Ask yourself the following questions. Why did Jesus have to die? Jesus absolutely had to die. He is God. He would not have subjected His human incarnation to such a brutal death unless it was critically important. Does your understanding of what Jesus did at Calvary require Him to die? If it does not absolutely necessitate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, then perhaps you need to reconsider your view of the Old Testament.
In the Gospels, we are given the record of Jesus’ life, actions and Words. In the Epistles, the Apostles explain the Gospels to us. If you were to give just three books of the Bible to someone, which would you choose? Consider Romans, Ephesians and Galatians. In these three, all of the key issues and doctrines are reviewed by Paul. But throughout the Gospels and throughout the Epistles, the Old Testament is repeatedly referenced. Everything that happens, all that Jesus does, is by way of fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. But before we can tackle this issue, let’s step back farther and ask another question: why?
Why was all of this necessary? What was God up to in sending Jesus into the world? Why does the Bible contain all of the particular information that it contains?
Let’s begin at the beginning. Adam was our federal representative in Eden. This statement is important on many levels. As Americans, we are familiar with the idea of a representative democracy or federal form of government. Adam was in one sense our federal representative in Eden. He acted for us. But more than that, we were with Adam and we would have behaved exactly the same way as Adam did. Only two men entered the world without the condition of sin. Adam blew it and his sin was imputed to all of mankind. This idea of imputation is important. The sin of one man was credited to the account of every other man and woman ever born save one. Not only would we not have done better, but because he was our representative, we were with Adam and we didn’t do better.
How do we know that this is the case? First, Adam and all of his offspring forever were thrown out of Eden. This is clear from Genesis 3. Second, as Paul states on more than one occasion, through one man sin entered the world. Romans 5:12-14 is one such example. Therefore, we have a sin problem. We have the condition of sin. But what is sin?
Let’s look at what the Psalmist David had to say about sin. Psalm 51 is one of the most amazing Old Testament passages. Read it now. Look at verse 4. Go up to the top and see what exactly David is confessing again. Against only God has David sinned, he says. Really? David has just arranged the murder of Uriah and taken Bathsheba as his own. But he says that only against God has he sinned. Sin is an affront to God. Sin is the condition of breaking God’s Law from the perspective of our relationship with God. And sin is punishable by death. Our relationship with other men has a civil law that governs it. There are gradations of lawbreaking: misdemeanors and felonies. Not all crimes are the same among men. With God, there is only one level of sin. Think about it for a moment. Adam had a bite of fruit. For taking a bite of forbidden fruit, all mankind was doomed to die. How much more can we be punished for murder? Therefore, all sin is the same in the eyes of God: an offense to His Holiness.
How does God feel about sin, and about those who commit sin? The phrase “the Wrath of God” fits very nicely here. I’ll give you Jonathan Edwards again if you are in the mood. It is really quite good. So, the verdict for sinners at judgment is the Wrath of God. When someone asks you if you have been saved, follow the lead of R. C. Sproul. Ask them from what are you saved. The answer is the Wrath of God. The time is at judgment. Only one outcome under the Law is acceptable to God: perfection. Matthew 5:17-20, 48 is a passage I’ve discussed before. Jesus did not come to abolish the Law. Jesus came to fulfill the Law. Jesus lived a sinless life so that one human could accomplish the requirements of the Law. Jesus has perfect righteousness under the Law. That was the point of His life.
All that is nice, but what about his death? What does any of this have to do with me? What about the practical application? Let’s look at some more Old Testament stuff. Perhaps we can start with Genesis 15 and look at the covenant ritual involving Abraham. Look particularly at these verses. These 6 verses of Genesis 15 might be the most important in the whole Old Testament, and the most misunderstood. The issue here is righteousness. The Jews and the Roman Catholics and the Liberals make the mistake of assuming that Abraham was deemed righteous due to his works. Genesis 15:6 states that Abraham was deemed righteous because of his faith, his faith in the promise made by God. Faith always has an object. In this case, the object of faith was the promise of God. Notice Genesis 20. If Abraham had earned his righteousness based upon his works, why didn’t he lose his righteousness and the promise of God after that morally bankrupt episode? His righteousness was not based upon his actions, but upon his belief in the promise. Notice what Paul says about Abraham in Romans 4. OK, you people who don’t follow links, go back and read Paul…. I’ll wait.
Hmmm. Did you know that was in the Bible? Why do we focus on morals and law and piety? Perhaps, Doctrine might be a shade more important than we thought. Paul takes the promise of God to Abraham and applies it to the whole world. The land bordered by the Nile and the Euphrates has been spiritualized by Jesus to mean the whole world after the coming of Jesus according to Paul. The whole world is the Holy Land, and the people of God are all who believe in the Resurrection of Jesus and the righteousness that event gave to the faithful.
Back to righteousness again. In part 2, we will discuss the nuts and bolts of how we are able to receive this righteousness that is apart from works, based on faith alone, so that none can boast (Romans 3:21-31.)
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