BIBLE QUESTIONS ANSWERED

18. God Died for Me
GD

1. WHERE DID SCRIPTURE SAY MESSIAH WOULD BE BORN?

1GD Micah 5:2 The One born in Bethlehem, our Savior, had His origins "from everlasting"—He always existed.

Mat 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem

Mat 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

Jesus the man was born in Bethlehem during the reign of the king known as "Herod the Great." But Jesus was much more than a man; He was God—the God-man. And His existence began much more anciently than His birth in Bethlehem. God the Son has always existed. His work in coming to Earth was to save His people from their sins. The fact that He became human and was born in Bethlehem is a historical fact. But the reason behind His birth reveals a love far beyond our comprehension.

2. WHAT RELATIONSHIP DID MESSIAH HAVE TO THE CREATION OF THE WORLD?

2GD Heb. 1:1-3 Jesus, God's Son, actually made the entire universe.

John 1:1-3, 10, 14 In the beginning* was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. . . . He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (KJV = "only begotten" as in Jn 3:16)

*The Greek phrase for "in the beginning" does not have the article. It appears as "in beginning." The article "the" would indicate a definite historical point when the Word began. But the Greek "in beginning" has no such article and is indefinite in its meaning. We could, taking other texts into account, translate it properly as "when everything that had a beginning began, the Word already was." Jesus, the Word, is timeless.

3. WHEN DID MESSIAH VOLUNTEER TO DIE FOR US?

3GD 1 Pet. 1:18-20 We are redeemed by the blood of Christ (Greek for Messiahthe divinely anointed One), Who volunteered to die for us BEFORE HE CREATED THE WORLD.
      • John 10:17, 18 The reason my Father loves me is that I
        lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes
        it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have
        authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.
        This command I received from my Father."
      • Jesus died for our sins, and bore them in His body on
        the cross. (1 Pet 2:24) Our sins caused Him infinite pain,
        the likes of which we could never even imagine. The
        Jews and the Romans put Him on the cross and did their
        best to kill Him. But, as sinners, we were there by proxy,
        helping them do their awful deed.
      • But none of this actually KILLED Christ. When the
        weight of the sins of the world, and the separation from
        His Father became too much to bear, He voluntarily let
        go of His life: "Father, into your hands I commit my
        spirit." (Luke 23:46)

4. WHEN DID GOD PUT HIS PLAN FOR OUR SALVATION INTO EFFECT?

4GD Rev. 13:8 God was so certain of His plan to die for us that He put His plan for our salvation into effect (He began the use of the book of life) BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.

Isa 46:10, 11 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.

5. WHEN DID GOD EXTEND TO US HIS GRACE—THE GRACE THAT SAVES US?

5GD 2 Tim. 1:9 God's grace, which saves us,* was extended to us BEFORE HE CREATED THE WORLD.

*Eph 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

6. WHEN DID GOD CHOOSE US PERSONALLY TO BE SAVED?

6GD Eph. 1:4 God chose us to be saved (personally) BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN.
      • Jesus didn't come to earth with the attitude, "Hmmm,
        who should I save? Perhaps Peter, or Paul. O yes, there
        are others too."
      • No, no, no. It was never like that. Before Jesus came to
        Earth to save us from our sins He looked down the ages
        and saw you and me, and said "I want to save that one,
        and that one, and that one. And by the time He was
        finished with His list, it included every man, woman,
        and child who would ever live on His world.
      • Christ knew for whom He was dying before He actually
        came as a Babe in Bethlehem.

7. WHAT HAPPENED TO GOD WHEN JESUS DIED FOR US ON THE CROSS?

7GD Phil. 2:5-8 Jesus was God; He became a man and died for our sins on the cross. Therefore GOD DIED FOR US!
     • Mat 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all
        nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
        of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
      • John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom
        the Father will send in my name, will teach you all
        things and will remind you of everything I have said to
        you.
      • The God we know actually consists of three individuals:
        The Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit (see
        lesson 14 on the Trinity). While the Son
        (Jesus) worked with the Father and the Holy Spirit to
        create the universe, only the Son (Jesus) died on the
        cross. The Father and the Holy Spirit continued to
        maintain all things by the word of their power.
        However, since the Three live and love so closely
        together, They all suffered the penalty for the sin of the
        human race when the Son died on the cross—so much
        so that we can truly say that "God died for us."

8. WHAT DID GOD ACTUALLY DO WHEN HE DIED ON THE CROSS?

8GD 1 Pet. 2:24 Jesus, our God and Savior, BORE OUR SINS ON THE CROSS.
      • Jesus did not just put all our sins in a big bag and carry
        them on His shoulders when He died on the cross. That
        would have been weight enough to kill any man. No,
        Jesus carried our sins IN His own Body when He hung
        on the cross. Every sin we've ever done was injected
        into His body. We were there; our sins were there; our
        very lives were bound up in the Person hanging on the
        cross, and ". . . by his wounds we are healed." (Isa 53:5)

9. WHAT HAS JESUS REVEALED TO US ABOUT GOD?

9GD John 1:18 God's "only begotten son" (Greek--"only begotten GOD) HAS REVEALED GOD'S LOVE TO US.
      • The Greek makes it very clear that Jesus, the Word, the
        one through whom the world was created . . . Jesus is
        "the only begotten GOD

10. HOW LONG WILL GOD'S LOVE BE DISPLAYED THROUGH JESUS?

10GD John 3:16, 17 God's love is displayed in His Gift: not only did He give His life for us, but He became ONE with us—HE WILL FOREVER RETAIN HIS HUMAN NATURE. (The effects of the gift are eternal, so the gift must also be eternal.)

What Happened Before the Creation of the World

   • Titus 1:2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of
         eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised
        before the beginning of time.
      • Eph 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of
         the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
      • Rev 13:8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the
         beastall whose names have not been written in the
         book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain
         from the creation of the world.
      • Micah 5:2 (KJV) But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
         thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of
         thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
         Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
         everlasting.
      • 1 Cor 2:7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a
         wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for
         our glory before time began.
      • 2 Th 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you,
         brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning
         God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying
         work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
   • 1 John 2:13 I write to you, fathers, because you have
         known him who is from the beginning. I write to you,
         young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I
         write to you, dear children, because you have known
         the Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you have
         known him who is from the beginning.
      • John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
         was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with
         God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were
         made; without him nothing was made that has been
         made.
      • 1 Pet 1:20 He [Jesus] was chosen before the creation of
         the world, but was revealed in these last times for your
         sake.
      • John 17:24 "Father, I want those you have given me to
         be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory
         you have given me because you loved me before the
         creation of the world.
      • Heb 9:25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again
         and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy
         Place every year with blood that is not his own.
         Heb 9:26 Then Christ would have had to suffer many
         times since the creation of the world. But now he has
         appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away
         with sin by the sacrifice of himself.