(Ephesians 5:2) … Christ …. gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (NIV)

(Romans 5:9) Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! (NIV)

A) Why did Jesus Die?? Because of God’s great love for you! (H)

When we start talking about God’s wrath at sin it kind of throws you off. Because we equate God’s wrath with sin as God’s wrath at the sinner. Some of you have been taught that or have come to feel that way. You have sinned against God and because God does not live in the presence of sin a huge chasm has developed between you and Him. You feel like your actions have caused him to reject you personally, because you have rebelled against your creator he now doesn’t like you…..

(Romans 5:7-8) Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though

for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(John 3:16) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

We need to lose the picture of an angry God and see a God who so longed after those He created, who were estranged from him, that he would go to literally any lengths to bring us back into a right relationship with him. If he didn’t like us he would have simply destroyed us and moved on…He didn’t just like us; he loved us, with the infinite love of a heavenly Father for his wayward sons and daughters. He was willing to give his Son, part of Himself to woo us back.

And it wasn’t just the Fathers love driving God’s actions……

B) Why did Jesus Die?? Because of Jesus’ great love for you! (I)

(Ephesians 5:2) …. Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (NIV)

(Galatians 2:20) ….The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (NIV)

I gave you very graphic views of Jesus excruciating crucifixion and you saw it, of course, in the Passion film, then we tried to get a little grasp of what we couldn’t see on the outside but what must have been a far worse pain on the inside of Jesus of literally taking all the sins of the entire world on his sinless self, and becoming, on the inside a writhing mass hideous evil.

Now add to all of that the fact that while all of this is happening to him, inside him is this burning passionate love for the very people who are torturing him. You parents who have raised your children know the deep hearted pain that can come when a child rejects you and your guidance and commits themselves to very destructive behavior.

Now imagine that all the children in the world are your children, and you love them, not with a finite love, but with an infinite perfect love. All of them reject you,.. all at the same time, and they turn all their destructive sinful behavior directly on you. If you could imagine that you would be getting close to the raging love that cause Jesus to beg God not to charge his torturers sin to their account.

He was determined to carry out what he came to do….to restore you into a wonderful relationship with your loving Creator.

C) Why did Jesus Die?? To reconcile us to God! (K)

(Ephesians 2:13) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (NIV)

Some of you sitting here today, know about God….you have set in this room, perhaps , and picked up facts about him… but there is still a chasm between you and him. Your sin is separating you from the God who loves you. God is reaching passionately in your direction, compelling you to walk toward him…but you hesitate…Jesus has already provided the walkway across the chasm that will get you safely into your Father’s arms!

(Picture of Cross across chasm)

(1 Peter 3:18) For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God… (NIV)

And you don’t have to worry that your sin has too much a a stranglehold on you…Jesus took care of that too!!

D) Why did Jesus Die?? To break satan’s stranglehold on your life! (L)

(Hebrews 2:14-15) Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (NIV)

Does your sin have to much of a grip on your life? Is the transformation you see in other lives around you so elusive that it will never be your personal experience?? Are you condemned to living the rest of your life in bondage to the evil one? ….

I don’t think so!!!

(1 John 3:8)… The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. (NIV)

Paul wrote this to those who had already accepted the free gift of salvation but it inversely applies to all who will accept Jesus’ offer:

(Colossians 2:13-15) When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (NIV)

E) Why did Jesus Die?? To Forgive our sins! (N)

This is an amazing point. When you bring your sins to Jesus he doesn’t just put a band-aid over your boo-boo and tell you not to fall down so much. He forgives your sins, all of them…all of the guilt, all of the shame, all of the things we don’t ever want to come out into the light…he just wipes our slate clean. Let me remind you; it’s not that your particular sins went unpunished…they were punished…every one of them. It’s just that you don’t have to be the one who bears the weight of what you have done wrong. He already bore the weight of all mankind’s sin. Did you notice his words in our communion memorial earlier in the service:

(Matthew 26:28) This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (NIV)

By embracing his gift you receive unconditional forgiveness….

(Ephesians 1:7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (NIV)

Are you still carrying around a burden of personal sin? If you are.. you don’t need to be. One who loves you more than anything in the world took your place, bore your sins and offers you complete forgiveness and new life. What is amazing is that even though he bore the sins of all mankind; some will reject his gift and go on to bear the full weight of their own sins even though Jesus already did so.

God’s wonderful plan for your life is that you will live the rest of your life without the burden, the guilt, the bondage of sin in your life…He offers you freedom!

F) Why did Jesus Die?? To Free us from our sins! (O)

(Revelation 1:5-6) …To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. (NIV)

(1 Peter 2:24) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (NIV)

The wrath of God toward sin need never touch your life again after today. When God looks at your life he doesn’t see the old scars, or even the fresh scars. He sees only the scars of the one who took your place. He doesn’t demand your death for your sins…He already received a death payment on your behalf. He doesn’t demand that you be eternally separated from him. Another took that from you as well and bore the separation from God that your sin demanded. God sees you through the gracious sacrifice of Jesus and pronounces you clean!…..let me show you:

G) Why did Jesus Die?? To Declare us Blameless in his Sight! (Q)

(Colossians 1:22) But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation-- (NIV)

(Hebrews 10:14) ….by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (NIV)

This holiness of life is not just window dressing. Jesus death didn’t just provide for you to be declared free from sin, He actually provided for you to experience daily victory over sin!

H) Why did Jesus Die?? To help us to Live Righteous Lives (R

(1 Peter 2:24) He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. (NIV)

(Hebrews 9:14) How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

(Titus 2:14) who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.