Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:14-15
The small group that my wife and I participate in is currently studying the statements of faith that our church affirms. As I began preparing for a study on the statement related to Christ, I thought it would be appropriate to walk through it here since the Christian world will be celebrating Easter in a few days. It’s a brief but great reminder of what we are celebrating and is as follows: “We believe in Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, sinless life, vicarious death, burial, bodily resurrection, His ascensions to the right hand of the Father and His personal future return in power and glory.”
Why Christ? The world offers many religions which attempt to satisfy the soul. However, faith in Christ is the only option that truly satisfies our soul, abolishes our sins, unites us with God, invites us into a relationship and provides hope both in this life and the next. In Matthew 14:6 Christ tells us: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Christ our redeemer is the only path to salvation, unity with God and eternal life.
As I considered the virgin birth, I realized that like many others who have been raised in the church, I accepted it as fact without giving much thought to its importance. Consequently I went on a search and found a good article by David Mathis that has been a great help to me. (www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-virgin-birth) As one should expect of the Son of God, Christ’s entrance into the world was anything but ordinary. The virgin birth highlights the supernatural aspects of His person and His authenticity in that no other man has been born of virgin. His birth had been foretold since the Garden of Eden, it was clearly explained by a messenger of God, it was heralded by heavenly hosts and witnessed by the shepherds and kings. As sinful man is incapable of producing a redeemer, God sent His only Son to fulfill that role. The virgin birth was a loving but decisive act on the part of God the Father; He commanded it and it was so. Finally, the virgin birth unites the two natures of Christ: wholly man and wholly God. As man, He understands our weaknesses, frustrations and trials; as God, He is both the perfect sacrifice and perfect intercessor.
Hebrews 4:15 reminds us that Christ was tempted but did not sin. As such, He was the only one who could provide the perfect sacrifice. To fully appreciate what this means, one has to consider the protocol for sacrifice established in the Mosaic Law. The lamb had to be “without defect”. However, those sacrifices had to be repeated over and over again because they were symbolic and completed by imperfect men. However, Christ the perfect Son of God sacrificed Himself in order to accomplish the perfect sacrifice once and for all.
“Christ’s vicarious death” avows that Christ died in our place…bore our punishment. 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ took our sin and bore our punishment to provide us with His righteousness. Those who accept His costly gift which is freely offered will stand before God at the final judgement day clothed in Christ’s righteousness and free from guilt.
Before I move on, I’d like to consider Christ’s death a bit more as it is another fact that is readily accepted but often not fully appreciated. I would argue that Christ’s sacrifice started with His incarnation. Almighty and infinite God confined Himself to human form and endured temptation. During His ministry, He was regularly rejected and challenged by the majority of the religious leaders. His closest companions couldn’t stay awake to pray for Him in His hour of greatest need. He was betrayed by someone: that was close to Him, in whom He had invested time and energy, whom He had taught, who He shared meals with, and who should have been His friend. The remainder of His disciples abandoned Him and one denied Him three times. His trials were a farce…He had committed no crime. He was mocked, spit on, beaten, and tortured. He was rejected by His countrymen who demanded Christ’s crucifixion and the release of one who was truly guilty. In spite of being severely weakened by His torture, He was forced to carry His instrument of death through the city in humiliation. He endured excruciating pain as He was nailed to and hung on the cross. His torturers divided His clothes by the casting of lots. He experienced further humiliation as He hung on a cross publically while His friends and family looked on. He had to witness the grief of His mother. As our sins were placed on Him who knew know sin, He became aware of their weight and grime. But, nothing compared to the pain of His Father turning from Him as He bore our sin. Finally, He experienced death. It was an event that was enough to alter natural science, rock the earth and wake the dead as well as complete enough to tear the veil in the temple and allow the unity of man and God. I fear that in this lifetime and no matter what we face, none of us will ever be able to fully comprehend Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf.
Why is Christ’s burial important? It speaks to the fact that Christ actually died. He didn’t just hang on the cross near death and recover, but He did in fact die and was buried satisfying the wrath of God. (See also https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/the-burial-of-christ/ )
Just as Christ’s entrance into the world was spectacular so was His departure. It began with His resurrection from the dead. Like His birth, it was predicted. Sin and death entered the world through a willful and selfish act of man. Sin and death were conquered by a willful and benevolent act of God. This is what we celebrate on Easter for not only did Christ die, but He rose again and testified to God’s goodness and faithfulness. The basic significance here is multifaceted. If Christ was not raised from the dead: our testimony is false; our faith is in vain; preaching Christ is a futile exercise, Christ and those who died in Christ have perished; our faith is worthless as our sins have not been forgiven; and we are left without hope (1 Corinthians 15:14-18). Thankfully, Christ has risen from the dead, our sins have been forgiven, we have hope and, therefore, we have cause to celebrate and to proclaim Christ to others.
Christ used the time between His resurrection and ascension to further instruct and encourage His followers as well as to restore His relationship with Peter. When that was accomplished Christ’s completed His exit with His ascension into Heaven. While witnessed on earth by fewer than His incarnation, it was spectacular nonetheless and further testified to His deity.
Christ departed with the promise to come again. However, His return will be much different. Rather than coming as the humble suffering servant, He will return in power and might as the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.
Christ our redeemer has completed the prophecies and the work associated with His incarnation. He has provided our source of salvation and reconciliation to God. He now sits at the right hand of God the Father interceding on our behalf. He has firsthand knowledge of our challenges, pain, fears, weaknesses, temptations, sickness, loneliness, doubts and all of the things that distract us from our eternal prospective because He has lived them. However, as the Son of God and Our Great High Priest, He also has firsthand knowledge of the God’s love, what His sacrifice has accomplished and what we have to look forward to in eternity and works diligently to bring us safely home. This is our hope and our confidence. As we celebrate Christ’s resurrection we do well to remember all that He has endured on our behalf, celebrate His resurrection and look forward to His return in power and glory. Christ our Redeemer…our hope and confidence.
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
Will