PREACHING OF THE WORD OF GOD
Paul Johnson
Hebrews 10: 12; 1 Corinthians 15: 3; Hebrews 1: 3; John 1: 29
I was thinking of these few verses as to God’s dealing with the fact and issues of sins and in this last verse of sin. I was thinking especially of God’s dealings in regard to sins. I know that sometimes people are not very concerned, but man should be concerned about sins, “for all have sinned”, Rom 3: 23. We quote these verses but sometimes we fail to take in the fact of what is said, “all have sinned”. I have to admit that sometimes I have the impression with people quoting that, as if meant, I am just like everybody else, making excuses – “all have sinned”. He is not better than I am, I am no better than he is. I do not think that is how that verse should be taken; it should be taken as the fact that I have sinned. I cannot exclude myself, it is not just that I am common with everyone else, but it brings it down to the fact that I have sinned, “all have sinned”. So as to the individual none can put himself outside “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”.
This should be a concern to every individual. We know that sins, and sin, are something that God cannot just ignore and I know it is true because of His being holy and righteous, but I think it is also because of His love. Every evil and ailment that man suffers is a result of sin. I do not think that is an exaggeration. If sin had never come in death would not be working in the body, but it is working in the body because sin has come in. Everything is affected. I think it is wonderful to realise that sin is something that God cannot ignore but has already dealt with through the work of Christ. This is what I had especially before me that God has dealt with sin and sins.
In Hebrews 10 it is one sacrifice for sins and I think it is to be noticed that here it does not say, one sacrifice for our sins; it is just that there has been a sacrifice made for sins, it is available. It is not necessarily whose sin, the question of sins is involved here, “one sacrifice for sins”, and it is the only sacrifice that is acceptable to God. We know as to the offerings in the Old Testament, one could ask if they take away sins? Never. They were a foreshadowing of the one sacrifice that would take away sins, but those offerings could never have taken away sins but allowed God to pass over them. There is a difference between passing over sins and sins being remitted. I think we can say scripturally that in the Old Testament God passed over their sins because of their sacrifices. He saw in those sacrifices the sacrifice of Christ and He passed over them. But it is only the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that can remove sins, put them away, not just passed over, put away and put away eternally. That is why it says, “one sacrifice for sins”. It is the only sacrifice that could purge sins, not just hold them in abeyance, or cover them, but totally take them away. That is why He can sit down in perpetuity, which means not only that it goes on forever, but that there is no interruption in that sitting down. The priest of old, after he had made an offering for sin, might have a time of sitting down; but then he had to get up again and repeat the offering. But with the Lord Jesus He sits down in perpetuity, never having to repeat the sacrifice. It is finished completely, “one sacrifice for sins”. It does not say one sacrifice for our sins. I do not want to take away from that, but when He speaks about our sins it is the language of faith. I think this verse here is a statement of fact that He has made one offering and that stands by itself apart from whether or not persons enter into it, or have the benefits of it.
In 1 Corinthians 15 it is a little different. What I have before me is God’s dealing with sins and we see here how there is a sacrifice for sins, “For I delivered to you, in the first place, what also I had received, that Christ died for our sins” – this is broader than the fact that He suffered for sins. Here it says that He died for our sins. That is the language of faith, it is not only that He has made one sacrifice for sins, that is the objective fact, but here the individual is brought in, “Christ died for our sins”. The apostle is writing to the Corinthians and I think he uses “our” because it included every believer on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not just a statement of fact that there was one sacrifice for sins, but that that sacrifice was for our sins. I was thinking too that it is put that way “Christ died for our sins”, because the result of persons believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is their being brought into a company. One who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and is sealed with the Holy Spirit is brought into a company, so we have the thought of “our”, and all in the company can say that. It brings in the collective side. No doubt dying for our sins was paying the penalty. Scripture says, “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek 18: 4), that is the pronouncement of God, death is the penalty of sin. So Christ died here for our sins because that was the penalty that our sins had accrued.
Hebrews 1 uses the term, “the purification of sins” which means purging of sins. When we think about purifying you think of making pure, but really it is the removal of sins, taking them away so that they are no longer there. The purification of sins is through one sacrifice and this wonderful work. He could sit down because the work was finished; there was nothing more to do. I am speaking as from God’s side: there is something to do from our side, but from God’s side He could sit down because there was nothing more to do. The question of sins had been settled by the Lord Jesus in His offering of Himself, so that they are carried away. He has made His purification of sins. I thought how this would enhance the greatness of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I would like to refer to a verse in Galatians 1, “our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, so that he should deliver us out of the present evil world” (v 4). I do not know that I can give the full import of that, but I see a difference between this and that Christ died for our sins. He gave himself: it is not only that He died for our sins but that He was wholly committed. I believe in a way this is the anti-type to all of the offerings of the Old Testament because it was not possible by the bulls and goats to take away sins, but here was One who was so great in Himself. Think of who He was and what He was, He gave Himself, He did not hold anything back. You wonder at such love and devotion that He would give Himself. He would not retain anything, hold anything back. To my mind this is a little different to Christ dying for our sins. He gave Himself, He was personally committed, not only that He accomplished a work, not only that He was able to affect atonement and satisfy all the claims of God, but He gave Himself. It seems to be a little more personal that He would give Himself for our sins. He could do this because there was no claim of death on Him. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die”, but how blessed it is to know that He was apart from sin, in whom there was no sin and who did no sin so that He could give Himself for others.
I was thinking of this one sacrifice and how it has effected everything for God and for us. As for all of God’s dealings with man and man’s sin, the whole question of sins and sin has been settled. I say the matter of sin has been settled, but in a way it is not, and I think that is what is involved in John, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” – He is the taker away. Here John does not say when, it is not a question of when. It is a question of who is the taker away; He is the taker away of sin. I believe this goes beyond what the believer enjoys today, we know that He has taken away our sins, He bore them in His own body on the tree, so our sins are taken away, but “the sin of the world”. I have no doubt that that is still future; it is based on His sacrifice and He is the taker away of the sin of the world and He is the only One who can do so. We know that while the believer’s sins are taken away, (everyone who has received the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour), the sin of the world has not been taken away, but He is the taker away, and He is going to take it away. It is going to be taken away forever and He alone is the One who is able. I thought of this too; I am not saying he is doing it in a righteous way, but man generally does struggle with sin. Why do we have laws? Why do we have all of these things? It is man struggling with sin to try in some way make things move right, but man cannot. This sin of the world is still there. The greatest sin was the rejection of the Lord Jesus, turning Him out. We can say that the world stands under that sin of having rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. But, there is going to be a time when it is taken away, and He alone is the taker away. Someone might say, would it not be wonderful if He took it away now? I am thankful that He did not take it away last century, I am thankful that the day of grace was extended to the time in which we are living now, because it has included me and you and no doubt souls are being saved today. I believe that there is no day passed that some souls are not saved, somewhere in this world, because God is working. We may not always have a touch with it ourselves, but it is going on and we can be thankful for that. But there is a time coming when sin is going to be taken away.
I was thinking as to how God’s dealings with sins and ultimately with sin itself, and how God has dealt with all of this in such a way that His righteous claims have been met, and His holiness has been maintained and souls have been delivered, rescued, ransomed. It is wonderful how God could bring that all to pass, because if you were to stop any man on the street and talk to him and ask, how would you deal with taking away sin? How can you change what people are and still bring them into joy and blessing? You would never get an answer. Everybody would have to say, I do not know. Most persons recognise that there is sin all around and that sin has brought all of the sorrow and misery and unhappiness that man experiences universally. Sometimes when I think about it I marvel – we live here in the United States, but you can go to the most uncivilised society on earth and they still sin, they commit the same sins, lie, steal and cheat are fleshly, selfish, self-indulgent – all these things. It does not make any difference whether they have government or no government. But, the wonderful thing is that God has dealt with it and to me this is the great message of Christianity that God has dealt with the question of sins and He is going to deal with the question of sin. He is going to take it away. In dealing with the question of sins now, there are those who are forgiven and delivered, and they are justified so that they no longer have sins attached to them, and accounted to them, but they are free and are at liberty and have peace and joy; they are cleansed, they are purged.
These are very simple things, but one thing I have always appreciated about the glad tidings is that it may be that in a sense simple things, and it may be things that are repeated over and over, but they never get rusty. There is always a freshness, there is always a reality, something living and vital in regard to it, so that we can reflect on the glad tidings and what the work of Christ has brought and what it has brought us into. It is not just repetition, it is wonderful! Is there anything other than the truth of God that can be gone over and over and never become wearisome or old? It is all the great work of God, how that God has wrought and what He has wrought and how wonderful it is that it is going out now as glad tidings; the message to all.
May the Lord bless His word.
Denton
October 2002