We must also know the purpose for Christ’s death on the cross. First Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise you were healed.” The tree refers to the cross. For what purpose did Christ die on the cross? It says here clearly that Christ died on the cross to bear our sins. In the Old Testament, Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all like sheep have gone astray; / Each of us has turned to his own way, / And Jehovah has caused the iniquity of us all / To fall on Him.” When Christ died on the cross, God laid all our sins, all our iniquities, on Him. Here, therefore, is the forgiveness of sins and the remission of sins for us. We all have to realize that Christ died on the cross to bear our sins. This is what we call the work of Christ. We do have the problem of our sins, but praise Him, He died on the cross and took away all our sins! Our problem of sins was solved on the cross.
As we have seen, Christ is God, He became a man, as our Redeemer He was crucified on the cross to take away all our sins, and He resurrected to be our Savior, our Lord as the Spirit. Now because Christ is such a person and because He has died in such a way, salvation is ready for you. Within this salvation there are several things which are very important for you. First, in this salvation you have forgiveness of sins. Acts 10:43 says, “To this One all the prophets testify that through His name everyone who believes into Him will receive forgiveness of sins.” When you believe in this Christ and receive Him as your Savior, forgiveness of sins becomes your portion. You share in and partake of this portion. Forgiveness of sins is in the salvation prepared by Christ for you.
Within this salvation, you also have the eternal life, the divine life. First John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” If you believe in Christ, you have Christ, and when you have Christ, you have the life. Many verses tell us the same things, but the above two verses are adequate. They tell us that the remission and forgiveness of sins is in the salvation prepared for you by Christ, and within this salvation you have the divine, eternal life of God. These are the two main items of the salvation of God, the salvation prepared for you by Christ.
We have seen the person of Christ, the work of Christ, and the salvation prepared for us by Christ. Now, what is the proper way to receive and enjoy this salvation? You have to do three things. First, you have to recognize that this Christ is the very God, the Creator, and that He became a man, died on the cross for your sins, and resurrected from the dead. Now He is the living Savior, the Lord as the Spirit. He is living, real, and available to you. Tell Christ that you do recognize Him as such. Tell him, “Lord, I recognize that You are the very God. One day You became a man, and You died for me on the cross. You have taken away all my sins. Then You resurrected from the dead. Today I do recognize that You are the living Savior. You are my Savior, and You are my Lord. Now You are the Spirit, who is so available to me. You are now with me and even within me.”
When I was saved forty years ago, I did not receive the help that we are fellowshipping about here. It took me more than ten years to realize all these things. However, today there is no need for you to take ten years. Just one night is good enough, perhaps even one hour. This is a very brief statement of the whole gospel from the Scriptures. You need to recognize these truths. This kind of recognition is very necessary.
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