Lesson 5 - The Sufficienty of Jesus Christ
Lesson Overview
This is the final lesson of the Who Is Jesus Christ? course, and it answers the question that follows from everything that has come before. If Jesus is God — and the previous four lessons have established that He is — then why did He come to this earth? Why was the eternal Son of God born a man? Why did He live, die, and rise again?
Pastor Josh structures the lesson around three of Christ’s own teachings, followed by the lesson’s climax. He begins with Jesus’s teaching on sin, drawn from John 8:21-24 and Luke 5:17-26. The Lord declares that men will die in their sins unless they believe — and the man with palsy at Capernaum demonstrates that Christ has the very authority of God Himself to forgive sin. He moves to Jesus’s teaching on judgment from John 5:22-30 and Romans 2:16: the Father has committed all judgment to the Son, and the day is coming when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.
Then comes the heart of the lesson and the heart of the gospel. Why did Christ have to die? Pastor Josh uses the illustration of an earthly judge: if a judge simply forgave a murderer out of love, that would not be love — it would be injustice toward the one wronged. God is both perfectly just and perfectly loving, and the cross is where those two perfections meet. Christ did not merely die physically; He bore the eternal wrath of Almighty God against sin. Only God could bear an eternal punishment, which is precisely why the One who paid the price had to be God Himself.
The lesson lands on 2 Corinthians 9:8 and 5:21. Christ is sufficient — not only to give eternal life, but to make all grace abound toward you, that you, “always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” The series closes where it began: with the call to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ this very moment, and to find in Him the sufficiency for every need of body and soul, in time and for eternity.
Lesson Outline
I. The Two Possible Answers
Either Jesus is God, or He is not. There is no middle ground.
If He is not God, He is egotistical and out of touch with reality.
If He is God, He is God — and His teaching, His death, and His resurrection all matter eternally.
II. Jesus’s Teaching on Sin
John 8:21, 24 — “Ye shall die in your sins… for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”
All men are sinners, all men will die — the question is, will you die in your sins?
Luke 5:17-26 — The man with palsy. “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.”
The scribes recognize the claim: “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
Christ’s authority to forgive sin is manifested in the visible miracle of healing.
III. Jesus’s Teaching on Judgment
John 5:22 — “The Father… hath committed all judgment unto the Son.”
John 5:27 — “Hath given him authority to execute judgment also.”
John 5:30 — “I can of mine own self do nothing… my judgment is just.”
Romans 2:16 — “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.”
To die in your sins is to face that judgment without a Saviour.
IV. Why Christ Had to Die
John 3:14-18 — “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.”
The judge-and-murderer illustration: love without justice is injustice toward the one wronged.
God is both perfectly just and perfectly loving — the cross is where both perfections meet.
Christ bore the eternal wrath of God; only God could bear an eternal punishment.
Romans 3:23-26 — “A propitiation… that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
V. The Sufficiency of Christ
2 Corinthians 5:21 — “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 — “All sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”
Christ is sufficient not only for eternal life, but for every grace needed for every good work in this life.
“Sufficient” means equal to the end proposed — and the end of our sins is eternal damnation. Christ’s sufficiency is great.
VI. The Closing Appeal
Trust Christ as God who bore your penalty on the cross and rose again from the dead.
Salvation is a free gift, received by faith and faith alone.
In the moment you believe from the heart, God forgives your sin and credits Christ’s righteousness to your account.
Key Scriptures
John 8:21
Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
John 8:24
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Luke 5:18-21
And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
Luke 5:24
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
John 5:22-23
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
John 5:26-27
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
John 5:30
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
Romans 2:16
In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
John 3:14-16
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:17-18
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Romans 3:23-26
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
Memory Verse
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
— 2 Corinthians 9:8
Written Summary
The Who Is Jesus Christ? course closes with the question that has been waiting in the background since Lesson 1: if Jesus is God — and He is — why did He come to die? Pastor Josh structures the answer around three of Christ’s own teachings and one foundational truth about the character of God.
First, Jesus taught that men are sinners. Pastor Josh begins in John 8:21-24, where the Lord tells His hearers, “Ye shall die in your sins… for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” All men sin. All men will die. But the issue is not whether you will die — it is how. Will you die in your sins, or will you die forgiven?
To establish that He has the authority to forgive sins, Pastor Josh moves to Luke 5:17-26 — the man with palsy lowered through the roof. Christ’s first words to him are not, “Rise and walk” but, “Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.” The scribes immediately understand the claim: “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” And the Lord, knowing their thoughts, performs the visible miracle to demonstrate the invisible authority. The healed man walks home; sin is forgiven; Christ has shown that He is God.
Second, Jesus taught that the Father has committed all judgment to the Son. John 5:22, 27, and 30 establish the principle: the Father judges no man, but has given all authority to judge to His Son, and the Son’s judgment is just. Romans 2:16 confirms the appointment: “In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.” To die in your sins is to face that judgment without a Saviour, and the Scripture warns plainly that the alternative to eternal life is the danger of hellfire.
Then comes the heart of the gospel. If Jesus has the authority to forgive sin, why did He have to die at all? Pastor Josh answers with an illustration. Imagine an earthly judge faced with a murderer. The judge stands and announces, “In my love, I will forgive the murderer.” The sinner benefits, but the victim is denied justice. The courtroom riots. That is not love — it is injustice. God is perfectly just, and He is perfectly loving, and the two cannot be separated. Sin must be punished. The cross is where God’s justice and God’s love meet without compromise — Christ bore the punishment so that the Father could be both “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).
And here Pastor Josh draws the conclusion that ties the entire series together. Christ did not merely die physically. He bore the eternal wrath of Almighty God — the very wrath that would otherwise be poured out on the sinner for all eternity. Only God could bear an eternal punishment in a finite span of time. This is precisely why the One who died on the cross had to be God Himself. The sufficiency of the cross rests entirely on the deity of the Christ who hung there.
The lesson closes with 2 Corinthians 9:8. Christ is sufficient. He is the ransom price for sin. He is the propitiation that satisfies justice. He is the righteousness imputed to every believer. And He is, “always,” in “all things,” sufficient for “every good work” you will ever be called to. The series began with the question, who is Jesus Christ? It ends with the answer Pastor Josh has labored across five lessons to establish: He is God in the flesh, who came and died for you so that you could have eternal life. Believe in Him today and be saved.
Study Questions
For reflection and personal application. Good for individuals, couples, and small groups.
Pastor Josh insists there is no middle ground: either Jesus is God, or He is not. Why is the popular notion of Jesus as “a great moral teacher but not God” not actually a third option, and why does it collapse on its own?
In John 8:24, Jesus says “if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” What does it mean to die in your sins, and how does that one phrase reframe the urgency of the gospel for you and for those you love?
In Luke 5, Christ forgave the man’s sins before He healed his body. Why does the order of those two acts matter, and what does it teach you about Christ’s priorities for those who come to Him?
Pastor Josh’s illustration of the judge who simply forgives the murderer is meant to expose what goes wrong with a “loving God” who does not punish sin. Why is justice a non-negotiable part of love, and how does the cross resolve the tension?
Why did the One who paid for sin have to be God? Why could no creature, no matter how good, bear the eternal wrath that sin deserves?
Romans 3:26 says that at the cross God is shown to be both “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” What does it mean to you that the gospel does not require God to compromise on either His justice or His love?
2 Corinthians 9:8 promises “all sufficiency in all things.” Where in your life right now do you most need to remember that Christ’s sufficiency extends beyond eternal life into the practical work He has called you to today?
Review Questions
Question 1: In Luke 5, when Jesus said to the man with palsy, “Thy sins are forgiven thee,” how did the scribes and Pharisees respond?
A. They rejoiced that a sinner had been forgiven.
B. They asked Jesus to do the same for them.
C. They reasoned that He spoke blasphemy, asking, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”
D. They quietly walked away in confusion.
Question 2: According to John 5:22, who has the Father committed all judgment to?
A. The angels of heaven.
B. The Son.
C. The Holy Spirit.
D. The apostles, when they sit on twelve thrones.
Question 3: According to Pastor Josh’s teaching, why did the One who died for sin have to be God?
A. Because only God’s death would attract enough attention.
B. Because God promised to die personally for His people.
C. Because only God could bear an eternal punishment in our place.
D. Because human sacrifices were forbidden in the Old Testament.
Answer Key
C — They reasoned that He spoke blasphemy. The scribes understood Christ’s claim perfectly — only God can forgive sins — and Jesus then proved His authority to do exactly that by healing the man visibly, demonstrating that He is God.
B — The Son. John 5:22 states that the Father judges no man but has committed all judgment to the Son; the One who came to save will also be the One who judges, which makes the call to trust Him now absolutely urgent.
C — Only God could bear an eternal punishment in our place. The wages of sin is eternal death; no creature could bear an infinite penalty in a finite span, so the One who paid had to be infinite — that is, God Himself, which is precisely why Jesus is God.
Going Deeper
— Romans 5:6-11 — Paul’s exposition of why Christ’s death was for us “while we were yet sinners,” and the unbreakable logic of how the cross both demonstrates and accomplishes God’s love. A perfect companion to this lesson’s judge-and-murderer illustration.
— Hebrews 9:11-15 and 10:10-14 — The writer of Hebrews on why Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice is sufficient where the Old Testament sacrifices were not. The same theme of sufficiency, expanded into the doctrinal heart of the new testament.
— Philippians 4:13, 19 — “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me… My God shall supply all your need.” Two of the most quoted verses in the New Testament, and both are concrete applications of 2 Corinthians 9:8 — Christ’s sufficiency made personal.
Coming Up Next
This is the final lesson of the Who Is Jesus Christ? course. The question has been asked and answered: Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, the eternal second member of the triune Godhead, who came to die and rise again so that everyone who believes might receive eternal life. Pastor Josh’s closing appeal stands: trust the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ this very moment. If you have any questions, please contact us — we would love to help you. Until our next course… look up.
