Week 8: Part Three of the Evangelistic Outline: Christ, Part 2

TEACHING NOTES - CLICK THE "NOTES" LINK ABOVE FOR THE CLASS BOOKLET

Team time

• Reviewing our covenant together
• Going over outline learned thus far (three-part “over-outline”, four-part “presentation outline”, “key question”, “God”, “Christ”)

 Doctrinal instruction

 

“In Christ”

Last time we discussed how utterly hopeless people are naturally before God.  Naturally, we are all of us sinners, with no righteousness of our own, without and possible ground of standing on Judgment Day.  According to Romans 6:23, because of our sins we all deserve eternal death in hell apart from God.  Therefore, we are totally lost and in desperate need of a Savior.  The great good news of the gospel is that, in Jesus Christ, we have such a Savior!!  But the key to understanding salvation is to understand who we are “in Christ.”  Paul uses this expression again and again, and develops the concept in all his major letters.  Look, for example, at Ephesians 1:1-14, and note the number of times that Paul makes it clear that our salvation is “in Christ,” or “through Christ”:

"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:  2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.  11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory."

It is very clear that Paul sees our salvation as accomplished completely “in Christ.”  We have no standing apart from Christ, and certainly no hope either.  Therefore, Christ is everything!!

Paul also develops this idea in terms of our “union” with Christ, and His solidarity with us as human beings in His incarnation.  The “union” theme comes out in Romans 6 and Galatians 2:

Galatians 2:20  "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Here Paul says he was actually “crucified with Christ,” meaning that, through faith in Christ, there is a spiritual union between him and Christ.  When Christ was suffering on the cross, it was also Paul who was suffering there, too.  He also means to say that, because of this union, he is completely dead to his “pre-Christ” life as Paul the unbeliever.  It’s as though that Paul has died forever.  This is seen very clearly in Romans 6:1-11:

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.  5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.  8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Our entire Christian life here on earth is lived in union with Christ, as our baptism symbolizes.  That union is our only hope on judgment day, for it is Christ’s righteousness alone that will successfully cover us before God’s Judgment seat:

Romans 3:21-22  "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

Our salvation also depends on Christ’s willingness to take our sin upon Himself, and to give us the righteousness we will need on Judgment Day

2 Corinthians 5:21  "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that, in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Again, we can see that our righteousness can only be found “in Him” (i.e. “in Christ.”)

This union between us and our Savior is also made plain in Christ’s willingness to take on a human body and to suffer death, as described in Hebrews 2:

Hebrews 2:14-15  "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."

Christ considered Himself totally united with us, even to the extent of suffering death to free us.

This same union with Christ is behind the metaphor of Christ as the Head of the Body:

Ephesians 1:20-22  "And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

It is for this reason that Christ feels every attack on His children as if it happened to Him directly, and every blessing done for one of His children as if it were done to Him directly:

Attacks on Christ’s disciples are attacks on Him

Acts 9:1, 3-6  "Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples…. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'    5 'Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked.  'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' he replied."

Blessings for Christ’s disciples are blessings for Him

Matthew 25:37-40  "Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

Therefore, since we are totally dependent on Christ for salvation, Christ must be the center of our Gospel presentation AND our evangelistic philosophy.  The fact is, we can accomplish NOTHING without Him:

John 15:5  "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

 

Salvation is Found in No One Else

There is a tremendous urgency for the Church to understand how false is the pluralism of our day.  The world (especially in America) deeply desires to intimidate the church into abandoning the exclusivity of Christ and the gospel.  We are being told we are “arrogant” to assume that we have the only truth, and that all other religions are false.  We are being accused of “cultural and spiritual genocide” if we proclaim that people who reject the gospel of Christ are going to hell.  They will be pacified if we will simply say “For us, Jesus is a way to heaven, but your way is just as valid as mine.”  They may even enjoy “dialogue” with us about “spiritual truths.”  But we must never relinquish our hold on this central fact:  Jesus Christ is not just one of many ways to get to heaven.  Many of us are aware of some “proof-texts” for the fact that Jesus is the only way to heaven:

John 14:6  [Jesus said]  “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”

Acts 4:12  [Peter said, speaking of Jesus of Nazareth]   “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

However, this doctrine goes much deeper than two famous “proof texts,” and it actually strikes to the heart of our Christian faith.  Scripture consistently presents Him as our only hope, because that is just what He is:

Ephesians 2:12-13  "remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ."

Colossians 1:27  "To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

1 Timothy 1:1  "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope"

1 Peter 1:3  "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead"

People who think there is some other way to God do not understand the basic problem of sin, God’s righteousness, and the judgment to come.  Apart from God’s gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ, where else will a righteousness that will survive Judgment Day come from?  Neither do they understand the Incarnation or the doctrine of the Trinity.  If Jesus was God’s “only begotten Son,” again salvation can be found nowhere else.  It is impossible to imagine that the Father would welcome anyone who rejected the Son.  The Apostle John made this abundantly clear:

1 John 2:23   "No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also."

1 John 5:11-12   "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

Just as clear is Jesus’ definition of eternal life itself:

John 17:3  “Now this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

How could these words be true if Jesus were just one of many ways to heaven?

Again, if Jesus truly is God the Son, why would He die on the cross to provide just one of many ways to heaven?  Paul touches on this theme in Galatians:

Galatians 2:21  "I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness could be gained by the law, Christ died for nothing."

In other words, if you could work your way to heaven by your own efforts, why would Christ die to provide simply a different route to heaven?  That would make no sense!  Rather Jesus took on a human body and sacrificed that body as an atonement for sin because there was no other way!  Isaiah revealed this in clear language:

Isaiah 59:15-16  "The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him."

That Jesus is the only way to salvation is also plain from the logic Paul uses in Romans 10, a logic which drives the entire mission enterprise:

Romans 10:13-15   "'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'   14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'"

The basic idea is that we must “call on the name of the Lord” in order to be saved.  Jesus came to “reveal the name of the Lord” to those people whom the Father had given Him out of the world (John 17:6).  Without that revelation, we will never “call on the name of the Lord,” and thus we will not be saved.

Furthermore, the Scripture reveals that the essence of salvation is to see God in the face of Christ and to trust Him for salvation.  This is the very thing that Satan (the “god of this world) wants desperately to prevent:

2 Corinthians 4:4-6  "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."

This passage is incredibly vital to our understanding of salvation itself. The “moment of regeneration” occurs when, by the power of the Spirit, a previously blinded sinner suddenly “sees the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” when they hear “the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”  Where Christ had previously been “a good moral teacher” or even someone they’d never even heard of, now He is incarnate deity, the only Savior for the world, and their only hope personally for Judgment Day.  This is what faith receives at the moment of salvation, and it is totally focused on Christ.

The Centrality of the Cross

If all this is true, then the cross of Jesus Christ must be the center of our gospel message.  We must avoid all sidetracks, and leave the central message of the cross ringing in the ears of our hearers.  If the cross is understood properly, the gospel is understood properly.  If we have failed to explain the cross properly, we have failed to preach the gospel.  This is precisely why Paul said the following:

1 Corinthians 2:1-2   "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

We must do the same as we preach the gospel… keep the cross of Christ central!

The essence of the cross is substitution… Christ, the Son of God, stood in our place to take our punishment, in order that we might have forgiveness of sins and that God’s justice might be displayed and satisfied.  Without substitution (Christ in our place) the cross makes no sense and neither does the gospel.  Without the cross, we may in the end seem to be preaching a religion of good works to pay for sin.  Without the cross, our view of God and Judgment day will be twisted and wrong.

The Good News of the Resurrection

Obviously, the cross alone would not be good news.  If Jesus Christ had never risen from the dead, He would not be worth preaching.  Paul says we would still be under judgment without Christ’s resurrection:

1 Corinthians 15:17  "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins."

The resurrection of Christ is an objective and historical fact that can be verified as much as any other fact in history can.  The historical evidence for the resurrection is overwhelming and sufficient as a basis for faith.  It also sets Jesus Christ apart from any other religious figure in the history of the world. 

Jesus Christ is the only Savior, the center of our gospel, and the essence of our eternal life.  As evangelists, we will do well to preach Him as such!  Any other “gospel” is “no gospel at all!” (Galatians 1:7).

Outline Work:

Christ

Outline Points:

• God’s Fourth Title: Savior

Saved from what?  Sin!

• Jesus’ Supernatural Life

God-man

Miraculous

Sinless

• Jesus’ Substitutionary Death
• Jesus’ Saving Resurrection
• Jesus’ Salvation Gifts

Total Forgiveness of Sins (Death Penalty Paid)

Eternal Life

 

God’s Fourth Title:  Savior

We’ve seen that God is Creator, King (lawgiver), and Judge.  We have also seen that man is created, rebellious, and under judgment.  This leads immediately to the “Christ” section of our outline, and to God’s fourth title:  Savior.  Man is sinful and under a death penalty which we cannot pay.  Therefore we are desperately in need of a Savior, and only God Himself can be that Savior.  Thus God sent Jesus Christ into the world, God in human flesh to pay our death penalty.  Our first Scripture Memory verse makes these four offices clear:

Isaiah 33:22  "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king;  it is he who will save us."

Just as God is central in His other three offices, so He is central in our salvation.  We want to save ourselves, and in our pride we think we can.  But the basic message of the gospel is that we absolutely positively CANNOT save ourselves, and God must do it himself, or it will not be done.  The Isaiah verse makes God the center of all four offices.

But humanity may ask “saved from what?”  If they are still asking this question at this point in the outline, we have not done a good enough job in the “Man” section:  we are rebellious from the laws of our King (including the negative “Thou shalt nots” of the Ten Commandments, and the even more difficult “Thou shalts” of the Two Great Commandments) and thus deserve the penalty of eternal death (Romans 6:23).

Our next memory verse makes it clear who the savior from sin is:  none other that Jesus of Nazareth:

Matthew 1:21  "You will give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins."

This makes it clear what we are saved from, as well as who will do the saving.  This statement was made by the angel to Joseph as the angel commanded that Joseph should take Mary as his wife, despite her pregnancy.  What is not as clear to us is the significance of Jesus’ name itself.  “You will give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.”  Obviously, in the words of a modern spiritual song, “There’s something about that name.”  The name literally means “Salvation is from the Lord,” or “The Lord is salvation.”  These two verses already establish the deity of Christ, as well as His humanity.  But we will be even clearer about these doctrines next.

Jesus’ Supernatural Life

No one can be saved without knowing something of the “biography” of Jesus.  Paul made that clear in Romans 10:14, “How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?”  It is for this very reason that we have four “biographies” of Jesus Christ:  the Gospels.  The facts of Jesus physical life on earth—His supernatural birth, His amazing words, His miraculous deeds—are essential to our gospel.  History matters to Christianity.  This is so true that Paul said (as we saw above) “If Christ has not been raised from the dead, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”  (1 Corinthians 15:14)  Liberal Christianity denies the importance of objective historical fact.  The New Testament is built on it!!

It is for this very reason that you always see the Apostles in Acts preaching the facts of Christ’s life (see what Peter does in Acts 10 with Cornelius as an example).  We also must get these facts across.  (I believe an inductive Bible study in which we go through some of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ words and deeds is the best form of evangelism.)  The following three headings are sufficient for our outline, but a fuller treatment including His teachings would be ideal.

God-man

John 1:14   "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us"

We must establish the deity of Christ without question.  Christ was God in the flesh.  John 1:14 establishes that fact (if we make it clear that the “Word” is Jesus of Nazareth which John’s Gospel does, in fact, make clear).  This doctrine is a mystery, and we cannot plumb the depths of it… but it is essential to the Gospel.  As I stated above, the incarnation (literally “enfleshment” of God the Son) is established in Isaiah 33:22 and Matthew 1:21… but this verse comes right out and says it.

Miraculous

Matthew 11:5   "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."

Jesus’ miracles are further proof of His deity, and were constantly a focal point of Apostolic preaching (see Acts again).  This verse gives a good list of the mighty works Jesus did.  Jesus Himself put a great deal of emphasis on the miracles as a basis of faith.  In John 10:25, Jesus says “The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me,” and in John 10:38 He said “… believe the miracles.”  We should speak about Jesus’ amazing powers to those we are evangelizing.  Lazarus’s resurrection is my favorite, as is His stilling of the storm and His feeding of the 5000.  Use them liberally!!

Sinless

1 Peter 2:22  "He committed no sin, nor was any deceit in His mouth"

Jesus’ sinless perfection is essential to His fitness to be our substitute on the cross.  Therefore we must establish it through Scriptural testimony.  Because Jesus had no sin of His own, He could not be said to have been punished for Himself on the cross.  This verse also shows that Jesus lived the kind of life we are supposed to lead in the “Kingdom of God,” and that we will lead when our salvation is completed in heaven… perfect, joyful obedience to our King.

Jesus’ Substitutionary Death

Substitution is the core of the gospel message, yet very few evangelical presentations of the gospel seem to focus on it, or even mention it!!  Jesus took our place… His suffering is what we deserved, His experience of the wrath of God was ours, His death was our death penalty.  If this is not made clear, then our hearers have not understood the gospel!

1 Peter 2:24  "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree…"

This verse makes it clear!  Peter states that Christ “bore our sins”… He carried them on Himself.  This is the language of Isaiah 53, a verse we could easily have chosen as well.  This verse also establishes the physical nature of Christ’s suffering and death.  It was not a “spiritual” death alone, though it was that in the sense that Christ stood under the wrath of God for us.  But the sacrifice was accomplished in space and time, with nails driven through His arms into wood.

2 Corinthians 5:21  "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God"

This verse also makes clear the substitutionary nature of Christ’s death.  The cross represented a transfer of guilt from us sinners to Christ, and of righteousness from Christ to us sinners.  “How can guilt be transferred to a substitute?” they may ask.  This is a mystery, but it was the center of the animal sacrificial system that God established in the Old Covenant.  The priest would put his hands on the animal and confess the sins of Israel “onto” its head (Leviticus 16:21).  The word “onto” in Leviticus 16:21 clearly understand a transfer of guilt to the substitute.  The substitute then suffers the penalty the sinner deserves.

EXTRA NOTE:  The three great lessons of the Old Testament’s sacrificial system

1)  All sin deserves the death penalty

2)  The death penalty can be paid by a substitute

3)  Animals are an insufficient substitute; we need one greater than a human to accomplish forgiveness

Substitutionary atonement was the essence of the Old Testament, and it is also the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ:  He gets our sin and punishment, we get His righteousness for Judgment Day.

Jesus’ Saving Resurrection

As we said above, without the resurrection, we would have no salvation.  Jesus’ resurrection is the only answer to the universal problem of death.  Our memory verse establishes the historical fact of the resurrection:

1 Corinthians 15:3-5   "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,  and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve."

I also like to point out to my hearers that Jesus won His resurrection victory to give to us.  In John 14:19, Jesus said “Because I live, you also will live.”  And in John 11:25-26 He said “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me will live even though he dies, and whoever live and believes in me will never die.”

Jesus’ Salvation Gifts

Finally, we want to sum up Jesus’ accomplishments, the incredible gifts He offers to us who believe in Him.  These are so many that one quick accounting could never do it justice.  Rather, we want to focus on two:  the negative removed, the positive given.  The negative removed = sins forgiven, wrath turned away, hell averted, judgment satisfied.  Through Christ’s death, every sin we have ever committed or ever will commit have been completely forgiven, if we believe the gospel.  I like to stress that this means the death penalty has been paid completely:

Total Forgiveness of Sins (Death Penalty Paid)

Ephesians 1:7    "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins"

Eternal Life

Along with that comes the free gift of a whole new relationship with God through faith in Christ.  This will include (as we will make plain in the “Response” section) submitting to God as our Creator, our King and  Lawgiver, and our Judge.  It will also include the power to walk in newness of life (as we will make plain). It will include ultimately an eternity in face to face loving fellowship with God in heaven.  All of this is a free gift of God’s grace (again, as we will stress in the “Response” section):

Romans 6:23   "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

 Homework

• Review: three-part overview, four-part presentation, key question
• Review: “God” section with Scriptures
• Review: “Man” section with Scriptures
• Memorize “Christ section with Scriptures

 

Preparation

Introduction:  Introduce yourself

Interests:  Ask general questions about their life interests

Involvement:  Ask about prior involvement in church; listen for clues as to their spiritual state

Inquiry:   Key Question “In your personal opinion, what do you understand it takes for a person to go to heaven?”

Presentation

God:

• God is Creator

Genesis 1:1  "In the beginning, God created heaven and earth."

Therefore, God is loving

Acts 14:27  He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.

• God is King

Psalm 47:7  "For God is King of all the earth."

Therefore, God is sovereign

Psalm 103:19  "The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all."

Therefore, God also makes laws

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)

The Two Greatest Commandments (Matthew 22)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 

Love your neighbor as yourself.

• God is Judge

Psalm 96:13   "He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his truth."

Therefore, God is holy

Habakkuk 1:13  "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, you cannot tolerate wrong."

 

Man:

• Man is Created by God (Creator)

Genesis 1:27  "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

Our nature:  created to be like God

Our purpose:  created to know/love God

Our role:  created to serve God

• Man is Rebellious Against God (King)

Universally Rebellious

Romans 3:10-12   "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."

Rebellious Against God’s Laws

1 John 3:4  “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.”

[Remember God’s Laws:  Ten Commandments, Two Great Commandments]

• Man is Under Judgment by God (Judge)

Judgment Day

Matthew 12:36  “I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.”

Judgment Penalty

Romans 6:23  “The wages of sin is death…”

 

Christ:

• God’s Fourth Title: Savior

Isaiah 33:22  "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king;  it is he who will save us."

Saved from what?

Matthew 1:21  "You will give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins."

• Jesus’ Supernatural Life

God-man

John 1:14   "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us"

Miraculous

Matthew 11:5   "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."

Sinless

1 Peter 2:22  "He committed no sin, nor was any deceit in His mouth"

• Jesus’ Substitutionary Death

1 Peter 2:24  "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree…"

2 Corinthians 5:21  "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God"

• Jesus’ Saving Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:3-5  "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,  and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve."

• Jesus’ Salvation Gifts

Total Forgiveness of Sins (Death Penalty Paid)

Ephesians 1:7    "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins"

Eternal Life

Romans 6:23   "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."