1 Corinthians 15:3

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I proclaimed or preached unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand. By which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Father, we pray that You would speak to us now. We ask in Jesus' name. All God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated. Amen.

If I were to ask you what you were doing on August 12, 2011, it's very unlikely that you'd be able to tell me much. If I were to ask what day of the week was July 9, 2004, again, you'd probably have to look at a calendar to remember what day of the week that was.

But I think that it's safe to say that the overwhelming majority of you that are here today remember very vividly Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Like December 7, 1941, September 11, 2001, is a date which will ever live in infamy, not just for our nation, but for many throughout the world who watched the events of that day unfold.

We live in a time where terrible things that happen throughout the world are instantly streamed to us. We hear them on the radio, we see them on TV or on the computer, and now in our own hands in a cell phone. Wherever we are, we're immediately alerted to what is happening thousands of miles away on the other side of the world and riveted by these things. So there is a way in which the entire community of man today is touched by these wicked events.

That Tuesday morning became a defining moment for the entire generation of people who watched it and who were a part of it. As I've been thinking about it quite a bit this last week, I'm sure many of you have as well. I'm awestruck that it's been ten years. It's hard to believe that ten years have passed since that took place, since we watched it. The wound is still raw. The emotions that stir and come to the surface when we hear audio or see the video and images from the terrorist attacks that day prove that it is still very, very raw.

Two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven lives were abruptly ended in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Many thousands more have been lost in the two wars that resulted from those initial attacks. When we think on those things or consider any of the wicked, evil, terrible things that happen in the world today, we cannot help but begin to ask those questions of why. Why are there wars? Why is there terrorism? Why is peace and security so incredibly elusive? Some people ask, if there is a God in heaven, why has He not intervened?

The answer is very simple, so simple that it can come across as offensively insulting. Two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven lives were taken because of wickedness. Why? In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 7, Jesus says something that is, in part, the answer to that question of why there is such wickedness in the world. Again, it can be insulting and offensive, but this is the answer given to the question by God, who knows all things. Mark, chapter 7, verse 21. Jesus said,

In Mark's Gospel, he records the same statement of Jesus found in Matthew 15, verse 18: "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies."

I've been teaching through the book of Jeremiah at the Bible college. I just started a couple of weeks ago, and one of the most well-known verses of Jeremiah is Jeremiah 17, verse 9, where the prophet, inspired of God, says, "The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" That is the testimony of man's heart.

God said of man in Genesis chapter 6, just before a judgment upon the whole earth, "Every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart is only evil continually." The problem with this world and the reason for all suffering—terrorism, murder, theft, deceit, war, and every other deplorable wickedness—is sin. In Romans chapter 5, verse 12, Paul states, "Sin is at the heart of all wickedness." Therefore, it takes little consideration to understand why God hates sin.

Seeing the images of what we all watched ten years ago, and what we just saw again freshly here, clues us into why God hates sin. All of that is the result of sin resident in every heart of all humanity. Sin is rebellion against God's law, and it always brings about pain. It always results in destruction and ultimately in death.

Why did the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, happen? Sin. Why did 2,977 people die on that day? Sin. So, again, the answer to the question is profoundly simple, but the result of its simplicity...

It comes across in a very offensive and insulting way. Oftentimes, when you share that with someone and they ask, "Why is there wickedness? Why is there suffering in the world?" you might respond, "Well, it's the result of sin." Then they immediately respond with a question that goes something like this: "Are you suggesting that those 2,977 people died that day because of their sin? Were those who died that day somehow worse sinners than those who did not?" That's the immediate question that comes to mind when we tell people that the reason for this is sin.

Are you saying that they were worse sinners? No. What I'm saying is that evil in this world—terrorism, war—is symptomatic of the cancer of sin. Sin is the cause of it. Turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 13, because there in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus responds to that very question: "Are you saying that they were worse sinners?" In fact, the parallel of Luke chapter 13 to the terrorist attacks of 2001 is incredible.

In Luke chapter 13, the first five verses present this incredible parallel: "Or those 18 upon whom the tower fell and slew them, do you think that they were worse sinners above all the men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you no. But except you repent, you shall likewise perish."

At that time, when Jesus was confronted with this group of people talking with Him, there were two great newsworthy stories circulating around Jerusalem and Israel. Pilate, Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman governor of Judea at that point in time, had massacred a group of Galilean Jews who came to the temple to worship, and he had massacred them.

There was a great outcry against Rome at that time, particularly against Pontius Pilate for what he had done. These men were innocent; they were going to the temple to offer sacrifice and worship to God, and they were massacred. They were killed.

At that same time, in the southern part of the city of Jerusalem, a tower near the pool of Siloam had fallen over, resulting in the deaths of 18 people. The question on the minds of the people was, "Why?" Certainly, some brought this to Jesus' attention, hoping that He would rise up in some sort of political ambition against the Judean governor, Pontius Pilate, and do away with this wicked person in that position. There were no doubt some who were hoping for that.

However, Jesus did not respond in that way. He asked them, "Do you think that those who died were more evil than the rest of the people in this nation?" He answered, "No, they were not more evil. But unless you repent, you shall also likewise perish." He continued, "Do you suppose that those who died in this terrible incident, where the tower fell on them, were more sinners than all those in Jerusalem?" Again, He said, "No."

When terrible things happen, we often find ourselves asking why. We tend, like Job's friends, to immediately assume that terrible things befall people because of their sinfulness. You remember the story of Job, whose life was shattered? As he sat there with boils all over him, having lost everything, three of his friends came and wept with him for seven days. After that, they began to talk with him. The next 34 chapters of Job deal with their conversation.

Basically, they said to him, "Job, listen, you're a nice guy, but clearly there must be some hidden sin in your life, or these things wouldn't happen to you. You're going through this because of some sin that only you know about; that's why all this wickedness has come upon you." That is where our minds often go.

A similar situation occurred in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 28, Paul was on his way to Rome, not by his own choice, but as a prisoner. While on a ship, they encountered a storm and were shipwrecked, eventually coming ashore on the island of Malta. They had just been rescued from the deluge of the storm and the shipwreck.

Paul goes about and starts picking up sticks to put in the fire. As he throws the sticks into the fire, a venomous snake comes out and latches onto his hand. The people of Malta, who saw this, knew that if you get bitten by that snake, you're a goner. Let me read to you their response when they see this happen.

In Acts chapter 28, verse 4, it says, "When the barbarians of Malta saw the venomous snake hanging on Paul's hand, they said among themselves, 'No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffers not to live.'" They said he got out of the storm and survived the shipwreck, but now the snake has bitten him. Clearly, he's a wicked man because these things happen to wicked people; they don't happen to good people.

You often hear people ask, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" They believe the innocent are not guilty. However, Jesus' words in Luke chapter 13 are informative and instructive. Bad things happen; terrible, horrendous things happen. When they do, we are often tempted to ask, "Why did this happen?" There is an answer, but it is one that can be offensive, especially to someone who has been touched by the pain of a tragedy.

Probably the worst thing you can do when talking with someone going through a tragedy is to say, "Listen, the reason this happened is sin in the world." You will likely end up with a black eye, and rightly so, because there is very little compassion in that. But that is a true theological answer. Those who died on September 11, 2001, are no more guilty than you or I. We are all guilty.

So the real question we should ask in the face of something like that is, "What should I do in light of it?" What does Jesus say twice in Luke chapter 13? "You must repent." Why must we repent? Because all of us are guilty. We are all guilty of sin and deserve death.

Isaiah chapter 53, verse 6 says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way." Romans chapter 3, verse 23 states, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans chapter 6, verse 23 says, "For the wages of sin is death." God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel.

In Ezekiel chapter 18, verse 4, it says, "The soul that sins, it shall die." The evil of this world is the result of the sin of all mankind. We are all guilty; we all deserve death. Whether it is a sudden or tragic death, or a painless death at the end of a long life, all of us are guilty of sin, and therefore, death awaits us. The soul that sins shall die. The soul that sins will die. Ten out of ten people die. The statistics are astounding, and for many people, that statistic is incredibly terrifying. That's why many people would rather not think about death. They don't want to go to a funeral or watch memorials, because that brings the conscious recognition that death is the end, and it comes for all.

This realization brings us to another important question: Why? This is the question that we get as Christians. Why, if there is a God in heaven, has He not intervened? The answer is, He has.

Back to our text today, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the apostle writes, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, the good news which I preached unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain."

In verse 3, he continues, "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."

Now, the statement "Christ died for our sins" is a provocative statement, and the truthfulness, the veracity of that statement, is only true if we understand its implications.

If indeed Jesus rose from the dead, which is what we'll talk about in our next study in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, then the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves that this statement is, in fact, true: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

With the remaining time that we have today, I want to unpack that a little bit. Christ died. Now, we just considered that all have sinned and the wages of sin is death. The death of Christ may not be all that intriguing at first glance. It might seem unremarkable to say, "Well, Christ died," until we realize that the Scriptures reveal He never sinned and, therefore, was undeserving of death.

Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15, says that we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 26, states that such a high priest is necessary for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21, tells us that Jesus knew no sin. In 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21, we read, "For even hereunto you are called, because Christ also suffered for us." Verse 22 continues, "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth." Peter is quoting from Isaiah 53, verse 9, where the prophecy of the suffering servant was given 700 years before Jesus came. Isaiah 53:9 states that He had done no violence, neither was there any deceit found in His mouth.

In 1 John chapter 3, verse 5, we read, "And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin." So, Jesus died, but the Scriptures testify of Him that He was without sin. It is the wages of sin that is death, so He should not have died; He did not deserve to die.

So why did He die? He died for our sins, bringing in the new covenant. In Matthew chapter 26, verse 28, Jesus said there...

This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Romans chapter 3, verse 23, states, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The next verse, verse 24, says, "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," whom God has set forth to be a propitiation, an atonement, a sacrifice for our sins.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21, it says, "For God the Father has made Him, Jesus the Son, to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7, tells us, "In Him, we have redemption through His blood." Galatians chapter 1, verse 3, states, "Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ," and verse 4 adds, "Who gave Himself for our sins."

In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11, we read, "And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, Jesus, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, has sat down at the right hand of God," declaring with that position that the work for salvation is finished, just as Jesus said there on the cross, "It is finished."

1 Peter chapter 3, verse 18, states, "For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit." The Apostle John, in 1 John chapter 2, verse 1, said, "My little children, these things I write unto you that you sin not. And if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." He is righteous, He is perfect, and He is the propitiation for our sins. He is the atonement for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

So, Christ died, and He died for our sins. We are told here that it is in accordance with the Scriptures. What does that mean? Well, the Old Testament...

The scriptures make it very clear that one needed to die for the atonement of sin and the removal of sin. The author of the Book of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews chapter 9, verse 22, "Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins." The whole of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, makes it very clear that sacrifice is required to deal with sin. However, none of the animal sacrifices outlined in the Old Covenant can fully deal with sin.

The Book of Hebrews emphasizes that those sacrifices are insufficient; they cannot remove the punishment, power, and presence of sin. Thus, the prophets in the Old Testament foretold of a sinless suffering servant who would fully deal with the penalty of sin and make a way of escape from the power and presence of it.

Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 53, the prophecy of the suffering servant penned 700 years before Jesus came on the scene. In verse 1, Isaiah 53 states, "Who has believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not."

In verse 4, it continues, "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised or crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed."

Now, let’s look at Daniel chapter 9.

Also, the Bible prophesies 500 years before Jesus came about the Messiah, the Christ. In verse 24 of Daniel chapter 9, it states, "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon the holy city to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness." This is what the Messiah does: He makes an end of sin, makes reconciliation for iniquity, and brings in everlasting righteousness. He seals up the vision and the prophecy and anoints the most holy.

Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks. The street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. After threescore and two weeks, shall Messiah be cut off; He'll be killed, but not for Himself, not because of His own sin. The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be with the flood. Until the end of the war, desolations are determined.

Christ died to save us from our sins, from the punishment that we should have received in sin, from the power of sin, and ultimately, one day, from the presence of sin. Because of what Christ did on the cross, we shall live in the presence of God in the kingdom of God, separated from sin and the effects of sin. There will be no more tears, no more suffering, no more wars, and no more terrorism. It will all be done away with because there will be no more sin. Amen.

Sin is terrible; sin is dreadful. The effects of sin are very visible. We watch them unfold before us on the news. Instantly, people record them with their cell phones, and it's on YouTube for everybody to see. There is not a single person in this world today that is not touched by the reality of sin. But God has intervened; He is there, and He has made a way to deal with sin. This is the joy.

We can know, number one, that we can make that way known. Certainly, there are many in our families, among our friends, and people we work with throughout our community who need to know that way. Events like what happened ten years ago bring it to the forefront and give us a great opportunity. It was a terrible tragedy—something we would never ask for, something we would never look forward to, and something we would never enjoy watching.

Yet, on the other side of it, we have the words of eternal life and the opportunity to share with those who are touched by the reality of it the greatness of the gift that is given to us. Several people in our church knew Captain Tom McGinnis, who flew Flight 11. He lived here for several years and attended a church in Vista. He was a Christian. Many believers in the midst of this tragedy have abundant testimonies of how God used them to share His grace at that moment just before life ceased.

I guarantee that when they breathed their last in this world, they breathed their first breath in the next world, and they heard, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." It is my hope, and I am certain that many of you share that same hope, that you will hear the same. May we recognize that we are living on borrowed time, and may we live in a way that makes it clear that we believe that. Amen.

Would you stand and pray with me? Father, we thank You for life. When we remember and memorialize those who have died, we cannot help but be thankful for the life that we have. Even in the midst of that thanks, there may be a tiny bit of guilt, but we are thankful that You...

We have been given life, and for most here today, they have experienced and are experiencing the life more abundantly that You promised. However, Father, I know that in this place right now, there are some who are terrified of death because they do not know You, the Life, the Way, and the Truth. Father, would You draw those individuals this morning who don't know You in that way yet, that they would come to know You and confess You as their Savior? Jesus, You are the only way, and Father, You have made a way.

You have intervened this morning. Before we disperse in just a moment, there may be some here today who have not received the gracious gift of salvation that is only found in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God is speaking to your heart, convicting you of sin, of God's righteousness, and of the judgment of death. God calls to you that you would receive Him and the gift that He offers because He has made a way. He has intervened.

If that's you, when we dismiss in a moment, don't leave this place without coming forward to talk with me or one of the other pastors. We would love to share with you about Jesus. We would love to talk about Jesus; He is the Way.

As we consider the events of the terrorist attacks of 2001, we pray for peace. We pray for the day when You, the Prince of Peace, sets in order those things that are out of order. We look forward to the day when You rule and reign with power, and there are no more tears, death, suffering, or war. So we say, "Come, Lord Jesus, quickly."

But until You do, would You stir us with a passion to share the truth of the Gospel with those who have not yet come to the knowledge of the truth? We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

The bad one is essential.