The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
LIVE DISCUSSION: Jesus the Reconciler (Part 2 of 2)
Redemption isn’t an option on the menu; it’s a purchase made at full price with Christ’s blood. We walk through why the cross doesn’t merely open a door but actually secures salvation for those God calls, and how the resurrection confirms the debt is cleared. From the Mosaic sacrifices that foreshadowed the Lamb to the Shepherd who seeks His sheep through the preaching of the gospel, we trace a line from shadow to substance, from ritual to reality, from hints to fulfillment.
We also stare into the hard edge of divine justice. If eternal judgment feels abstract or unfair, Calvary brings it into focus. The cross shows the severity of sin and the sincerity of God’s purpose: wrath was not canceled; it was absorbed. Using vivid, everyday imagery, we explore how one perfect payment could equal the crushing debt of many, not to reduce mystery to math, but to magnify the worth of Christ’s person.
The heartbeat here is response. Faith is not a bargaining chip; it’s evidence that we belong to His body. Gratitude replaces entitlement, reverence replaces casual religion, and hope rises with the resurrection’s promise of new life. We end with urgency and tenderness: life is brief, glory is our purpose, and now is the time to trust Christ, submit to His finished work, and lead others to the cross where justice and mercy meet.
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But the best way for me to put it is that you we cannot look at the south, we cannot look at the death and resurrection of Christ as that which merely makes salvation an option for us. He rendered it effective. The salvation for those who were slain, for the the salvation that Christ has bought for us, the redemption, because redemption means to buy back. Christ by his death spilled his blood to buy back his people. He bought us back. He bought us, paid for. He owns us. That's what redemption is. Under the mosaic economy, under that Jewish mosaic economy, the salvation that was needed to actually save man, they couldn't afford. Couldn't afford it. Couldn't buy his back. But Christ spilled his holy blood on that cross. And he and he alone was the only one who could afford to buy back and to redeem that which was lost and to restore reconciliation between man and God. Jesus is the only way that this can happen. And he did it once and for all. The possibility is only on the part of those who believe. Those who have been called, those who've been chosen by God to believe. The day is going to come when they're going to hear that gospel. The last soul that God has ordained to salvation, the day that person receives the gospel, that will be the day. That will be the day when all this that we know right now is over. It's a glorious name. The death of Christ, Jesus was the fulfillment of all that was prefigured in all Jewish sacrifices. If you go and read about all the various sacrifices and the washings and the offerings, all these things, they were types. They were shadows. They prefigured what the death of Christ would ultimately fulfill in totality. He did it all. He paid it all. And now he is our all in all. When he resurrected from that grave on Sunday morning, on that Lord's day, his business for his salvation was done. Was done. How do we find them? Preaching the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And so when we look at the atonement that Christ made on our behalf for our sin, when we look at that, we need to understand that our salvation was done at Calvary. It was done. It was done. All you have to do is to believe it. And your belief will be the evidence that you have your part in his body. His believing church. Leave the 99 and go and get that one that went astray and bring him back. That is what he is doing right now. When Christ left heaven, he came to go and gather the sheep that have gone astray. He didn't go after the goats. He came after the sheep. Let me say that one more time. Christ did not come here to redeem goats. I hope you know what I'm talking about. He didn't come to redeem goats, he came to redeem sheep. He came to redeem those who were marked out for his salvation. And what a glorious thing it is to know that he had me on his mind on that cross. I don't pretend to understand the vastness of the divine mind. None of us do. You can take the totality of every single man or woman that has ever been born on earth throughout the earth's existence. And collectively, we cannot understand one second of what God's mind is like. But we get some insight into how God loves when we look at Calvary. We get some insight into God's agenda for his people. But when Jesus came and he died on the cross, it tells us that God is serious about what he is doing. And that man is in no place to trifle with what has been done. Men have a hard time understanding and accepting the eternal nature of God's wrath. But here's the thing. It becomes that much more clear to understand the vastness and the severity of God's judgment on wicked men. It becomes very clear to understand when you look at that cross. If you don't understand the judgment and the terribleness of God's wrath and the eternity of hell and the heinousness of it, it is only because of one thing that makes you not understand it. And that is, you don't understand what took place on that cross. Because if you did and you spurned what it did, you spurned what it is, you rejected it. You're talking about, you're saying you have a problem with God Almighty. After what He did. All of us know what it's like in our lives to deal with ungrateful people to whom we have extended much generosity. I'm sure all of us have experienced what we consider to be a grand gesture of generosity to someone else, only to have them act as though our generosity was deserved. That they deserved our generosity. All of us. Think about this for a second. We know what this is. We have either been the person extending generosity, to have it spurned by the person who was receiving it, not showing appreciation, not showing gratitude, or we might have been that person who was the one receiving the generosity and did not appreciate it. And all of us have probably been on both sides of that coin. I know I have. Imagine giving up your child for the lives of others. And then the others for whom you gave your child up for, in whatever capacity, they are not extending gratitude. They're not gracious recipients of the goodness. How you would feel. How you would feel for ingratitude. Multiply that infinitely. And this is what we have when it comes to Christ. God gave his only son, his only son. And he poured out, now here's the thing. He poured out his wrath. The wrath due man for their rebellion against God, he poured it out on Calvary. All of the punishment and judgment that is to come upon man. And not even all men, just those who didn't repent and turn. Actually, all men in general. Here's my point. I'm getting a little tongue-twasted here. Here's my point. If God had destroyed all of mankind, he would have been right. Because none of us deserve salvation. And if God were to destroy all of mankind, if God gave all of mankind what mankind deserves, all of us would be in an eternity of hell forever. We would be there forever. All of us. So when Christ died on the cross, he incurred the wrath that was owed to all of mankind. So we need to understand just how valuable his son is. Because his son took on the wrath, and I don't understand it. I don't understand how the wrath that Christ endured, it boggles the human mind to understand the wrath that could be endured on that cross for the hours that he was there. And the humiliation, the suffering, all that he went through. How all of that, how all of that was equivalent, equivalent to the wrath that God would have given, would have had to give to all mankind if he gave them their just due. If God did not send his son, had God not sent Christ, all of mankind would have endured God's wrath for hell in eternity. Every single man that's ever been born. What I'm trying to tell you is that the death of Christ, the wrath that he bore on that cross was equivalent to what God would have given to all mankind if he had not sent his son. But I'm trying to tell you like this. If you went to the store with a dollar in pennies, and you wanted to buy 100 items that cost a penny each. So let's say you gave each penny, you gave one of those hundred pennies to a hundred people to go and purchase one hundred items that cost a penny. And then somebody else walks in with a dollar bill and is able to pay and purchase the same things, but only have to use the one bill. And this is this is a weak way of putting it. Whether you have a hundred pennies or whether you have a dollar bill, they're equal in value. So my what I'm with the point I'm trying to make, and I'm telling you, is kind of frail, it's fragile. I've had better days. But my point is this. And it is equal, if you have a hundred pennies, that's a dollar. It equals a dollar in value, but a dollar bill also is one instrument, but it's equivalent to the hundred pennies. So all I'm saying is this all of the wrath that God justly would have to exact against all mankind as sinners. What Christ endured on the cross was equivalent. The fact that he endured that cross for a day, and that that is equivalent, the wrath he endured by God was equivalent to the wrath that God owes all mankind, every single individual that's ever lived. And for them collectively to pay, it would require an eternity in hell. So if the world has had, I don't know, 200 billion people that's ever lived, I don't know how many people have ever lived since time began, but whatever that number is, the wrath, all of them were due. Christ bore in that one day on the cross, and that tells you the value of his person. The value of his person. All I'm trying to do is get you to reflect on the value of his person. When you take part in these Easter rituals, if you're going to go, you might as well have a proper perspective on this. You might as well have a proper perspective on this. Our God is good. He is merciful. He's gracious. His hands and arms are wide open for all sinners who are willing to relinquish their sins and submit to him, who are willing to have faith in the work, in the finished work of our Lord and Savior. Bow to him, come to him in faith, and believe that his death also means your death to sin. And that his resurrection also means your resurrection to the newness of life, and to give you that hopeful expectation for the eternal salvation that is to come. This is what we have to do. This is what is at stake. This man here is talking about somebody who got killed in Michigan. God is still God. He still sits on the throne. God kills people every day. Whose life did you ever appeal to God for? Whose life did you ever pray for that would be better? Kundalini? Who did you ever show care or concern for? Who did you ever lead to the cross of Christ so that a person's soul could be saved so that when they die, they would go be with the eternal God forever? Who have you ever led there? All of this feigned humility that is manufactured to justify and rationalize the unwillingness to pay, to have your own sins paid for by our Savior. But you will see him too. We have to submit to Christ. Our whole mission in life. The chief end of man, according to the Word of God, is to glorify God. Is to glorify God. That is man's sole and only purpose to glorify God. That is our purpose in life. And that is what man and mankind must reckon with. God does not answer to man. God does not answer to man. Christians and sinners of life. If you want to see, I'm not going to say it. I'm not going to say it. I had to delete this guy because he's getting on my nerves. And I don't want to be distracted with such an awesome conversation to be had. But Christians, what I want you to be able to do, have a great weekend. And if you have services this Sunday that are Easter focused, focus on these things that we're talking about. Gratitude toward God for sending his son for us. Bow and submit to Christ with a holy reverence and a desire to please and to glorify him in the capacity that he's given you to do so and lead others to the same conclusions. This life is very short. We don't know if when we wake up tomorrow morning, or we don't know if we will wake up tomorrow morning. We don't know if we're going to survive the rest of this day. We may live another 50 years. But guaranteed, another 700 years from now, none of us here talking right now are going to be here. Think about these things. This Lord's day weekend. While you're listening to those Easter sermons, have a true assessment of just who our Lord is and what he's done for us. And let that resonate in the very depths of your soul. And may you lead people to understand just how great a God we really have. And may God bless all of you. And may you have a great weekend and a great Easter celebration. If you celebrate Easter, I don't know if you do or not, but whatever. God bless you all. And I cannot wait to get back live again with you all. So God bless you and may you have a blessed weekend. And uh I look forward to getting on here with you again.