The One Behind The BookSample

The victory - The death and resurrection of Jesus

THE STORY SO FAR...

The long awaited Christ has come! Jesus, the Saviour of the whole world came down from heaven to earth, lived a perfect and sin free life, performed many incredible miracles and revealed the amazing love God has for all people.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Throughout the Bible we have seen God’s constant desire to be with us. Yet all of us have sinned and cut ourselves off from God. If we were to be reconciled to God, the core issue of sin had to be dealt with once and for all. So why doesn’t God just destroy sin we may ask? Because in doing so God would have to destroy us.

The life of Jesus shows the incredible lengths God has gone to in order to deal with our sin so that we would not have to be destroyed. The only way we could be saved is if someone completely sinless paid the penalty on behalf of all sinners. This perfect someone would need to offer to take the punishment for sin (which is death) in our place, on behalf of all humanity and once and for all deal with the issue of sin. But no one is perfect, only God is perfect. That is why, if we were to be saved, it would have to be God himself taking the punishment that we deserve. Incredibly, that is exactly what Jesus did.

Jesus, the perfect Son of God, was arrested, tortured and sentenced to death. Although he had done nothing wrong, he was crucified on a cross. It was a slow, painful and humiliating death. Jesus did it all as a substitute for you and for me, and for the world he created and loves so much.

However, this is not where the story ends.

As the prophets predicted and as Jesus himself declared, death would not have the final say! Three days after being crucified and buried in a tomb, Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to hundreds of people to prove that he was alive! Not only was he alive then, he is alive now and forever! Jesus completely paid the penalty for sin and won the ultimate victory over death, all so you and I could be brought back into relationship with our heavenly Father now and for all eternity.

30 Word Recap

Although sinless, Jesus pays the terrible price of our disobedience by dying on a cross. He then rises to life showing that the devil, sin and death have been defeated.

Questions

1. Read Matthew 20:28. What do you think Jesus meant by this comment?
2. Read Luke 23:33-34. Try and picture this scene and consider Jesus’ words during a time of unimaginable pain. What does this passage say about the way God thinks about you?
3. Read John 20:24-29. Why do you think Jesus told Thomas to touch his side and look at his hands?
4. What did Jesus mean when he said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (v29)?

Personal reflection

How does knowing the way God thinks about you shape the way you think about yourself, God and others?