Kingdom Principle: At the center of God’s plan for Christ was the cross. Jesus had to die in order to free his people from the penalty and power of sin. We live in light of this freedom in his death. The Cross ________________ our ____________________ of SinsRomans 5:12–14 (ESV) — 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. Since God cannot tell a lie, the sentence of death had to be executed on those who transgressed the commandment.Revelation 20:11–15 (ESV) — 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. “By such expressions [of eternal fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth, etc.], the Holy Spirit certainly intended to express some thing more dreadful than a mere privation of the divine presence.” — Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3Here is the truth, the weight of God’s justice, brought forth the Son, in the fullness of time, to be born of a virgin, and to take on our likeness, in order that He might take upon his own shoulders the burden of our sin. (Rom. 3:21-28)The Cross ______________ us _______________ from our Bondage to SinGalatians 5:24 (ESV) — 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. The power of sin on our souls causes us to live at a distance from God. This is a good visual for us to imagine how we live our lives in the flesh. We live with our backs toward God. This powerful image is seen in the garden after God confronts Adam in his sin. Adam hides from God and is cast out of the garden. Genesis 3:8 (ESV) — 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Here is the reality of the cross, the death of Christ sets us free from the bondage of the flesh because in our union with Christ the old man has died and has been rendered powerless against the Spirit of Christ that dwells within us.Romans 8:10–11 (ESV) — 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
