Sermon Snippets’ is an occasional series, taking bitesize chunks from our Sunday sermons. The following excerpt is adapted from a sermon on Deuteronomy 28, preached by Nigel Styles last Sunday. You can listen to the whole sermon here.
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The Lord Jesus was sold, to buy us back;
captive, to deliver us;
condemned, to absolve us.
He was made a sin offering for our righteousness, so that by him fury is made gentle,
wrath pacified,
darkness turned to light,
fear reassured,
debt cancelled,
heaviness lightened,
sadness made merry,
misfortune made fortunate,
difficulty easy,
disorder ordered,
division united,
humiliation made noble,
rebellion quashed,
intimidation intimidated,
ambush uncovered,
force forced back,
combat combated,
war warred against,
vengeance avenged,
torment tormented,
damnation damned,
the abyss sunk into the abyss,
hell transfixed,
death dead,
mortality made immortal.
In short, he was cursed so we can be blessed.
(adapted from John Calvin’s preface to a 1534 French translation of the New Testament )
Listen to the rest of the sermon here.