#9 - WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS - Fifteen Reasons God the Son Came To Die

JESUS CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS TO FREE US FROM BOTH SLAVERY TO SIN AND THE FEAR OF DEATH

Revelation 1:5-6 - “....and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood [6] and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Hebrews 2:14-15 - “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

Sometimes apparently small distinctions can make a great deal of difference. Each of these texts speaks of a specific bondage broken by the power of the cross of Christ. And neither one is the bondage of the guilt of our sin before God. That bondage, as we have already seen, was broken as Christ bore the just wrath of Almighty God against my sin and pronounced me forgiven. We call the breaking of that bondage of guilt justification. In very simple, but stunning words, the apostle Paul tells us an incredible truth - almost too wonderful to be believed were it not so plainly spoken in the Bible - God “justifies the ungodly!”(Romans 4:5).

That being accomplished through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, there are two other very real enslavements from which I need deliverance. The first is the bondage of sinful habit - not just the guilt of sin, but the enslavement of sin. The second is the fear of death. Both of these needs are answered in the cross of Christ. In our first text John says Jesus died that we might be released (notice the bondage/deliverance terminology) from the power of sin over our lives (Revelation 1:5). In the second text the writer of Hebrews says Jesus died to deliver us from the bondage of the fear of death (Hebrews 2:15).

1) JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS TO FREE US FROM THE DOMINION OF SIN IN OUR THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS

John specifically pictures the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as having a freeing power in our lives:

Revelation 1:5 - “....and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood....”

“....by His blood” means His death on the cross. That’s where He gave up His life for us. “Freed us from our sins” is the result of the cross. This is more than merely the erasing of the guilt of our sins from the books of God. This verse speaks of an actual breaking of sin’s hold over our lives. Guilt is erased. Our lives are freed.

The Apostle Paul speaks of the same truth in these powerful words - Romans 6:14 - “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

There’s a very important order in these words. Sin, says Paul, will not be our master anymore. Why? Because we’re strong willed? Because we’re extremely disciplined? Because we’re basically good, moral people? No, not for any of those reasons. Sin won’t have dominion over us anymore because we have received divine grace - “Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

There is such crucial insight here. No one is going to be freed from sin’s power by sheer will-power. You can’t beat sin on your own. But once grace has come through personal trust in the cross of Christ, there also comes a new capacity to walk in freedom from sin’s rule.

Or, to put it in more theological terms, once a person, by faith, has been justified - once the guilt of his sin has been erased by divine grace - there also begins the process of becoming increasingly sanctified. The guilt is removed instantly. The life is transformed progressively.

God’s grace always does more than just forgive sin. That’s the way countless Christians picture grace. We are guilty, but we don’t get the punishment we deserve. We get grace and forgiveness in spite of our sin. And all of that is blessedly true. But our text says Jesus died to provide more than mere forgiveness. He died on the cross to bring release from an old, cruel master. Paul shouts it clearly - because we are under grace, sin won’t be our master anymore. John, in the same vein, says through Christ’s blood we experience release from our sin. And being released means being set free.

How? How does this release take place? The forgiveness seems automatic and effortless. Does release from the bondage of sin happen in exactly the same way? No, not quite.

Simplified, we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in the ongoing sanctification of our lives. We receive God’s grace. I don’t mean we just believe in God’s grace, or know about God’s grace, or have read or heard about God’s grace, or talk about God’s grace. Rather, we receive God’s grace with warmth. There’s a full-blooded reception of God’s grace. We embrace it.

This first step is far too easily, and far too often rushed over and presumed in the thinking of many. This first step is the most important one of all, not only for forgiveness, which would only make sense, but also for ongoing transformation by the Holy Spirit.

How can I tell if I’ve truly embraced God’s grace in my heart? For sure, the beauty of God’s marvelous love and mercy in Christ Jesus will reveal profoundly the ugliness of my own sin. Remember, the beauty of grace always reveals the ugliness of sin. So, suddenly, by God’s Spirit, I begin to get a sense of how against the glory of God my own sin is. I see sin not only as being against the rules but grieving and dishonoring the Lord Who died to provide my forgiveness from sin’s guilt.

This realization is the sparkplug for sanctification - for release from the bondage of sin. When the cross of Christ is truly treasured as the fountain of divine grace the Holy Spirit starts to motivate me against my own unrighteousness. He begins to turn me against my former self. My own will embraces this process, but far more than my own will is involved. The Holy Spirit fuels my best intentions. In fact, the Holy Spirit begins to shape my best intentions in the direction of denying self and following Christ.

That’s why, when Paul looks closely at the kind of character that takes shape in the Christian’s life in place of old patterns of selfishness and sin he calls these new qualities - like love, joy, kindness, patience, goodness, and surprisingly, even self- control - the fruit of the Spirit.

He calls them this, not because your own will is uninvolved in their forming, but because your own will is being shaped and transformed by the Holy Spirit through the beauty of grace truly received, treasured, fed and savored.

Remember, this is reason number nine in our series. Jesus Christ died on the cross to deliver us from the bondage of sin in this present evil age.

2) JESUS CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS TO DELIVER US FROM THE BONDAGE OF THE FEAR OF DEATH

Hebrews 2:14-15 - “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

I see three destiny-shaping truths in these verses. They do not unravel easily and need to be pondered to drain every drop of hope and life from them:

a) Satan is described as having “the power of death.” How does he have this power and what does this mean?

b) Jesus destroys Satan’s power through His own death - “....that through death (his own) He might destroy the one who has the power of death....” How does Jesus’ death do this?

c) Christ’s death frees us from the bondage of the fear of death - “...and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery."

Let’s quickly look at each of these points:

A) Satan is described as having the “power of death”

We need to be careful about what this does mean and what it doesn’t mean. Certainly Satan does not have the power of death in the sense of deciding who lives and who dies. He doesn’t choose our departure time from this world. Job was surely correct when he said “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.” The Psalmist expressed the same conviction: Psalm 90:3 - “You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!”

There is, however, a power of death that Satan does hold in his hand - 1 Corinthians 15:56 - “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”

This is the power of death the Devil carries everywhere he goes. He tempts and entices us to sin. His key tool isn’t voodoo, or witchcraft, or seances, or curses, or demons. His chief tool for sin is deception - his ability to cause us to think true things that are lies and to belittle or deny things that are eternally true and precious.

But he does lead people into sin and that puts a sting into death. Sin brings eternal judgment and damnation. That’s where Satan gets his power in death. Through sin, death brings eternal condemnation and judgment and separation from Father God.

B) Jesus destroys Satan through His own death on the cross

The verse is emphatic - “....that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death”(Hebrews 2:14) - I think we’re all agreed that prior to the cross - in fact, prior to the Incarnation - Jesus, God the Son, had the sheer power to destroy Satan a thousand times over.

But it wouldn’t have done us any good. It wouldn’t have done us any good because He wouldn’t have destroyed him “through death.”

This is why the writer of Hebrews tells us in verse 10 of this same chapter that the incarnation of Jesus was how He was “made perfect” as the author of our salvation. The pre- incarnate Christ could never experience death. And only through His own death could Jesus remove the “sting” of death - destroy him who had the “power of death” - by bearing the curse for our sins.

This is how, in John’s words, Jesus came to “destroy the works of the Devil.” The Devil came to kill. Jesus came to die, not for His own sins, but to bear the Father’s judgment for mine. Paul says through the power of Christ’s death there is now “no condemnation that can stand against us.” Jesus, through His death destroyed him who had the power of death.

With all of this background, we’re in a better position to grasp the third point:

C) Christ’s death frees us now from the “bondage of the fear of death”

We’re not freed from the experience of death. Not yet. The Bible says there is still that last enemy to be destroyed - death. And that hasn’t happened yet. People still die.

But the bondage of the fear of death has been destroyed. That’s because, through faith in Christ’s death on the cross and His Resurrection from that death, death doesn’t take us into condemnation but into Christ’s presence. The one lethal weapon Satan had that gave him the “power of death” was unforgiven sin. That is what made death a dreadful experience. But Christ removed that dread through His cross.

“The bondage of the fear of death” - what does that phrase mean? It’s not as simple a question as it looks on the surface. It can’t mean Christians no longer think about death. After all, the Bible tells us to “number our days” and to “redeem the time.” We all know - non-Christians and Christians alike - that we’re going to die. We can’t deny the reality of death.

The fear of death comes from two things. First, it comes from the fear that ultimately we’re not ready for death. We don’t have peace with God. We fear judgment. Everything is ultimately going to come crashing down in that final, awful moment of eternal accountability. And second, the fear of death comes from the gnawing awareness that everything ends with death. We fear that we can do nothing in this life that outlasts our three-score and ten years.

And the reason this fear of death is called bondage is it drives us so relentlessly to secure ourselves against its inevitable arrival. We are blindly and foolishly driven to somehow secure ourselves against something we know we can’t beat.

Because Christ Jesus has removed the condemnation we all faced before God’s broken law, because He has destroyed the one who had the power of death, we know two things for sure:

i) We know nothing, including death itself, can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus

Satan can not destroy the soul, that goes to be with Jesus upon death. And Satan cannot destroy the body, which Jesus will raise in glory when He comes again. We can rely on Christ’s work and word and have peace with God.

ii) We know our labor is never in vain in the Lord

True enough, you can’t take it with you. But you can send it on ahead - “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for their works do follow them” Only through Christ can you make your life count forever. You are now free to risk big things for Jesus and His kingdom without the burden of securing your own future. That’s what your freedom from bondage is for.

Christians are the freest people in the world. They’ve been delivered from the bondage of the fear of death. They don’t live insecurely trying to shore up their lives against inevitable death and judgment. They are free to lay down their lives for Christ and His glory.