The Amish Voice 6
2. The purpose of Jesus' death was "to deliv-
er us from this present evil world." Note
that the present world or age is said to be
evil. It is evil in at least two senses:
The present world is sinful: it caus-
es men to ignore, neglect, deny, and
curse God. It also stirs and excites
ungodliness, unrighteousness, im-
morality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness, envy, murder, strife,
deceit, ill will, cruelty, back-biting,
gossiping, slander, pride, boasting,
inventions of evil things, disobedi-
ence to parents, misunderstanding
and false understanding, the break-
ing of covenants, and the destruc-
tion of true love and mercy. (Cp.
Romans 1:29-32.)
The present world is corruptible: it
keeps both man and his world from
being healthy and from living eter-
nally. The present world of corrup-
tion causes man and his world to
suffer and experience disaster, acci-
dent, disease, distress, sorrow, and
calamities. It causes everything to
age, deteriorate, waste away, decay,
and die.
The present world causes man to die
and face the judgment of God who
is
perfectly holy
. Therefore, the pre-
sent world dooms man to face the
holiness of God as an unholy, sin-
ful, and corruptible creature. The
world dooms man to an eternity of
death and judgment—dooms him to
be separated from God forever.
But note the point: this was the very purpose
for Jesus' death. He died to deliver us from
this present evil world. The word "deliver"
means to rescue and to pluck out. Jesus
Christ died to rescue and to pluck us out of
this present evil world. How? As stated
above, "He gave Himself for our sins." He
delivers or rescues us from both
the power
and the fate
of the world. The believer expe-
riences both abundant and eternal life now
and forever.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that heareth my word, and believeth
on him that sent me, hath everlast-
ing life, and shall not come into con-
demnation; but is passed from death
unto life" (John 5:24).
3. The reason Christ died for us is because
God willed it. This is a most glorious
truth: God loves us even as Christ loves
us. It was God's will that we be saved and
delivered from this evil world. God loves
us so much that He wills us to be saved—
wills it so much that He sacrificed His
own Son for us.
Note that God wills to be our Father. The
death of Jesus Christ makes it possible for us
to be adopted by God as His sons and daugh-
ters (Romans 8:15-16; Galatians 4:4-6).
"But God commendeth his love to-
ward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans
5:8).
4. The result of Jesus' death is the glory of
God. Note: Paul could not mention the
death of Christ and the will of God with-
out breaking forth in praise. All men
should praise God for His wonderful love
and the unspeakable gift of His Son.
"But he was wounded for our trans-
gressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).
ILLUSTRATION:
Have you ever given quality time to meditate
on Christ's work on the cross? Take a mo-
ment now to fix your attention on Calva-
ry...to a time...to a Savior...to your involve-
ment in His crucifixion.
"Rembrandt, the famous Dutch artist,
painted a picture of the crucifix-
ion. Vividly he portrayed Christ writh-
ing in...agony on the cruel
cross. Vividly he depicted the various
attitudes of those about the cross to-
ward the suffering Saviour by their
facial expressions. Apart from the
Saviour's death, the most significant
thing about the painting is the artist's
painting of himself, standing in the
shadows on the edge of the onlook-
ers. This was Rembrandt's way of say-
ing, 'I was there, too! I helped to cru-
cify Jesus!' We, too, were there, stand-
ing with Rembrandt in the shadows!"
We were there—standing in the shadows of
our sin. Christ was there—standing in our
sin, dissolving the shadows with His great
love for us!
QUESTIONS:
1. What does this section of Scripture tell
you about Christ's love for you?
2. Why did Jesus have to die?
3. Could you have done what Jesus did?
(Left the glory and perfection of heaven,
lived as a pauper, lived with ridicule and
mockery, suffered torture and a cruel
death for your enemies and then, beyond
imagination, bore all the sin and evil of
the world for all the sinners of the
world?)
4. How should this make you feel when
you really think about what Christ did
for you?
SUMMARY:
Is God's call upon your life obvious to you
and to those who know you? You can sharp-
en the focus by living a life of conviction for
Christ. A life of conviction comes when:
1. You are commissioned by God alone.
2. You are recognized as God's man or
woman by Christian believers.
3. You wish the very best for other believ-
ers.
4. You proclaim the work of Christ.
PERSONAL JOURNAL NOTES
(Reflection & Response)
1. The most important thing that I learned
from this lesson was:
2. The area that I need to work on the most
is:
3. I can apply this lesson to my life by:
4. Closing Statement of Commitment:
—————End—————
The Teacher’s Outline & Study Bible,
Galatians
TM
; [Leadership Ministries
Worldwide, Chattanooga, TN., 1994,
2010], page 1-6, used by permission,
all rights reserved.
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