Well, God speaks to us through and in Scripture, so let's turn there now. And there are a couple different Bible verses that I'll be referring to in the sermon this morning. I'm not going to read them all right now. I'll just start with Matthew 1, verse 21. I'm just going to read verses 20 through 23, just to set the context of this story. What we're gonna look at in just a moment is the angel's words to Joseph before Christ was born, and that's from Matthew 1. And let's pray before we read this and ask God's blessing upon it. Let's pray. Lord, we do pray that you would speak to us and give us ears to hear the truths of scripture today. Father, we pray that you would work in our hearts and minds as the Word is proclaimed. And by the power of your Holy Spirit, O Lord, help us not to drift off in thought or drift off in sleep, but be attentive to your Word, the words of life. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. So again, there's other verses we're gonna read, but today we're gonna start with Matthew 1, verse 20 through 23, especially 21. So God's Word says this. As he, that's Joseph, as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel. So the key text there is she will bear a son and you will call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins. If you stop and think about America and the average person in America, I would say the center of most Americans' belief system is self. You know, you're average American. Most people live for themselves. They work for themselves so they can get more things for themselves and do more things that they want to do. Most people follow their own dreams and desires in life. Their schedule revolves around themselves. They think a lot about themselves, and almost everything they do is for themselves. That's, I think, your average American, how they live. At the heart and core of this religion is the worship of self, isn't it? It's a worship of the self's desires, and we can call this the religion of the self, I think, probably the biggest religion in the United States, maybe the biggest religion in the world. But there's a stark difference if you look at the heart of Christianity. At the heart of Christianity is not the self, but it's the Savior, Christ the Redeemer. That's the central message and truth of Christianity, that there is a Redeemer who rescues sinners from themselves, from evil, from sin, and death. Jesus is his name. It's a center of the Bible's message and the center of the church's teaching and worship in life. Christ, the Redeemer. Now, that's what we've been talking about. In last week's sermon, we talked about Christ's atonement, that he laid down his life in the place of sinners to rescue and redeem them. And last week, we specifically talked about the extent of the atonement. For whom did Christ die? And we went through John 10, and we looked at the fact that Jesus' death definitely secured salvation for his people, his sheep, those whom God has given him, the elect. That's what we looked at last week, the extent of the atonement. For whom did Christ die? His sheep. Today we're gonna expand on that a little bit, and it's totally related to last week. We're gonna talk about the what, or the nature of Christ's death. When Jesus died on the cross, what did his death actually accomplish? What did it do when Jesus gave up himself as a sacrifice on the cross and died? This is called the nature of the atonement. What did it do? What did it accomplish? So that's what we're gonna start with this morning, talking about the nature of the atonement. And we wanna learn from scripture what Jesus' death did, what the result was. Now, last week I talked a little bit about different positions about the death of Christ, and, you know, among Christians there's a few different views. One view is when it comes to the nature of the Atonement, what did Christ's Atonement do? One view is the Arminian view. The Arminian view said that Christ's Atonement removed the wall of hostility between man and God, and all people are invited to enter into a state of acceptance with God. That's how one Armenian put it that I read this week. Christ's atonement removed this wall of hostility between man and God, and now all people are invited to enter into a state of acceptance with God. That's how one Armenian put it. So I can use an illustration for that. In the Armenian position, there's a huge swimming pool full of drowning people. They can't get to the side and they can't help themselves and they can't help each other because they don't know how to swim. And Jesus jumps into the pool and says, I'm over here. I'm here to rescue you. Come to me and I'll bring you to safety. That's kind of the Arminian view. But then when we think about it from a reform perspective, if you think about it from a reform perspective, that makes us a little bit uncomfortable because it kind of waters down the meaning of salvation and redemption and rescue. Because if you say that Jesus' death didn't definitely save people, and it just made it possible for them to be saved, then you're saying his death didn't actually secure anything. And it's kind of being weakened or watered down. His death didn't actually accomplish anything except for to tear down a wall and make it possible for people to be saved. It's kind of detracting from the nature of Christ's death. And on the second hand, or another hand, in Reformed theology, if we use that pool illustration, people are not drowning, are they? They're dead on the bottom of the pool and nobody can swim to Christ to be rescued because they're dead in sin, like Ephesians says, in bondage to sin. So that's why in Reformed theology we talk about limited or definite atonement, that Christ's death definitely secured salvation for some sinners. He didn't shed one drop of blood in vain. And when you think about Christ's atonement when he died on the cross, you can say mission accomplished. He died for his people and their salvation is secure in him. Now, the main thing, of course, is not opinions and labels. But what does the Bible teach? We want to go to scripture and talk about the nature of Christ's atonement. So now we're going to go to some verses that talk about what Christ's death did. Now the first one that we looked at already in Matthew 1 verse 21, you shall call his name Jesus. Why? Because he will save his people from their sins. It's an awesome memory verse. Jesus came to save, to rescue, to redeem sinful people by his death and resurrection. And Jesus' name means savior. That's why the angel said to Joseph, he will save his people from their sins. It wasn't, you know, call his name Jesus because he might save some people from sin. It's not call his name Jesus because he makes it possible for all people to be saved. Call his name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. That's the nature of the atonement, is that it's effective. When Christ died on the cross, he saves his people from their sins, definitely. Now, another text to go to is Titus 2, verse 14. If you want, you can go in your Bibles to Titus 2 verse 14. Titus 2 verse 14 says, Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness. Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness. So Paul is saying there to Titus, a pastor on the island of Crete in the first century, the reason that Christ laid down his life on the cross was to redeem us from all kinds of evil. And us, of course, would be God's people. Later, Paul talks about the church family. So Paul is saying there that Christ gave himself for his people to redeem us from all lawlessness, not to make redemption possible, Not to make redemption available for all people, but to redeem his people from lawlessness. The purpose of Christ dying on the cross, Paul is saying in Titus 2, is to redeem his people. And that's the result of it too, isn't it? The result of Jesus' death on the cross was that it actually redeemed his people from their sin. He gives them life, John 10 says. And that's why I mentioned it last week. You know, if you're a believer, if you're a Christian, somebody says, when were you saved? You can honestly, and not being snarky, but you can honestly say that I was saved when Christ died for me on the cross 2,000 years ago outside of Jerusalem. That's when I was saved. His atonement definitely redeemed me. So that's Titus 2.14. There's another one that we'll look at, Hebrews 9 verse 12. If you want these texts later, I can give them to you too, but Hebrews 9 verse 12 says this, Christ entered the most holy place once for all with his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Thus securing an eternal redemption. What happened when Christ died on the cross and presented himself as a sacrifice before God as a priest? Well, he secured redemption. Obtained or gained is another way to translate that word. Jesus' sacrifice obtained an eternal redemption. Not just made it possible, but it actually secured redemption for those whom God has called. You can read later in Hebrews 9, it talks about the ones who will receive the inheritance, the ones who are called God's people. Christ, when he died, he secured for them an eternal redemption. That's the nature of his atonement. He secured redemption for his people. That's a fact. You know, there are a ton of unstable and uncertain things in our lives and in the world, right? If we would just take 10 minutes and make a list of all the unstable and uncertain things in the world and in our lives, we'd have a huge list. Our health is pretty unstable. Even if you're really healthy now and you're feeling at the top of your game, who knows, there's no promise that your health will be great in six months or six years. Our health is not perfectly stable. Relationships aren't always perfectly stable. You might have a really good friend now and that friend moves away or has a life circumstance change and you're not a good friend with that person anymore two years from now. Because relationships aren't always stable. The political situation in our country is uncertain. There are social trends and unjust laws passed that are destructive to people's health and life. We don't know. This country might come apart at the seams. It's not 100% stable. It's uncertain. And the world situation is not overly stable. War in Ukraine, China might be growing in strength. The United States is maybe losing power and clout. The world situation is not stable. You go on and on and name all these unstable and uncertain things in life. But praise God that your salvation is as stable and certain as possible. That when Christ laid down his life for you on the cross, he secured your eternal redemption. He died to rescue you from your sins and redeem you from all lawlessness. That's what the Bible teaches. So for Christians, for those of you who are followers of Jesus, Your redemption is not something you have to worry about. As surely as Jesus died on the cross, so surely did he redeem you from your sins and secure an eternal redemption for you. It's finished. And as surely as Jesus' blood was shed, so surely your sins are forgiven. That's what we'll celebrate in the Lord's Supper this morning. And so once again, I think this is good application. You know, there are a lot of unstable things in life, but when you think about Christ's atonement, where He definitely secured salvation for His people, you can rest well on that. There are no ifs or buts involved in the atonement. It doesn't rest upon you at the end of the day to see if you made a choice or something, but it has to do with Christ, the nature of His atonement, that He died to secure salvation. So in every sense of the term, you can rest in that fact. You maybe heard the term resting in the finished work of Christ. That's one of the great applications of definite atonement. Now, one other aspect here, now shift gears a little bit. So we went through a few verses that talk about the nature of Christ's atonement. What happened when he died on the cross? Well, he secured salvation for his people, mission accomplished. But another angle of definite atonement that I wanna mention just briefly here is the nature of Christ's work as a priest. And this has to do with Hebrews again. We read just one section from Hebrews 9, Hebrews 9 verse 12. And if you think about the book of Hebrews as a whole, it teaches that Jesus is the final priest and final sacrifice. All the Old Testament priests and sacrifice point forward to Jesus. his finished work and his sacrifice and priesthood. And so another angle of Christ's work in his atonement is his work as priest, which has to do with intercession. Okay, so think of Jesus' priestly work. He sacrificed himself for his people, and as priest, he brought a sacrifice to God and secured an eternal redemption for God's people. But Hebrews also teaches that Christ intercedes for those people as well. So you think that Christ died for his people to secure their redemption, and now he intercedes for them before the Father. And intercedes means something like pray for or plead the cause for. So again, you can go to different places in Hebrews, but Hebrews 9 verse 24 says that Jesus entered into God's presence on our behalf, behalf of his people, and Hebrews 7 verse 25 says he lives forever to intercede for God for his people, or intercede with God for his people. So that's another aspect of Christ's work. So his atonement, he laid down his life to save us in his sacrifice, but now he intercedes for us, ever living to make intercession for God's people. And what does this have to do with definite atonement? Well, the same people that Christ died for, he also intercedes for. That's why John Owen said, Christ intercedes for the ones he offered himself for and only those Hebrews doesn't teach that Jesus intercedes for all people ever. That's what Jesus himself said in John 17, I'm not praying for the world, but I'm praying for those whom you have given me, the ones that I laid down my life to save. So in John's language, Christ died for the sheep, the elect, and he intercedes for them as well. And once again, that's good news. So when Christ died for his people, his sheep, he actually redeemed and rescued us. And now he intercedes for us. He pleads to God on our behalf. He ever lives to do that. And so when you think about Christ laying down his life for us as priests and Christ interceding for us as priests, Paul puts those two truths together in Romans 8, and he says, who will bring any charge against God's elect? It's God who justifies. Who will condemn us? Christ is the one who died for us and who was raised and who is at God's right hand interceding for us. So it's double twin good news truth. That Christ definitely atoned for us when he died for us and now he intercedes for us as well. So I approached it from a different angle there just to show you that when we talk about definite atonement or limited atonement, it's not like some Calvinist 500 years ago picked out two obscure texts and massaged them a little bit and said, hey, limited atonement. But when you talk about the doctrines of grace, you can see them woven through the very fabric of scripture. It's not just a couple of texts, but even, that's why I went to Christ's intercession. He intercedes for his people that he died for. It's this deep biblical logic when we talk about the doctrines of grace. They're tied together with robust biblical foundation. Okay, so there are a couple of biblical things to think about the nature of Christ's atonement. What happened when Jesus died on the cross? Well, the Bible says he secured redemption for his people. Mission accomplished. Now, there are some questions. When we talk about limited or definite atonement, and you think about the Bible's teaching, you say, well, what about those texts that say all or world? That's a very good question, and we don't want to ignore Bible texts that are hard to, you know, kind of to think about when talking about definite atonement. So let's think about the words world and all, just briefly. So John, in the New Testament, in his writing, John used the word world or cosmos about 100 times. And there are two texts that you might think about when you think about Jesus' death. John 1 verse 29 is where John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And 1st John 2, I read this for our assurance sometimes, 1st John 2 says, he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So what do you do with the whole world kind of language? Well, we're going to get to it a little bit more, but when you think about John's use of the word world, he also uses the word world in other contexts as well with different meaning. For example, he says, do not love this world or the things in this world. Or John wrote, Christ was in the world and the world was made through him, but the world did not know him. Satan is the deceiver of the whole world. Or Jesus said, like I mentioned earlier, I'm not praying for the world, but for those whom you have given me, and the world hates them. So John uses the word world in quite a few different ways, kind of like we do. For example, if I say something like the world is full of beauty, it makes sense to you. I don't really have to explain that. But then five minutes later, if I say to you, the wars in the 20th century changed the world in different ways. Or if I say to you, the whole world watched the Olympics. There are different ways to use the word world, and John does the same thing. He uses the word world in different ways, like we do. So hold that thought. Let's think about all. So there are some places in scripture that talk about, you know, that Christ died for the world, but there are also some places in the Bible that talk about Christ dying for all. So 2 Corinthians 5, that's what Paul wrote, he died for all. Or 1 Corinthians 15, as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. Or Romans 5, one act of righteousness leads to justification in life for all people. Those are tough tacks, aren't they? But once again, when you think about the word all in the New Testament, it's used differently. When we just read one in Titus 2, he gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness. John 6 says, all that the Father has given me will come to me. 2 Timothy 4 says, the Lord strengthened Paul so he could preach the message to all the Gentiles. Acts 2 is where God says, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. So once again, when you think about the word all in the New Testament and in the Bible, it has different meanings. And so when you think about it, and think about the word world, and think about the word all, in the Bible, they don't always mean everyone head for head. They don't always mean every person who ever lived. That's what we have to remember when we come to these all and world texts. And I don't think it's an option to say, well, both positions are right, depending on what verse you read. We don't want to put the Bible against itself and make it contradict itself. But I would say that when the Bible talks about Jesus dying for all or Jesus dying for the world, it means many people are all kinds of people. And that same thing in Acts 2, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Well, we know that's not true. God didn't pour his spirit out on every person who ever lived, but on many. You could say the same about Christ dying for all, for many. Or he's the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world, from people all around the world, all kinds of people. It's not wrong when you interpret the all and world texts that way. In fact, if you always take the word all literally, you end up with some really bad teaching, possibly heresy. So 1 Corinthians 15, let me just, one example. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. I don't think we wanna say that all will live with Christ forever. because the Bible elsewhere teaches that some will not, that there are unbelievers who suffer eternally. But in 1 Corinthians 15, it does make sense from the context that it has to do with representation. All people that Adam represented died in Adam when he sinned. And all people that Christ represented will be made alive in him. So all doesn't necessarily mean everyone head for head. And so that's the answer. When somebody says, well, what about the world text? What about the all texts? You go to other places in the Bible that say all and world don't always mean everyone head for head. It just means many or all kinds of people. And so that's what we would do with those texts. Okay. One more question here. So when we talk about limited atonement or definite atonement, that Christ died for his people and they will be, you know, are and will be redeemed, some people say, well, what about the all text and the world text? Well, we talked about that. Some people say that when you believe in definite atonement, it hinders your evangelism. It gets in the way of good evangelism if you believe in limited atonement. If Christ died for the sheep, his elect, and not everybody, How can we share the gospel with anyone? That's the objection. How can you share the gospel with everyone if Christ died for only the sheep? Kind of think about it in biblical terms. Well, my answer would be, it's a little snarky, I suppose, evangelism and missions is only a problem for a hyper-Calvinist, not for a good Calvinist. Hyper-Calvinism thinks about everything through the lens of election and limited atonement. And if you think about everything through the lens of election and limited atonement, that does actually make you hesitate to share the gospel. Because if you're always thinking about election and definite atonement, you think, well, I don't want to tell them that Christ died for them, because if he didn't, I'd be lying, so I better not. Maybe I won't say anything, and God is sovereign anyway, so if he wants that person to be saved, it'll happen, so I don't need to evangelize. You know how that logic goes, maybe. That's hyper-Calvinism. But the good Calvinist thinks about everything through the lens of all Scripture, not just election and definite atonement. And we realize from Deuteronomy 32 that the secret things belong to the Lord and the revealed things belong to us. The revealed thing would be Scripture. So it's revealed in Scripture that some are elect and Christ died for those. But Scripture also says that God's ways are higher than mine, and I don't have access to his book of life. There is mystery here. So I'm not going to even begin to guess who Christ died for out there in the world. That's not on me to do. That's not for me to do. And said, like Scripture says, when I share the gospel with anyone, I'll do so sincerely. And that's why the Bible commands us to share the gospel, right? Tell people Jesus died to save sinners. And the promise is true for anyone that you talk to. If you turn from your sins and come to Jesus in faith, he will give you rest and he won't cast you out. That's a promise of scripture. That's what the apostles did in Acts. They went everywhere preaching the gospel. Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus and you will be saved. They didn't go out there and tell people to believe in election and you'll be saved. But believe in Christ. And so I'm perfectly comfortable, as a Calvinist, looking an unbeliever in the eye and saying, Christ died for sinners. And I promise you, if you go to him in faith, he will give you rest. There's nothing wrong with the call of the gospel. Because at the end of the day, I know that it's in the hands of the Lord. It's not in my persuasive abilities or charm or charisma. And I can sleep well at the end of the day knowing that God will accomplish His purposes perfectly. His sheep will hear His voice, and the Father will sovereignly draw them to Himself, and God will be praised and glorified in all. So if you do hold to the doctrines of grace, election, definite atonement, that should not hinder your evangelism. Because those things aren't the lens through which we look at everything. We think of other places in scripture that call us to tell people to turn from sin and believe in Christ and they will be saved. And we leave it with God and his sovereignty. So once again, this is another tough doctrine for some people. Maybe some of you are kind of wrestling with definite atonement or limited atonement. Or maybe some of you think, boy, this is tough. This is a difficult thing to follow. Well, like I said before, be patient. Be patient with yourself. Pray about it. Obviously, if you don't understand the doctrine, if you're questioning or just wrestling with it, ask God to help you and study the Word. Take some time, maybe shut your phone off and go somewhere quietly and study the Scripture and pray for growth and understanding. I've told you that before. It's kind of frustrating when someone says, well, I don't really believe that, and I just don't know what to do with it, and they never read up in Scripture on it. Go to the word and ask God to give you grace and insight into the word and he will teach you there. And so I do believe that definite atonement is biblical and it magnifies Christ and his great work of saving sinners and it gives us comfort and assurance. And that's good news. But we don't want to get so deep in doctrine that we miss the center of it. Christ's work to rescue rebels. He is at the center of the Christian faith, and his death for us is the firm foundation of our hope, our peace, and our joy. That's what we start by talking about, and that's where we end by talking about Christ, our Redeemer. Let's pray.