Christ is the Only Sacrifice for Our Sins

Why did God have to die?

Fred R. Coulter—April 1, 2023

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Today is the day that the lamb for the Passover was chosen, the 10th day of the 1st month. Actually we see a fulfillment of that in John 12, and it was done in quite a public manner. Yet, little known unless you have the chronology that shows that this chapter was actually fulfilled on the 10th day of the 1st month.

Here's what happened, and it came like a 'bolt out of the blue' and no one really understood it.

John 12:20: "Now there were certain Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the Feast. And these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee; and they asked him, saying, 'Sir, we desire to see Jesus.' Philip came and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, 'The time has come for the Son of man to be glorified'" (vs 20-23)—to be chosen for that sacrifice!

As John wrote in John 1, that John the Baptist said that Jesus was 'the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world!'

Verse 24: "Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."

Jesus was talking about Himself; that He would die and as a result of His death there would be much fruit, which is everything in the New Testament Church and all the people whom God would call. Then the rest of God's Plan after that.

Verse 25: "The one who loves his life shall lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life." That's where we all want to go, eternal life!

• that's the whole purpose of God's calling
• that's the whole purpose of why we're here
• this is why we go through what we go through

I realized that there are many difficulties that we're facing today. We can be guaranteed they're not going to get any better!

Verse 26: "If anyone will serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant be also. And if anyone serves Me, him shall the Father honor."

Keep that in mind! We're not dealing with an organization! We are dealing with the Body of Christ, which is the Church! God the Father and Jesus Christ are within us through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what is important! This is the whole purpose of the Passover as we come up to it.

Verse 27: "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this very purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.'.… " (vs 27-28).

When He said that, the glory began when He was selected by God the Father to be the Passover Lamb for the sin of the world!

"…Then a voice came from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.' Then the people standing there, who heard it, said, 'It thundered.' Others said, 'An angel spoke to Him.'" (vs 28-29).

Verse 30: "Jesus answered and said, 'This voice did not come because of Me, but because of you.'"

He was selected of the sacrifice of the sins of all mankind!

Verse 31: "Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out"—that quite a ways in the future from the time that He spoke this!

Verse 32: "And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.' But He said this to signify by what death He was about to die" (vs 32-33).

That happened on this day in 30A.D. Being April 5, that was the same day of the month on the Roman calendar that Christ was crucified—same day! It has only happened once in the history of America that the Passover fell on the 5th of April.

Understand that Jesus Christ is the only One Who could be the sacrifice for our sins.

• Why did He have to do it?
• Why did God have to die?

if God lives forever:

• How can He die?

That's the whole enigma that the world doesn't understand, so they try to figure it out in many different ways.

He is Our Creator

What did He say when He created man and woman? Let US, referring to God—plural, but the word is used singularly. Why? Because whatever Jesus does, whatever the Lord God of the Old Testament did—Who became Jesus, was at one with the Father!

But there are two of Them, so the word 'Elohim' for God is plural. This has been an enigma that many people have never, never understood.

• it couldn't be any other man
• it couldn't be any animal

What can an animal do to replace a human being? Cannot do it! So, it had to be the Creator! We're created in the likeness of God and in image of God, and God gave to all of mankind the whole world. That's quite a thing to understand! He was the Creator

Why did God have to die? We still get questions to this very day about how the first few verses of the Gospel of John are put together and when they examine the Greek concerning it. We'll explain it again, and this become very clear when you understand it.

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word… [Greek: 'ha Logos'] …and the Word was with the God…"

This is where people get mixed up when they try to understand was is said next…

So, there's a differentiation between The God, Who in the New Testament is the Father and Jesus Who is God come in the flesh.

"…and the Word was God" (v 1).

The Jehovah Witnesses (JWs) say that since there's no definite article, that means He was 'a' God.

No, because 'ha Logos' is the Word, so there is a definite articles. But not here with the word God, which is 'Theos.' Why? Because when it says that the Word was with God, in the Greek it is the God!

If it would have said, 'the God again, that would be referring back to the Father, and not differentiating from the Son and the Father.

• that's why God had to die
• that's why He was chosen

Let's see how that came about, and the reason that it is important. Everything on the earth is affected by what God created for the earth.

Verse 3: "All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him."

Today we have a lot of atheists out there, and you listen to them talk, especially when they talk about things out in the universe trying to explain how the universe works. They throw around 'billions of years' like they're nothing, and in the attitude that they know everything about what a billions years is about. None of them are over 50-70-years-old.

Everything that there is in heaven and on earth was created by God through Jesus Christ. This becomes important, because does not the Plan of God include everything in the universe? Yes, indeed!

Verse 10: "He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, but the world did not know Him."

That's quite a thing! Even to this very day, the ultra-orthodox Jews say that Jesus is a satanic imposter! Didn't know Him!

• Does the world know Him today? No!
• Do the Catholics know Him? No!
• Do the Protestants know Him? Somewhat!

Take this latest Netflix series[transcriber's correction], every once in a while just like it was with the Passion of the Christ, which Mel Gibson did about 20 years ago, Dolores and I went to watch that. It was nothing more than a Catholic production. There were certain parts that were affective in it.

Now we've got the Netflix-series[transcriber's correction] Chosen and it showed some clip of it on television. I can tell you this:

• no man can play the part of Christ, because that is idolatry!
• that series is a wholly Catholic—not Holy in the sense that it's sacred—production, and Mary is dressed as a nun!

They say that Mary was a perpetual virgin!

Read the last part of Mark 6 and all of those in the synagogue where Jesus attended said, 'Is this not the 'Son of Joseph and Mary, and His brothers and sisters are with us?' Jesus was raised in a family!

So, you go watch these movies/series, understand that they are all produced by Catholics! They are idolatrous! They might have some good emotional points in them, but you can get that from understanding the Word of God and your relationship with God. You don't have to go see some dirty, sweaty, long-haired fake to try and get an impression of Jesus Christ.

Verse 11: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him;

Let's see why only Jesus could be the sacrifice and why He had to die; #1 is: He was God in the flesh!

John 17 is one of the most marvelous parts of the Bible. Think about this, we have recorded for us the very words of Jesus' last prayer. Think about that! When we cover this at the Passover time, I want you to really appreciate it.

John 17:4: "I [Jesus] have glorified You [the Father] on the earth. I have finished the work that You gave Me to do."

That's quite a statement, this is referring to His ministry. Protestants like to say that it's finished work of Christ and you have nothing to do. Not true!

What did Christ say when He gave up His last breath and spirit? It is finished! That was a separate phase that had to be completed.

Verse 5: "And now, Father, glorify Me with Your own self, with the glory that I had with You before the world existed."

• think about your calling
• think about what we're going to do with the Passover that's coming
• think about how we need to direct our lives

As Lyall said in his message, hungering and thirsting after the Word of God!

But to have spiritually the understanding the God Himself judged Himself right after Adam and Eve sinned. The first one He judged was Himself. He predicted His death, then He judged Satan the devil, He judged the woman Eve, then Adam.

Because of His judgment and sentencing, we all have the law of sin and death within us! That's what we call human nature! Since God put it into mankind, judged mankind that way, only He can take care of it! That's why conversion is so important!

Christ is the only sacrifice for the sins of the world! He was the Creator and He judged Himself in Gen. 3 that He would have to do it. Then later we find in Gen. 15, with the covenant that He made with the maledictory oath with Abraham that He expanded it further and showed that He was really going to die.

Then we come down to the time when Christ came to the earth. So, how can God—Who cannot die—die? That's the mystery!

We're going to see several Scriptures that are 3:16, and it's amazing how many of the them apply to Christ!

1-Timothy 3:16: "And undeniably, great is the mystery of Godliness…"

The whole purpose of what God is going to do, and the whole mystery of what God is doing. It's very profound that God has made it known in His Word! But people can look at it, read it and never find it, because the key to understanding is that you must obey. If they don't obey they won't understand! It's that simple!

"…God was manifested in the flesh…" (v 16).

How did God do that? He made mankind in His image—male and female—so the whole plan has to involve God and men and women. It's quite a thing the way that God has put into everything that He has created, these self-reproducing mechanisms; in plants, animals and human beings! So, what did God have to do?

Jesus was the only human being that was begotten by God the Father

No other human being! The Babylonian mysteries have Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tamuz. That's coming up very soon with Easter.

So, the reality is, what did God have to do to become a human being? Did He just all of a sudden appear and say, 'Here I am.' Everybody would look and say, 'Where did You come from? Where was your mother and father?'

They still did that, even though He came the way that He came. So in Philip. 2 we're told to let the mind of Christ that He had be in us. Who emptied Himself! What does that phrase mean? That He divested Himself of His spiritual powers of God to become a pinpoint of life!

Remember that nothing is impossible for God!We've covered Luke 1 before, but let's understand exactly what is happening here:

God gave enough clues so we can know when Jesus was born. We have it in:

• A Harmony of the Gospels
• The Day that Jesus the Christ Died
• When Was Jesus Born? Both in booklet form and in Appendix E in The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

So, we have it published in a lot of places. {truthofGod.org}

I hope that all of you who have The Holy Bible in Its Original Order study the Commentaries and the Appendices. They're all there for a purpose! Here's how it came to pass:

Luke 1:23: "Now it came to pass that when the days of his service were fulfilled… [that is Zacharias, father of John the Baptist] …he departed to his house. And after those days, Elizabeth his wife conceived…" (vs 23-24).

Verse 25: 'The Lord has intervened for me in this…"

Verse 26: "And in the sixth month of her pregnancy…"

That's gives us a timeline! We can come to the exact two-week period when Jesus would have been born. Guess what the middle day of that two-week period was? Trumpets, the first day of the seventh month!

That's when kings count their regular year from the first day of the seventh month. So all of those little details and things like that you understand when you really want the truth and get into the depth of it.

Verse 26: "And in the sixth month of her pregnancy the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the lineage of David… [Jesus' step-father had to be of the line of David] …and the name of the virgin was Mary" (vs 26-27).

We've gone through the details of it, so I'll just review it in just a minute.

Verse 28: "And after coming to her, the angel said, 'Hail, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you; blessed are you among women.'"

Everyone wonders how old she was. We're not told. Some say that she was 13. God would not leave the only Begotten Son that He's going to have with a one-year-old child. That's what a 13-year-old is compared to an adult woman.

She had to be smart, strong, humble, willing, and of the line of David. We find that in the chronology in Luke 3. It didn't come through Solomon—son of David—but through Nathan. Solomon had disqualified himself with his terrible sins.

Verse 29: "But when she saw him, she was greatly perplexed at his message, and was considering what kind of salutation this might be. Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God; and behold, you shall conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus'" (vs 29-31).

There are still people, even in the Church of God, who believe that Joseph was the father of Jesus. It says clearly in the Bible: the only Begotten of the Father in heaven above! It could not have been of Joseph!

Verse 32: "'He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of David, His forefather; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob into the ages, and of His Kingdom there shall be no end.' But Mary said to the angel, 'How shall this be… [she knew about life and how children came] …since I have not had sexual relations with a man?'" (vs 32-34).

No other human being was conceived in this manner, only Christ! That's why only He could be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Verse 35: "And the angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; and for this reason, the Holy One being begotten in you shall be called the Son of God.'"

For the One being Begotten took place right at the instant that the angel said. He was the only Begotten! We know He was born, we know He grew up. Let's also remember Psa. 2 there was a prophesy about Christ that says, 'This day I have begotten You!'

That was one of the most important days in the history of God's Plan. God's Plan could not go forward until there was a Savior. God being just, took upon Him as a human being, not just a human body, but to be born, conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary, grow and develop in her womb, and when the time came, to be born like all other human beings!

What was the purpose of all of that? Here's another prophecy fulfilled:

Hebrews 10:4: "Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins…. [cannot remove them can only justify them to the temple] …For this reason, when He comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You have prepared a body for Me'"  (vs 4-5).

How did He do it? Grew in the womb of the virgin Mary and was born! Men in their philosophies like to say that—they call this Docetism—there was 'the man Jesus whom the Christ possessed!' that's not true! That's a philosophical attempt to answer the question: How did God become flesh? without really reading the Scriptures!

Verse 6: "You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then said I, 'Lo, I come (as it is written of Me in the Scroll of the Book) … [the Bible, Greek 'bibleos'] …to do Your will, O God'" (vs 6-7).

Why? Was there any other human being who did completely the will of God? No! but in order for Him to qualify, He had to take upon Himself as a human being the same judgment that He gave Adam and Eve. He had to take on human nature and have the law of sin and death within Him. Yet, never sin! That's how great the sacrifice of Christ was!

We will fill in a little bit more concerning that! Heb. 2 tells us exactly how it was accomplished.

Hebrews 2:9: "But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels…"

Angels could not be a sacrifice or take away the sins of mankind; animals could not do that either. Only God Who created them could!

• no one else
• nothing else
• no ritual
• no sacrifice
• no prayer
• no hymn

Only Christ!

"…crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone" (v 9). In other words, that was His judgment:

IF I [Jesus] put upon all the human race from the time of Adam and Eve right on down through all the law of sin and death, THEN the only way to solve that problem is that I come in the flesh, I take onthe law of sin and death and I live a perfect life and then I am killed by My own creation.

Think about that, because that's what happened!

Verse 10: "Because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

He suffered! All of us have various sufferings of varying degrees. Some more severe than others, none like Christ went through, because He never sinned.

Verse 11: "For both He Who is sanctifying and those who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren."

Then He projects forward to the resurrection. Notice that everything that Christ did, when you read it, especially as we covered in John 17. He's always looking to the fulfillment and completion of the Plan of God.

• that's what's in His mind
• that's what His purpose is

This has to be for us in what we're living and what we're doing!

Verse 12: "Saying, 'I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the Church I will sing praise to You.' And again, 'I will be trusting in Him.' And again, 'Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me'" (vs 12-13).

Verse 14: "Therefore, since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, in like manner… [in the exact same way] …He also took part in the same, in order that through death He might annul him who has the power of death, that is, the devil; and that He might deliver those who were subject to bondage all through their lives by their fear of death. For surely, He is not taking upon Himself to help the angels; but He is taking upon Himself to help the seed of Abraham" (vs 14-16).

Think about that for just a minute. A lot of people look at that and say that that's the 12 tribes of Israel. No! What did Paul say in Galatians? If you are Christ's then you are of the seed of Abraham! That is those from all nations that God calls to the Church.

Jesus Never Sinned

We will look at this in some detail, and we will look at the temptations of Jesus

Hebrews 4:14: "Having, therefore, a great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith. For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot empathize with our weaknesses, but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations; yet, He was without sin" (vs 14-15).

That's why His sacrifice is so great! Let's look at the temptations of Jesus in Matt. 4. I got a call recently from a man who is another Church of God and he was going to give a sermonette and he said, 'It doesn't say in Matt. 4 that Jesus did not have water.'

Yet, we read when Moses was with God for 40 days and 40 nights and he didn't have any food or water. How did he survive? By the presence of God's Spirit with him when he was there with God!

Christ could not sin, and He could not trust in anything physical—that means food or water. So, the temptations came: The first one was turning stones into bread!

Matthew 4:4: "But He answered and said, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."'"

"…as it is written…" shows that He was trusting in the Word of God! He's trusting in the Spirit of God! He had to have for 40 days and 40 nights, no food and no water! He had to rely completely on the Spirit of God! He:

• couldn't rely on anything else
• couldn't rely on anything He could do
• couldn't rely on any temptation of Satan the devil

Satan is there just like all bureaucrats! How do bureaucrats come? Let me help you, I have a benefit! Turn these stones to bread!

Verse 5: "Then the devil took Him to the Holy City and set Him upon the edge of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down; for it is written…'" (vs 5-6).

Satan likes to quote Scripture for his own advantage; he'll never quote it directly.

"'…"He shall give His angels charge concerning You, and they shall bear You up in their hands, lest You strike Your foot against a stone"'" (v 6).

How did Jesus answer? He gave a spiritual answer!

Verse 7: "Jesus said to him, 'Again, it is written…'"

What about the words of God? Jesus said they are Spirit and Life! So, He's relying on the Spirit of God. He doesn't need water  or food. If He did, He would be relying on something physical.

Verse 8: "After that, the devil took Him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to Him, 'All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me'" (vs 8-9).

That's what Satan wants! That's what the world does! So, He didn't do it!

Verse 10: "Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "You…"'"

He's not telling Satan, you; He's quoting the Scripture, "You" meaning the one who is reading it or quoting it,

"…You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve" (v 10).

This was the great temptation, yet, without sin! Jesus never sinned! He never yielded to a temptation of Satan the devil! Those two go hand-in-hand!

This also means that when He was crucified, He could only be for the sins of mankind. Couldn't be anything else; couldn't be for Him!

He was accused and killed for no sin, no transgression, but for the sins of whole world.

Stop and think about this for a minute. People like to ask: Who killed Christ? Some even say that Jesus committed suicide! No, He didn't commit suicide! He died willingly! He laid His life down!

John 3:16 is what everyone likes to quote! Everyone says your sins are forgiven, but they don't have a clue as to what was really required for your sins to be forgiven.

When they tell you to repent, they don't tell you have to stop breaking the Ten Commandments. Repentance without obedience is worthless! That's the sorrow of the world.

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave …" 

God the Father gave, and Jesus willingly went to do the will of the Father!

"…His only Begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him…" (v 16).

Believes, keeps on believing, not just a profession that you acknowledge that Jesus existed]

"…may not perish…" (v 16).

That's written is what is called in the Greek the subjunctive, meaning that there are conditions to it. What are the conditions?

• that you love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being
• that you keep His commandments

He that says 'I know Him and does not keep His commandments is 'well intentioned and a good man.' NO! It's like all the fake preachers of fake Christianity.

He that says 'I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar! Liars don't come to you and say, 'I'm a dirty, nasty liar and I'm coming to you because I want to deceive you! Would you submit to that? No! But if He comes like Satan the devil and says:

Here I am, I want to help you, I'll give you a blessing, I'll give you a benefit! Look at this nice Scripture that we will quote.

Satan likes to quote Scripture!

"…but may have everlasting life" (v 16).

Let's see that Jesus willingly laid down His life! He prophesied throughout the Old Testament of everything that was going to happened to Him. He knew what was going to take place, but He laid down His life; God the Father gave it, but He laid it down!

John 10:14: "I am the good Shepherd, and I know those who are Mine, and am known of those who are Mine. Just as the Father knows Me, I also know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep" (vs 14-15)—willingly without a word!

Verse 16: "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring those also, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. On account of this, the Father loves Me: because I lay down My life, that I may receive it back again" (vs 16-17).

What was the condition? You take the law of sin and death, you live a perfect life, you never sin and you will have your life back.

Verse 18: "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down and authority to receive it back again. This commandment I received from My Father."

Notice that 1-John 3:16 ties right in with John 3:16, and also ties right in with 1-Tim. 3:16.

1-John 3:16: "By this very act… [of His crucifixion and resurrection] …we have known the love of God because He laid down His life for us… [What are we to do?] …and we ourselves are to lay down our lives for the brethren."

A lot of these Scriptures tell us how much that God has done:

Galatians 3:16: "Now, to Abraham and to his Seed were the promises spoken. He does not say, 'and to your seeds,' as of many; but as of one, 'and to your Seed,' which is Christ."

One man did all the separating of the verses by number. Do you suppose that God could control his mind to do it, to make these things happen? Of course, and he not even know it!

Galatians 1:3: "Grace and peace be to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for our sins, in order that He might deliver us from the present evil world, according to the will of our God and Father" (vs 3-4).

It's amazing how all of these Scriptures tie together. Sometimes, like everything that we do, we like to get into looking at the Scriptures and we miss the first part of what we're supposed to read in the first couple of verses. The first couple of verses always present what is written with the blessing of God!

Titus 1:1: "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the Truth that is according to Godliness; in the hope of eternal life, which God Who cannot lie promised before the ages of time" (vs 1-2).

Think about that we are in on something that was devised and planned out before there was any human beings. Think about that when you get on your knees to pray to God.

It's not a ritual to pray! It is a conversation between you and God! One of the first things we do is honor God, and the next thing we do in our prayers is say, 'Your will be done!' What was it that Christ came to do? You prepared a body for Me and I have come to do Your will!

• See how all the Bible comes together? Before the ages of time!
• What's that going to be like when we're resurrected and we begin to find out what the universe is about?
• What eternal life is about?
• What God's great plan is all about?

Think of it this way: In reality, compared to eternal life, we're all in kindergarten and first grade compared to God!

Verse 3: "But revealed in its own set time… [when Christ would come] …in the proclamation of His Word, with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior; to Titus, a true son according to our common faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior" (vs 3-4). Jesus laid down His life and gave Himself!

1-Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men—the Man Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself as a ransom for all…" (vs 5-6)—to buy back!

Why? Because when we go the way of the world, we are sold to Satan the devil! Most people don't understand or know that.

"…the testimony of which is to be preached in its appointed times" (v 6)—that's now at the Passover time!

He Laid His Life Down

• because He was Creator
• because He put in us the law of sin and death
• because He took upon Him the law of sin and death, as well

yet never sinned!

What did His sacrifice represent? Think about this, because people all what to know who killed Christ! He laid His life down, but He allowed Himself to be killed. It was necessary that He die in order for there to be the sacrifice and shed blood necessary for the forgiveness of sin.

• Pontius Pilate represented the governments of this world
• the religious leaders at the temple represented all religions of the world
• the people who shouted for Jesus to be crucified represent all the people in the world that have not gone God's way

Who killed Christ? The sins of all the world!

The ones who carried out the act were those who were involved in completing what God intended to be, because it had to be through the hands of men. It had to that He laid His life down!

1-Peter 2:21: "For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us… [and on account of us] …leaving us an example, that you should follow in His footsteps; Who committed no sin; neither was guile found in His mouth; Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when suffering, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him Who judges righteously" (vs 21-23).

With the law of sin and death within Him, that represented the law of sin and death within every human being, because He put it there!

• in order to be righteous
• in order to be fair
• in order to know for all humanity

He took it upon Himself so that He would be the sin offering for the world! Couldn't be anybody else!

Verse 24: "Who Himself bore our sins within… [Greek 'en'—He had to have the law of sin and death in Him] …His own body on the tree, so that we, being dead to sins, may live unto righteousness; by Whose stripes you were healed."

That's why only Christ, being God in the flesh, could die for the sins of mankind.

You know that when you lay it all out in the book God's Plan Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days it's a lot of study, a lot of messages, a lot of Scriptures. But WHEN you go through that and get the whole scale of what God is doing, THEN you will understand more:

• of the things that you're going through
• of the things that the world is going through
• where we are and what God is doing

This will help prepare us for the Passover!

Scriptural References:

• John 12:20-33
• John 1:1, 3, 10-11
• John 17:4-5
• 1 Timothy 3:16
• Luke 1:23-35
• Hebrews 10:4-7
• Hebrews 2:9-16
• Hebrews 4:14-15
• Matthew 4:4-10
• John 3:16
• John 10:14-18
• 1 John 3:16
• Galatians 3:16
• Galatians 1:3-4
• Titus 1:1-4
• 1 Timothy 2:5-6
• 1 Peter 2:21-24

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• John 1
• Mark 6
• Genesis 3; 15
• Philippians 2
• Luke 3
• Psalm 2

Also referenced: {truthofGod.org}

Books by Fred R. Coulter:

• A Harmony of the Gospels
• The Day that Jesus the Christ Died
• God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days

Booklet: When Was Jesus Born? by Fred R. Coulter

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 4/7/23

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