Monday, March 21, 2011

Jesus Takes My Place! AT THE CROSS - Part 1 Extended Notes



Here are the extended notes from Part 1 of our new series, At The Cross. We shared this message at a2 Church on Sunday, March 13, 2011. The entire podcast or downloadable mp3 is available via a2's website or iTunes.

Jesus Takes My Place!
AT THE CROSS
Part 1
Extended Notes

March 13, 2011

The Big Idea: The mysterious and incredible Jewish “holy day” called Yom Kippur or “Day of Atonement” powerfully demonstrates what Jesus Christ accomplished for us through his death on the cross. On the cross, Jesus became our substitute, dying for our sins, in our place, so that we could be forgiven and our sin could be forgotten.


“The CROSS of Jesus is a GORY STORY of shame and pain, violence and silence.” ~ Andrew Wilson, God Stories


NOTES: This series is about the cross. We believe that the cross is the center of history and eternity. It’s the center of our Christian faith, Christian life and Christian worldview…

In Galatians 5:11, Paul the Apostle indicated that the cross is “an offense.” The Greek word is skandalon. We get our English word scandal from it… Paul basically said, “The cross is scandalous....”

In 1 Corinthians 1:18, Paul indicated that “…the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…”

And in 1 Corinthians 1:23, Paul says that the cross “…a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness or nonsense to Gentiles.”


1 Corinthians 1:23-24 (NIV ‘11), …but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (ESV), For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…


A PICTURE OF SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT: THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Leviticus 16:29-30 (ESV), …in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work...


Three Major Themes (in Leviticus 16):

• God is holy.

• Sin is serious.

• Grace really is amazing.



Leviticus 16:29-30 (ESV), …in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict yourselves and shall do no work, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.


NOTES: The word atonement means “at-one-ment.” In other words SIN has separated us from God, and atonement is the means whereby God seeks to be AT ONE with us again… ~ Mark Driscoll, Death By Love

The word also means “to cover over or propitiate.” One theological dictionary says it means to be “obliterated.” ~ Blue Letter Bible.com

Atonement is the arrangement of God whereby an innocent third party stands in the place of the guilty sinner and absorbs the penalty for sin due the sinner. The demands of holiness and justice are satisfied, and the guilty party is allowed to go free.

It’s a word used to describe how sinful, guilty and messed up people like you and me can be restored to a relationship with a perfect, good and holy God by having our sins forgiven and forgotten…



AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

Leviticus 16:2 (ESV), "Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

Leviticus 16:3 (NLT), When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

Leviticus 16:4-6 (NLT), He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. 5 Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.

Leviticus 16:7-10 (NIV ’11), Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

Leviticus 16:15-16 (ESV), Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.


THE FIRST GOAT: The high priest slaughtered an innocent goat… This is a picture of the doctrine of “SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT.” This goat was not guilty of sin. In fact, it was INNOCENT. But this goat assumed the PENALTY for sin that the people rightly deserved. This is all a picture, foreshadowing or type of what Jesus Christ accomplished for you and me…

The priest sprinkled some of this goat’s blood on the mercy seat, which sat on top of the Ark of the Covenant inside the Holy of Holies, indicating that the sins of the nation were COVERED… They were “atoned for…” They were obliterated…

This goat became a sin offering for the people… It’s blood represented life given as payment for SIN…

The doctrine is called PROPITIATION, and it’s the concept of God’s wrath against sin being propitiated, satisfied or taken away from us, because of a sinless substitute… This is an amazing picture of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross…


Leviticus 16:10 (NIV ’11), But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.


THE SECOND GOAT: The second goat remained alive, but had an important assignment… This goat was called the “scapegoat.” The Hebrew word for scapegoat is “azazel.” It’s not a proper name. It’s a rare Hebrew word… Scholars debate the meaning of it…

Some say it comes from two Hebrew words… One word, which means “to depart or go away” and the other word, which means, “goat.” You put them together, it means, “the goat departs” or the English equivalent, “scape goat…”

Other scholars say it literally means “to dismiss, remove or TAKE AWAY.” That it’s an ancient technical term for the entire removal of sin and guilt…



Leviticus 16:20-21 (NLT), When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. 21 He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. 22 As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.

NOTES: This aspect of the ceremony was PUBLIC. Everyone could see Aaron, as the representative and mediator between sinful people and a Holy God… They could see him lay his hands on the head of this goat… They could hear as Aaron confessed the sins of an entire nation over the head of this goat.

IMPORTANT: And these people literally and actually believed that God was capable of REMOVING their sins and TRANSFERRING their sins onto the head of this goat. They believed that when the GOAT left the camp, that their SIN left with the goat!


QUESTION: What sin, guilt, weakness, addiction, habit, pain, hurt, junk, garbage or sickness have you been carrying, that from this point on, you need to place at the foot of the cross and allow Jesus Christ to carry for you?


Psalm 103:12 (NLT), He has removed our sins as far from us 
as the east is from the west.

Micah 7:19 (NLT), Once again you will have compassion on us. 
You will trample our sins under your feet 
and throw them into the depths of the ocean!


Unpacking The Text:

• Jesus Is Our High Priest!


Hebrews 9:11-12 (NLT), So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. 12 With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

Hebrews 10:1-2 (NLT), The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.

Hebrews 10:11-14 (NIV ’11), Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.


• Jesus is our SIN OFFERING…

On the cross, He willingly took upon himself the penalty for our sin… His blood obliterated our sin!


• Jesus is our AZAZEL or SCAPEGOAT…

He took our place and bore our sin so that we could go free!


Isaiah 53:4-6 (ESV), Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

John 1:29 (NLT), The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Romans 5:8 (ESV), …but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV ’11), God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 3:13 (ESV), Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"…

1 Peter 2:24 (NLT), He personally carried our sins 
in his body on the cross 
so that we can be dead to sin 
and live for what is right. 
By his wounds 
you are healed.


On the cross Jesus – God in the flesh - willingly took our place…


“The essence of sin is we human beings substituting ourselves for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for us. We…put ourselves where only God deserves to be; [but] God…puts Himself where we deserve to be.” ~ John Stott quoted by Tim Keller in The Reason for God, page 195


Three Major Themes:

• God is holy.

• Sin is serious.

• Grace really is amazing.



NOTES: On the cross, Jesus became our SUBSTITUTE. He was made to be the WORST of what we are… He NEVER SINNED, but on the CROSS He was MADE SIN for us…

On the cross, Jesus became the most ugly, wicked, defiled, evil, corrupt, rebellious and hideous thing in all creation.

Martin Luther called this, “…the GREAT EXCHANGE …”

On the cross, Jesus EXCHANGED HIS perfection for OUR imperfection, HIS obedience for OUR disobedience, HIS intimacy with the Father for OUR distance from God the Father, HIS blessing for OUR curse, HIS life for OUR death… Jesus died FOR our sins, IN our place…



QUESTION: What sin, guilt, weakness, addiction, habit, pain, hurt, junk, garbage or sickness have you been carrying, that from this point on, you need to place at the foot of the cross and allow Jesus Christ to carry for you?

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