So our theme for Passion Week this year, as you
know, comes from John 14, 6, where Jesus famously
said to his disciples, I am the way, and I am
the truth, and I am the life. No one comes to
the Father but through me. This is one of seven
I am declarations that Jesus makes in John's
Gospel. Seven statements where Jesus takes the
divine name from Exodus chapter 3 and claims
it for himself. You might recall when Moses asked
the Lord about his personal name, God responded
to him, I am who I am. Tell them that I am sent
you. And then in John's gospel, Jesus, while
in the flesh, picks up that divine name and says,
I am the truth. Now, has Jesus taught us truth?
Yes. Has he shown us truth? Of course. Has he
testified to the truth? Yes, he said that to
Pilate. But in John 14, 6, there's even more
meaning built into Jesus' declaration. He is
the present tense, continuous embodiment of truth.
So catch this. Truth is not just a list of propositions
as we often think of truth. Ultimately, truth
is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ because
he has revealed to us who God is, and what God
is like. Jesus was in John's day and still is
today the physical manifestation of the eternal
God who in himself is truth. And this is not
just a New Testament thing. God the Son is the
truth of the entire Old Testament as well. He
is the wisdom. He is the knowledge of Proverbs,
of the Psalms, of all the prophets. In fact,
Paul says as much in Colossians 2. He says, All,
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And
think of this connection for a moment. In John
1, we all know Jesus is identified as the logos,
right? In Greek, it's the word. And we're told
that he existed in eternity past with God, that
he is God, and that all created things. came
into being through him. So he is the very word
of God. And then later in John 17, Jesus is praying
to his father and he asks, sanctify my followers
in the truth. Your word, me, your word is truth.
It's another way of saying, I am the father's
truth. And if Jesus is that word, then truth
is personal. It's found in the person of Christ.
He is the standard by which all truth is known
by creatures like you and like me. He embodies
all the truth that any man needs for life, for
salvation, for godliness. And that's because
He has revealed to us not just who God is, He's
revealed to us what righteousness looks like.
He has revealed to us how sin causes us to fall
short of His glory. And best of all, he is the
truth because he leads us to the only way out
of slavery and death and into freedom and life
eternal. As he promised and confirmed to Pilate,
everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.
And that is my prayer for all of you tonight,
that you hear the good shepherd's voice because
you are of the truth. Now, for our purposes tonight,
I want to talk about the truth as it relates
to one particular aspect of Good Friday, and
we'll do this fairly quickly, but I want to talk
about blood sacrifice and atonement. The question
is often asked by unbelievers and people who
are unfamiliar with Christian theology, and it's
a fair question. Why the agony of the cross?
why would god who could have used any number
of ways to satisfy his own justice why would
he put his one and only son through that kind
of suffering and agony going a step further why
the hostility and the rejection from his own
people the jews why the mocking and the cruelty
at the hands of the gentile romans could there
not have been a better way The answer to these
questions goes back to two things. First of all,
God's sovereignty over all things. And second,
His own consistency when it comes to the standards
of debt and satisfaction. The first of those
two reasons is very simple. All things are put
in motion by the Creator. All things are upheld
by the Creator. So He makes the rules. Right?
And he judges according to his perfect, infinite
wisdom. So if God says this is how sin must be
dealt with, guess what? That's how sin has to
be dealt with. And if he proclaims there's only
one way to eternal life, guess what? That is
the only way to eternal life. Mankind can object,
they can complain, they can whine about that
all they want, but they have no standing before
Almighty God. As Paul puts it in Romans 9, who
are you, O man, to answer back? To God. So the
creator and the sovereign of the universe sets
the ground rules. That's the first reason for
why the cross had to happen as it did because
God decreed it to be so. Then we come to the
second reason. The reason behind the rejection
of humanity, all the suffering, the shedding
of blood and death, the basis of which goes all
the way back to the very beginning, to the garden,
to the fall of mankind. How did God deal with
that first devastating sin committed by Adam
and Eve? Genesis 3 .21 says that animals were
sacrificed so that God could clothe Adam and
Eve with garments of skin. So right out of the
gate, we come to this understanding that if you
violate God's commands, it requires a covering,
and that covering requires a loss of life. All
the way back in Genesis 3, that truth is proclaimed.
Now why is that? Well, in the logic of God's
created order, a sacrifice of blood is required
because sin brings death. Sin brings death. And
that logic began right there in the garden. Listen
to God's fundamental command to Adam and Eve.
From any tree of the garden you may eat freely,
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil you shall not eat. Was that clear? For in
the day that you eat from it, you will surely
what? You will surely die. God was very clear.
Now there's a dual meaning there. Spiritual death
was immediate, right? The relationship that Adam
and Eve had with the Creator was fractured immediately.
There was a loss of innocence. There was a loss
of fellowship with Him. And from that time forward,
then physical death became inevitable. It was
just a slow march to the end. And so sin brought
death into the created order. Even today, sin
brings about death, both spiritually and physically.
Right now, listen to this, friends. Right now,
there are billions of people walking the earth
today who are spiritually dead in their sin.
And they are on that slow march to physical death
as well. Billions of people. And so the remedy
is important, is it not? That's a real problem.
What's the remedy? Only one thing. The precious
blood of Christ shed on the cross. The reason
for Good Friday. See, in the logic of Scripture,
the blood equals life. Leviticus 16 tells us
that the life of the flesh is in the blood. So
when sin needs to be covered, it costs a life.
And that means the shedding of blood. And it's
the blood that God has declared is the means
of atonement for sin. In fact, later on in the
book of Hebrews, we're told explicitly, without
the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
None. That's how the Lord designed and structured
things to work within His creation. Again, you
can complain all you want, you can whine about
it, but those are the ground rules. When you
or I sin, we deserve death. We deserve death.
Our sin is serious business, and the guilt that
we bear because of it, God can't just ignore
it or just brush it away. It has to be dealt
with. Otherwise, God is not just. And that's
what the sacrificial system under the Old Covenant
revealed to the people of Israel, right? And
in very graphic ways, every time an animal was
slaughtered, which was constantly, the message
was very clear, sin is costly. It brings pain.
It brings suffering. It brings loss. And it requires
more than just an apology. It requires blood.
And it requires death. But there was also one
very important thing also revealed in that same
system at the altar in Israel. You ready for
this? That a life could be substituted in the
place of the sinner. A life could be substituted
in the sinner's place. And so the Israelites
brought regular offerings, right? Sin offerings,
guilt offerings, burnt offerings. And then once
a year, they had this big, big day on their church
calendar, right? The Day of Atonement. And on
that day, the high priest offered a bull for
himself and two goats for the people as the price
of atonement. And what happened to that first
goat? It was sacrificed. Blood was shed. It was
slaughtered. And on the other goat, the sins
of the people were put on its head. And then
it was sent out, out of the camp, into the wilderness,
with the sins of the people. And it's called
what? The scapegoat. And the sparing of his life
represented the removal of Israel's sin, Israel's
uncleanness. It was taken away from God's presence.
So two things were present there. There was a
bloody death. For sin, that had to happen. But
there was grace extended to the people, symbolized
by the scapegoat taking their sins and running
off into the wilderness. Does that sound familiar
to us? All of this was to foreshadow the new
covenant. This was all temporary. We're told
in the book of Hebrews, the blood of goats and
bills could never fully and finally remove the
penalty for a man's sin. It could only be a temporary
covering. We're told that the sacrificial system
was only a shadow of something far greater, something
more effectual, something that no human mind
would ever conceive of. One final, bloody, sacrificial
death for the sins of all mankind in every single
age. Can you imagine? Just one. Just one. Which
would require a lamb greater than any lamb the
world has ever known. A lamb whose death would
be capable of forever satisfying God's divine
justice for mankind. Where do you find such a
lamb? Do you see the beauty of God's picture?
From Genesis to Israel to the new covenant. The
way God has laid this before his people. What
a beautiful story. It all brings us to Good Friday.
That hallowed day almost 2 ,000 years ago when
Jesus laid down his life for the sins of mankind
as the Lamb of God. And not just as a unique
man, but as true God incarnated in the flesh.
See, his identity as the eternal son is the only
reason why he's able to satisfy an eternal debt.
Do you hear that? Because of who he is, that's
the only reason why he can satisfy God's justice
eternally. In the book of Hebrews, we're told
that Jesus entered into a much greater tabernacle
than any earthly sanctuary. He entered into the
true tabernacle, which is up in the heavenly
realms. And he didn't come in with the blood
of animals, right? The blood of goats or bulls.
He came by his own. precious blood into that
heavenly tabernacle the only blood capable of
forever washing away sins remember what he said
in the upper room we talk about it every month
but remember what he said when he looked at the
cup he said this is my blood of the covenant
my blood which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins and so friends tonight on
good friday the cross is the greatest example
of love the world has ever known. It is the greatest
moment of sacrifice the world could ever conceive
of, but it's even more. Yes, it's love. Yes,
it's sacrifice, but it's effectual, meaning the
price was paid. The debt was satisfied. The judgment
we deserved has been taken out of the camp. Forgiveness
has been secured, adoption is confirmed, and
eternal life is guaranteed by faith in the one
and only Son of God. All we have to do is believe,
repent of our sins, and follow after Him. Lord
Jesus, how can finite creatures like us thank
You enough for who You are? Thank you enough
for what you've done on our behalf. Only this,
Lord, take our lives and consecrate them for
your glory and for your kingdom we ask. Amen.