God’s Solution – Jesus Christ
But why did Jesus Christ become a man? The Bible says He did it in order to pay the price for man’s sin and to purchase eternal life to give man as a free gift. II Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Jesus came into the world to deal with our sins. How did he do that?
More than 600 years before Jesus Christ was born, the prophet Isaiah was inspired by God to write these words describing Jesus: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity (sin) of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
Peter described it like this: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” I Peter 2:24.
Our sins were placed on Jesus when He died on the cross. The awful price of man’s sin was paid by the only One who could pay it: the infinite, perfect Son of God. When Jesus cried, “It is finished” in John 19:30, He was saying, “It is paid; the work is done. The debt of your sin is cancelled.” That is amazing!
God’s solution: Jesus Christ is the answer. he is God’s grace personified. But does everyone receive the gift He purchased? The Bible says no, for there is one more necessary decision and we discover the key to receiving this gift in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.“
The key is faith. Tomorrow we will examine this key.