Rediscovering the Good News that We Dare Not Forget!

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129 questions and answers

52 Lord’s Day Readings

The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)

The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism by Kevin DeYoung.

The Structure of the Catechism

Q3 – Q11 Man’s Misery(Guilt)

Q12 – Q85 Man’s Deliverance(Grace)

Q86 – Q129 Man’s Response(Gratitude)

Americans on average watch 4 hours of TV each day!

Man is uniquely created(Man’s dignity)

Man is radically corrupted(Man’s depravity)

Man is eternally condemned(Man’s destiny)

Man is eternally condemned(Man’s destiny)

GOD

2 Corinthians 5:17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

1. Who is this Substitute, this Deliverer?

2. What exactly did he accomplish on the cross?

Q.18 And who is this Mediator – true God and at the same time truly human and truly righteous?

A. 18 Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was given us to set us completely free and to make us right with God.

Our Substitute, our Deliverer is none other than Jesus Christ who was given to us!

Q.18 And who is this Mediator – true God and at the same time truly human and truly righteous?

John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Philippians 2:5-6In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped;

Philippians 2:7rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Philippians 2:7And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

How do we explain the reality

that Jesus Christ was and is 100%

God and 100% man … fully God

and fully man?

1 Timothy 3:16Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body. . .

Now WHY did our Substitute and Deliverer

have to be both man and God?

A. 16 God’s justice demands that human nature, which has sinned must pay for its sin.

A. 17 So that, by the power of his divinity, He might bear the weight of God’s anger in His humanity and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.

Q.18 And who is this Mediator – true God and at the same time truly human and truly righteous?

2 Corinthians 5:21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Hebrews 4:15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

A. 16 A sinner could never pay for (the sins of) others.

1. Who is this Substitute, this Deliverer?

None other than Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man,

fully righteous!

2. What exactly did Christ accomplish on the cross?

Expiation – the “sin-ward” aspect of the cross

Christ’s death removed our sin and guilt; His blood covers and cleanses us

from our sin (atonement)

Hebrews 9:22In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Propitiation – the “God-ward” aspect of the cross

In His death, Christ satisfied the wrath of God against

our sin.

1 John 4:10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Matthew 27:46About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Romans 5:9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

Redemption and Reconciliation –the “man-ward” aspects of the cross

Redemption (a “man-ward” aspect of the cross)

Christ in his death paid the price to set us free from sin

and Satan

Titus 2:14Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own. . .

Reconciliation (a “man-ward” aspect of the cross)

Christ in his death removed the ground of hostility between us and God, opening the door for

a relationship with Him

Romans 5:10For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciledto him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

What did Christ accomplish on the cross?

- We are forgiven! - We are delivered! - We are set free! - We are made right!

Martin Luther

Launched Protestant Reformation in 1517

Luther understood the Law of God and what it demanded.

What he did not understand was the grace of God and

what it provided!

Jesus Christ: The Only Substitute

The Only Deliverer We Will Ever Need!

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“Nothing other than a God-man can save men from God. We need a bridge that goes far enough in both directions, spanning the gulf that exists between a holy God and a sinful people. We need a Mediator!” (DeYoung)

A Creed for the Ages and Some Supernatural Math

Lord’s Day Readings #7-8(Questions #20-25)

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1. Examine your soul. Is Jesus Christ your savior? There is no one else who can save you from the judgment we all deserve!

2. Make it a goal for every day of the rest of your life to glory in the cross of Christ!

“Never stop glorying in the cross where Christ accepted the penalties that should belong to us so that we can claim the blessings that would otherwise belong only to Him.” (DeYoung)