Christ's atoning death is presented as the chief purpose of his incarnation, not merely a martyr's death or an accident. The sermon emphasizes the prominence of his death in both Old and New Testament scriptures, noting that one-fifth of the Gospels concern his final three days and that his death is mentioned frequently throughout the New Testament. Scripture, including Mark 10:45, Hebrews 2:9, Hebrews 9:26, and 1 John 3:5, is used to demonstrate that Christ came specifically to give his life as a ransom for many, to taste death for every man, and to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. The central claim is that no other religious figure came with the express purpose of dying for humanity's sins, making Christ's sacrifice unique and essential for redemption. The sermon concludes by urging listeners to consider Christ's atoning death and to respond with trusting faith, believing that he died for them.
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Beloved, friends, we greet you in the precious name of our beloved Savior, the greatest person in the universe of God. We trust that you know him as your own, and we also pray, as the result of the ministry concerning his blessed person, you will know him better. We continue in the thought that we are following relative to his great atoning death. May I again repeat the premise upon which We are basing these messages at the present time upon the words of the Lord Jesus from Matthew twenty-two in verse forty-two, when he raised the most important question which could be asked of all human beings.
What think ye of Christ? And, beloved, it is the desire of mine heart, and I know it is the desire of the Son of God Himself, and the Father above and the Holy Spirit on the earth below. that you have the right thoughts concerning the Son of God. We have noted his pre-existence. We have followed with his incarnation. We are now considering that great work of his atoning death. His death, as we have already noted in our preceding message, was foretold in the Old Testament, found both in type and shadow and also in prophetic utterance that he would come to die.
Oh, may I say, my beloved, contrary to the purposes of all others who come into this world, we come to live, but he came expressly that he might die. Now, may I point out, his death is not only prominent in the teaching of the Old Testament, it is prominent in the New Testament. May I give you the thought? The last three days of our Lord's earthly life They occupy about one-fifth of the gospel narratives. May I repeat it again in substance? You take Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John.
Were you to put them all together, you will find that one-fifth of those gospel narratives concern the last three days of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus. Now, may I give you the suggestion? if all the three and a half years of our Savior's public ministry had been written out as fully as the last three days of his life we would have a record of his life that would consist of about eight thousand four hundred pages now we state that because the death of the Lord Jesus is very prominent in the record of the Gospels and it is claimed that in the New Testament the death of the Lord Jesus is mentioned one hundred and seventy five times upon an average once in every fifty three verses may I repeat it I want you to understand I need to understand the prominent emphasis upon the death of the Lord Jesus within the Gospels and even the epistles and all the rest of the New Testament One
hundred and seventy-five times the death of the Lord Jesus is mentioned, on an average of once in every fifty-three verses. And I'm sure I don't need to tell you what some of them are. We all know the frequency of this in the New Testament, so that it would not be necessary to list the abundant references which can be found. But now please note a third fact. His death is the chief purpose of the incarnation. Can I repeat that? We've had a study on the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. We saw many reasons for it.
But on this occasion, as we look at the atoning death of the Savior, we express this statement. His death is the chief purpose of the incarnation. Christ did not come to the earth primarily to set as an example or even to teach his doctrine, though he's done that. But he came expressly to die and to die for you and to die for me. Oh, may I prove it from the precious word, even from his own blessed lips. Mark writing in his gospel in chapter ten, verse forty-five.
tell us of these precious words that fell from the lips of our Saviour. Please listen to them. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto. He did not come that men may serve him, but he came that he might serve them to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. Oh, beloved, there you find One of the great scriptures that tell us why he came to give himself a ransom for many. Expressly to lay down his life as a price to redeem your soul and to redeem my soul.
Can I ask you a question, my friend? When we bring before you the question that is the theme of our series, what think ye of Christ? Let me ask a question at this point. Can you point to any other person who came into this world that he might die for you to take away your sins? I defy you to find in every religious leader of all kinds of cults a man who came expressly into this world to pay the price and the penalty to save your soul and deliver you from sin and its judgment.
No other man ever died for you. Muhammad never died for the Mohammedans. Brother never died for the Buddhists. Confucius never died for his followers. I defy you to find a man. who came expressly to be the ransom for the souls of mankind, except the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, let me go to Hebrews chapter two. Let me find in the epistle of the Hebrews in chapter two, verse nine, these precious words again, telling us why he came to die. But we see Jesus made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man?
Oh, my beloved, can you find another person who came into this world to taste the penalty of sin, the wages of sin which is death, and do it for every man? Ah, beloved, what a savior. Let me read verse fourteen, if you please. that we find in verse fifteen in the same chapter, that he himself became partakers of flesh and blood, that likewise he might take part of the same in order that through death he might destroy him that had the power or the authority of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Ah, my beloved friend, there is no other person who came. and came to be a sacrifice for sin upon the cross of Calvary. Let me read the words of Hebrews chapter nine and verse twenty-six, where the dearly beloved apostle declares, once in the end of the age, Christ hath appeared. Now what for? To put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. My beloved, I defy you to find another Savior. I defy you to find a person who died for your sins. None but the Lord Jesus has done so. I think of the words, and I quote the words of dear Apostle John, as he writes in chapter three of his first epistle in verse five.
Please note these words. You know that he was manifested, meaning he came to the earth. What for? To take away our sins, though in him is no sin. Can I dwell with you on those words again? How did He came to the earth? In order that He could take away our sins? Though in Him there was no sin? My beloved, in the closing moments of our meditation today, I want you to think of something. Think of it together with me.
When we think of the death of Christ, When we consider it in the light of God's precious word, as we've already noted, whether from the Old Testament and also again from the New Testament, can we not agree to this fact? According to the Scriptures, the death of the Lord Jesus was not an afterthought. Neither was it an accident. I do not wish to say that the Lord Jesus Christ died merely a martyr's death. It was more than that. Neither was it accidental. It was in the purposes of God.
And he came to accomplish a definite purpose. And thus you can recognize the necessity of his incarnation. The incarnation was not an end in itself. Was it not rather a means to an end? And that end is what? for the redemption of lost sinners through the Lord's death upon the cross. My beloved, I cannot emphasize too greatly the death of the Son of God. It was the death of death. One is well said in poetry, mystery of mystery, of life and death, the tree, the center of two eternities, which look onward and back to thee, O cross of Christ, where all this pain and death is our eternal gain.
My beloved friend, I challenge you to take the opportunity to consider what do you think of Christ? Not only what do you think of his pre-existence, what do you think of his incarnation. But now, the blessed ultimate purpose of that incarnation, what do you think of his atoning death? My beloved, I wonder if you can say with the dear Apostle Paul, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Again we repeat the question, No apology for its repetition. What think ye of Christ? Focus your heart and mind upon his atoning death and be able to say in simple, trusting faith, Lord Jesus, I do believe. I now believe that you have died for me. Father, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, Bring thoughts of Christ to every heart, and to thy servant who speaks, for thy glory and our blessing in Jesus' name. Amen.