2 Timothy 4:4-8 says, “And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures:  And that he was seen of Peter, then of the twelve:  After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remains unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.  And last of all, he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time.”  And then he says he’s one of the least of the apostles because he had persecuted the church.  This great gospel—and I said all that just to refer to the one line there, in verse 3, “Christ died for our sins.”  Hallelujah!

We see, in Isaish 53, that it pleased God.  It pleased God, and this was the heart of God from eternity, that He would redeem us back to Himself.  He knew we were going to fall.  He knew we were going to fall—think about this.  He knew what it was going to cost Him, (I’m talking about God).  And when I’m talking about God I’m talking about Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  You can’t have God without all three persons.  Nothing is exclusive to one person.  He’s a unitary Being; everything operates in unity and oneness through these three separate persons: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

So, in the determinate counsel of God, the Trinity, they sat down and went over this stuff.  And the decision was being made to create man, knowing that he would ultimately fall, knowing that it would take His own offering of His own self.  Think about this, “He…who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  He, who was pure, He, who was holy, He, who was sinless in His natural incarnate Person, took your sin and my sin on Himself.  He didn’t just become a sacrifice that would bring appeasement.  It would not have been sufficient.  He had to take sin itself.  He didn’t just die because we had sinned.  He absorbed sin—would be a way to say this—into Himself and put it to death.  He, who was Holy, He, who never sinned, He, who knew no sin.

I don’t think we can comprehend—well, I know we can’t comprehend—how pure He is.  And tragically, in our fallen state, we can’t appreciate how evil we are.  Even after being regenerated and glimpsing the horribleness of sin, we’ve been made aware of it now.  We understand what sin is.  But we don’t fully appreciate the horror of sin and what is involved in it.  An opposition to God, a hatred of God, a minimizing of God, and wanting to ascend above His very throne, as Lucifer said.  Lucifer’s sin was found in him (Ezekiel 28:15); amen?  We battle daily, every day, self-exaltation, a tendency towards self-exaltation, the tendency to justify ourselves.  Aren’t you glad that you’re more ready to run to Jesus and confess your sins now instead of justifying them?  And that’s what our spiritual growth is all about; that’s what sanctification is all about.  Being able to come to that place where I want to approach God and get clean from this thing, rather than justify why this happened to me, and why I did this.  Why?  Because I want to be holy, for He is Holy, praise God!  I want to have that communion with Him.  It’s not about relieving my conscious, it’s about imbibing His presence, and becoming more like Him, praise God!