Senior Pastor, Robert Dennison, preached this message on January 18, 2026. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Audio Transcript
We’re continuing our series today on exploring Bible doctrine. It’s every third Sunday whenever we have the Lord’s Supper. Looking at each statement in our statement of faith. Today we’re looking at the work of Christ. We always want to remember that the Holy Bible is our final authority for matters of belief and conduct.
The statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs. The Bible itself has the inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth. Morality and the proper conduct of humanity is the sole and final source of all that we believe. May we read together what our statement of faith says about the work of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ as our representative and substitute, shed his blood on the cross as the perfect all sufficient sacrifice for our sins.
His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation. May we pray, asking for understanding once again. Heavenly Father, as we come to your Word and we look at our doctrinal statement, just going briefly through things, remind us of truths that we may have forgotten. Make things more clear to us that we may not have understood. But Father, we ask that our authority and our convictions and all that we believe will truly be based only on your word and not that of men.
It’s in your Son’s name that we pray. Amen. The work of Jesus Christ, we’re going to just take it apart word by word and phrase by phrase. The first part of the statement says we believe that Jesus Christ as our representative. And we’re going to see some verses here that talk about the fact that there are two Adams in Scripture.
The first, Adam was married to Eve in the Garden of Eden. And the second Adam we know from Scripture and God’s word is Jesus Christ. Both of them are representatives for the world, each in a state of perfection. They acted upon a decision that they freely made that affects every individual. They alone were the only two men.
They were able to do it because they were both perfect and they made their decision freely, not having any internal influence. Yes, Satan was an external influence, but neither one of them had a sin nature. And the decision that they each made affects every individual in the world. Adam’s act of disobedience led to us having what we call our sin nature. That’s what’s inside of us.
It’s the proclivity to sin. But it’s not just about the proclivity sin. It’s the fact that we actually are sinners. We can sin by doing things, we can sin by not doing things that we’re supposed to do. And I was reading a little bit Leviticus chapter 5 this week that we even sin when we are unaware of it.
God instructed the Israelites on three different occasions there in that one chapter. Even if they don’t know that they committed the sin, they are still guilty. And so it is that we are all guilty of sin because it’s inside of us and because of what we do. And it’s because of our representative, Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. Adam’s act of disobedience led to our sin nature.
But in contrast to that, not disobedience, but Jesus act of obedience led to the possibility now of every individual being cured from the sin nature that we inherit from Adam. We’re born first into the family of Adam, but we have the opportunity to be reborn into the family of the second Adam, who is Jesus Christ. Let’s just read some verses that conceptualize this for us. In First Corinthians 4, chapter 15, we read, so it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being, the last Adam. And here it’s talking about Jesus Christ became a life giving spirit.
The first man was from the earth, a man of dust, and the second man is from heaven. Paul writes in First Corinthians 15, like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust, or just like Adam. And like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven, those who have accepted Jesus Christ by faith. We now have a new nature. And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
We go now to the next statement. We believe that Jesus Christ is our representative. That’s not the next statement. It’s still the same one. Romans, chapter 5.
So then as through one trespass, there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act, there is justification leading to life for everyone. For just as through one man’s disobedience, the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience, the many will be made righteous. Jesus Christ is our representative. Just as Adam was. Adam brought life into the world.
Jesus Christ brought, I mean brought death into the world, Jesus Christ brought life. The next word that we find here is that Jesus was a substitute for us all wrong requires a payment or a punishment in order to restore relationships and fairness in the world. A stolen object, if it’s found, should be returned. But there should also be an extra penalty or an extra fee that’s added for the wrong that was done. We know that murder requires a penalty of for restitution.
So we as sinners, being all sinners, we also are required by the justice of God to make payments and or receive punishment for all of the sin that we commit. But what we find in Scripture is that Jesus became a substitute for us. He made the payment that we were supposed to give up. He took the punishment that we were supposed to bear on the cross, all because of our sin. He did it in our place.
How did he do that? He did it by shedding his blood. And it goes back to the Old Testament law where it talks about blood had to be shed for every sin so that there could be forgiveness and there could be restoration. In Leviticus 17:11, we read, for the life of a creature is in the blood. And I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.
What is this atonement that is offered to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? We could spend a long time talking about it. I just want to include a few of the elements of it here as we kind of look at a short definition. Atonement is the covering. That’s literally what the word means.
There’s a covering that’s put over something. But the covering, when we talk about the blood of Christ, has a very specific purpose. It corrects the problem that sin has created for us. It pays the penalty of our sin. It also satisfies the requirement for the divine justice.
And then it goes beyond that. It provides forgiveness. But God didn’t stop there. He said, not only am I going to forgive you, but I want to restore this personal, intimate relationship with you like I had with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In the Old Testament, the place of atonement was the altar where the blood of an animal substitute was shed to cover people’s sin.
And it was placed as a cover on the altar. And once a year it was taken into the holy of Holies, Jesus Christ. Blood took the place of all that, so it doesn’t have to ever happen again. But there was so much blood that was spilled in the Old Testament. It was this constant reminder.
This is the need of all people. Matthew 26:27 through 28, referring back to the Lord’s Supper, Jesus made it very clear. It says, he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them. And he said, drink from it. All of you.
For this is my. What’s the word there? This is my blood. It’s the blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus had to shed his blood so that our sins might be forgiven.
Jesus had to shed his blood so that atonement, a covering could be made so that we could approach God once again and have a personal, intimate, saving relationship with him. Where did this happen? It happened on the cross and before Jesus was crucified, before Roman civilization had come into place, before the cross and crucifixion was even thought of. We can go back to the Old Testament and see that this was prophesied through the prophet in the Psalm 22. As I read through it, just think in your mind how it refers to the coming sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his suffering.
And I encourage you to take your Bibles this afternoon and read about the crucifixion and read this psalm and see how they fit together.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? And so it was on the cross for only a moment. Throughout all of eternity, the loving relationship of Jesus Christ, the Son with the Father and the Spirit was completely separated. And it was the worst thing on the cross that Jesus experienced to have that love relationship abandoned, even just for a moment. The psalmist said, I am a worm and not a man.
And that’s how people looked at Jesus. He was scorned by mankind. He was desperate, despised by the very people that he had created. Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and they shake their heads.
He relies on the Lord. Let him save him. Let the Lord rescue him, since he takes pleasure in him. They scorned and they scoffed at Jesus and they said, let him save himself.
The psalmist talks about those in power, the bulls that are surrounding him. The strong ones of Bashan encircle me. The leaders of the religious people, the leaders of the government, all those in power, they were there and they were opening their mouths against him like lions mauling and roaring. Psalmist said, I’m poured out like water and all my bones are disjointed. When you read about crucifixion, what it did to people hanging on the cross, their bones begin to come apart.
My heart is like wax melting within me. My strength is dried up like baked k and baked clay. And my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You put me into the dust of death, for dogs have surrounded me. A gang of evildoers has closed in on me.
They pierced my hands and my feet. When I look down, I can count all of my bones, and people look and stare at me. They even divided my garments amongst themselves and they cast lots for my clothing, which is exactly what the soldiers did at the foot of the cross. Jesus died a death that was predicted in the Old Testament in a way that nobody even knew about at that time. It’s just further evidence how he fulfills prophecy.
And here, in the case of his death, he didn’t kill himself. It wasn’t like he said, oh, I read this in the Old Testament, I want to do this to myself. It was placed upon him by those that were outside of his control. The next thing we want to see here is that Jesus was perfect. He was without sin.
In Hebrews 4:15, we read, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are yet without sin. Jesus didn’t come and live in a palace where he had the best food and the best clothes and the best entertainment and the best bed. He came and he lived in the poor community with common people and praise the Lord. He understands what all of us go through and that even in all that difficulty with the persecution that he went through with the false accusations, he did all that as an example for us that it’s possible by the power of the Lord to do this without sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read he who made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus Christ had to be perfect. There is no person in this world that reaches perfection. He is the only man that ever was perfect. And for that reason he was able to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin. And that was pictured throughout the Old Testament because the animals all had to be looked over carefully.
They couldn’t have any imperfection in them because God wanted them all to point to what Jesus Christ would be someday. We find next in the statement that he is our all sufficient sacrifice. We read in Hebrews chapter 9, verses 24 through 28. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands only a model of the true one, but into heaven itself. It’s talking about the sanctuary, the tabernacle in the Old Testament and then the more permanent temple that was made.
They were in this world, but they were only to be a picture of a representation of the true sanctuary that is in heaven, but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us. Whereas the priest went into the temple that was only temporary, the one that just made to help us to know a little what was heaven was like. Jesus Christ went once and for all into the real temple of God and presented himself before the Father. He did not do this to offer himself. It says many times.
Whereas the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another Jesus Christ. Sacrifice was all sufficient. He didn’t have to do it many times, he didn’t have to do it twice. It was only once that he had to do it. That was all that was needed.
Verse 26. Otherwise he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for people to die once and after this judgment, once again as this idea, his sacrifice was all sufficient. It was one time.
We don’t picture Jesus still hanging on the cross. He isn’t dying over and over every day. He only had to do it one time. We celebrate a Savior who is risen, who is off the cross and is seated at the right hand of God the Father. Verse 28 tells us so also Christ having been offered.
What’s the word there again? Once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. Over and over Scripture is telling us his sacrifice was all sufficient. It happened once and only had to happen once, and that was enough. But there’s another part about Jesus death being all sufficient.
And that part means that we don’t do anything to add to what he did on the cross. Salvation comes through the all sufficient work of Christ. We don’t have to do things, we don’t have to give money, we don’t have to act good in order to add to what he did on the cross. Because what he did for us on the cross was all sufficient. In Titus we read, he saved us not by works of righteousness, the things that we might do that are good, that we had done, but according to his mercy through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Some people say, yes, Jesus died for my sins on the cross, but I’ve got to do A, B, C, D and E because I got to help Jesus because he just didn’t do enough. That is not what Scripture teaches. And if your faith is based partially on Jesus and partially on what you do, that is not saving faith. Let’s go back to Isaiah where we read that he died for our sins. He was pierced because of our rebellion.
He was crushed because of our iniquities. Punishment for our peace was on him and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep. We all have turned to our own way and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. Jesus didn’t die for Himself.
He died for us. He died because of our sin. He wasn’t beaten and bruised and whipped because of anything he had done wrong. It was all because of our iniquities so that we might have peace with God and a right relationship. We go on to read that it says that his death is atoning.
We talked earlier about what atonement means, what it does for us. But just to reiterate that John said he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. John goes on to say that love consists in this. Not that we loved God, but that he loved us. Scripture says when we were his enemy, when we were against him, that’s when he loved us.
And because of that, he sent His Son to be again. It makes it clear he is the one and only atoning sacrifice for our sins. Then it mentions his victorious resurrection. When we think about somebody having victory, we think about going to war or our king going out to battle. And we think about what does it mean when he has victory over his enemy.
And Jesus in His resurrection showed that he had victory over many things. Let’s read about those now. Since the children have flesh and blood in common. Jesus also shared in these. He became a man so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death, that is the devil.
Jesus victorious resurrection showed that he destroyed Satan. But not only did he destroy the enemy, but the enemy had many people that were in captivity. So the victor also frees those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. Jesus destroyed the devil and he rescues us from from his control. It goes on in Colossians chapter two to say he disarmed the rulers after he destroyed them.
He didn’t want to leave any weapons there. He removed those, he disgraced them publicly and then he triumphed over them. Jesus Christ is a victorious work that he has done for us. It’s one that we’re supposed to to celebrate and be happy and joyful about.
Next phrase says He. It constitutes the only ground for salvation. Again, we’re emphasizing the fact here that there isn’t anything we can do to save ourselves. Ephesians 2 says, But God, who is rich in mercy, that means that he doesn’t pour out punishment on us arbitrarily. Mercy says that he chooses not to pour it out on us because of his great love that he had for us even while we were enemies.
He made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. And what the emphasis here is that the only grounds for salvation is the gift of salvation, because it says you are saved by grace. And we talk about grace. It’s a gift that’s given to us that we don’t pay for. It’s not something that we earned.
It’s completely free, but we do have to accept it. Ephesians 2, verse 6, we read, he also raised us up with him. He seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus throughout eternity. There’s going to be this display of what God has done for us. It’s going to be a display of his grace and it’s going to be a display of his kindness.
So when we stand in heaven one day, the angels are going to say, why is Pastor Robert here today? And they’re going to say, well, he stood up on Sundays and preached. Is that what they’re going to say? He was good to his wife, you know, and he did a few nice things. No.
The angels are going to be told it’s all because of what God did for him. It doesn’t have anything to do with what Pastor Robert did. Just an example. If I gave my wife a nice gift for Christmas or for her anniversary, we just celebrated 40 years. And you walked up to her and you said, that’s a really nice gift that Robert gave you.
He must love you. And Mary said, oh, well, I helped pay for it.
I mean, that’s what you will be doing in heaven. If you think that you’re adding anything to what Jesus did, if you think that the money that you give or the prayers that you pray or are being related to the right person has anything to do with it, what you’re saying is that Jesus death on the cross was not sufficient and we know that God is completely sufficient to do everything that we need. Ephesians 2, verse 8, for you are saved by grace. That means it’s a gift through faith. That means that you just say, I accept it and I believe this.
It’s not from yourselves. Again, the emphasis. It is God’s gift. And the other emphasis again here, it’s not from works. And the reason is so that you won’t boast.
Part of the sin nature is that we all enjoy boasting. You don’t have to raise your hand. That’s a sinful part of us. And this idea that you can work to get saved appeals to your sinful nature. Because men would like to go to heaven, women would like to go to heaven and stand before God and say, I’m here before you today because I gave money.
I’m here today because I prayed. And someone else comes along and says, well, I’m better than you. I gave money and I prayed and I came to church twice a month. Okay, if you’re saying any of those things again, you’re not saying that what Jesus did for you is sufficient. And if you think any of those things are necessary for salvation, you are not saved.
You need to place your faith alone in Jesus Christ. Let us read the statement one more time together as we think about the words. Please read with me. We believe that Jesus Christ as our representative and substitute, shed his blood on the cross as the perfect, all sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
Kelly, Jo and the worship team is going to be leading us today in a song. We invite you that if you just need somebody to pray with you about something. We’re going to pray prayer team members at the back of the church just slip out while we’re singing and walk back that way. But maybe after the message today and hearing God’s word, you’re saying, wow, I’m trusting in something plus Jesus to save me. You need to get that right today and just place your faith in Jesus Christ alone.
One of the prayer team members will help explain that to you and they’ll be overjoyed to pray with you today. May we stand as I close us in prayer. Heavenly Father, as we come before you once again in song, move in our hearts to draw us to you. Those that are without salvation or trusting in something other than you, or trusting in something plus you, we just ask that you would convict them to make that right today. We thank you for your presence, Father, and we end the service just focusing on you and giving thanks to you out of joyful hearts for what Jesus Christ has done for us.
It’s in his name that we pray. Amen.