GOD AS REDEEMER. ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ " Revelation 5:12

The Triune God is not only our Creator, He’s our Redeemer, as well.

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13

Not through works, not through anything we could ever do, but through His grace, manifest at the Cross, can we as sinners be redeemed by the Lord and be “brought near” to Him.

“the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” 1 Cor. 1:18,

AT THE CROSS. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” Rom. 5:8

Love, justice and compassion fuse in a singular dynamic act. God forgives sinners by paying in Himself the price of sin and absorbing into His own suffering Self the penalty of that sin.

Modern religious sentimentality often minimizes repugnance toward sin. And because sin doesn’t make us angry anymore, perhaps it becomes harder to realize that sin arouses the wrath of a Holy God.

¹⁸ The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

^{Rom.3: 20} Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

It is precisely because God is love that He opposes sin and evil, for these realities corrupt and destroy His beloved children. The death that God endured on the cross is the price His love pays for taking sin seriously while still loving sinners.

Jo Ann Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews university, www.ssnet.org

^{RIGHTHEOUSNESS AND LOVE. SAVIOR OF ALL. 1 Peter 1: 18} For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

His Son would die for these first two humans and all who would follow. He would come to earth so we could go to heaven. He would take on a mortal body, so we could be immortal again; and He would walk with sinners, so we could once again walk with angels. He would be hurt, so we could be healed (Isa. 53:5); and He would receive God’s wrath against sin so we could know God’s love. Christ would die so we could live.

At the Cross—between righteousness and love—God, through Christ, chose both so we could be redeemed.

^{Rom.1: 18} The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

^{Rom.16: 20} The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Jesus’ command is to “ ‘make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you’ ” (Matt. 28:19, 20, NIV).

^{Eph.2: 8} For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Saving faith is evi­dent by the good deeds we do for others. A person who is truly saved helps others. Our faith and actions work together.

Jesus was punished for our sins when He died on the cross. Our part is to grasp His sacrifice by faith.

Jesus’ sacrifice is for all people, even the worst of sinners. When we do not preach and live the message of the Cross, we basically invalidate all that Jesus did and is doing for us as our High Priest in heaven.

We must not be afraid to tell anyone and everyone about Jesus and to help all who need help, just as He did. After all, Jesus associated with the rich, the poor, harlots and hypocrites, and Gentiles and Samaritans. He was known as the Friend of sinners because He went where sinners were. He was totally involved.

How are you preparing your heart and mind to bring people to Jesus, the Redeemer who longs to save us all?

Clayton Ferreira, Fernando Monteiro, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org

THE GOSPEL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. Gen.3: ¹⁵ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring^[a] and hers; he will crush^[b] your head, and you will strike his heel.”

We are also assured that this major conflict will not be eternal, for the head of the enemy will one day be crushed. In these verses, not only is the great controversy first revealed, but we also are told how it is going to end.

^{Gen.22: 9} When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”  “Here I am,” he replied.  ¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

What a powerful representation of the sacrificial death of Christ on our behalf.

There, on Mount Moriah, the world has been presented a very powerful picture (but still only a picture) of the plan of salvation and what it cost to redeem fallen humanity from the ruin of sin.

Jo Ann Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

THE GIFT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING. Eph.1: ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

‘The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.’ Isaiah 53:5.

God permitted His beloved Son, full of grace and truth, to come from a world of indescribable glory, to a world marred and blighted with sin, darkened with the shadow of death and the curse.

He who had been one with God, felt in His soul the awful separation that sin makes between God and man. . . .Ellen G. White

‘God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.’ John 3:16.

‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.’ 2 Corinthians 5:19.

God suffered with His Son. In the agony of Gethsemane, the death of Calvary, the heart of Infinite Love paid the price of our redemption. . . . Ellen G. White

“The price paid for our redemption, the infinite sacrifice of our heavenly Father in giving His Son to die for us, should give us exalted conceptions of what we may become through Christ. . . .

‘Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.’ 1 John 3:1.

By assuming human nature, Christ elevates humanity. Fallen men are placed where, through connection with Christ, they may indeed become worthy of the name ‘sons of God.’ Ellen G. White, compiled by Elyssa Nascimento, www.cqbiblestudy.org

SALVATION IN ISAIAH. Isaiah 53 ¹ Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  ² He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. ⁴ Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Though so much exists in this chapter, one point stands out more than anything else, and that is the substitutionary role of the Suffering Servant. Notice all the times that He is paying the price for the sins of others.

The only way to save us was for Jesus to pay the penalty in our stead and then offer us His perfect righteousness, which we claim by faith.

The fact that He did, that it took nothing less than His death in order to make atonement, should be all the proof we need that we cannot earn our salvation. It is, instead, wholly a gift of grace.

^{1 Peter 2: 21} To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ²² “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”^{[a] 23} When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴ “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” ²⁵ For “you were like sheep going astray,”^[b] but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Using Isaiah 53 as your text, think about the final scenes of Christ’s life. As you do, keep in mind that the person depicted there is our God, our Creator, one part of the Godhead Himself. How do we get our minds around this amazing truth?

Jo Ann Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

THE CROSS. He suffered for us so we can one day live without pain.

“The death of the cross was something so cruel that for the ancient Latin people the word crucio became synonymous with suffering. According to historical data, there were four types of crosses: the comissa (T-shaped), decussata (X-shaped), the Greek (+-shaped) and timissa (†-shaped). The last one refers to that which we know traditionally by the various paintings of Christ’s death. Only timissa and the Greek cross allowed the placement of any sign above the head of the condemned, and the Bible says that happened with Jesus (Matt. 27:37). Timissa, being extremely high (4.80 meters), fits well with the characteristics presented in the Gospels.

On the timissa, the convict’s arms were nailed in a V shape, and the victim had to put weight on his nailed feet to breathe better. This caused terrible suffering. The crucified could struggle with death for days. That’s why in Mark 15:44 Pilate marveled that Jesus was already dead.”  Rodrigo Silva, A arqueologia e Jesus, 2007, pp. 260, 264.

While dying on the cross, Jesus’ heart was oppressed by anguish and wounded by sadness. The cause of His suffering was not the fear of death, but the overwhelming weight of the sin of a cruel world that separated Him from the love of His Father. All of this caused Him to experience an earlier than normal death. Only the spotless Son of God could be our Substitute.

João Brito et Estela Pint, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org

THE GOSPELS AND THE CROSS. As miraculous as His birth and ministry were, the great mission of Christ’s life was His death.

“We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, ³⁴ who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

In fact, in the four Gospel accounts of the Messiah’s life, the events surrounding and including the crucifixion carry the major emphasis.

All four Gospel writers, however, determinedly emphasize the last week of Christ’s life and, of course, His death. Glance through them and notice this pointed focus on just a few days of Christ's life. The last week of Jesus’ life, leading up to and including His death, takes up from one-third to almost a half of all gospel accounts. Each reader is “forced” to rivet attention on the great redeeming act of God.

Look at your life, your past, your mistakes, your sins. Do you honestly think anything you have done, or could do, could ever atone for them? Why, then, should the death of Jesus on your behalf be the central focus of your life? What hope would you have without it? 

Jo Ann Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

OUR HERO SAVIOR. Eph.2: ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

^{Marc 10: 33} “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, ³⁴ who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

^{Matt.28: 16} Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

^{Gal;.5: 22} But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

First of all, believe God’s promise that Christ atones for your past sins and that only He can make you holy. Then confess your sins and commit your life to serving God.

^{Eze. 36: 26} I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

^{Matt.9 6} But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷ Then the man got up and went home.

^{Isaiah 55: 1} “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

“Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill His word to you. If you believe the promise—believe that you are forgiven and cleansed—God supplies the fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it.”

Denis Silveira et Saulo Vieira, Artur Nogueira, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org

THE CRY ON THE CROSS. ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ Matt. 27:46,

 …an “example of selfless love.” It was certainly that, but considering our situation as sinners, it would take more than “an example of selfless love” to redeem us. It would take, instead, our God bearing in Himself the full brunt of His own wrath against sin.

…The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. . . . He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal. . . . It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 752, 753.

Jesus addresses this prayer to “God” instead of to the “Father,” as He always had done…this is God giving Himself over to death so that our destiny would not be determined by death. This is God Himself dying the death that we can be spared from, the death that sin would otherwise bring us all.

There is no statement in all the Gospels to rival this one of Jesus from the cross, and in that cry we get a glimpse of what the Lord Himself was willing to go through in order to bring us salvation.

Jo Ann Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

HERO-LAMB. Rev.5: 5“Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof ”

Rev.5: 9“Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood”

By being at the same time God and man, Christ became our Redeemer, our closest Relative, so to speak, shedding His pure blood to redeem our life from Satan’s grip. Thus, He who was slain became the Hero, rather than the hunter. Thus, He redeems us as His own.

In what ways can Jesus be your Hero on a daily basis?

Ricardo Coelho and Ana Carolina, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org

FURTHER STUDY. “The infinite mercy and love of Jesus, the sacrifice made in our behalf, call for the most serious and solemn reflection. We should dwell upon the character of our dear Redeemer and Intercessor. . . . As we thus contemplate heavenly themes, our faith and love will grow stronger, and our prayers will be more and more acceptable to God, because they will be more and more mixed with faith and love. They will be intelligent and fervent. There will be more constant confidence in Jesus, and a daily, living experience in His power to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 89

SUMMARY. From the earliest pages of Genesis, the Bible points us to the death of Christ on the cross, where He would die a sinner’s death in order to redeem us, as sinners, from the eternal destruction that sin brings. Though the Bible uses different symbols and metaphors to explain Christ’s death, at the center of it all is His substitution, so graphically expressed in Isaiah 53. If we ever needed proof that works couldn’t save us, we have it with the death of God Himself on the cross. After all, what could fallen beings ever add to that?

Jo Ann Davidson, Professor of Theology, Andrews University, www.ssnet.org

PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR. CONCLUDE. The overwhelming weight of sin separating Jesus from the Father ended Jesus’ life that day on the cross. There, the fear the human race has felt ever since God came looking for Adam and Eve in Eden was dealt with. Jesus’ death made it possible for everyone to know God as the loving Father that He is. And it is our privilege to tell them about Him.

Gill Bahnsen, Collegiate Quarterly, www.cqbiblestudy.org