"Jesus Died for My Sins"
Sermon by the Rev. Matt Kennedy

Good Friday 2006
The Church of the Good Shepherd

“Jesus died for my sins.” It's such a common phrase. Likely we've all said it at some point, perhaps without thought or hesitation.

But what does it really mean?

The answer to this question is the most important answer to the most important question anyone could ever ask. The answer points us to the central truth of the Christian faith. It points to an event 2000 years ago that forever changed the way human beings relate to God, to each other, and to themselves.

You probably think that I'm going t o talk about God forgiving our sins.

Well, not yet. Forgiveness will come up, but not yet.

To understand what it means to say, “Jesus died for my sins,” we have to start with the concept of justice. Not regular everyday human justice, but God's justice.

God is perfect in every way. That means his justice is perfect. A perfect judge can't just “forgive” a crime. That would not represent justice. It would be the height of injustice.

Let's say someone steals your one and only car, drives into a tree, totals it, then gets arrested. What would you think if the judge were to smile down sweetly at the thief and explain to the courtroom that he has decided to let the prisoner go with no jail time, no parole, no fine, no penalty, no need to repay you in any way whatsoever? Would this be just? What if the crime were murder instead of theft? Such a judge would be impeached within a week.

Let's make it a little more interesting. Let's say you rob a bank and you go before the judge. Let's say the judge just happens to be your dad. He loves you and you love him but can he, on the basis of that love let you go free without facing any legal consequences? No, that wouldn't be justice that would be corruption; that would be nepotism; that would be daddy giving junior a free pass. It wouldn't be fair or just.

Now, if an imperfect human judge can't simply forgive how much more out of character is it for God, the perfect judge, the origin, standard, and measure of justice itself to let injustice go on without rendering a just verdict and making the offender bear the consequences of his or her actions? God's very nature demands that all wrongdoing be met with perfect justice.

  Well what is the measure of wrongdoing, how do we know what sin is?

Jesus gives us the standard in Matthew 5:48 where he says, and this scares the socks off me, “Be perfect, therefore, as my Father in heaven is perfect.” Divine perfection is the standard by which all human beings will be judged.

Have you ever done anything wrong?

You're not alone.

The bible teaches that all human beings have failed to do what is right and that all human beings are guilty of sin (Romans 3:10-18).Even the best of us have failed to live perfectly.

Well what's the penalty, what's the consequence that the guilty will pay? In Romans 6:32 God says, “the wages of sin is death.” Sin is cosmic rebellion and the consequence is death; not just physical death, but spiritual death as well, eternal separation from God in the place the bible describes as hell.

And yet, as awful as that could be: though God is perfectly just and all human beings are guilty of sin, the bible teaches that God has provided a way for human beings to be forgiven and reconciled.

But how can this be? If God is perfectly just, how is forgiveness possible?

Well, God is not only perfect in his judgments; he is also perfect in his love. In fact the apostle John wrote that: "God is love" (1st John 4:8). He's the origin and the measure of love. It is out of God's perfect love that he created the heavens and the earth and all the plants and animals and the first human beings. He wanted us to live with him and with each other in perfect harmony, perfect communion, unbroken by sin or selfishness. That was long ago. But he is still creating. He created you and he created me and he loves us with a perfect love, a love that is beyond all measure, limitations, or boundaries.

So now it seems like God has a problem? His perfect justice demands that sin be punished to the full extent of the law. But God's love demands that the relationship between him and his people, you and me be restored. How can God act toward humanity with perfect justice and with perfect love?

Wouldn't his justice require our punishment and his love require our forgiveness?

The answer is Yes..

And that is where the cross comes in.

On the cross of Jesus Christ, God's perfect justice and perfect love meet perfectly. In the person of Jesus, God himself became a human being while remaining God, and bore in his death the full and complete penalty for the sins of each and every human being (Romans 3:21-26).

But how can just one man pay for the sins of the world? They're infinite in number? Jesus of Nazareth isn't just a man. He is the infinite Jesus, as God the Son, can and did bear the innumerable sins of humanity.

But, isn't it unfair for God to pay the penalty for human sin? Yes, that's why Jesus of Nazareth was also fully human. He was like us in every way except he did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). As a human being he could justly stand in as our substitute and pay our debt.

Through his death, God in Jesus Christ made it possible for God the Father to justly forgive human sin and declare human beings righteous in his sight and to restore the broken and tattered relationship between human beings and God. It is now possible for human beings to live with God here and now in your heart and live with him forever in heaven when your body dies. That's what it means to say, “Jesus died on the cross for my sins.”

But there's one more thing.

God in Jesus Christ made it possible for you and me to be declared forgiven and reconciled with God. But it's up to you and I as individuals to access that forgiveness personally.

How do we do that?

That's where repentance and trust comes in. When you recognize your guilt before God and understand that there is nothing you can do to erase it, no good work of your that make it better, when you recognize that and then turn instead and trust in the finished work Jesus Christ on the cross for your sins and give him your life, lay down your heart before him and surrender everything you are and everything you have, then your sins, past present and future are transferred from you to the cross and done away with and his righteousess and goodness is transferred to you, and covers you like a clean white robe. And on that basis on the basis his perfect work you will be saved.

And when that happens you have as Paul says, "...peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."(Romans 5:1-5)

Peace with God. That is what everyone who surrenders their life to Jesus Christ has now and will have forever thanks to Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord!

The words “Jesus died on the cross for my sins” mean, when you get right down to it, that God loves you so much that he gave his only Son so that whoever trusts in him will live with him forever.”

Let us pray....

Amen

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