“This is a faithful saying and worthy of
all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am chief.”
--- 1Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)
2.
What
did He do? (v15c)
Now let's
move to the next phrase “to save sinners” This answers our question,
what is He?/What did He do? In order to save sinners, Christ did not just come
and go! Paul knew that His audience knew very well what Christ did! Christ
accomplished four miraculous works for sinners! He lived, died, rose, and
reigns!
i.
He
lived (Active Obedience)
Firstly, He accomplished Life for us. He lived
for us. Why didn’t Christ just come in one day to earth, die, rise, and go back
to heaven on the same day? Why did it take thousands of years since Eden
Garden, and lived 33 and half years in the
Middle East, and a night of distressing agony in Gethsemane, and the Cross,
and 3 days and nights in the tomb, and the resurrection, and 40 more days on
earth and ascension to heaven?
The answer is – because we cannot just be
forgiven to be acceptable to God; we must be righteous too! It’s one thing to
forgive somebody and one thing to restore the rights when one is fired from a
job! We have no righteousness. Christ has to live for us to give his
righteousness! He obeyed the law perfectly which none could ever!
He was born of a
virgin, that made him sinless from the mother womb. According to Psalm
51:5, we are already sinners from before we were born, because we are the
descendant of Adam, the sinner! Sin passed through the first man Adam. Dogs
produce dogs, cats produce cats, apple trees produce apples, Mango trees
produce mangoes, and Sinners produce sinners!
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5
Christ is of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, He
Himself infers in John 8:46 (Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I
tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?), that He is sinless and the people
could not object Him! The righteous life He lived is given to us when we trust
Him, just as our sins are taken on Him when He suffered at the cross! Thus, His
righteousness is what we have to be acceptable unto God!
ii.
He
died (Passive Obedience)
Not only did Christ lived His 33 and a half
years of the life of righteousness for
us, but that he also died for us – when he died it was not the sin that killed Him. His sacrifice was not for Satan.
Christ died willingly. Christ laid down
his life (John 10:15-18).
“As the Father knows
Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay
down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of
this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. “Therefore My Father
loves Me, because I lay down My life that
I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of
Myself. I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it again. This
command I have received from My Father.”
Christ sacrificed himself to satisfy God’s
Judgment. When He bore our sins God the Father abandoned Him. Jesus cried out, “My
God. My God why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt27:46). God damned Christ in
the cross as if He was a sinner just like
us because He bore our sins! Therefore,
the death of Jesus is bearing the wrath of God, the abandonment/damnation of
God, which we could never do even if we would be there eternally! He died our
death!
iii. He rose
Not only Jesus
lived our lives, died our deaths, but He also rose again! If Jesus died forever
then, that would be meaningless! He rose again to proclaim victory over the
sins, death, and Satan!
He rose again
proving that God accepted His sacrifice, which, the Jewish sacrifices of bulls
and rams could not make anyone acceptable! Now in Him, we have a new life!
iv. He reigns
Not only Christ
rose, but that He also reigns. Sin was reigning the sinners before; but now, He
sets the sinners free from the guilt, penalty, and
power of sin!
Before you cannot
please God, now you can; because of the power of Christ’s gifts on/to you. You
are a dead man alive now! You are
regenerated unto good works!
You re no longer a
slave of sin; nor under the power of Satan! Christ is your Master now! You are
saved from the wrath of God. You are saved from the problem of death; you will
live eternally. You can overcome sins in your life because of the new man in
you! You can experience all spiritual blessing (Eph.1:3) in this life on earth,
though, the world is still corrupt and
under the power of Satan!
“Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Eph.1:3)