Alpha Session 2 - Why did Jesus Die?

Why did Jesus Die?

The Four 'P's of sins

1. The Pollution of sin

It pollutes us and makes us unclean. Sins are not just external acts but they come from within, which is our hearts.

Mark 7
²⁰He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' ²¹For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²²greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'

2. The Power of sin

When we continue to sin, we allow the devil to have control over our lives.

The Bible says that we become a slave to sin and it has power over us.

John 8:34 – Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

3. The Penalty of sin

This is like how the referees give a red card to the player for diving, injuring other opponent's legs – it is called penalty. What happened to the players who are penalized? They are out for the next match.

Every bad thing we have done has a penalty or a punishment that we cannot pay on our own. If God does not punish us for the sins we have done, he is not a good and holy God. When God is not good or holy, he is not worth following or worshipping.

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

4. The Partition of sin

Sin separates us from God and creates a high wall between God and us. This makes us feel far away from God.

Isaiah 59

² But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

This is how we commonly don’t know God due to the separation.

Demonstration - Water (Us), Iodine (Sins) and Bleach (Jesus)

• When God first created us - we are like the clear water, pure and clean.
• We started to sin (stealing, lying, cheating, gossiping etc.) - the water becomes light brown with the introduction of iodine.
• In the beginning, we think it is fine to play with our sins since we know that our sin become part of us. But what happened if playing with sins suddenly became serious burden?
  
• Growing sins began to chain us and we became slaves to our sins. The water becomes darker and darker brown in colour. We find it impossible to break the chains.

• We do good works like donating money to the needy and poor, obeying our parents etc
• We go to the church to worship every sunday or even if we go to temples and offering something to the gods,
• We study hard for a good degree, become a successful businessman, manager, actresses,
• What would happened to us? Sadly there is still a bad new for us that we still fail to reach GOD because of our sins despite of good works, good religions and personal achievements.
• God’s holiness can’t be denied as this is why God declares his stand as a holy God.

God sent Jesus to die in our place and to suffer the results of our sins. God loves us much!

Jesus is our substitute and because of Him, we do not need to pay the penalty of our sins and die. Jesus’ death on the cross took care of the results once and for all.

Romans 5:8

“God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinner, Christ died for us”

John 3:16

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.

Perish mean lost

Eternal life do not mean up to 100 years old. It means after our death, we go up to the heaven with Jesus!

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Once you believe Jesus, what happened to you?

Congratulations to you, you able to walk closer to God through Jesus Christ as a Bridger.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

When you believe Jesus, you are set free.

When you have that freedom,

1. Pollution of sin removed – cleansed (set free to be holy)
2. Power of sin broken – redeemed (set free to obey God)
3. Penalty of sin paid – justified (set free from condemnation)
4. Partition of sin destroyed – reconciled (set free to fellowship with God)

God gave you a gift - His Son, Jesus, to die for you so that you will be saved and have eternal life).

Will you accept this gift today?