Notes:

1. See the following Scripture passages on the cross. II Corinthians 5:19-21 , Hebrews 2:9, Galatians 3:13, I Timothy 2:6, Acts 20:28, Romans 3:24, Galatians 4:4,5, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:11-17 I John 4:9,10, I Peter 1:18-21, 2:24.

2. See the following Scripture passages on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15, Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20,21. The entire book of Acts is a record of the apostolic preaching of the Gospel and the expansion of the Church. Examine this and you will see that the eyewitness nature of the resurrection was something that the early Christian preachers of the Gospel constantly affirmed .

3. Why would God allow Jesus to die such a cruel and violent death on the cross? Why did Jesus Christ die a death worthy only of the worst type of criminal when He Himself had done no wrong? This injustice is very hard to understand unless we can see and understand that His death had a greater good that exceeds the evil of the cross. The author of the Book of Hebrews stated the purpose of Jesus’ death on the cross – “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame….” which means that Jesus saw that His death for us was worth the torment and agony of the cross. The prophet Isaiah says “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, the chastising for our well being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed”. – Isaiah 53:5. Jesus pressed through the violence, suffering and ultimate death on the cross as the evil that it was in order to bring about the greatest of all goodness when He took the penalty for our sins so that we may be forgiven and have eternal life with Him.

4. The accomplishments and work of Jesus Christ on the cross are presented to us in numerous passages of the Old and New Testaments. Here are some: A.) He gave Himself for our sin – Galatians 1:4 B.) He suffered for our sin – I Peter 3:18 C.) He was offered once to bear the sins of many – Hebrews 9:28. D.) He bore our sins in His own body – I Peter 2:24. E.) He became a curse (sin) in order to redeem us – Galatians 3:13. F.) He is the propitiation for sins (appeasement or satisfaction). His sacrifice for us on the cross satisfied the demands of God’s righteous standard for the punishment for sin. Jesus propitiated or satisfied God – I John 2:2. G.) He took the iniquity and sin of all of us on Himself – Isaiah 53:6. H.) He became sin for us so that we could become righteous – II Corinthians 5:21. I.) He gave Himself as a ransom ( to secure the release) for us – Mark 10:45, Matthew 20:28. J.) He was delivered up for sin – Romans 4:25. K.) He died for sinners – Romans 5:6,8.

5. How complete is the forgiveness that God gives us through faith in Jesus Christ? A.) He casts our sins into the depth of the seas – Micah 7:19. B.) He removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west – Psalm 103:12. C.) He remembers our sins no more – Isaiah 43:25, Jeremiah 31:34. D.) He casts our sins behind His back – Isaiah 38:17. E.) He nailed a certificate marked –“paid in full” to the cross of Christ – Colossians 2:13,14.

6. The apostles and early church preachers of the Gospel insisted that Jesus Christ was Lord based on (3) essential facts: A.) Jesus’ resurrection. – Acts 2:22-32. Romans 1:1-4. B.) Their eyewitness record and account of what happened in Jesus’ life and ministry. – Acts 2:32; Acts 3:15. C.) The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. – Acts 3:18. The record of these arguments and the proclamation of the Gospel is found in the Book of Acts.

7. In the Book of Acts we see the example of the apostles carrying out the mission of Christ – the preaching and proclaiming of the Gospel. What did they do? A.) They preached repentance (turning) from sin – Acts 2:38; 3:19; 8:22; 11:18; 14:15; 17:30; 19:18,19; 20:21; 26:20; They followed the example of the Lord Jesus – Matthew 4:17,Luke 24:47 – and John the Baptist – Mathew 3:2.B.) They preached Jesus as Lord attested by God through miracles, signs and wonders – Acts 2:22; 3:6; 4:2; 5:42; 8:35; 9:20; 13:23; 14:3,4. C.) They proclaimed the exaltation of Jesus Christ as Lord, Messiah and the Son of God – Acts 2:33-36; 3:20,21-26; 4:12; 5:31; 8:37; 9:20-22; 10:36,38; 17:5-9; 18:5. D.) The preached the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins – Acts 2:23,24,36; 3:15; 5:30-32; 10:43;13:38,39; 14:29,38,39; 26:18.E.) The proclaimed the resurrection of Christ – Acts 2:24-32; 3:15,26; 4:2,33; 5:30-32; 8:5; 10:40-43; 13:29,31; 14:30-37; 17:18,31.F.) They preached the fact of Christ’s resurrection based on their (the apostles) eyewitness testimony – Acts 2:32; 3:15; 4:19,20; 5:30-32; 10:39-41; 13:28-31,34,37; 22:15; 23:11; 26:25,26. G.) They preached the resurrection and power of Jesus Christ as “common knowledge”. – Acts 2:22-24; 3:13-17; 4:7,10; 5:31,32; 8:25,35; 10:40,41. H.) They preached the Gospel and the Holy Spirit gave witness with the miraculous display of power. – Acts 2:43; 3:1-11; 4:33; 5:1-12,14-16,30-32; 8:5-7,13 ; 14:3,4; 15:7,8,12 ; 19:11-19; 9:34, 40-43.I.) They preached salvation from our sin through faith in Christ – not works. – Acts 8:37; 10:43; 13:38,39; 15:1,7-11; 16:30-34; 20:24.J.) They taught the newly established believers in Christ the Word of God. – Acts 2:42; 5:42; 6:24; 15:35; 19:10,20; 20:27.K.) They baptized the new believers in Christ in water and they received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. – Acts 5:32 ; 8:14-17; 10:44-48 ; 11:13-18; 18:8; 19:1-7; 22:16.L.) They preached the Gospel and some people believed the Gospel and received Jesus Christ and others did not believe and rejected Him . – Acts 2:37-41; 4:4,13-18; 5:14,17,18, 33: 6:1,7,9-15; 7:54; 8:6; 11:19-21,24-26; 13:42,43,45-52; 14:1,2,5,6,19-22; 16:5,20-23 ; 17:4-9,12,13,32-34 ; 18:4-6,8 ; 19:9,17-20; 19:26; 21:27-30,36 ; 22:22,23; 23:12; 28:24,26-29.M.) They preached in the Gospel and persecution followed. – Acts 4 – 1st persecution, Acts 5 – 2nd persecution, Acts 6 – 3rd persecution, Acts 7 – Stephen’s martyrdom, Acts 8 – 4th persecution, Acts 12 – 5th persecution, Acts 13:50, Acts 14:5,6, 19,20. – numerous persecutions.N.) They preached the Gospel and when necessary they defended the Gospel. – Acts 13:6-12; 15:1,2; 17:16-32 ; 20:27-32.

8. The cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ are the cornerstone events of the Gospel. The apostles and early church preachers of the Gospel proclaimed that Jesus Christ was Lord based on His unique birth, life and ministry but confirmed by His resurrection from the dead – I Corinthians 15:3-11,16-21,51-58.

In the Book of Acts, the believers were living in the shadow of the cross and the empty tomb. They believed and preached Christ’s death and resurrection because they knew first hand that these events had actually transpired ; they had witnessed them . As a result of their testimony, they were persecuted and in some cases imprisoned and killed. However, their convictions remained in place and they were willing to die for what they affirmed. This concept is true for every Christian today – “our convictions are only as good as they are under pressure”. Are we willing to follow Jesus Christ no matter what happens?

9. Jesus Christ has come to meet our deepest needs. When we come to trust Him as our Savior and Lord, He gives us Himself. We can always call on Him in prayer. He gives us the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us and gives us the strength and help we need to live for Christ. He gives us the Bible, God’s Word that provides direction and helps our faith to grow. He gives us the church – fellow believers in Christ who offer the encouragement, counsel, fellowship, teaching and the accountability that we all need. Our response to this is that we are to make use of these things that Christ has provided for us.

We have an inner emptiness – a spiritual vacuum that Christ came to fill. He said “I am the bread of Life” – John 6:35 – Jesus Christ satisfies the deep longing inside of us; We live ultimately a purposeless and aimless existence – He said – “ I am the light of the world “ – John 8:12 – Jesus provides the direction and everlasting purpose that lasts forever and that purpose is to know and love God; We are lonely – He said – “I will never leave you or forsake you ..I will be with you to the end of the world” – Matthew 28:20, Hebrews 13:5. – We will never be alone because Jesus Christ is with us; We need the truth – He said –“I am the Way, the Truth and the life” – John 14:6. Jesus is the truth and He will always tell us the truth.

These things may sound simplistic but they are profoundly true. If we are truly honest with ourselves in our quiet moments, we know that we have these needs. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus has come to save and help us. We must turn to Him in faith and trust His work in our lives. Don’t mistakenly believe that when you receive Christ all of your problems and difficulties will be over with. Quite the contrary. Jesus said ” In this life you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” – John 16:33. Because He has overcome so can we, but we may still go through some hard times. We cannot give up on Him and we need to take full advantage of the resources mentioned above. Some of the struggles that we will go through may be life- long battles but remember – He is with us and He provides the resources of His Holy Spirit, His Word, prayer and His church to assist us . And remember that as He has helped us, so to we can help others – this is the Gospel way.

10. The Bible teaches that God is the just Judge that will judge sin. There are many passages of Scripture that teach this. Psalm 96:13 summarizes many of these accounts – “ for He (the Lord God) is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the nations with His truth”. This judgment is for our sin, our rejection of Him ( sin at its core is man’s rejection of God). The Gospel teaches us that Jesus took the condemnation of God for our sin on the cross and that when we place our faith in Christ we will never experience God’s condemnation for sin because Jesus has taken that condemnation for us in His death on the cross. Romans 5:9 – “ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” Romans 8:1 – “ So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus”.

The Bible teaches the reality of hell. Jesus addresses this literal place of judgment and torment in various passages in the Gospel accounts. He describes it as an everlasting fire – Matthew 25:41; an unquenchable fire – Matthew 3:12; everlasting shame and contempt – Mark 9:42-48. The Apostle Paul referred to hell as everlasting destruction – II Thessalonians 1:9. The Apostle John describes it as torment forever and ever – Revelation 14:10,11; 20:10. The Old Testament prophet Daniel described hell as a place of shame and everlasting disgrace. – Daniel 12:2. Hell is a real place and we are warned by none other than Jesus Christ of its reality. He states that “ If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out” – Mark 9:43-48. Jesus is not teaching self-mutilation ( sin proceeds out of our inward hearts not from our bodies – Mark 7:21-23) but He is presenting in graphic language the seriousness of a life lived in rejection of God. If a member of our body causes us to sin remove it. Why? Because this literal place of judgment requires such an extreme action. The only remedy for sin is the work of the cross and our sincere faith in what Christ has done for us.

What is Hell? Hell is a place of total separation from God.

God is loving. He is the most loving Being in all of the universe and He desires a relationship with us. – For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son so that everyone who believes in Him (the Son) will not perish but have eternal life” – John 3:16.However , God is not just loving and compassionate ,He is also Holy, Pure and Just. He will not overlook sin – Exodus 34:7,Numbers 14:18,Psalm 79:8; 109:14; Isaiah 65:6. – “ The Lord is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every sin and rebellion. But He does not excuse the guilty” – Numbers 14:18.

The punishment of hell is separation from God forever. If we reject Him on this earth, hell becomes the finality of a permanent rejection of Him. William Lane Craig stated – “The world is a vale of decision making during which we decide whether we want to live with God forever or reject Him and so irrevocably separate ourselves from Him… The rejection of Christ as Lord and Savior being a rejection of God Himself is a sin of infinite gravity and proportion and therefore plausibly does merit infinite punishment. So seen, people are sent to hell, not so much for murder and theft and adultery, but for their rejection of God…. He knows that their rejection of Him is irrevocable. The damned are thus responsible for their own fate and cannot impugn God’s justice”. – Answers to Tough Questions on God, Christianity and the Bible – Moody Publishers – Chicago, Il. 2013 – William Lane Craig – Pages 260 and 265.