Last time we talked about the identity of Jesus Christ inside and outside of the Bible. In this lesson, we are going to take a closer look at the work the eye witness testimony recorded in the Bible says that Jesus Christ accomplished on our behalf.

There are three doctrinal topics we are going to examine: 1) The Atonement and The Resurrection, and 2) the Ascension, in addition to that we are going to look at Jesus’ work as 3) A Prophet, 4) a Priest, and 5) A King and the Christian’s Union with Christ.

(1) The Atonement and the Resurrection

In the Message of Christianity we said that we were all made in the image of God, and that mankind has been corrupted by what God considers to be evil. The corruption that exists in human nature is offensive to God and we need to receive FORGIVENESS FOR SIN and FREEDOM FROM SIN.

The Gospel contains eye witness testimony explaining how God provides FORGIVENESS and FREEDOM in the lives of people living in our broken world. The FORGIVENESS AND FREEDOM we needed were made available to us by the Atonement. In one of his theology books, Wayne Grudem says “We may define the atonement as follows: the atonement is the work Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation.”

I want to help you take a closer look at the Atonement presented to us in the Four Points of the Gospel I shared in the Message of Christianity. In order to do that, I want to start by sharing the four points with you as a group, and then we will take a closer look at each one of them one at a time:

The first point of the Gospel is that God became a man and his name is Jesus Christ.

The second point of the Gospel is that God, as a man, had every opportunity to be disobedient and became corrupt the way we are, but He never crossed that line.

The third point of the Gospel is the idea of sacrifice: that God as an innocent man died in our place so we could go free in His place.

The fourth point of the Gospel is that God proved we could be free from our disobedience and its death penalty. This proof is a past historical event known as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The First Point of the Gospel

The first point of the Gospel is that God became a man and his name is Jesus Christ. In the Message of Christianity, I said that “We can read about this in John chapter 1 verse 1 (ESV) which says this “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was God. We must also add verse 14 (ESV) which says “…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

In addition to this reference to John 1:1 and 1:14 I want to dig a little deeper into this by adding Hebrews chapter 2 verse 17 to this point. In Hebrews 2:17 (ESV) we read this:

“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect,m so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” So the first thing we need to recognize in His humanity: in order to provide FORGIVENESS OF SIN and FREEDOM FROM SIN to us, he had to become human.

This concept is foreign to Buddhism, Gnosticism, Hinduism and Islam. The Buddhist, the Gnostic, and the Hindu have an escapist mentality towards this world; they seek to withdraw from the ordinary moments of life to pursue what they consider to be sacred.

Discussion Question(s):

#1. Can we live in the ordinary moments of life like Jesus Christ did and still have a healthy spirituality, or do we need a complete and permanent removal to pursue the sacred?

The Second Point of the Gospel

Now let’s look at the second point of the Gospel in the Message of Christianity. The second point of the Gospel in the Message of Christianity is that God, as a man, had every opportunity to be disobedient and become corrupt the way we are, but He never crossed that line.

In the Message of Christianity I said “We can see this clearly in Hebrews 4:15 (ESV) which says this: “for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

In order to help you take a closer look at this, I want to add Romans 5:19 (ESV) to this part of the presentation, which says this: “For by one man’s righteousness the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s disobedience the many will be made righteous.”

In the Book of Genesis, we were told that God decided to leave mankind in charge of human history, and the very first two people who ever lived in this world ruined everything for everyone. The reason God became a man is because that was the only way He could fix what we broke and still leave one of us in charge of human history.

Discussion Question(s):

#1. Do you think of the corruption in human nature is something we cannot fix on our own, but need a divine intervention to repair and recover from?

The Third Point of the Gospel

In the Message of Christianity, the third point of the Gospel could be seen by reading 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) which says this: “for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The third point of the Gospel is the idea of sacrifice: that God as an innocent man died in our place so we could go free in His place. In the Book of Genesis our first ancestor, a man named Adam was told that disobedience carried a death penalty, now we see that death penalty being applied to Jesus Christ, who was the only innocent man who ever lived.

This allowed Jesus Christ to provide relief from the corruption in human nature and its consequences.

This is why the Book of Hebrews, chapter 9 verses 24 through 28 says this in the English Standard Version of the Bible:

“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of true things, but into heaven itself, not to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly since the foundation of the world, but as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Discussion Question(s):

#1. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only source of divine intervention available to help us repair and recover from the corruption in human nature?

The Fourth Point of the Gospel

The fourth and final point of the Gospel in the Message of Christianity is that God proved we could be free from our disobedience and its death penalty. The proof is a past historical event known as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (ESV) we read this:

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you now stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you – unless you believed in vain.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also.”

The post Resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ offer proof that God has dealt with the reality of our disobedience and its death penalty. Jesus Christ became human without any of the corruption that exists in human nature and his post Resurrection appearances offers us assurance that we will become human without any of the corruption that is considered normal in this world as well.

This is why in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 4 through 6, the English Standard Version of the Bible says:

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in the kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.”

Discussion Question(s):

#1. Do you believe God has given all of us opportunities outside of Church meetings to invite others to take Jesus seriously as the only source of divine intervention available to provide relief from the corruption in human nature?

(2) The Ascension of Jesus Christ

After Jesus Christ accomplished all of that, we are told that he ascended into heaven…but what exactly is he doing now? What has he been doing for the last 2000 years?

There are also very important questions that I want to answer for you now. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20 through 23 the English Standard Version of the Bible says this about God:

“He worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand of the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

While Jesus is “seated…in heavenly places” there are three things the Bible says he is doing that are a matter of concern to us today. Jesus Christ is working as a Prophet, a Priest and a King, and I want to help you take a look at what is involved in each one of these roles.

(3) The Prophet

In the Old Testament writings, one of the most important roles a person could have was to be chosen as a Prophet. The Prophets were a group of men and women who were chosen by God to be His personal messengers, when a crisis occurred and people needed to be told how to respond.

In Deuteronomy 18:15-18 (ESV) Moses told the people of Israel that “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen.” THis prophet Moses spoke of was Jesus Christ.

Moses was given the authority to set the cultural standards that Israel would live by, so Jesus Christ would also serve the same way. Right now Jesus Christ is in heaven working with all authority in heaven and earth to remove and restrain the corruption that exists in human nature and the cultural standards of every ethnic group around the world.

Jesus Christ chooses certain men and women to be first responders when a crisis occurs. These men and women can set the standard for the majority to following in cleaning up the mess that the corruption in human nature causes.

(4) The Priest

Another important role in the Bible was the Priest. In Hebrews 7:23-24 (ESV) we are told that “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.”

The work that the Priests would do is to help people find FORGIVENESS OF SIN and FREEDOM FROM THEIR SINS, and this is something that Jesus Christ is still doing today. Jesus Christ is in heaven giving instructions that can help people who are willing to depend on him to find FORGIVENESS and FREEDOM.

Jesus Christ is also working to bring opportunities to serve as messengers of the Gospel to every generation of His Church.

(5) The King

In every part of the Bible, God is presented as the King over every ethnic group in the world. Jesus Christ claimed that he had all authority in heaven and on earth in Matthew 28:18-20, and he is working on bringing the world under God’s control.

At this point in time, people living in this world can still use their free will to engage in acts of rebellion against God’s standards. Jesus Christ is working as the King to bring as many people as he can into agreement with God.

When every one alive in the world has had a chance to use their free will to accept or reject Jesus Christ, then Jesus will use his authority to begin bringing human history as we know it to an end, and then Jesus Christ will return and the Kingdom of Heaven will appear in this world.

Amen, come quickly Lord Jesus!

The Christian’s Union with Christ

In Ephesians chapter 2:10 (ESV) we are told that “we are his worksmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The implications of this mean that we can be messengers and servants of God who participate in the work that Jesus Christ does as a Prophet, Priest and King while we live in this world.

Doing the work requires us to have FREEDOM FROM OUR SINS in order to cooperate with God’s goals and God’s methods for accomplishing those goals. In 2 Timothy 2:21 (ESV) we read that “if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”

So the more FREEDOM FROM OUR SINS we have, the more work we will be able to accomplish in God’s service as Jesus delegates opportunities for us to participate in the work as a Prophet, Priest and King.

Discussion Question(s):

#1. Has the time you spent at Church meetings prepared you to cooperate with the work that needs to be done outside of Church meetings to help people recognize Jesus as a Prophet, Priest and King?