The Most Basic Fact of the Gospel

Christ’s death for our sins is the most basic fact of the gospel. But, millions of people have died throughout history. In fact, every person who has ever lived has died or will die, with just a few exceptions. Many also were crucified. On the day Christ died on the cross, two other men were crucified, one on each side of Him. What, then, is significant about the death of Christ? Simply, it is that He died for our sins.

We call this concept “substitutionary atonement.” Christ died instead of us. He didn’t die for Himself; He died in our place, as our substitute, to atone for our sins and allow us to enter into a right relationship with a holy God.

The death of Christ as our substitute is the heart of the gospel. It’s not just that He died, but that He died for our sins.

The next phrase in 1 Corinthians 15:3 says that Christ died for our sins “according to the Scriptures.” Paul was not referring to any particular Scripture, but to all the Old Testament Scriptures that emphasize God providing a Savior who would die and pay the penalty for sin.

Earlier in this letter, Paul alluded to one such Old Testament passage when he said, “For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). The death of Christ was our Passover lamb being sacrificed.

The concept of a Passover lamb refers back to the Old Testament Book of Exodus. The nation Israel was in bondage in Egypt, and God was going to slay the firstborn of every family in Egypt. He told the Jews to kill a lamb, and then to put the blood of that lamb over the doorposts and on the lintel of the house. Later that night, when He went to slay the firstborn, if He saw blood on the doorposts and lintel of a home, He would pass over it. He would accept that blood as an indication that a death had occurred to take the place of that family’s firstborn (see Ex. 12).

This event foreshadowed the time when God would provide His Son as our Passover lamb. When John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the nation Israel, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). His announcement declared that Jesus is that ultimate sacrificial lamb, the only One who can pay the penalty for sin. Therefore, all the sacrifices of the Old Testament looked forward to the coming of Christ.

The theme of the Book of Hebrews is the superiority of Christ in replacing all the Old Testament systems, sacrifices and ceremonies. The Old Testament sacrifices, under the Law, were a reminder of sin year by year (Heb. 10:3).

Hebrews 10:4 says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.”

Clearly the problem with the sacrifice of animals was that they couldn’t take away sin.

Because of this, the next verse states: “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, But a body hast thou prepared me” (Heb. 10:5). The writer, in a fitting summary, explained that Jesus Christ was born into the human race so that He could bear the sins that the animals could not. He is our Passover Lamb.

The purpose of Jesus’ death could not be any clearer. The message resounds throughout the Old and New Testament. He died in our place to provide atonement and forgiveness and pay the penalty for our sins once and for all.

—Pastor Gil Rugh (The focus of Pastor Rugh’s ministry is systematic, verse-by-verse teaching of the Bible).