Thoughts

• According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, the gist of the gospel is “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, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.” His burial proves He died. His being seen proves He rose again. Paul is looking back to the cross. Many verses in the Old Testament and the Gospels looked ahead to the cross.
• Two of the most familiar Old Testament verses that look ahead to the cross are Isaiah 53:5-6. “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” In the Gospels, Jesus also predicted His own suffering and death.
• In Romans 5:8 Paul says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins; if we believe in Him, we have eternal life. In the same chapter as John 3:16, John 3:36 says, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”