II.  Second, God did great things to help man overcome his sin problem.

1.  God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue us from our sins.

ILLUSTRATION:

One day a wealthy English family invited some friends over to spend some time at their beautiful estate.  However, the happy gathering almost turned into a terrible tragedy on the first day.  You see when the children went swimming; one of them got into deep water and was drowning.  But fortunately, the gardener heard the others screaming and plunged into the pool to rescue the helpless victim.  That youngster was Winston Churchill. His parents, deeply grateful to the gardener, asked what they could do to reward him.  He hesitated, and then said, "I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor."  "We'll pay his way," replied Churchill's parents. Years later when Sir Winston was Prime Minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia.  Greatly concerned, the king summoned the best physician who could be found to the bedside of the ailing leader. That doctor was Sir Alexander Fleming, the developer of penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved Winston from drowning as a boy!

My friends, at one time, we ourselves were drowning in our sins.  We were dying of a serious illness called sin.  But on one glories day, Jesus rescued us from our sins.  He not only snatched us from the watery grave of destruction but He also cured us of a dangerous virus.

Even though at one time we were dead in our sins and alienated from God, God still loved us enough to send His Son to deliver us from our sins.

�For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions�" (Ephesians 2:4).

ILLUSTRATION:

On Saturday, September 18, 1982, the U.S. government released the results of a sad investigation.  The government determined that an army soldier stationed in Korea had been a defector to the Communists.  According to the investigation, on August 28, 1982, this twenty-year-old private willingly crossed the Korean Demilitarized Zone into North Korea "for motives that are known."  His fellow American soldiers pleaded with him to turn back, but he did not respond. The day after the findings were released, the parents of the young man held a press conference on the lawn of there St. Louis home.  Wiping tears from his eyes, the father said that they had accepted the fact that their son was indeed a defector.  "He has lost his credibility in this country, even with me," said the man.  But then he showed the heart of a father.  He said, "I still love my son and I want him back."

God is like this father.  Even though we had turned away from Him, and defected from His kingdom, He still wants us back.

Although we were sinners, God still loved us enough to send His son to deliver us from our sins.

2.  Why did Jesus have to give his life in order to free us from our sin problem?

According to the Bible, blood is the only thing that can cover up or atone for sin (Heb. 9:22; Lev. 17:11).

In His death, Jesus Christ made atonement for our sins through His blood.

"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).

"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God�s grace" (Ephesians 1:7).

"Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.  Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him" (Hebrews 9:26-28).

ILLUSTRATION:

In his book "Written in Blood," Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion.  The doctor had explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier.  Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease.  Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor. The doctor asked the little boy �Would you give your blood to your sister Mary?� Johnny hesitated.  His lower lip started to tremble.  Then he smiled, �Sure, for my sister.� Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy.  Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny�s smile faded.  He watched the blood flow through the tube.  With the ordeal almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence.  �Doctor, when do I die?� Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he�d agreed to donate his blood.  He�d thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life.  In that brief moment, he�d made his great decision.

Johnny, fortunately, didn�t have to die to save his sister.  Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than Mary's condition, and it required Jesus to give not just his blood, but his life.

Because of our sins, we deserve spiritual death; however, Jesus voluntarily gave His life for us so that we may have our sins forgiven (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Cor. 5:21) and have a new relationship with God (Col. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:18, 19; Rom. 5:6-11).

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

3.  Through Jesus' death, we can receive a new relationship with God.

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.  But now He has reconciled you by Christ�s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (Colossians 1:22). (See also 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Romans 5:6-11).

As we learned earlier, sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2).  However, Jesus, through His death and resurrection, made it possible for us to be reconciled back to God.  We can once again have a new relationship with God.

ILLUSTRATION:

In October of 1978, on the 33rd anniversary of the completion of the Bridge of the River Kwai, Dennis Roland of New York and his former guard, Ryuji, walked together arm in arm, over the black, steel-girded span.  Said Roland: "I bear no bitterness (toward the Japanese), but I have many memories."

Although it was not part of his plan, at Calvary rebellious man constructed a bridge.  In crucifying the Son of God, man had a part in building the "new and living way" to God.  Now all of us, whether we are Greek or Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, can walk together across that bridge.  "For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility�"  (Ephesians 2:14).

What Have We Learned From Point # 2

God did great things to help man overcome his sin problem.

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take care of our sin problem.

Through His blood, we can have our sins forgiven and receive a new relationship with God.

So far, in our study on salvation, we have seen that we have a sin problem. However, God did great things to help us overcome this dilemma. Next, we are going to find our how we can have our sins forgiven and receive salvation.

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