Craig

We should apply these principles by making Jesus Christ our Lord as well as our Saviour. By making Him our Lord, we give Him our life and permit Him to be the center of it. Let Him drive our life. This affects every aspect of our life. Jesus Christ should affect every aspect of our life.

As the Kinsman-Redeemer in the Old Testament came to the rescue of a relative in need, Jesus Christ has done the same thing in that He has rescued us from the consequences of sin, death and eternal separation from God, through His sacrifice on the cross and the sheddling of His blood. He saves those who believe and call upon His name. Whoever calls upon the name of The Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.

Slaves were freed by a redemption price of some amount of silver or gold. The human race as a whole is enslaved by sin and freedom from sin cannot be purchased by silver or gold. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can atone for the sin of each human being.

In the New Testament world, slaves were freed by payment of a redemption or a ransom. They used this analogy because all human beings are slaves to the sin of this world and must be freed from it and its consequences. As Christians, we are freed from slavery to sin; death as a consequence of sin; been forgiven our sins in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross; and have gained eternal life in Jesus Christ. All of this because Jesus ransomed Himself on the cross for the human race. Christians or believers in Christ acknowledge Jesus' sacrifice and way. Paul wrote: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23 (NLT).

In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul really captures the very nature and mission of Jesus. Paul stresses Jesus' humility. Just by becoming a human being was a humbling event. Jesus gave up his divine privileges and humbled Himself in obedience to God in dying a criminal's death on the cross. However, because of Jesus' obedience and faithfulness to His mission, "God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all names" Phil. 2:9 (NLT). Paul captures the suffering Messiah, Jesus Christ, who walked on this earth as described in Isaiah 53 in this passage of scripture.

Paul wrote in Romans 3:23: "the wages of sin is death." As sinners without a proper sacrifice we are doomed to judgment, punishment, and eternal separation from God and whatever that entails. As the prophets wrote: the Day of The Lord. A day of judgment and wrath of a sinful and evil race. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross took our place if we believe and call upon His name -- John 3:16. If we identify with Him and give Him our life, then Jesus' sacrifice applies to each of us. Its a personal relationship and acknowledgment.

Jesus as the Lamb of God serves all of humanity by offering Himself as an animal sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. As Paul wrote, "for the wages of sin is death." Instead of humanity suffering the consequences of their sin, Jesus offers Himself upon the cross to bear the wrath of God on the cross for us. He who knew no sin became sin and took on the sin of the world so that whoever believes in Him (Jesus Christ), should not perish but have everlasting life. Out of great love and a willingness to carry out the will of God the Father, Jesus served both God the Father and humanity by going to the cross as the Lamb of God. The bottom line however, is that one must believe and confess in the name of the only begotten Son of God to be pardoned from sin, punishment, and eternal separation from God.

Actually all of the Scriptures that are used in this lesson I think support how Jesus saw his own mission. Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45 stand out to me the most that Jesus clearly identified with Isaiah 53.

"For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish , but have everlasting life." John 3:16 I think that sums it up. Jesus' sacrifice is wasted on those who don't believe.

God spoke to; protected; provided for; and guided Jacob as a shepherd would his sheep. God shepherds me in the same manner. I trust God's shepherding.

People, even Christians, don't like crisis in their life so they equate a crisis free life with blessed life. However, without crisis there really isn't an opportunity for a Christian to grow spiritually in every area of their life. Crisis in our life can greatly expand our faith. It gives us the opportunity to grow. On the other hand, if a person doesn't have a proper perspective of life grounded in Jesus Christ, then crisis can destroy what faith a person has.

Jesus' enemies were afraid that Jesus might just raise from the dead as He said He would. It is amazing to think that this group believed to an extent that Jesus might just be who He said He was and yet still nailed Him to the cross. Jesus' followers didn't really grasp what Jesus was saying to them about His bodily resurrection until after the fact.

Jesus meant that in Him those that believed in Him and followed His Way would be bodily resurrected on the last day and in Him they (we) would have everlasting life. Jesus will raise the dead from the grave on the last day. God the Father gave Jesus Christ (God the Son), power over life and death. The Bible teaches that that power is in the Holy Spirit which raised Jesus from the Dead. Praise be to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The righteous will have everlasting life.

Job sees himself bodily resurrecting at some point in space and time. A reunion between body, soul and spirit. That differs from the Jewish concept of being eternally separated from the body. Progressive revelation is the increased knowledge or insight God gives humanity of spiritual things (or whatever) from generation to generation as he deems appropriate.

Sin is serious and the shedding of blood, no matter the source, is serious for the atonement of that sin. God is teaching us that sin is serious and taking life is serious. We should take sin seriously too. God is holy and does not tolerate sin. We should be holy and not tolerate sin too. Serious is the bottom line.

God's provision for animal sacrifice was an expression of mercy in that He was allowing the Jew's to perform the animal sacrifices and accepting them for the atonement of sin. However, animal sacrifices were not adequate for the atonement of human sin.

The basic elements are as follows: confession; a costly sacrifice; personal identification with the sacrifice; and the person makes the sacrifice -- not a third party. I think all of the elements still apply today. Here's why: We need to personally confess our sins to God; we need to give our lives to Jesus Christ; we must identify with Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for the atonement of our sin; and we must recognize we (our sins) put Jesus on the cross.

Animal sacrifice is repulsive to most modern people because they are removed from the process of killing, butchering, and processing animal food products.

Viewing sin in general through the eyes of God as expressed in His Holy Word, sin is an outrageous affront to God. It should be an outrageous affront to humanity also. However, we are so conditioned by the sinful condition of this planet that we don't know and understand Holiness and righteousness unless we are intently focused on the Word of God and sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Capricious or uncontrolled anger is the fruit of the flesh and is the product of sin. Righteous anger that is brought about by the outrageousness of injustice and prompts righteous action is born of the Holy Spirit.

Beginning with a Jewish understanding of sacrifice and the atonement of sin(s), John's reference to Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" could not have meant anything but a physical sacrifice on Jesus' part. God's sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for the "sins of the world" was radical in that it went well beyond the Jews alone and included all humanity.