CHRIST CRUCIFIED

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by AnthonyCope

by AnthonyCope

"For I determined not to know any thing among you,

save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."

(1 Corinthians 2:2)

Chapter 15

Christ crucified should always be in the mind of every single Christian. It is our salvation. Without the shed blood of Jesus Christ we would be lost in our sin, with a one way ticket to hell. there is no other way to heaven in this current age. Woe, to any that stands before God Almighty without the blood covering them! Jesus did what He did with all of us in mind. He gave us a way to the Father through Him. Without that shed blood, we all would have had to answer for our sins at the judgment. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father who sent Him.

Remember, Jesus laid down His life of His own freewill. They did nothing to Him that He did not allow. No one was going to stop Him from doing it either. Peter tried to convince Him not to. Jesus replied "Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou art an offense unto Me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those of men." (Matthew 16:23). You see the crucifixion was ordained by God and prophesied about all through the old testament (Psalm 22, Psalm 31:5, Psalm 31:11, Psalm 38:12,13, Psalm 34:20, Psalm 16:9-11, Zechariah 12:10, Isaiah 53, Exodus 12:21-27,46, Leviticus 17:11, Job 19:23-27...etc). It was always God's plan for Jesus to die on the cross and to raise Him from the dead. Jesus fulfilled every single prophecy that was wrote about His first coming.

So then, why did He lay down His life? When Adam and Eve gave into temptation in the garden, all mankind fell into sin. So "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12). "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" (Romans 3:10). Sin is a curse passed down by Adam and Eve. God is a holy God and will not be in the presence of sin. However, God always rewarded those who looked to Him for all understanding (Noah, Abraham, David...etc). God did not think that it was enough though. He wanted none to perish and all to have a chance. The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9b). God does not want us going to hell. Hell was not even made for man. It was made for the Devil and his angels. However, sin can not go unpunished because God is just. The blood of Jesus pays that debt of sin and takes sin off our record.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). You see, God had a salvation plan for mankind since the beginning. He sent Jesus Christ (God manifest in flesh) to die on the cross, so that we may have eternal life through His blood. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22). Our only chance in this age of grace is through the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood.

We are all sinners in need of a savior. You must understand this before you can ever understand the gospel. In order to have a savior, you must know what you are needing saved from and it is the clutches of sin. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23). The death it is referring to here is the second death (Revelation 21:8). The second death is the lake of fire. Despite it being called a death, you do not die there but are in eternal pain and agony.

"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul considered himself "chief of sinners" and still was assured of his salvation. You can be too. It does not matter what sins you have done in your past. All can be covered by the blood. "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). You may even see yourself as a chief of sinners. Be assured of your salvation by trusting the gospel. Study the scriptures so that you know without a shadow of a doubt.

In this time of apostasy, not many people like to preach the blood anymore. I guess it offends many (Matthew 24:10). The Bible tells us "Without shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22 b). The blood that redeems us from all sin is not the blood of animals but the blood of the Lord Jesus. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;" (Romans 3:25). Many may say "Well this just says forgiveness for past sins." That is true, it does indeed say past sins because that is what many struggled to believe in the apostles' time. They understood that the blood covered them after they believed but was not sure about things already done. The apostle John clears it up in 1 John 1:7 by letting us know the blood covers all sin. All means all!

So after you understand that you are a sinner and that is why Jesus was sent to die, you must hear the gospel.

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the

gospel which I preached unto you, which also

ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By

which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory

what I preached unto you, unless ye believed

in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all

that which I also received, how that Christ

died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that He was buried, and that He rose

again the third day according to the scriptures:"

(1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

This is the gospel as plain as it gets in the Bible. No need to make it more confusing. Remember God is not an author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Then after you hear the gospel, you must understand the gospel. In order to understand you must study God's Word. After you understand the gospel, you put your trust in it. Know that Christ died for you personally. Some may call it easy believeism but it is indeed what the Bible says. Even Jesus said that His yoke would be easy and His burden light (Matthew 11:30). Remember all Christians will be judged according to Paul's gospel at the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 2:16). So you definitely do not want to write off the gospel that was given to Paul from Jesus Himself.

Once you believe, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13). Once you are sealed, you stay sealed until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). You can not become unsealed! Once you are saved, you are saved. You become a purchased procession of God. Then the Holy Spirit will begin to guide you to all understanding.

Once you believe, you also become a child of God (1 Peter 1:23, Galatians 3:26). You are born again as God's child and then you should begin to mature in Christ as you walk in Christ. Many refer to this as the Christian walk. We are to be as Christ-like as possible. Him and the apostles were examples to us. The Word of God will help you a lot with your walk in Christ. Go to the scriptures with everything and let the Holy Spirit guide you as you read. Pray to God always, with everything in your life and see the difference it makes. If you are trusting in the gospel, you are God's child. He wants that relationship with us.

God provided Himself a lamb indeed (Genesis 22:8). He provided the perfect lamb without blemish, The Lord Jesus Christ. Because of mankind's sinful nature, Christ suffered for us. We did not deserve it but He did it anyway. They mocked Him, they beat Him with their fists, they ripped the beard from His face, whipped Him with stripes that tore the flesh from His back, then after all that they nailed Him to a cross and drained every bit of His precious blood. Then they pierced His side with a spear and blood mixed with water poured out indicating that all His blood was drained. Then He was buried for three days. However, the best news the world has ever known, is that He rose back up from the dead that third day and went back up to glory that we may be justified before a holy God. Amen and amen! All glory to God Almighty our Savior!