Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central focus the humiliation and sacrifice of its God. The Bible’s key theme, from Genesis to Revelation follows the journey of Christ through the ages, to the cross, his victory over death and the grave and the promise of his soon return. How does the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ save you?
What does the Bible say about the death of Jesus?
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:24 (KJV)
The death of Jesus on the cross was a vehicle through which the penalty of our sins could be exhausted. Eternal death is the sure result of sin, but Jesus chose to take our sins upon himself, and he carried these to the cross and suffered on our behalf. He did this to set us free from the condemnation of our sins.
In exchange for Christ bearing our sins, what did God offer us through the perfect life of his Son?
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)
A beautiful exchange is made – God placed our sins upon his own Son, to remove them from us and in return, he puts all the righteous life of his Son to our account. God makes this exchange in order that we might be saved – for only those who have a life in harmony with God’s values can ever be saved.
As we realise the eternal love of God and the guilt of our own sins, what are we commanded to do?
[Christ said],“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
Mark 1:15 (NRSV)
The word repent means to be very sorry for something bad you have done, to wish you had not done it and to turn from it in disgust. This type of repentance is what we experience when God gives us sorrow for having sinned against him. Repentance involves not only having a change in heart and mind, but also in actions – we will be led to put away or avoid everything we know is sinful.
How can we receive this free offer of forgiveness?
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 (NASB)
Admitting and confessing our sins to God is the 1st step of a relationship with God – the 2nd step is to believe his promise of forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus said, “…whoever believes has eternal life.” John 6:67 (NRSV)
Confessing actually just means that we accept the witness of God against ourselves. God has said we are guilty and he has shown us why – and we calmly and sorrowfully admit this. Because Christ has already taken the penalty of our sins upon the cross, forgiveness is freely offered to us when we believe the merciful news of Christ’s saving act on the cross for us.