence theory.
This is part of the story. It was a demonstration of love, but also of God’s justice.
Rom.3:26; (2T.201),”The death of Christ justified the claims of the law”.
7. A divine ransom paid by the Creator Himself, as a provisional gift to all those who
have been born involuntarily into a sinful world, in order that He might be just and
justify those who believe in Jesus. Rom.3:26; Matth.20:28
This statement will be further discussed in this study.
Divine Redemption.
It is unique, with no human comparison. We must not even try to compare it with a human model.
WE MUST NOT MAR THE DIVINE BY MIXING IT WITH THE HUMAN. Read TDG,103:3 “I feel that many approach sacred things as though their finite powers were capable of taking them in……”
Rom.11:34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?”
“You may study that love for ages; yet you can never fully comprehend the
length and the breadth, the depth and the height, of the love of God in giving
His Son to die for the world. Eternity itself can never reveal. Yet as we study the Bible and
meditate upon the life of Christ and the plan of redemption, these great themes will open
to our understanding more and more.” 5T740
Christ the Lamb of God.
a.John 1:29 Behold the lamb of God.
b.He is the Lamb of God, not men’s lamb to God.
c.Also not the Lamb of God as a gift to be returned to God to pay a debt we couldn’t.
Christ as the Lamb of God bears our sins and suffers the penalty.
a. Isa.53 prophetically.
b.John 1:29 In fulfillment
c.Rev.5:6, 9 in visionary confirmation
d.Gal.3:13 He redeemed us from the curse of the law, its penalty.
“God allowed his own Son to be put to death in order to answer the penalty
of the transgressions of the law.” 4T253 Penal substitution
“He the Sin-bearer, endures judicial punishment for iniquity and becomes
sin itself for men.” FLB104 A Legal settlement.
He(Christ)……..offers Himself upon the cross as the last sacrifice for man. He, the sin-bearer
endures judicial punishment for iniquity, and becomes sin itself for man.” SOP vl.3p.163
It is divine atonement for sin, an atoning sacrifice.
See also 2Cor.5:21 “For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin….”
“But Christ has made atonement for every sinner.” SB-OT p.1018. (MS.125, 1901)
“God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from
condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin.”MB244 (114)
IN WHICH WAY DOES THIS MEAN LEGAL OR FORENSIC JUSTIFICATION?
Gal.3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. That is the result of sin.
Rom.6:23 The wages of sin is death
Gen.2:17 Eating from the forbidden tree would cause death
When sin did occur, it was either the sinner to die or a substitute. As we learned from 2Cor.5:21 Christ has been made sin for us. So when Christ died, a legal act had taken place. That’s why we read in MB244 that it was” not merely a judicial act”, but a judicial, legal act it was nevertheless. Judicial punishment for iniquity, but not for iniquity He had done.
What about the idea of it being forensic?
What does forensic mean?
According to Webster: belonging to, used in, or suitable to courts of judicature or to public discussion and debate: what can be used in a legal dispute.
Forensic medicine: a science that deals with the relation and application of medical facts to legal problems.
According to Oxford: related to or used in (courts of) law.
Dutch: forensisch, related to courts of law.
Dr.Alfred Vaucher in his book L’HISTOIRE DU SALUT, p.257 La justification est un acte declarative ou forensique residant en Dieu. It is a divine act of declaration or forensic which resides with God. God has been given the power or right to declare something. Rom.3:26 “to declare……..”
According to SDABC 12, p.278 the Hebrew and Greek words we use for just and justification “are forensic, meaning that they are to be understood in terms of the pronouncement that a judge renders in a legal case”. Whereas these words, “legal” or “forensic” are not used in the scriptures we use them in the same way as “trinity” to explain a biblical concept.
After the death of Christ, dying the penalty for sin, God had the right to pronounce
justification and reconciliation.. From God’s point of view the barrier was taken away
and the way to God had been made free.
2Cor.5:19 reconciling the world unto Himself. The death of Christ ‘changed’ (the meaning of reconcile) the position of all people (not only the elect) from being enemies (Rom.5:10) to being savable (though actual salvation does not come until one believes, vs.20)
This does not mean universal justification for all regardless.
Remember Rom.3:22, 26
The cross of Christ, His death, gave God the legal, forensic right to save man. In that manner His righteousness (right doing) is declared that He might be just (doing the right thing) and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus.Rom3:26
Without the vicarious death of Christ on the cross it would not have been just or right.
Dr,Vaucher p.199”C’est par Jesus-Christ Dieu reconcilie le monde avec lui-meme. Cette reconciliation est le fruit du sacrifice de Jesus-Christ:2Cor.5:18-21. Ce sacrifice a pour but non pas d’apaise Dieu ,mais de gagner le Coeur de l’home:Jean 12:32
“It is through Jesus Christ that God has reconciled the world with Himself. This reconciliation is the fruit of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The aim of this sacrifice is not to appease God, but to gain the heart of man.” John 12:32
Now we should understand clearly the meaning of Rom.3:26 “….that He might be just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus.”
No one can accuse God of doing something illegal, or against His own plan that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin, Hebr.9:22
Also no one can say that all are saved regardless, faith or no faith.
Divine salvation is objective towards all,
Provision has been made, for all to be saved.
God has cleared the way and opened the gate for all to be saved by grace
through faith, Eph.2:8.
God offers salvation, man must respond.
“Christ died that we might be forgiven.” SC36
The death of Christ is not upon the demand of Satan.
1John 3:4 Sin is transgression of the law.
Transgression attracts capital punishment.
In the Garden of Eden, if ye eat, ye shall die.
Christ took that penalty upon Himself.
“…Christ, by His sacrifice paying the penalty of sin…”PP67
“….Christ bore the penalty of man’s transgression…”PP70
“The transgression of God’s law in a single instance, in the smallest particular is sin. And the
no execution of the penalty of that sin would be a crime in the divine administration.”
SDABC 7a, 951
The death of Christ is not equal to our sleep-death which is not the penalty, but the result or consequences of sin for all. We still die even after having been justified and reconciled with God. We suffer the consequences but not the penalty.
In dying, Christ went through the same experience the unconverted sinner will pass through after the 1000 years, which is called second death after the first one, sleep-death.
“The saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him
His coming forth from the grave a conquerer or tell Him of His Father’s acceptance of the
sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that their separation was to be eternal.
Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead
for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s
substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter and broke the heart of the Son
of God.” DA753
“He was paying the just claims of God’s holy law”
“It was not bodily suffering which so quickly ended the life of Christ upon the cross. It was
the crushing weight of the sins of the world and a sense of his Father’s wrath. The Father’s
glory and sustaining presence had left Him, and despair pressed its crushing weight of
darkness upon Him and forced from His pale and quivering lips the anguish cry:’ My God,
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me’” 2T209
“Christ felt much as sinners will feel when the vials of God’s wrath shall be poured out
upon them. Black despair, like the pall of death will gather about their guilty souls, and then
they will realize to the fullest extent the sinfulness of sin.”ib210
The death of Christ Appropriated.
John 3:16”…whosoever believeth in Him…”
Eph.2:8 “.. by grace through faith, and it is a gift..”
Rom.3:23, 26, 28”…..justified freely by His grace………the justifier of Him that
believeth in Jesus……….we conclude that a man is justified by faith….”
Rom.3:25 “..through faith in His blood…”
By FAITH it will be appropriated to each one individually,
Faith in His atoning death, our penalty-substitute,
Faith in His atoning ministry in the heavenly sanctuary,
Faith in His power to overcome sin.
Faith and trust which got lost in Eden must be restored and will be restored in this manner.
Faith is not a saving work.
Faith is God’s gift to reach out to Him. Part is of our creation. Adam and Eve were
created with the gift of faith, and given freedom to use this gift to put faith in God or Satan.
Today we still have that gift to be used to reach out towards God’s salvation or reject it.
“He (the believer) grasps by faith the free and ample provision made in the blood of
Christ. He believes the promises of God which through Christ are made unto him
sanctification and righteousness and redemption.”RC78
Faith not our Saviour!
“There is nothing in faith that makes it our Saviour .Faith cannot remove guilt. Christ is
the power of God unto salvation to all that believe.” RC78
Redemption/Salvation in shadow and type.
Hebr.9 teaches us that the reality is explained through the shadow or type of the OT.
Lev.1:4, 5 a.Transfer of sin upon a lamb.
b.The innocent lamb becomes a substitute is made guilty.
c.It was accepted “for” him”; NKJV “accepted on his behalf.”
d.To make atonement in the sanctuary
Lev.17:11 This was from God, not from man to God. It was God’s gift.
Jer.B. “This blood I Myself, have given you”.
Q.But why so many animals?
“Many have expressed wonder that God demanded so many slain victims in sacrificial offerings of the
Jews, but it was to rivet in their minds the great and solemn truth that without shedding of blood there
was no remission of sin. A lesson was embodied in every sacrifice, impressed in every ceremony,
solemnly preached by their priests in holy office and inculcated by God Himself – this great truth
that through the blood of Christ alone there is forgiveness of sin.” UL219
Man’s abuse and corruption of the plan.
Isa.1:11-13 I ,God, am full-sick (Moffatt) of it.
I delight not, it is iniquity, slaughter.
Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise.
Isa.66:3 Equal to murder.
Q.WHY DID GOD IN THE END DESPISE HIS OWN INSTITUTION?
A. God’s gift, blood for atonement, had been turned around as a heathen, pagan pay
back system in exchange for grace and pacify a so-called offended God.
Berkely’s comment on Lev.16:34d “….to make an atonement…”
“Many Hebrews fancied that the animal they brought so took their place that they needed
not to surrender themselves to God; but God did want them, and their sacrificed animals should be
the tokens of their self-surrender” p.116
So it is today in the lives and minds of many.
For them Christ is their substitute in everything, even in obedience, which leaves them with “only believe”.
Isa.66:2 God still looks for a contrite, repentant heart, willing not only to have sins
forgiven but completely removed from their lives.
Ps.85:10; Exod.34:6, 7 God does not have to be made merciful, He is, and it is His character.
“By His life and death Christ proved that God’s justice did not destroy His mercy, but that
sin could be forgiven, and that the law is righteous, and can be perfectly obeyed.”DA762
Beware not to fall in the same trap of the OT people.
That Holy Thing, Luke 1:35, Christ and His sacrifice, must not become unholy by our misappropriation and wrong application.
As the blood of an animal in the OT was God’s gift to make atonement, Lev.17:11
so is Christ and His blood are God’s real gift today to make atonement in the heavenly
sanctuary. John.3:16, 36.
It required faith and trust then, so it requires the same today, leading towards self-surrender, self-sacrifice, walking in the path of obedience from which we departed ever since the fall in Eden.
Eph.1:7 redemption through blood,
Eph.2:8 by faith which is God’s gift.
But at the same time we must not make FAITH a work, which would make it our saviour.
“There is nothing in faith that makes it our Saviour .Faith cannot remove guilt.”6BC1071
2Cor.5:18, 19 In the death of Christ we see God in Christ reconciling us to Himself.
This is outside our works and efforts.
It is by Christ’s death and His atoning ministry alone.
“We are accepted through Christ’s merits alone;…our works in and of themselves
have no merit.” 5BC1122
“Those who transgress the law of God must suffer the penalty of transgression.
But by repentance of sin, the sinner may be pardoned, and through the merit of
Christ, may have another probation in which he may have opportunity to form
a character like Christ’s character.” YI 19.1.1893
CONCLUSION.
Christ our Substitute and Surety.
As our Substitute He took our penalty, our sin upon Himself, died in our place,
instead of us, as the Lamb of God, by Whose blood atonement is made.
As our Surety, through Him being our penalty-substitute He assures forgiveness,
full restoration in relationship with God, our Creator, justification and sanctification
by faith, with ultimate glorification in the coming kingdom of glory. His resurrection made it sure. By His death are substitute, by His resurrection our surety.
This is the everlasting gospel of Rev.14:6 to be preached,
to be believed, to be lived, to give us full joy, abundance of life,
and complete satisfaction.
“The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross. His flesh lacerated with stripes;
those hands so often reached out in blessing, nailed to the wooden bars; those
feet so tireless on ministries of love, spiked to the tree; that royal head pierced by
the crown of thorns; those quivering lips shaped to the cry of woe. And all that
He endured – the blood drops that flowed from His head, His hands, His feet, the
agony that racked His frame, and unutterable anguish that filled His soul at the
hiding of His Father’s face – speaks to each child of humanity ,declaring, It is for
thee that the Son of God consents to bear this burden of guilt; for thee He spoils
the domain of death, and opens the gates of Paradise.” DA755
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