The Cost Of God's Forgiveness - Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. Now any of it all is that God created such an extensive law so you and I would believe and understand clearly that were sinners. He didn't write the law so that you and I could keep it and earn our way to heaven because he knew none of us could by the way religious people sometimes joining up today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now is once again he shows us how God's word.

Our world in the year 2004. The movie the passion of the price hit American theaters and immediately controversy followed James Carroll, a former Catholic priest who was a writer for the Boston Globe wrote this after he had previewed the film he says it will incite contempt for Jews is a blasphemous insult to the memory of Jesus Christ is an icon of religious violence. The subject of this film is the sick love of physical abuse. It contains the most brutal film episode I have ever seen approaching the pornographic is a lie is sick. Jews have every reason to be offended by the passion of the Christ should even offend most Christians. I remember seeing the passion of the Christ with a Jewish couple and when the movie had finished, the man said to me, so from your point of view. The Jews killed Jesus Christ and I said no. From my point of view, I killed Jesus Christ but I like any other Hollywood version of the crucifixion of Christ. The passion of the Christ was brutal but physically it was closer to the biblical and historical account than any other movie ever made you see clearly the how of Jesus death produces horror, however, the why of Jesus death produces wonder worship you see in his death, we see the cost of God's forgiveness 700 years before that event before Jesus had endured the cross, God had given one of his choice profits are remarkable vision of what would happen to his servant and his son on the cross of Calvary jewelry Bible so Isaiah chapter 53. If there is a chapter that should be marked in your Old Testament, especially when you're dealing with the prophets. It should be. Isaiah chapter 53.

Nearly every single verse of this chapter is either quoted or alluded to in the New Testament. In fact, the night before Jesus Christ was crucified as they were leaving the Passover meal he quoted Isaiah 53 certainly a chapter that demands our full attention. The reason for his and we often don't understand this in the Bible. One of the problems we have as readers is this in every book that you read you usually just have a book Anderson author and the author wrote a book and you realize that author sat around for a couple weeks and our minds or years and wrote this book, and so the events of the book seem to just be in sequence. The Bible is not written that way.

Mean the Bible was written over 1500 years now know book is like that, that's for sure.

So what's written here is written 700 years before the crucifixion 700 years. Now imagine with me nearly a couple hundred years before Columbus cell for the Americas that somebody wrote down in great graphic detail what was going to happen in Manhattan 9/11 but if somebody wrote that 200 years before Columbus cell see them extraordinary to us, but we have this tendency to sit with us in one part of the Bible. This is in the other part. Another separated by 700 years, he says, who is believed our message and to whom is the arm of the Lord been revealed. Isaiah realizes this is going to be difficult for people to believe he's talking about and it comes in verse 13 of chapter 52 behold my servant, he says concerning his servant, which will find out in a moment is Christ, he says, for he grew up before him like a tender shoot like a root out of parched ground.

He had no stately former Majesty that we should look upon him, nor her parents that we should be attracted to him. Humanly Jesus was common just about as common as someone could be born of nondescript parents. He was born in nondescript place. Apparently he had no stately former Majesty. He wasn't handsome, not hard to do for Hollywood because every rendition you've ever seen a Jesus it's always a leading man know Lucifer was a leading man is beautiful. He's handsome.

Jesus has no stately form at all. There's nothing special about his appearance. In fact, one commentator said that he was utterly ordinary. Just like many of us then it says something about them relationally in the reference here deals with the context of the classes will see as we go on. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and appointed with grief and like one from whom men hide her face.

He was despised, and we did not esteem him. Now, obviously.

He rented the trouble in Nazareth a little bit.

His family needed more convincing to become believers but these words are used for the words of the passion of the Christ from his arrest on until he was crucified.

In fact, when he was crucified. The New Testament backs this up in Mark chapter 15 verse 29 Mark writes that the people there hurled insults at him. In verse 31 they mocked him in Luke 2335.

It says they sneered at him. The reason would be simple not just his claims and he made incredibly outrageous claims, but the fact that he was being crucified, crucifixion is so much more than capital punishment.

It's so much more than death by injection order, the electric chair. Crucifixion has an enormous stigma that goes along with it.

Martin hangover scholar who deals with the idea of the Roman crucifixion says this for the men of the ancient world, Greek, Roman barbarians and Jews, the cross was not just a matter of indifference just like any other kind of death. It was utterly offensive affair obscene in the original sense of the word in the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was a punishment in which the caprice and sadism of the executioners was given full rain. The was large and unanimous. The crucifixion was horrific disgusting business death on the cross was a penalty for slaves as everyone knew. As such, it symbolized extreme humiliation, shame, torture bill into it is this whole idea.

Shame, torture is absent in the past.

Once you get to the cross and once they know you up there there almost always naked the idea of it is the bring as much shame they almost always put the cross where people could see it and more people would walk by all of it was designed to shame and humiliate you.

This wasn't unique to Jesus Christ.

This past week I read one trusted historian, said he believed that there had been about 30,000 crucifixion.

By the time of Christ. Just the new Judea area of the world.

That's a lot of crucifixions.

Alex L. Who has a medical degree and a doctorate in engineering comments on the passion of the Christ, and he says this. The engineering load analysis when added to the physiological information will make it obvious why the Roman form of crucifixion is the most horrible, cruel, painful and humiliating form of execution ever devised, and neither the flogging nor the crucifixion as shown in the movie the passion of the Christ was as bad or as violent as the actual so whatever images you remember from that movie.

It was worse. You see what is going on here simple Isaiah's going to prophesy Jesus going to fulfill what is the cost of God's forgiveness see what is the cost of God's forgiveness cements. Think of those who have wronged you think of people that have hurt you. You probably have a face faces. Think of what they did know first of all let me not compare you to God. You've done your own charity your center but think of how you feel about the pain you endured. When they were abused as a child present at all treated unfairly in the marketplace. Whatever. Think of how that feels. Now think about if you're a holy God in every single every single wrong was against you as well as others.

Every devious act, every impure thought everything that ever happened was a sin against you, that you and I find great reluctance and forgiving that God forgives, but at what cost. Notice as Isaiah goes on. He says surely Hargreaves, he himself bore our sorrows.

He carried yet we ourselves esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being fell upon him and by his scourging we are healed or forgiven all of us like sheep gone astray, each of us has turned by his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all the fallen him without the just imagine what that is using one of the things that you're absolutely sure of when you read the word of God is a God doesn't wink at sin. It has to be dealt with. Think for a moment of the Mosaic law is not just 10 Commandments is 600 laws and ordinances and there's a lot of things you shouldn't do now. The irony of it all is that God created such an extensive law so you and I would believe and understand clearly that were sinners. He didn't write the law so that you and I could keep it and earn our way to heaven because he knew none of us could by the way religious people sometimes think again. Even at the time of Christ, the rich young ruler is that off capital and Jesus had to sort of prime one out of the Sean that he was at least lying. You see, that's what the law was for, but there was another part of the law was called the ceremonial law and what was the ceremonial law will whatever I failed to keep the moral law of God had to make a sacrifice you ever wonder how many dogs how many sheep how many goats how many oxen report how many died over all that. Of time every time you send, there's a sin offering. How many now think of that against the words of John the Baptist. Whenever Jesus launches his public ministry and the first thing that John says is behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

See, that's what's happening. That's what he's talking about here who killed Jesus, while the Romans with their indifference and their cruelty killed Jesus. The Jews with their hatred and jealousy killed Jesus a just and holy God killed Jesus your sin and mine killed Jesus and his love for us to willingly lay down his own life to Jesus all those factors.

The central meaning of Jesus Christ miss an important thing to understand is not found in the living of his life but found in the giving of his life. Jesus Christ was born to die. That's the point in Matthew 20 verse 28. He says the Son of Man came to give his life a ransom for many see every other religious leader says I have a philosophy of life. I have a way of living. If you do this you'll probably be okay with God or gods or whoever Jesus's night I came to give my life. Theologians call it substitutionary atonement notices Isaiah goes on. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted. He did not open his mouth like a lamb that was led to slaughter like a sheep that was silent before cheers. He did not open his mouth by the oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation who considered that he was cut off in the land of the living for the transgression of my people, he says, to whom the stroke was due his grade was assigned with wicked men and yet he was with the rich man in his death because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth but the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief if he would render himself as a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and he will prolong his days for the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper his hand. As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge the righteous one, my servant will justify the many and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he will divide the booty with the strong, because he poured himself out to death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many, and then don't miss this and interceded for the transgressors was the first thing Jesus said on the cross.

It's just as though he knew what was going to happen right father forgive them. I'll pay this price. You see, I'll pay this price 700 years. You see the movie really wasn't anything exceptional at all. When I talked the physical aspects. In fact, in Isaiah 52 in verse 14 it says his appearance was marred more than any man. It was unrecognizable tremendous agony. The cost of God's forgiveness. The cost of your forgiveness. Mine yes grace is free. It's a gift price paid dearly told me not of the New Testament, the book of acts.

The book of acts chapter 8 watch how Isaiah 53 gets tied in to the cross of Jesus Christ.

Acts eight verse 26, but an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert road and so I got up and he went in there was an Ethiopian unique, a court official of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure and he had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was a proselyte and he was returning and sitting in his chariot and he was reading.

Coincidentally, the prophet Isaiah, then the spirit of the Lord said to Philip go up and join this chariot and Philip ran up and heard.

In reading Isaiah the prophet. He apparently was reading it out and he said do you understand what you're reading. And he said well how could I have met someone guides me and he invited Philip to come up in the sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this, he was led as a sheep to slaughter, and as a lamb before cheers silent and so he does not open his mouth in humiliation. His judgment was taken away. Who will relate. He says his generation for his life is removed from the earth and the eunuch answered Philip and said please tell me of home. Does the prophet say this of himself or someone else. Remember he understands is a 700 years old.

I'm reading a prophet. I don't understand who is he talking about here.

Well then Philip opened his mouth and beginning from the Scripture from the Scripture. He preached Jesus to him and they went along the road and they came to some water in the eunuch Sedlock water.

What prevents me from being baptized is converted right there with what text Isaiah 53 and Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may and he said he answered he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, and he ordered the chariot to stop and they both went down in the water. Philip as well as the eunuch and he baptized him and when they came up out of the water of the spirit of the Lord snatch Philip away. That's what happens. The Jesus often in the Gospels, he just vanished and the unique, he said, no longer saw him.

The one on his way rejoicing. I know about you but I was with a guy and he baptized me and I come out of the water. He's gone and be the big question on my mind it were to go maybe unless I find Christ that day you see he had just experienced the forgiveness of God basin. Isaiah 53.

See that's what happened to him.

Now I want to look at the actual crucifixion go with me to Matthew 27 in verse 27 then the soldiers of the governor.

They took Jesus into the praetorian and together the whole Roman cohort around him and they stripped him in a put a scarlet robe on him. This is all mockery. Remember that crime in which he is going to be executed is the claim to be king of the Jews. Now, the Romans saw this is a funny thing pilot solid is a ridiculously but the soldier saw the something funny so they mocked him, and put a robe on him and they stripped him and they they put the scarlet robe on him and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put on his head and a read much like what BM was piece of bamboo would be a read in his right hand as a soda play scepter and they knelt down before him and they mocked him, saying, hey all, King of the Jews. This was fun for them in a spat on. That's Roman soldiers, especially pastoral never on the radio ministry of fellowship in the world. If you ever missed one of our broadcasting or maybe you dislike of the sum of the method one more time. Remember that you can Google a great website called one place.com that's one place.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online at that website you will find on with today's broadcast but also many of our previous audio programs as Fellowship in the Word. We are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible with all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help with radio ministry continuous broadcast on this radio station by supporting a monthly with just a one-time gift support for ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word. 4600 Clearview Pkwy., Metairie, LA 7006 if you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format that is is a sermon, the pastor will deliver during a Sunday morning service of fellowship monitored visit our website FVC Nola.org that FVC and oh LA.O RG at our website you will find hundreds pastoral sermon you can browse through our sermon archives defined sermon series you're looking for. You can search by title. Once you find the message you're looking for.

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