Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians

The Foundation of Jesus Christ
Lesson 6

What is Christ's relationship to sin? (Part 1)

Jesus Christ loves the LORD GOD with all of his heart, soul and might. When faced with the ultimate loss of his physical, spiritual and eternal life away from the LORD GOD, he chose to do his Father’s Will. At the moment of Christ’s death, he did not know how events were going to play out ultimately. He only knew that his LORD GOD, his Father, had turned away from him, and He was going to die and go to hell through no fault of his own. Yet, Christ’s love was so deep for the LORD GOD, that even in the face of ultimate rejection from His Father, Christ could not sin. His love for his Father demanded that he maintain his righteousness in spite of losing everything. Jesus chose to honor his Father’s will, and he went to his grave with the wicked and was condemned to hell.

And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. (1 John 3:5 AV)

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:20-21 AV)

If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. (John 15:22-24 AV)

Jesus describes a sin hidden by ignorance as a sin covered by a cloke (pretext). Pretext means an excuse to conceal something. Notice how ignorance of sin does not mean a sin is not present. A person that appears ignorant of sin, is deeply aware of his sin, but allows it to be covered by pretext of innocence in his consciousness. Once Jesus Christ speaks to a person, their awareness of sin is brought to the forefront of a person’s awareness.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 AV)

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:1-12 AV)

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5 AV)

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6 AV)

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:7 AV)

Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. (Matthew 27:26-32 AV)

We must face the awful fact that Jesus Christ suffered tremendously before he was put to death on the cross. Visualize how it must have been, the sights and sounds and smells, as the agitated crowd pressed around Jesus and Pilate, calling wildly for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Christ. Hear the crowd shouting “Crucify Him” over and over and over. Watch as Jesus is stung repeatedly with a whip, as it cuts through his skin leaving blood dripping and oozing from the stripes. His bloodied and bruised living body is thrown to the soldiers for crucifixion, but his enemies require even more defilement. They drag him in front of even more soldiers and they strip Jesus of his clothes. Then as soldiers are gathered around laughing at Jesus standing before them naked and bloody, they make sport of him, and put a crown of thorns, a robe and a reed on him so he can be mocked. In a final act of absolute violation toward Jesus, over 600 men press toward Jesus and person after person ferociously expels saliva over Jesus, and he is covered in the globular and grotesque liquid excrements of his enemies. Then they take the reed, and strike him repeatedly over the head in a violent and bloody beating. And during all of this humiliating, defiling, painful violence, our Lord Jesus Christ did not utter one Word, for his enemies were unable to hear.

Interesting Note: A eunuch from Ethiopia was moved to baptism after hearing of Jesus Christ's silence and the violent, humiliating beatings. This baptism by Philip, recorded in Acts 8:26-39, will be covered further in the Water Baptism section.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. (Isaiah 53:8 AV)

They were allowed to wound and eventually sacrifice Jesus’ life, however, they were not allowed to base this crucifixion on a violation of man’s laws. Jesus Christ was delivered into his enemies hands because it was the LORD GOD’s Will that Jesus be sacrificed for the sins of the chosen people. Just as the Passover lamb was without blemish, Jesus was without sin. The enemies of God could not restrain him, nor judge him, because he was not guilty of anything.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:9 AV)

It is easy to believe as righteous Christians that when we die we are going to eternal life. The LORD GOD has placed that promise on our hearts and minds, and we know that our eternal life is guaranteed. It is easy to face our physical deaths because we have this promise of eternal spiritual life.

Now imagine for a moment that the LORD GOD would remove this promise from you. That suddenly He forsook and turned his back on you, and you had done nothing wrong. Your time is running out and you’re facing your death. You know that if you die, you will not be going to heaven for eternal life, but rather suffering eternal damnation in hell. You become confused and disorientated, and as Christ did on the cross, scream out to the LORD GOD ... Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46 AV) . At that moment of realization that you are going to die, and go to hell and eternal damnation; to be punished so severely when you have done nothing wrong; to face eternal separation from the holy LORD GOD; you’re faced with a choice.

You have the power to remove yourself from that sentence of death. You have the ability to fight your enemies, to defeat them all, and save yourself. Even easier, you can lie. A simple lie refuting the charges against you would be all that it would take to remove the death sentence from you and maybe buy enough time to return to the LORD GOD‘s good grace. BUT....... You know that the LORD GOD wills you to maintain your righteousness and do His Will, even if that means the loss of your physical, spiritual and eternal life. What do you do?

DO YOU LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT? ARE YOU WILLING TO FACE DEATH WITHOUT THE PROMISE OF SALVATION? ARE YOU WILLING TO GO TO HELL AND BE ETERNALLY DAMNED AS AN INNOCENT PERSON, SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS YOUR LORD GOD’S WILL?

Jesus Christ loves the LORD GOD with all of his heart, soul and might. When faced with the ultimate loss of his physical, spiritual and eternal life away from the LORD GOD, he chose to do his Father’s Will. At the moment of Christ’s death, he did not know how events were going to play out ultimately. He only knew that his LORD GOD, his Father, had turned away from him, and He was going to die and go to hell through no fault of his own. Yet, Christ’s love was so deep for the LORD GOD, that even in the face of ultimate rejection from His Father, Christ could not sin. His love for his Father demanded that he maintain his righteousness in spite of losing everything. Jesus chose to honor his Father’s will, and he went to his grave with the wicked and was damned to hell.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:10-12 AV)

Remember, the LORD GOD’s plan for salvation for His chosen people developed over time. Before Jesus Christ was born, the LORD GOD revealed to Isaiah His Will, and it was included as prophesy from Isaiah. When Jesus Christ fulfilled the LORD GOD’s Will and poured out his soul unto death, numbered with the transgressors, bore the sin of many, and made intercession for transgressors, the LORD GOD was pleased and gave Jesus seven rewards as prophesized.

The LORD GOD was rewarded by having a way for His chosen people to be sin free and have a relationship with Him, as well as having a faithful and knowledgeable son that became an intermediary and could make things right between God and man.

Cite Article Source

MLA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. and Joanne Holstein. "What is Christ's relationship to sin? (Part 1)." The Foundation of Jesus Christ Jan 2004.   <http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/001sin5p1.htm>.

APA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. and Joanne Holstein. (2004, January) "What is Christ's relationship to sin? (Part 1)." The Foundation of Jesus Christ Retrieved   from http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/001sin5p1.htm

Chicago Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. and Joanne Holstein (2004) "What is Christ's relationship to sin? (Part 1)." The Foundation of Jesus Christ (January), http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/001sin5p1.htm (accessed )

About the Authors

Kathy L. McFarland is a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and Author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She is a Religious Studies student of Liberty University, Hebrew language student attending Israeli taught Ulpan and a Homeschool parent teaching the things of God. She is also well-known as a child advocate of innocent children tortured and suffering from the abuse of sexual perversion, out-of-control violence, and pathetic neglect by a carnal world gone mad.

Joanne B. Holstein is a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She is a Religious Philosophy student of Liberty University, and a Homeschool parent and child advocate. She is well-known as a counsleor to Christian faithful who are struggling with tremendous burden in these difficult times. She is a leading authority on the history of development of the Christian churches and the practices and beliefs of world religions and cults.

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