“For this cause came I unto this hour.” How could one misunderstand this statement? When spoken of Pharaoh it is not misunderstood! Exodus 9:16 the scriptures tell us: “for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee My power.” Nor is it misunderstood when spoken of those who profane the Lord’s Supper: “for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” 1 Corinthians 11:30 Why, then, should someone misunderstand what Jesus says when He said: “for this cause came I into this world?” John 12:27 When before Pilate, Jesus said: “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears My voice.” John 18:37 Some would say, “that proves my point.” Christ came into this world to be a king!” My friend just read verse 36 of John 18. “My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence.” John and Jesus had been preaching for about 51/2 years; “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” one of the thieves at Calvary knew and understood this teaching. He castigated his fellow military insurrectionists when he cried out; “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom” Luke 23:42 Jesus spoke to His disciples when He was introducing the Lord’s Supper when He said: “I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Luke 22:16 “Fear not, little flock; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32 Jesus “came into this world to save sinners,” writes Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15 and the ONLY way Christ could save sinners was to offer a sacrifice greater than the “blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer….a body Thou hast prepared Me.” Hebrews 10:5-10
With the death of Christ God JUSTIFIED His forgiving man of sin! Romans 3:24, else how could God have been held guiltless by forgiving man and not the angels who had sinned? It is true, the merchantman “sold ALL that He had, and bought it (The Church of Christ)” Matthew 13:46 With what did He buy the church, you might ask? His blood!! He “purchased her with His own blood.” Act 20:28 The Church of Christ was purchased “from the foundations of the world.” Ephesians 1:4 “In whom we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7 IF CHRIST HAD NOT DIED, SALVATION WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE!!
“Put up thy sword into the sheath, the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” John 18:11 The Greek word for given is dedoken which is the 3rd person indicative perfect active of the word didomi, a verb. It means to be entrusted with or given opportunity. Christ was to “give” His life a ransom, Matthew 20:28, or Christ would “give” to the apostles the Holy Spirit “to lead and direct them into all the truth.” John 16:13; Luke 21:15.
The blessings of the cross of Calvary are greater arguments as the truth presents itself concerning Christ dying for the sins of the Church. Christ blood shed at Calvary destroyed the enmity of God towards man. Ephesians 2:15-16, brought about reconciliation between God and man, Hebrews 2:17, made the sinless in Paradise one with the sinner of Paradise in the heart of the earth, Ephesians 1:10; 3:14, and destroyed the power of sin, expelled the Demons, destroyed temples, overturned altars, suppressed the sacrificial offerings, and founded the Church of Christ.
For these reasons the cross is brighter than the Sun, more brilliant than a sunbeam in the dark heart of woe, and that hope with which darkness is extinguished. It breaks our bond with Satan, makes the prison of death ineffective, and SATISFIED THE DEMANDS OF GOD. Truly, a demonstration of the “love of God” as expressed in John 3:16-18; “for God so loved the world (church) that He gave (entrusted Him with His plan) His only begotten Son (to purchase the “pearl of great price,” the cost?, His life’s blood) that whosoever continues to believe (obey) Christ will not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His son into the world (this planet) to condemn the world (mankind) but that the world (the Church of Christ) through Him, might be saved. He that (continues) to believe on Him is not condemned (“if God be for us, who can be against us”) but he that believes not (will not continue to obey Christ and His authority) is condemned already, because he hath not believed (continued to obey)in the name (authority) of the only begotten Son of God.” “The light shineth not in darkness.”
