Extraordinary Death Part 1

Rain forests looking to Jesus, founder and perfecter of our rice defining moment was a cruel death on the cross for those who believe that forgiveness is for that we must be eternally grateful today will begin to experience horrific price paid for our salvation from the Moody Church in Chicago this is running to win with Dr. Sir Lewis clear teaching us make it across the finish line at a time when crucifixion was frequent. What sets apart the death of Jesus. From that of common criminals and of course the big difference is simply this, that common criminals died for their own sins and crime. Jesus died not because he had committed any crimes or sins, but he died on behalf of others and when you begin to contemplate the separation that he experienced even from the father as he became sin for us all that we can do is to stand in awe of what happened at Calvary.

How thankful we are for it. These messages I believe will be a tremendous blessing to you and to others.

You know you can play them again and again share them with your friends.

If you would like to have them in permanent form.

Here's what you do go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 now. As always, we here at the Moody Church open our Bibles to understand better the remarkable death of Jesus.

Of course later on will speak about his resurrection and ascension as King of Kings and Lord of lords. Listen carefully you years ago I was at a banquet seated next to a woman who is a popular pastor whom I knew was into what we call the new age so halfway through the meal. I leaned over and I said to her. Do you believe that Christ is the only way to God. She said will sure. Why do you even ask that to myself while I'm going to have to corner this lady some house. I took another bite of steak and a few moments later, I said to her you believe that all the religions of the world are equally right and she said sure, it doesn't matter whether you're a Hindu or Buddhist or Christian.

I said to her. How do you reconcile that on the one hand, you're saying that Christ is the only way to God and on the other hand, you're saying it doesn't matter what religion you belong to, and she said I'm not going to tell you because I want to be your friend.

I said I come on, tell me so I pestered her a little bit and finally she leaned over and she whispered in my ear and she said you must understand that when I preach Christ.

I am not talking about Jesus of Nazareth, she said, I'm talking about the cosmic Christ wind wells. Everybody you realize that there are many people who are living who put faith in the wrong Christ today, and they will be lost forever.

In fact, Jesus said that the day is coming when there will be many Christ.

He said there will be people who say Christ is here in Christ as their he said, don't believe them because those are the wrong price. What is it that the New Age movement is trying to do it's trying to separate the historical Jesus, Jesus, the man from the cosmic Christ, who is impersonal and if you read their literature you find out that they believe that Jesus was born a boy just a man and then he became the Christ, maybe because he went to India and there he was imbibed with a Guru who taught him meditation.

Or maybe it was because it was reincarnated, but he became the Christ, by the way, all such theories are really wrong. They have no basis whatever and then what they say is we believe that we have revelations that supersede the Bible and furthermore, as for the literalness of the Bible, we will reenter it in an esoteric way to strip it of all of its literal meaning. What is the New Age movement after anyway.

First of all, you have to understand their theory of salvation in the New Age movement Eve is to be commended for having disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Eve is to be commended. The serpent is to be commended, which is Satan because Eva chose in light meant if she had not disobeyed God, her eyes would remain closed, but because she chose enlightenment, rather than there being all in the garden of Eden. There was actually DS scent of mankind in the Garden of Eden and were better off because we disobeyed God, you must understand that this explains why in Gnostic literature as well as in the New Age movement.

You have all this emphasis on the Valdez why the goddess is because it is related to Eve who led us in the right path. Satan, if you please, turns out to be the Redeemer. Now you can't harmonize a heresy like that with the New Testament unless you have a different Christ, a cosmic, impersonal Christ and the New Age movement.

Once a Christ like this because such a Christ does not have flesh. Such a Christ does not shed his blood. There are no nail print in the hands of an impersonal cosmic Christ will today I want to speak on the topic of the death of Christ you know of course that this is the fifth in a series of messages entitled Christ, among other gods and I been trying to emphasize that there is a ditch between Christianity and all other religions.

In fact, I've been trying to say it isn't merely a ditch. It is as it is a chasm that is really as wide as the Grand Canyon and today what I intend to show is that the chasm is not just that wide. It is an infinite chasm between Christianity and all other religious options, but I'd like to do today is to give you six statements regarding what the New Testament says about salvation. Salvation by the way, is defined as reconciliation with a very personal holy God. Six. Statements six facts if you will. Regarding salvation in the Bible. Are you ready I know you are number one God plan that salvation God planned it. It says in the book of Titus chapter 1 verse two in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot live promised before the world began in after mankind fell in the garden of Eden, you remember it was the Lord who said to speaking to the serpent. He said I will put enmity between you and the hand of the woman between thy seed of the seed of Satan and the seed of the woman which is Christ and of the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head. God plans it right from the beginning. Now I need to pause here and point out that this means that the God that is represented in this Bible is different from all the other gods of the religions of the world. First of all, he is a personal God. He is a God who can think, feel, choose will, and act a personal God. Not only that, but he is the infinite personal God, the one infinite personal God.

Do you realize that this separates Christianity from all of the other Eastern religions were God is thought to be impersonal and where the various gods are finite. If you ever wondered why was that in the early days of the Christian church when in Rome, the Christians were asked to worship Caesar on one day of the year and simply confess him as Lord. The choice was not between Caesar and Christ. The choice was whether they were willing to worship Christ and Caesar. Rome was very tolerant of all kinds of pagan gods. After you gave your allegiance to Caesar, you could go back and you could privately worship whatever God you wished, but the Christians did not do that for the most part they understood that even though we could worship Caesar on one day of the year and all the other days of the year. We still cannot compromise finite gods are always very tolerant wherever paganism goes, it absorbs the paganism of that country because finite gods have very little choice except to be very tolerant of other finite gods of the Christians understood that the gap between those pagan gods and the Caesar and the infinite personal God was a gap that was so great that there could be no divided loyalty.

They understood that we were talking about a personal infinite God who planned salvation. Well first of all, God planned salvation.

Secondly, he initiates it. I want you to take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 3. One of the most important passages in all the New Testament begins in Romans chapter 3 verse 21, where Paul has been arguing that salvation cannot come through the law. Romans 321 now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe because there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith to stop there for just a moment to see what the Bible is saying is because we are under sin. God is the one who took the initiative, he took Christ and displayed him publicly as a propitiation that is as a mercy seat as a blood offering God took the initiative he planned redemption, and then he took the initiative in redemption and began plan now you need to understand why God did this and this separates Christianity even further from all of the religious options.

The Bible teaches what we call the depravity of man, snobbery, and very nice thing to say about people member, a friend of mine, one of our daughters was born looking at that precious little darling girl and saying that is one of the most beautiful, totally depraved babies I've ever seen total depravity, though, doesn't mean it that we always do bad thing. We sometimes can do good things. Total depravity means know that whatever we do, it is always tainted. We have mixed motives and even when it appears as if our motives are pure God standard is so infinitely higher that there is no way that we can attain his standard because the standard is the glory of God. Verse 23 for all have sinned and have fallen short. None of man's standard, but of the glory of God. You realize what that means. That means that just as you can take a bow was in bananas never get in or so you can take all the human righteousness that is ever been produced on planet Earth from the beginning of time and you can add it together and it will not change God's own opinion of longest singles center. Why because there is no common ground between us and God there's anything that was evident in the Parliament of world religions. It was the naïve utopianism. The belief that we could get together and begin to meditate and unite and solve all the problems of the world regarding hunger simply through meditation, we could redistribute the world's wealth we could take care of the planetary problems of ecology and we could all live happily ever after.

Hans Kung, the great famous German theologian said basically that all the religions of the world conflict that we all agree that we should treat one another as we would like to be treated. That is the central point and so he lectured on what that would mean I went up to them later and I said to him, in German Z hub in your group often the words. It was a good speech but I said you know that after people have heard you. They are going to go out and live that way. I said to them, your theologian, you know that Jesus admitted from within the heart of man comes evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, thefts, covetousness and wickedness, and unless we change the heart will never transform society and the reason that Jesus came was to actually change the heart. We know what we should do but there is no power within us to do it. That's her problem and he said to me well you may be right, but I think we should be more optimistic them. I want you to know today when I look at the Chicago newspaper and when I look into my own heart. I have run out of reasons to be optimistic about human nature.

You see, there is the depravity of man. And then there is the holiness of God. God is holy other. There is nothing in God that corresponds to us to follow this carefully how big and long is the bridge between us and God. The gap morally and spiritually. The gap between us and God is infinite is infinite and the Bible says we cannot take one single step in God's direction. If man is to be rescued. If we are to be reconciled to God. God must begin the from his and and span the entire gap alone. That's why Augustine says that he who understands the holiness of God will despair in trying to appease him. The Bible would teach that until we know how bad we are. We have no idea as to how good God is. God plans redemption, God initiates it.

It comes from his side.

Thirdly, God completes it. He completes and he does it all without any human being involved. That is what the text says. How does God do it. He demonstrates his righteousness in the last part of verse 25. The sins previously committed are those who committed sins in the Old Testament, they were saved on credit. God says I'm gonna let your debts accumulate in and take care of them when Christ comes. So that when Christ died he died not only for future sinners like us. But past sinners as well. But notice it says verse 26 for the demonstration. I say of his righteousness at the present time that he might be just how important that is. God could not bend his attribute of righteousness.

One little bit and that he might be the justifier to those who have faith in Jesus, God retained his integrity and holiness. It could not be compromised. There was no way that God could say what you know, I'm such a loving being all just accept you sinners know he couldn't do that because his holiness would not allow it how it is a man who is dressed in a beautiful white suit go into a coal mine and then having gone into that coal mine to rescue people and to bring them out of the coal mine without himself becoming soiled.

That was God's problem.

The question was how can God possibly rescue sinners reach down and become one of us and take us out of the pit of sin and reconciled us to himself and is still remain on tainted years ago there were some atheists who wanted to model God so they wrote a pamphlet little tract in which they said look in the Old Testament.

Abraham was a liar and is called a friend of God. Jacob was a cheater and yet he is called a prince of God. David and adulterer and a murderer, and he was clothed a man after God's own heart now. So the atheists what kind of a God associates with people like that in their perverse way, they had a point. Didn't say that's the question of the gospel. How does God associate with sinners and still retain his integrity. How can the scandal be removed from his name, even though he associates with us who are sinners, so the Bible teaches that God remain just about he also became the justifier God says I sure can't look to man to rectify this relationship that's for sure. That's already been excluded. But God says I will do it. I does God the father will allow God the son, who is me in the flesh. Three persons, but one God, God the son will go he will become one with humanity. Even though the remaining this thing from it and being sinless, and he will offer a sacrifice which I will receive. And so it will be God the son making a sacrifice to God the father without so much as one bit on the human initiative or effort or works involved none salvation will be of the Lord. I'm told there was a man in California who was caught speeding and went to court to pay his fine and the judge read him the sentence he had to pay the fine.

But after the sentence was read. The judge left the bench, stood by the defendant and paid the fine for him. That's what God does. How does God associate with sinners. How does he do it without spurning his own reputation, or denying his own honor. He says these sinners who have done nothing to their salvation and to rectify their relationship with me every single demand that I could ever ask of them has been met, and I have been the one who has met it, you know, this is Pastor Luther I need to say that after years and years of preaching the message that I have just proclaimed today never gets old.

I shared whenever I can. The uniqueness of Jesus Christ as our Savior as our Lord and as our king don't ever put them on the same shelf as others.

He is special, unique, the very son of God. I believe that these messages not only are a blessing to you now, but you can have them in permanent form and let me suggest why this would be something that I think would be a great resource play the messages again and again and share them with your friends. If you have children, let your children listen to them because we need to know in this very confused age why Jesus Christ stands alone and why it is that he is indeed the son of God, who alone is able to take away our sins. That's the heart of my message and it's actually of course, the message of the Bible and we proclaim it here on running to win far and wide.

Would you like to have a copy of these messages so that you can listen to them again and again. Here's what you do you go to RTW offer that's RTW offer.com to find out information there or if you prefer you can call 1-888-218-9337 ask for Christ. Among other gods, a defense of Christ in an age of tolerance hope by now you've been able to pick up a pencil. Remember, go to RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 and from my heart to yours today.

Thank you so much for standing with us with your prayers and your gifts together. We are making a difference as Christ is exalted through this ministry and more than 20 countries of the world. You can write to us at running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago online 60614, the love of God was put on display when Jesus went to the cross to die for our sins that day in Jerusalem. His sacrifice was visible and through the eye of faith, it's visible.

Even now, to those who trust him for the salvation is purchased. Next time, Dr. Luther talks about the wonder of something we call justification. This is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church