Faithful Both to His Promises and to His Threats

Why did Christ suffer? 

• We know from the Scriptures that suffering is the result of sin.
• Suffering is God’s punishment upon sinful men. 
• Yet Christ was without sin. 
• He Himself did no wrong to merit such suffering. 

Why then did He suffer? 

• It was because Christ assumed a special role. 
• He became our Representative, our Mediator. 
• God sent His Son into the world so that He might bear our punishment for us. 

In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read, 

• For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, 
• that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 
• Thus Christ did not suffer for His own sins, 
• but He suffered for your sins and mine.

It is good to remember this suffering of Christ. 

• Some “Christians” think that God simply forgives and forgets about our sins without demanding payment. 
• They put the emphasis on the love of God, and they deny the justice of God. 
• They do not believe that God’s justice requires full satisfaction for sin. 

Yet God swore to Adam and Eve that the punishment for disobedience was death. 

• God cannot revoke His word. 
• God is faithful, both to His promises and to His threats. 
• Thus there was the need for payment. 

Furthermore, God’s justice demanded it. 

• In His love, however, God also sought for the redemption of man.
• Thus He sent a Mediator, a righteous Man Who would make this payment on our behalf. 
• Christ bore the wrath of God against the sin of us all. 

To be continued...

Adapted Excerpt from Van Delden's Only by True Faith