For I have received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me. And in the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Paul, in his letter to the Christians of Rome, explains in theological terms what really transpired at Calvary. He says, But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Now the Amplified Bible says it this way: But now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the Law, although actually it is attested by the Law and the Prophets, namely, the righteousness of God which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah). [And it is meant] for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and the glory which God bestows and receives. [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth [before the eyes of all] as a mercy seat and a propitiation by His blood [that cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation, to be received] through faith. Now this was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment. It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself as righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus.

Now Paul deals with a dimension of the cross sometimes we have overlooked. You see, what God did 2000 years ago at Calvary was an immense eternal operation. It was more than an isolated movement in history, because God had to deal with all the sinners who had lived from the day of Adam to all who will live until time is no more. And thus, the redemption program established by God and completed at Calvary was immense in its dimension. And Paul tells us something that's very, very interesting. You can read a portion over, and over, and over again and never see sometimes the thing that's there. But I have always pondered in my mind as I've thought, God, how are You going to handle all those sinners that lived before the cross? I can take that a step further and say, God, how are You going to handle the souls of people who lived where the gospel was never preached and they never heard, they never had a chance?

And I know the theological arguments that Paul brings in chapter 1, but he says something that amazes me. Look at what he says. He said in order for God to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins that were previously committed. Now I do not know how God does that, but I know that He has, and in His righteousness all the previous people are taking care of. And because He did that, I can leave all of the souls of those who never hear into His righteous hands and know He'll do all things justly and righteously, because Paul said that at Calvary it was the demonstration time where God manifested His righteousness. Now I will leave the past and the future to God, but I come back to the cross and say, marvel of marvels, when Jesus died, He died for me and He died for you. That makes it very personal, and He deals with all of us in mercy and in righteousness.

That is, what God does is eternally right. There are no imperfections. Everything He does is perfect. So when I come to Him, I come to Him as a sinner. I put my trust and my reliance, as Paul says, in Jesus and He forgives me, and He takes care of all of the past, the present, and the future sins. You say, where defined that? John writes in his epistle, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And it's very interesting, in the text it's an ever active verb. God in His mercy continues on and on to forgive. You and I fail Him miserably. Some of us have walked wayward paths this week, but He is so patient and when we come to Him genuinely sorry and repentant with a desire to turn from our sins, He forgives totally. And if you're here today and you don't know where you stand. You know that in your heart you know things aren't right between you and God. You know that you've lived your life apart from His authority and His control. You've disobeyed His laws. You have violated and transgressed His commands. You know that, and He knows it. The wonderful, beautiful thing about this moment, 2000 years ago, Jesus handled that sin at Calvary. And I can come and you can come and kneel, and say, Jesus, I come to You today. I'm a sinner. I need Your forgiveness, and I open my heart and ask that You by Your spirit will come and live within me. And Paul says when I do, heaven listens.

Let's kneel together, shall we? Lord Jesus in our finite minds so limited with the ability to comprehend eternity and eternal things, to try to grasp all that took place at Calvary 2000 years ago, where You, almighty God, resolved the sin issue of all history: past, present, and future. And in the death of Jesus Christ at Calvary the price was paid, the propitiation, the satisfaction of justice demands were met, and we in simple trust and reliance in faith in Christ enjoys sins forgiven. We do that now. We seek Your forgiveness dear Jesus. We're sinners. Not a one of us who kneel here today would ever try to impress You with our goodness. Our righteousness is as filthy rags before You dear God. We need Your forgiveness and we seek Your cleansing, and we want to repent, that is, we want to turn from our sin; that which displeases You, that which we know is not godly, that which we know is not Christ-like. We want to turn from that way of living, and we want our life to bring honor and praise to You dear Jesus. Please help us. Let's take the bread together, shall we? And then the cup. Thank you dear Jesus. Calvary covers it all and we love You today, and everybody said, amen. Let's stand and greet one another, shall we?