Lesson 2 The Gospel–One Message With Two Parts: The Death
Questions 5 and 6
Now notice in the passage below (Ephesians 2:1-3) that God’s wrath was coming for us! It states that by nature we were, “children of wrath”, the “objects of God’s wrath”. God was coming to put us to death! To judge our sin! But the wrath of God was poured out on the cross and Jesus became our shield! Jesus bore our sin! Jesus took our place! God, “condemned sin the flesh,” in the flesh of His only Son! Friend, we have escaped, not because we ran and hid like Adam, but because Jesus, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).
Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
This passage tells us that we were “dead” in the trespasses and sins in which we “once walked.” We were the original “walking dead” as we followed the course of this world and the devil who is the prince of the power of the air. So this makes sense that in our sinful nature we were by nature “children of wrath,” and “walking dead” by living in our sinful passions.
Question 5: We make disciples by preaching the message of the cross and seeing people who believe that message become crucified with Christ and risen from the dead.
Yes, this is true discipleship, when people grasp the message of the cross to the extent that they enter into the power of it themselves, where they are “crucified with Christ”(Galatians 2:20) and “risen with Christ” (Colossians 3:1).
The cross not only highlights Jesus’ death for our sins, being condemned so we could be set free, taking on the sin of the entire world; it also shows Him taking on the sin debt that we could not pay. He “canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14 NIV). When Jesus was nailed to the cross our debt was canceled. This is why the Scripture says, “He became sin who knew no sin” so that He could cancel the debt we owed but could not pay. “This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23).
Question 6: Just how did Jesus cancel the charge of our legal indebtedness?