The Seven Pillars of Truth      Lesson 3

What Happened To Jesus In His Redemptive Work

Scripture Verse: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

1 Corinthians 5:21 NAS

As we begin our lesson today, how many can tell us what we are studying?

Last week we studied the second pillar in Paul’s Revelation. What was last week’s lesson about? Answer: Who Adam was and what Adam did. Who was Adam? Answer: The head of the human race. What did Adam do? Answer: Adam brought sin into the world, and when he did, he brought spiritual death to all people. Praise the children for their answers.

Today we are going to learn what happened to Jesus in His redemptive work. In this fellowship, you probably have heard the words "Redemptive Work" many times. Does anyone know what those words mean?

The word ‘Redemption’ comes from the word ‘Redeem’. There are three meanings for the word ‘Redeem’. 1. To purchase. Jesus bought the right to set us free, by paying with His life. 2. To deliver. Jesus delivered us from the bondage of sin when he became what we were and died spiritually, and when He was resurrected, we were resurrected with Him, making us like He is. 3. The payment of a ransom. Jesus also paid the ransom. When man fell, a penalty needed to be paid. No one could pay it because it had to be a pure and holy payment. Jesus paid that payment with His own Life by becoming the Lamb that was slain.

The word ‘Work’ refers to the work of the cross, meaning what happened during the 3 days and 3 nights of Calvary. And that is what we are learning about.

Let’s all say our Scripture Verse for today, together. Have the class read

Who can tell me who this Scripture is talking about? Answer: Jesus. Very Good!

Who made Jesus to be made sin on our behalf? Answer: Father God. Do you think Jesus wanted to be made sin? Answer: NO! Remember in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus was so fearful he sweat drops of blood? Jesus didn’t want to be separated from God, His Father, but He said, ‘Not My will, but Yours’ to God when He was praying, didn’t He?

In the last lesson we talked about how God dealt with two men in the Bible. The first man was Adam, and the last man was Christ. Adam sinned and when he did, he made all of the human race become sinners.

But Jesus was born from a girl named Mary, wasn’t He? And He grew up never sinning because He had the life of God inside Him. When He was 30, He began to tell the people how they could be saved, but they didn’t know He was talking about Himself as their Savior. Jesus ministered to the people for 3 years. What is so important about the number 3?

Didn’t Jesus die and was raised on the third day? Those 3 days and nights are very important. It is during those 3 days and nights, that Jesus became the second man Adam and He undid everything that Adam had done.

How many have ever thrown a rock into water? When the rock hits the water, what happens? Ripples begin going around in circles, spreading outward, getting bigger and bigger. That is what it was like when Adam sinned. The ripples kept spreading bigger and bigger effecting all of us.

But Jesus came to undo what Adam did. So what did Jesus have to do? He had to become what we were. Jesus became the second Adam. Can someone tell me what the difference was between Adam and Jesus, who became the second man Adam? Answer: Adam sinned, Jesus did not sin. But in order to become what we were, Jesus had to become sin. He had to die our spiritual death.

Why was only Christ able to undo what Adam did? Answer: Because only God Himself could overcome spiritual death and bring mankind back into right standing. Jesus was God’s very own Son. He had the Life of the Father within Him. He was the Holy, unblemished sacrifice, we know as the Lamb of God. It took the pure love of Jesus to undo what sin did.

Imagine throwing a rock into the water, but instead of the ripples starting at the place where the rock went in, they actually start at the edge of the water and work their way inward, getting smaller and smaller as they go to the place where the rock entered the water, until they just disappeared and there were no ripples at all. Would that be weird?

That’s kind of what happened when Jesus became the second man Adam. He reversed what Adam did. Sin no longer has any place in you, you have the nature of Christ in you. What does 2 Corinthians say? It says that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. In Whom? Answer: In Christ.

The only thing that stands between us and God is what we believe. If you do not know Jesus in your heart, you cannot know God, because Jesus is the very heart of God, our Father. This would be a good time to ask the children if there are any who have not given their heart to Jesus, and lead them to Christ.

Before we leave today, what is the third pillar in the Seven Pillars of Truth?

Answer: What happened to Jesus in His redemptive work? He was made sin.