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2. FOUR (LENT) STUDIES ON WHAT THE CROSS ACHIEVED FOR BELIEVERS 

[4 pages when printed]

STUDY ONE   Bought back for God - Our Redemption

Introduction:  Jesus Christ achieved so much for us on the Cross that we struggle to be able adequately to describe all the benefits we have received. To help in this, three images are commonly used.  They are not  alternative ‘theories’, but complementary ways of understanding the totality of what Christ did. In this study we will investigate “Redemption” which uses the image of the slave market, where individuals could be redeemed by the payment of a price. The idea of redeeming something may not be so familiar to us today, but thinking about ‘rescuing someone’ or of  ‘setting someone free’ might be helpful. Both these ideas are included within Redemption. 

1. Please read Col.1:3-14, noting in particular the last two verses (13,14). In these two verses, what four things does Paul say that our redemption has resulted in (in v.12, v.13, v.13, v.14.)?

So do these verses speak of a minor change or a major transformation in our situation? In what ways? Discuss how, as individual Christians, we may be aware that this has taken place for us. 

2. Why did we need redeeming?  See John 8:34 [Rom.6:23a], 1 John 5:19b, and Heb.2:14,15.

3. The idea of redemption is not confined to the NT. There are many examples of it in the OT - indeed they are recorded to help us to understand what happened on the first Good Friday. The most important example is the Exodus.  Please turn to Exodus 6:6. From this verse and what you  know of the Exodus story, pick out the main points of this act of redemption and work out the parallels with what happened at Calvary.   See Mark 10:45 and 1 Peter 1:18,19. 

4. Consider more objective and subjective results of our being redeemed from Roms.8:1,2 and 1 Cor.6:19,20. What do they mean in practice?        

See also vs.10-12 in the passage we started with  - Col.1:3-14.

STUDY TWO   Declared not guilty  - Our Justification

Introduction  In our first study we explored Christ’s work of Redemption and noted that it used the image of the slave market - of being bought and set free by Christ from our slavery to sin and death, at the price of His shed blood on the Cross. In this study we move to the image of the law court where God is the judge. In responding to the Gospel, we trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins against God’s moral and spiritual law. So in applying redemption to us, God responds to our faith by positively declaring our sins to be forgiven. This is a legal declaration in which God states that we are completely forgiven and no longer subject to His condemnation. This is justification - to be declared ‘not guilty’. 

1. Please read Phil.3:4b-9:   What distinction is Paul making between two types of righteousness in v.9?  Where does the second one come from and how is it obtained? (also see Rom.1:17)

2. Now please read Paul’s fuller statement in Rom.3:21-31.  

What three gifts has God given us (in vs. 21,22 and 23)?

Where does the second gift come from (1 Cor.1:30, 2 Cor.5:21)?

3. Now we need to work out exactly how God gives us this perfect righteousness, because we are clearly not totally righteous in our daily lives, even when we are Christians.  Paul goes on to explain this in Romans chapter 4, using the example of Abraham.

Please read Rom.4:18-25. What did Abraham do?  So what did God do?  What does Paul say God will do for us when we believe in Christ?

What effect does knowing this have on your life now?

STUDY THREE  Made friends with God - Our Reconciliation

Introduction  In our first two studies we explored Redemption and Justification, to which we ascribed the images of the slave market and the law court. In this study we move into the realm of personal relationships - broken and then restored. At some time we have all fallen out with someone else and felt the misery of it. Putting the problem right, perhaps by an apology, and being restored to friendship again, brings overwhelming relief - as if a burden has been lifted. Reconciliation in the NT is about our restored relationship with God as a result of the Cross.

1. The NT is clear that before we come to Christ, the relationship between us and God has completely broken down. What signs do we see of this in the world around us?

Please read Eph.4:17-19 (by ‘Gentile’ in v.17, Paul means ‘heathen’ or unchristian).  Also see Eph.2:1-3. How do you feel these passages apply to people who apparently live “respectable” lives even if they are not Christians?

2. Please read Rom.5:9-11. In what sense is an unbeliever an “enemy” of God (v.10)?

In these three verses Paul’s phrases tumble over one another as he tries to describe the fullness of what has happened to the believer! According to vs.10 and 11 what has happened and how? What did Christ do that has restored the broken relationship referred to in Q.1?

3. Other passages of the NT continue to spell out the same message. Read Col.1:19-23.

What ideas does the word ‘alienated’ (NIV v.21) bring to mind, and how are/were we affected?

There then follows one of the NT’s “but now” statements (v.22): so ‘but now’ what has God done? What phrase is found in v.20 which puts it another, very important, way? (see also Rom.5:1)

What should be two of the chief results of us being “at peace” with God through faith ? See Phil.4:7 Rom.15:13 and Rom.12:18; 2 Cor.13:11. 

4. Finally we turn to possibly the best known NT passage on reconciliation - 2 Cor. 5:17-21. WHO reconciled us to God?

And what now is OUR responsibility?

STUDY FOUR   Knowing God - What the Cross tells us about the character of God

Introduction  We all reveal our character by our actions. So in what God did at the Cross, He revealed a great deal about Himself. That is not to say that the OT, and the rest of the NT, don’t tell us what God is like - they do, very comprehensively! But the salvation wrought by the Cross of Christ was God’s greatest act since the creation of the universe. So it, above all else, should vividly portray the character of God. We are going to briefly examine something of what it says about the glory, the justice, the love, and the power and wisdom of God.

1. The glory of God

Please trace Christ’s thinking by reading the following short passages from John’s gospel: 8:28, 12:20-28, 13: 30-32, 17:1,5.

  What is Christ referring to throughout these verses? See what Paul says in 2 Cor.4:4-6.

2. The justice of God

Please read Deut.32:4 and then Rom.3:25,26. What has God done (mentioned twice) through the Cross?

The problem is, how can God forgive human sin without denying His own justice?  

Let’s spell it out ......

*Who paid the penalty for our sin (Rom.3:25a)? 

*Who was He? 

*So how did God satisfy His own justice? (2 Cor.5:19a)? 

*Has God been just?

3. The love of God

This time let’s go to John’s First Epistle and read 3:16a, then 4:9,10.

Now turn to another “demonstration” in Rom. 5:8. Why won’t people recognise this love?

4. The wisdom and power of God

In what ways does the Cross demolish the world’s ideas of wisdom and power - 1 Cor.1:20-25?

Does that mean that we are not to apply our minds to thinking out our faith? To what extent, do you think, should we strive to understand our faith and how could we achieve that? Note Paul's repeated assertion that we may "know" - see Phil.1:9.

END

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