“The relentless repetition of those sacrifices (in the OT) made clear (for centuries on end) that the work of atonement was not yet finished. And the bloody reality of so many animal sacrifices made clear that the true cost of atonement was higher than any mortal soul could ever hope to pay.”
“A show of religious zeal is no solution to the sin problem that plagues the human race. Sinners cannot make themselves holy, even by the most exacting attempts at obedience to God’s law.”
“All false religions cultivate sinful self-confidence. That includes every brand of genteel “faith” and pseudo-Christianity that is stylish today. Self-righteous souls who don’t see themselves as hopeless sinners in need of a savior can never truly appreciate the message of Isaiah 53.”
“The whole world—not just one nation or ethnic group—bears guilt for rejecting Christ.”
“The underlying reason so many from Israel rejected and continue to reject the gospel message about Jesus Christ is not merely ignorance, but stubbornness.”
“All of us are sinful, guilty of perverting and violating God’s law, and thus (in our fallen state) separated from him, spiritually sick, full of grief, and sorrowful. But Jesus took on himself his people’s sin, guilt, grief, sorrow—and every other sinister expression of our fallenness. He voluntarily endured God’s punishment for those evils. And he thereby purchased peace and blessing from God for us. The death of the physician made the patient well.”
“How could God possibly have been ‘pleased’ by bringing such agony and torment on his Son? It was the outcome that pleased him, not the pain. His pleasure in crushing Jesus and putting him to grief was not in the torment inflicted on his Son, but in the Son’s fulfilling his Father’s purpose—not his agony, but his accomplishment; not his suffering, but the salvation that suffering accomplished. God was pleased because the servant willingly sacrificed himself as a guilt offering; he gave his life to save sinners.”
“Jesus received no help or succor in his death. He suffered under the relentless, unrelieved terrors of divine wrath and fury against sin. God arrived in the blackness at Calvary to bring judgment, not on the ungodly, but on his Son. God brought the outer darkness of hell to Calvary that day as he unleashed the full extent of his wrath against the sins of all who would ever believe in Jesus Christ. Infinite wrath moved by infinite righteousness brought infinite punishment on the eternal Son.”
“Only those who know Christ will be declared righteous by God. Knowledge of the Savior is therefore essential—no one backs into heaven without saving knowledge of him. Thus, the mandate for Christians is not to inflate their self-esteem, manipulate God so they can become healthy and wealthy, or to use marketing gimmicks to grow large churches, but rather to spread the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to the world by proclaiming the gospel.”
“The atonement accomplished through the suffering of Yahweh’s servant is the necessary ground and prerequisite for every other expression of God’s grace and deliverance.”
Treasuring Christ PH 