The Hope of Jesus: Part 2
The Death of Jesus — and How All Were Included “In” Him
In Christ “we live and move and have our being,” the Apostle Paul told the ancient Athenians (Acts 17:28). And in Him “all things consist” (Colossians 1:17).
But how far does that go?
In this Bible study series of the Smiling Icon blog, we’re providing resources for helping people we “attract” to Christ fall in love with Him as we teach them about Him. And we’re doing so in this series showing how He’s already included us in His incarnation — His life, death, resurrection, and ascension.
The Apostle Paul made an amazing statement in 2 Corinthians 5:14 — “For the love of Christ controls and compels us, because we have concluded this, that One died for all, therefore all died…”
Does that mean that since “all live and move and have their being” in Christ, all really were included in His death — whether they knew it or not?
And is the Good News about the death of Christ even better than we’ve allowed ourselves to think, because of the truth of this Scripture?
“He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].” — 2 Corinthians 5:21
“In” Christ, are we more righteous than we realize? And that salvation is not something we earn by our act of repentance, but that we learn and believe and receive in an act of turning from our individualistic mindset, and accepting our reality that is in Christ?
Study Session 2: The Real Meaning of the Death of Christ — for you!
Goal: To help us know more about the death of Christ, and how we were all included in that death.
Discussion Points: What were some of the key scenes that stand out to you in the story of Christ’s death? What did the thief on the Cross do to receive his forgiveness? What is the significance of the cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What happened to all of us, when Christ died?
Scriptures to consider:
Matthew 26-27 — Name some key things that happened at the time of the death of Christ.
Matthew 27:46 — What is the significance of this cry?
Luke 23:43 — What did the thief do to receive his forgiveness?
2 Corinthians 5:14 — When Christ died, who died?
2 Corinthians 5:21 — Did Christ simply bear our sin, or did He become our sin? When Christ died “as” our sin and with us “in” Him, who else died? How completely are our sins paid for “in” Him? As a result of Christ’s death, what have we become?
“He took on the perilous condition of our corrupt and sinful humanity, guilty, standing under the utter real judgment of God. Christ entered into the depths of our human nature. Christ penetrated those depths with personal union with Christ’s divine nature. His struggle was horrendous, because we often give in to sin before temptation reaches its full and horrible extreme. He cried out with loud cryings to God, and sweated blood doing so. When He died and paid for your sin, you died — and your sin was paid for.” (excerpted from An Introduction to Torrance Theology: Discovering the Incarnate Savior” by Gerrit Dawson.)
