1 Corinthians 11:26: “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come” My desire this morning, as we prepare ourselves to take the Lord’s Supper is that you would be personally affected by the ugliness of sin in the death of Christ, but also in the beauty of Christ’s love in His great love for sinners! IF YOU WOULD BE RIGHTLY MOVED by His death, in your heart, you must CONFESS that He was crucified and died for your sins! It is in THIS that we come to understand that the Lord Jesus’ death was no normal death! No mortal human ever died like He died. He died the death of a condemned Man for a multitude of sinners, who’s sins were put on His account; made His responsibility, justice, and payment for the sins of those whom God would save, were put upon Him, and He embraced it! The agony and misery of His death wasn’t so much in the fact that He was despised and rejected of mortal men, what made His death, so agonizing TO HIM, was that His soul was forsaken and crushed under the wrath of His Father, “Who” as a Holy and Righteous God, unleashed His indignation upon Him for a world of sinners, for their sins, none of which were His own. Romans 6:23, Isaiah 53:4-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21 We gather this morning on this first day of 2023, on this first day of the week to remember His death; to remember that He died for the guilt, punishment, and condemnation of your sins, believer, which were against a Holy God! If you’re not a Christian, not a believer in Christ, what you are saying (even without words) is that you do not believe (or you refuse to believe) Christ to be your Lord and Savior. If you STILL HOLD ON to this obstinate position, then you have NO PART in His death…what you are saying is that His death was not for me….and if that is the case…. you must not partake of the Lord’s supper. There is ugliness and beauty in the death of Christ….ugliness in our sins, beauty in the Lord’s innocence, obedience, silence, willingness! The death of Christ at Golgotha was bloody and ugly; Golgotha smelled of the stench of death, it was the place of death and execution for many at the hands of the Romans… But the death of Christ IS ALSO the most beautiful of deaths! NEVER had any Man died like this Man…from His death, a sweet aroma rose before God in heaven….and He was pleased and satisfied in such a way that He had not been before! Psalm 85:10 God IS merciful to fallen sinners and they are brought into a state of peace with God ONLY BECAUSE His truth and righteousness or justice was fulfilled and satisfied in the Person of Christ! These attributes of God: Mercy, truth, righteousness, (justice) and peace, are only able to be perfectly joined together in Christ! Our final consideration this morning: What motivated God to do this for the sake of sinners who hated Him, who were His enemies, who wanted nothing to do with Him, and on top of that, rejected His Son? It makes no sense to the human mind, and yet, believer, God loved you BEFORE the fall of Adam and Eve! The death of Christ IS the expression of God’s love for you, which God determined to accomplish, to save His people from their sins! Jeremiah 31:3, John 3:16-17 WHO would do such thing? WHO would WILLINGLY die such a death like this for sinners who were His enemies, who hated Him? You don’t see “LOVE” like THAT in the world! That is because “THE LOVE OF GOD and LOVE OF CHRIST is not of this world! 1 John 3:1-3, Romans 5:6-10, John 15:13 The most beautiful and prominent thing that WE SHOULD REMEMBER in the death of Christ… is HIS LOVE for us, even when we were lost and undone and His enemies. Ephesians 2:4: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” Luke 22:15: “With desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer”. 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
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