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In the Old Testament era God is shown to be real and alive. He is shown as having spoken to
man, both audibly and through His Word. God is shown to be Lord and King over this world, the
world of His creation. He is shown as Judge and Ruler over His dominion.
We have seen Him display all of His attributes of perfection so that all may bow down and
worship Him. We saw Him as Saviour reaching out in His sovereign love to rescue those who are
of Him in faith and obedience from the guilt and power of sin. Those who accepted His mercy and
His judgments were adopted as His sons and were blessed accordingly.
In the Old Testament era God revealed His Godhead, the Tri-unity, in which there are three
persons, The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit working as One in the work of salvation. The
Father purposed it, the Son secured it, and the Holy Spirit applied it. We further saw Him
revealed in those who responded to His revelation of trust and obedience, faith and worship,
prayer and praise, submission and service, be exalted as they saw life in the Light of His Word.
In studying the life of our Lord Jesus Christ we find these same truths revealed. The interesting
thing about the revelation of the truth of Jesus Christ is that there are testimonies about Him
outside of the Biblical accounts. The best known, and the most lengthy, is by a famous historian
named Josephus.
"Now about this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one should call Him a man; for He was a
worker of miracles, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with joy. And He drew to Himself
many of the Jews, and also many of the Greeks. This was the Christ. And when at the instigation
of our chief men Pilate had sentenced him to the cross, those who had loved Him at the first did
not fall away. For He appeared unto them alive again on the third day, as the holy prophets had
declared these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And even now the race
of Christians called after Him is not extinct." (Josephus, Antiquities, 18:3:3). Many have disputed
this passage in Josephus' writings. Yet, as we shall see, it tallies with the eyewitness Scriptural
accounts.
In the Scriptural accounts of Jesus the majority of His biography lies in the four Gospels. The
remainder of the New Testament gives very little other revelation. We find one new and beautiful
saying of His, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35, NKJV). Also in reference
to the institution of the Lord's Supper we find in the writings for the first time these words, ". . . in
remembrance of Me" (I Corinthians 11:24).
In I Thessalonians 4:15-17 there is the substance of Jesus' teaching on His Second Coming. "For
this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of
the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead
in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord" (NASB).
I Corinthians 15:5-8 lists a more complete record of His resurrection appearances than the
Gospels: ". . . and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to
more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have
fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as it were to one
untimely born, He appeared to me also" (NASB). In this vein Acts 1:1-14 gives the fullest
account we have of His ascension and His instructions preceding it.
The main reason there is very little revelation of the Person of Jesus Christ in the letters and other writings is that readers had already been instructed in the facts of the Christian faith. There really was no need to re-emphasize these facts. The most obvious point is that all of them expected the Second Coming to occur any moment so there really was no need to write for posterity. Yet the epistles are full of allusions to the recorded facts of Christ's earthly years; and since there must have been many facts told by witnesses besides those preserved in the Gospels (John 20:30), we can see the immense mass of information from which we can frame His entire earthly life.
In succeeding chapters we shall endeavor to point out His character as well as His genealogy and
His relationship to the
Godhead.
The Apostle Paul wrote concerning the Revelation of God in the New Testament those allusions
that were based on facts known in detail by his readers. Paul wrote of the birth of Jesus under the
Law, (Galatians 4:4) "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, of the Seed of David after the flesh."
Paul wrote of the Seed of David after the flesh, the Son of God and the Messiah (Romans 1:1-4)
"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which
he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our
Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of
God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."
The writings continue with the public ministry with its limitation to the Jews, (Romans 15:8)
"Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm
the promises made unto the fathers." They show the humiliation of our Lord (II Corinthians 8:9)
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he
became poor, that through his poverty you might be rich."
The writings continue showing the miracles wrought by the apostles, (II Corinthians 12:12)
"Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs, and
wonders, and mighty deeds.
Paul had evidently taken pains to learn exactly the teachings of Jesus so that he could treat the
revelation of God as authoritative, (I Corinthians 7:10) "And . . . I command, yet not I, but the
Lord," distinguishing carefully between them and his own opinions, (I Corinthians 7:25) "Now . . .
I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of
the Lord to be faithful."
The revelation of God in the New Testament continues to be shown in the character of Jesus, as
the IDEAL OF WISDOM (I Corinthians 1:30) "But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption," the IDEAL OF
TRUTH, (Romans 9:1) "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness
in the Holy Ghost," the IDEAL OF SELF-SACRIFICING SERVICE, (Romans 15:1-3) "We then
who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every
one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ did not please himself;
but, as it is written, The reproaches of those that reproached You fell on me," the IDEAL OF
GENTLENESS AND MEEKNESS, (II Corinthians 10:1) "Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with
you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ--who in presence am lowly among you, but being
absent am bold toward you," and the IDEAL OF LOVE (Galatians 2:20) "I am crucified with
Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the
flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
The details of the Last Supper, which Paul gives more exactly than the synoptists also reveal that
character of God that is revealed in the New Testament, (I Corinthians 11:23-25) "For I have
received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus 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. 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.'" The attitude of the rulers also reflect His character,
(I Corinthians 2:8) "Which none of the rulers of this age knew: for had they known, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory."
The betrayal, the crucifixion, and the burial and resurrection was known by everyone again
reflected His revelation in the New Testament (I Corinthians 11:23), ". . .the Lord Jesus the same
night in which he was betrayed . . .", (II Corinthians 13:4) "For though He was crucified in
weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with
Him by the power of God toward you," (I Corinthians 15:4) "And that He was buried, and that
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."
Even after His appearances to the disciples after the resurrection, the apostle Paul deemed it wise
to recount the event as if to remind his readers of something they already had an intimate
acquaintance, (I Corinthians 15:5-8) "And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After
that He was seen by about five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto
this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
And last of all He was seen of me also, as by one born out of due time."
The facts agree perfectly with the entire Gospel story and Paul is nowhere in disharmony with the
synoptists. He used allusions that were common to all who read his writings at the time.
In harmony with the Jewish tradition (Matthew 1:1), "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham" starts with the genealogy of Jesus Christ. the primary
reason for revealing the Son of God in this fashion was that the Jews set the greatest possible
store on the purity of lineage. This was due to the early Levitical law (Leviticus 20:7-8), "Sanctify
yourselves therefore, and be holy: for I am the LORD your God. And you shall keep my statutes,
and do them: I am the LORD which sanctifies you" wherein God commanded them to be separate
and holy from all other nations. Anyone who married into other nations, i.e., had strange wives,
were declared apostate and were not in the body (Ezra 10:10-11), "And Ezra the priest stood up,
and said to them, You have transgressed, and have taken pagan wives, adding to the guilt of
Israel. Now therefore make confession to the LORD God of your fathers, and do His will;
separate yourselves from the peoples of the land, and from the pagan wives."
Thus, the Jews, especially the Sanhedrin who kept the records, would be especially keen on His
genealogy. It was hoped that the tracing of the genealogy of Jesus Christ would be all the more
impressive if it were at least traced back to Abraham. In looking at the genealogy listings of both
Matthew and Luke we find that Jesus is forty-first in line from Abraham but, as in Luke,
seventy-fourth from Adam. In any event, the genealogy of Jesus Christ is a pure unbroken line.
Matthew's genealogy reveals Jesus Christ as God in a special way. Therein is listed the names not
only of Mary, but also those of Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. The average Jewish
genealogy does not list women despite the precedent of the inheritance for women (Numbers
27:1-11). Especially three that were tainted with sin and one was a foreigner! The reason God
wanted their names within the eternal genealogy was to show that He who came to "save that
which was lost" (Luke 19:10) is "no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34) thus not scorning such a
descent. This is one of the Great Gospel Truths in that it reveals the entire gracious character of
the Christian message.
The prophets Isaiah and Malachi foretold the coming of the Messiah, but they also stated that His
arrival would be preceded by someone who would pave the way for the Messiah's appearance
(Isaiah 40:3-5 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight
in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill
made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the
LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has
spoken."; Malachi 3:1: "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then
suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom
you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.; Malachi 4:5 "See, I will send you the prophet
Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes." NIV).
This man is identified as John the Baptist by the synoptists. The Angel of the Lord visited
Zechariah, which means "the Lord remembers," (Luke 1:11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared
to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. NIV.) and He gave him the name 'John,'
which means "the Lord is gracious," or "the gracious gift of God."
This in itself is a revelation of God Almighty as it is proof of His Word of the forerunner. Six
months later the Angel of the Lord, Gabriel, dropped in to visit Mary. Now it is even more
noteworthy that this young woman had a great faith and a wonderfully humble spirit. As with all
who wish to enter a covenant with God, she had faith and obedience. The announcement to her
was awesome: (Luke 1:31-33 NIV) "You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to
give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord
God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever; his kingdom will never end."
All who read the Bible come to recognize one thing: that the Bible is God's revelation given to us
through "our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways" (Hebrews 1:1
NIV). In our past discussions we have seen the period from Adam to Samuel as "God's rule," for
God ruled directly over His people; from David through the Babylonian captivity we saw the
"kings' rule," since God ruled His people through the kings; after the Babylonian captivity until
the time of the Lord Jesus Christ we saw the rule of the "prophets and priests." The truth herein is
of another Great Gospel Truth: that of God working progressively to redeem the soul and spirit of
Man towards salvation.
The foundation of this doctrinal Great Gospel Truth is based on the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus
Christ. If this doctrine is lost, then the doctrines that are based on the revelation of the Bible are
lost. The issue here is whether the revelation of the Word of God is reliable. We cannot reject the
Holy Spirit's authoritative revelation of the extremely important matter of who Jesus Christ is,
how He came, and the nature of His person and place without dramatically crumbling the
foundations of the reliability of the Scriptures. The Word of God declares that the Messiah must
be of the seed of David just as definitely as it declares that He must be born of a virgin.
A close inspection of the messianic line reveals instances of the exercise of the grace of God. The
line of Judah was carried on by his illegitimate son, Pharez (see Genesis 38). The Mosaic Law was
very specific that the illegitimacy could not be removed until the tenth generation (Deuteronomy
23:2 [NIV] No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the
assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation) and the genealogy shows that David
was the tenth generation from Judah. This effectively canceled the curse of sin in the line of Judah.
Within these ten generations the redemption of two Gentile women, Rahab and Ruth, on a harlot,
the other an idol worshiper, were redeemed and given a place in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Thence, Christ was born of a virgin as prophesied (Isaiah 7:14 NIV: Therefore the Lord himself
will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel) and is of the seed of David (cf. II Samuel 7).
As the praise of angels and homage of shepherds to Him in the manger occurs (cf. Luke 2: 8-20),
it causes reflection upon the mystery of incarnation. Jesus had not ceased to be God; He was no
less God than before; but He had begun to be Man. He was not god minus some elements of His
deity, but God plus all that he had made His own by taking manhood to Himself. He who made
man was now learning what it felt like to be man.
In a great act of condescension and self-humbling, Jesus, "Who, being in very nature God, did not
consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he
humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8 NIV).
All of this was for our salvation. The Revelation of God here is firmly sealed in the "grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you
through his poverty might become rich" (II Corinthians 8:9 NIV). This is not only the stated fact
of the incarnation but its meaning.
The kenosis theory, a theory propounded by Bishop Gore in 1889 that Jesus had to empty
Himself of some Divine qualities, is a fallacy because God could not give up what was His. The
Scriptures, especially the New Testament testimony, repeatedly, emphatically, shows the
omnipotence and omnipresence and omniscience of Him (see also Matthew 28:18, John 21:17,
Ephesians 4:10). The impression of Jesus that the Gospels give is not that He was without these
qualities, but that He drew on them intermittently, while being content much of the time not to do
so. This is so obvious a testimony of Divine capacities restrained rather than Divine capacities
discarded.
The real kenosis is a laying aside of glory for an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment,
malice--the sins of the world--so that through His poverty we might become rich. The Revelation
of God here is a serious, wonderful manifestation of Love, Tender Mercy, and Grace in all
meanings.
Thus, the kenosis became flesh in a manger in Bethlehem. In his book, Jesus the Messiah, Alfred
Edersheim remarks that "He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder, 'the tower of the flock.' This
Migdal Eder was not the watch-tower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren
sheep-ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage
in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for
Temple-sacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not
ordinary shepherds. The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism, on account of their necessary
isolation from religious ordinances, and their manner of life, which rendered strict legal
observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible. This same Mishnic passage also leads us to infer,
that these flocks lay out all the year round, since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days
before the Passover--that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine the average rainfall is
nearly greatest. It was...the very place consecrated by tradition as that where the Messiah was to
be first revealed." The doctrine of grace, mercy, and redemption was even shown in the witness of
shepherds.
After the time of her purification was complete (see Leviticus 12) Mary took the child Jesus to be
circumcised and present Him in the Temple according to the Law. She offered up a sin-offering
for the Levitical defilement symbolically attaching to the beginning of life, and a burnt offering
that marked the restoration of communion with God. She could again partake of the sacred
offerings as, through prayer and praise and offerings with a grateful heart, she was declared
Levitically clean. Luke chapter 2 shows the prayers of thanksgiving and of prophecy from Simeon
and Anna all combine to stress the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The thought is that if He
were only God and not man, there would be no need to go through the required ritual. The painful
circumcision was only a very small part of His true kenosis.
This was the first of the requirements of being human--just like any other human male. He passed
through the various stages of growth just like anyone else. Since we have no accurate history of
His childhood we can infer that His growth and development were according to the laws of nature
and to the training that He received in a Godly home. We are sure that in His later years much of
His knowledge was via Divine Revelation, but, according to the Law, His entire being was the
handiwork of God, and, as such, He was totally subject to the Law of God.
The Revelation of God is shown here is that there is not an area of man's life and being that can be
held in reservation from God and His Law. In order to know what the Law is, all of us, and this
included our Lord during His youth, have to acknowledge that education in the law is basic to and
inseparable from both obedience to the law and from worship. This could be taken a step further
in our lives by saying that anything other than a Biblically grounded schooling is an act of
apostasy for a believer.
In order for Jesus to handle and dispense the keys of the kingdom during His adult ministry He
had to have been educated in the Law to know that these keys are inseparable from the Law, and
the faithful declaration of the law because they are the law as the only instrument of true power
under God.
Eusebius (Proof of the Gospel, X/1) states "we recognize Him as the Word of God, the Power of
God, the Wisdom of God, the Angel of the Great Counsel, and the Great Eternal High Priest,
offering sacrifice for the existence and preservation of all, and propitiating the Father. And as
Human we know Him as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, as a sheep led to
the slaughter. And this was the human body, which as a high priest He took like a lamb or sheep
from the flock of humanity, and offering the firstfruits of the human race, sacrificed them to the
Father. By it He entered into human nature, which could only thus perceive the Word of God, and
His spiritual unembodied power, being able with eyes of flesh to see nothing higher than flesh and
physical things. So that everything that follows, which may seem to lower His glory, must be
taken as conceived of the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, and of His human
body."
The revelation of the humanity of Jesus Christ is shown in that He was subject to the ordinary
laws of human development. To all eyewitnesses He had the appearance of a man in all respects.
The difference in this carnal nature is that it was sinless (1 Peter2:22 "He committed no sin, and
no deceit was found in his mouth."). By His incarnation, the kenosis, Jesus Christ came into
possession of a real, human, physical nature consisting of spirit, soul, and body. This gave to Him
a true humanity. W. Evans in his The Great Doctrines of the Bible says, "There is not a note in the
great organ of our humanity which, when touched, does not find a sympathetic vibration in the
mighty range and scope of our Lord's being, saving, of course, the jarring discord of sin." As we
read in the Scriptures to form a life of Christ we see Him subject to the ordinary physical
limitations of human nature, such as hunger, thirst, weariness, pain, and death.
"Christ possessed no moral limitations which were due to sin or which involved the possibility of
sinning. This must be true, or the plan of redemption would be always liable to failure. Our Lord
was the Lamb 'ordained before the foundation of the world!' A lamb to be accepted for sacrifice
must be 'without spot or blemish.' As the antitype, the Christ must be sinless from an essential
point, and without sin because of victory over it. Had he yielded to temptation and sinned, His fall
could not have changed the fact that He had been ordained as the Lamb of God. If that ordination
remained, we should have the fixed, ordained Lamb of God guilty of sin and denying the very
demand of both type and principle that He should be without sin. He could not be man's
Redeemer.
"The Scriptures give no warrant for the teaching that our Lord might have sinned. The
illustrations from Satan and Adam cannot come into court. Satan was a created angel; Adam was
not the begotten Son of God, but a creation of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ was not a created
angel; He was not a created man. He was begotten of God by and through the Holy Spirit from
the seed of the woman. That which was begotten was not a person but a nature, a human nature.
This human nature was holy. It was in its quality the holiness of God. Since its quality was the
holiness of God, there was no sin in it and no possible tendency to sin. This holy, sinless, human
nature was indissolubly joined to the personality of the Son. His human nature could not have
sinned without the consent of His unique person.
"Since the personality of our Lord Jesus Christ is the personality of God, it was impossible for
Him to consent to sin. Since His personality could not consent to sin, it was impossible for Him in
His human nature (seeing that human nature was inseparably joined to His personality) to have
sinned." (Emery H. Bancroft, Elemental Theology, pp. 135-136).
The kenosis, that emptying of Himself for us, is not an easy concept to discussd. This is a concept
to be believed in the spirit, a trusting that God is Whom He says He is, and the faith to do it.
Since the personality of our Lord Jesus Christ is the personality of God, it was impossible for Him
to consent to sin. Since His personality could not consent to sin, it was impossible for Him in His
human nature (seeing that human nature was inseparably joined to His personality) to have sinned
(Emery H. Bancroft, ELEMENTAL THEOLOGY, pp. 135-136).
Since He was human, it behooved Him to obey God and be baptized. The forerunner, John, was
already announcing His coming and baptizing unto repentance. In Luke 3:21-22 (NIV) we find
that, "When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying,
heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice
came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." (see also John
1:26-34; Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11).
There is much controversy within the Body of Christ today on the subject of Baptism. Even the
heresy of infant baptism remains from a doctrinal error. The particular Greek term used for the
word "baptism" can be translated "with water" or "in water." Except there is a difference
involved.
If John baptized WITH water, then we can picture him drawing up some water in his hands and
baptizing his aspirant WITH this substance. But if John baptized IN water, then we can envision
him bringing his aspirant down INTO the substance.
Which way did John baptize: WITH or IN water? Our answer is not difficult to locate. Matthew
3:16 (NIV):"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven
was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him." Mark 1:10
(NIV) "As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit
descending on him like a dove." Jesus was baptised IN water. The utter simplicity of the evidence
is typical of the Gospel: it blinds those who think they see it.
The baptism itself had an important significance for Jesus. To the other aspirants who were
baptized it had a double meaning: it signified the abandonment of their old sins, and their entrance
into the new Messianic era. In effect each aspirant saw it as an oath of abjuration--by which they
renounced the world and the flesh, as rivals for the throne of the heart with God--and as an oath
of allegiance--by which the aspirant resigns and gives up self to God, to be His.
In this the whole self is governed by God: spirit, soul, and body. The aspirant becomes His man
because being baptized into Christ causes one to put on Christ. Baptism replaced the rite of
circumcision and admits the aspirant into the privileges of the Christian state.
To Jesus it could not have the meaning of the erasure of sins. He may have also taken baptism as
the identification of Himself with His nation, and taken this way of expressing His sense of its
need to cleansing. But it meant, too, that He was now entering through a door into the new
epoch, of which He was Himself to the the Author. It expressed His sense that the time had come
to leave behind the employments of Nazareth and devote Himself to His peculiar work.
Baptism is one of the ordinances of the church. The other ordinance, to be discussed later, is the
observance of the Lord's Supper. There is nothing in either ordinance in itself that brings a
blessing or confers spiritual grace. God blesses the performance of these ordinances as He blesses
obedience and worship in other things.
Emery H. Bancroft in ELEMENTAL THEOLOGY, pp. 310-311, says, "The true view of the
ordinances seems to embrace a threefold significance: (1) They are symbolized Christian truths;
(2) they are memorials unto Christ, observed in obedience to Him, expressive of love and
devotion; (3) they are Christian rites, which designate those who properly observe them as
Christ's disciples."
Baptism is seen as a symbol of allegiance of those who will resist their sinful ways to follow God
(Colossians 2:9-12 (NIV) "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you
have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you
were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the
hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism
and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.")
Baptism is seen as a symbol of judgment upon sinners in the escape of those who put their trust in
Him (I Peter 3:18-22 (NIV) "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the
unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when
God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people,
eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you
also--not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It
saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right
hand--with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him."
Baptism is seen as a symbol of entrance into God's Kingdom (1Corinthians 10: 1-13 (NIV) "For I
do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud
and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the
sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from
the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not
pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they
did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: 'The people sat down to eat and
drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.' We should not commit sexual immorality, as some
of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. We should not test the Lord, as
some of them did--and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were
killed by the destroying angel.
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom
the fulfillment of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you
don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he
will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
In Jesus' baptism these three symbols are easily seen: He offered Himself to God as a sinless man,
He willfully received God's judgment as our substitute, and He bridged the gap so that we might
enter the Kingdom of God.
It is beyond the scope of this discussion of the revelation of God in baptism to dwell deeply into
the great theological significance of the three baptisms designed for all believers. The following
chart will aid in bringing clarity to the three baptisms God has designed for each believer.
While there is only "one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5) which is necessary for out conversion (namely, baptism into Christ's body), these baptisms are available to enrich all lives and service.
| The Baptism | The Baptizer | The Requirements | The Results |
| Into Christ &
Into His Body
Romans 6:3-7 I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12 |
The Holy Spirit | Repentance and Faith | Salvation and visible evidence of the new life. |
| Into Water
Acts 2:38-41, etc. I Cor. 1:13-17; I Peter 3:21 |
The Church | Obedience. Done after Salvation. After confession of sins. | Good conscience |
| Into the Spirit
Matt. 3:11,14; Jn. 7:37-39; Acts 1:5; 11:16; 19:2-3, etc. |
Jesus | Asking and Obedience. | Enduement of power for service. |
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is important for all believers no matter their Christian
denomination.
Mark 1:10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the
Spirit descending on him like a dove.
Luke 3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came
from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Matthew 3:16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment
heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.
John 1:32-33 Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove
and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with
water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will
baptize with the Holy Spirit.'
It is both a visible and audible experience. After the Ascension (Acts 2:2-3) came the sound of a
mighty rushing wind and overwhelmed those in the upper room. Stanley M. Horton, THE BOOK
OF ACTS, p. 30, says, "The wind would remind them of Old Testament manifestations. God
spoke to Job out of a whirlwind (Job 38:1; 40:6); a mighty east wind dried out the path through
the Red Sea, enabling the Israelites to escape from Egypt on dry ground (Exodus 14:21). Wind
was also a frequent symbol of the Spirit in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 37: 9, 10, and 14, for
example). Jesus also used wind to speak of the Spirit (John 3:8)."
The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is, more than anything else, a divine enabling or capability to speak
to people unashamedly and unfearfully of Jesus Christ. This lies at the very heart of the Holy
Spirit baptism: being a witness for Jesus! The Scriptures are very clear on how Jesus does it, why
we should accept this gift, and what to do with it.
This leads into one of the major doctrines of the Bible: that of the Trinity. One of the Great
Gospel Truths, one of the Major Doctrines of the Bible, is that of the Trinity. The Trinity is
presented in the Bible from start to finish--even though the word "trinity" is not used. The Bible
uses, instead, the word "Godhead" when speaking of the threefold God: Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost.
On the very first page of the Scriptures we read (according to the Jewish Publication Society of
America's translation of Genesis 1:1): "When God began to create the heaven and the earth--the
earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind (or Spirit
of) from God sweeping over the water." In the first chapter of the Gospel according to John we
are told (John 1:1-4) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him
nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men."
And who is the "Word?" We read on: (John 1:14) "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full
of grace and truth." So the Word that was in the very beginning with the Father, is none other
than Jesus Christ--the Word made flesh as was seen at the Creation.
There are many other Scripture passages relating to the Trinity. We have just seen the
presentation in the Gospels of the record of the baptism of Jesus. We were shown the Son of God
standing in the Jordan, the Father speaking from heaven, and the Holy Ghost descending upon
Jesus.
Many times in the Gospels Jesus speaks of his Father in heaven, and He promises to send the Holy
Spirit to take the place of Jesus when Jesus returns to the Father. We read in Acts 7:55 "But
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God."
Here again the three Persons of the Trinity, the Godhead, are distinguished. In the bendiction
within the second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote, "May the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." All the
way through the Bible we find reference after reference that continually point toward the fact that
God is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost--three distinct persons in one Godhead.
Ephesians 4:4-6 reveals the unity of the Church reflected in the Trinity. "There is one body and
one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called--one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
The third person of the Trinity: one Spirit, the animating Principle of one body--the Church; the
Source of its life and ever watchful Guardian of the Church's unity; the Inspirer of the one hope
(verse 4). Where the Spirit of Christ dwells as a living entity, He finds or makes for Himself a
body. No man can say, "I have the spirit of religion, I can dispense with forms, I need no
fellowship with men, I prefer to walk with God." God will not walk with men who do not care to
walk with His people. The oneness of communion among the Church is governed by a singleness
of vision.
The old world fell apart because it lacked a commonness of vision. The Church today is feeling
that same strain with multitudinous Bible versions, the pressure of society to hyphenate origins,
these and more causing division rather than the common vision of unity. At least the old world
gloried in its past where today the new world destroys its past.
Nothing holds men together like unity and hope. Christianity holds out a splendid crown of life. It
promises our complete restoration to the image of God, the redemption of the body with the spirit
from death, and our entrance upon an eternal fellowship with Christ in heaven. The Christian hope
supplies to men the hope of their calling in Christ Jesus. The Christian hope works for the
regeneration of humanity. The Christian hope looks for the actual ingathering into one in Christ of
all things in all worlds, as they are already gathered in God's eternal plan.
The second person of the Trinity: one Lord whom we are called to serve. Our willingness to be
obedient to Him molds us into one compact unity. One faith (verse 5), one body of inviolable
truth, one code of divine commands, one Gospel of promise, presenting one object of faith. One
baptism (verse 5), one gateway of entrance into the company of believers forming the one Church,
one initiation common to all. Christians may differ as to the mode of baptism and the age at which
it should be administered, but all agree it is an institution of Christ, a sign of spiritual renewal, and
a pledge of the righteousness that comes by faith.
The first person of the Trinity: one God, the supreme and final unity, who is "the Father of all,"
who is above all, and through all, and in you all (verse 6). He is the Father of the whole creation,
even the Father of Christians. He is above all. He reigns supreme. He is through all. His nature
pervades our frame, His eyes search and try our souls, His influence preserves our spirits.
The Trinity is such an important part of the fabric of the Church that it is unimaginable to think of
the Church without the unity of the
Godhead.
Coming down from the wilderness Jesus was spied by John who announced Him as the Lamb of
God. This starts the series of the calling of the twelve. Through study of the Greek word
"proskaleo" (kaleo = to call; pros = toward) we find that it is a verb expressing an intensity of
calling something or someone towards onself. This verb transmits the idea that this calling is
always on a face-to-face basis so that a commission can be received. A Great Gospel Truth here is
that God always calls us by our names into His service and meets face-to-face with us to
personally grant us our commission.
This leads into another Great Gospel Truth. God calls Himself whom He would. It is Personal
Choice with Him as an exercise of His will and sovereign purpose. This is clearly pointed out in
the Scripture that "... we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28 NIV). This can be thought about in
four distinct items.
The first item in the calling out of those for His purpose is the conversion, or salvation. Many are
called to conversion but few hear the call of the second item: the attaching of themselves to Jesus
permanently so that they can be made fishers of men. A short period of internship, the third item,
is a necessity. Here Jesus lets us go out into the world for a season to do His will and then we
come back for another extended period of teaching. The fourth item is what was seen in Acts 2 as
the empowering for service by the Holy Spirit as we accept the Great Commission.
The power of the Holy Spirit is the Scriptural witness when Jesus said, "Go back and report to
John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have
leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor."
(Luke 7:22) Here indeed is the revelation of God in the Person of Jesus Christ. Here are God's
miracles in the demonstration of a variety and intensity of power.
There is the power over nature. There is the power over disease. Demons are cast down and out
by His power. Powers of creation and power over death are made completely manifest. These
characterize God's activity as being distinctive and wonderful:
1. Exodus 15:11 "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you--majestic in
holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?"
2. Joshua 3:5 Joshua told the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do
amazing things among you."
3. Daniel 4:2-3 It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most
High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom
is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation. Daniel 6:27 He
rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has
rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."
4. Acts 4:30 "Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through
the name of your holy servant Jesus."
5. Romans 15:19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from
Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
These characterize God's activity as being mighty and powerful:
1. Psalm 106:2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise?
2. Psalm 145:4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty
acts.
3. Matthew 11:20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been
performed, because they did not repent.
4. 1 Corinthians 12:10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another
distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still
another the interpretation of tongues.
5. Galatians 3:5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe
the law, or because you believe what you heard?
These characterize God's activity as being meaningful and significant:
1. Numbers 14:11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with
contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have
performed among them?
2. Nehemiah 9:10 You sent miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his officials
and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made
a name for yourself, which remains to this day.
3. John 2:11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus
revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
4. John 3:2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come
from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with
him."
5. Acts 8:6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close
attention to what he said.
These declaration of God's miracles highlight the distinctive character of God's activity, almighty
in power, revealing Him in nature and history. Although miracles are consistent with God's nature
and purpose, they also reveal Him as living and personal.
These miracles show Him as being faithful in His being as a Person. His creative act brought into
being responsible creatures with whom He deals. Miracles are events that dramatically reveal this
living, personal nature of God active in history as a Redeemer who saves and guides His people.
Miracles are not simply an external authentication of the revelation but an essential part of it.
The true purpose of miracles is to nourish faith in the saving intervention of God towards those
who believe.
The working of miracles is directed to a deepening of men's understanding of God. It is God's
way of speaking dramatically to those who have ears to hear. There is intimate concern with the
actual participants and observers (Exodus 14:31 And when the Israelites saw the great power the
LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and
in Moses his servant; 1 Kings 18:39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried,
"The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!"). There is intimate concern with the faith of
those who will hear or read them later (John 20:30-31 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in
the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you
may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his
name.).
Jesus looked for faith as the right response to His saving presence and deeds; it was faith which
"made whole." This is the difference between mere creation of an impression and a saving
communication of His revelation of God the Father. In His rejection by Nazareth (Mark 6:5 He
could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them) there is
proof that wonder-working miracles in themselves were inconsistent with His mission.
A listing of miracles in the New Testament would include:
Miracles of Physical Healing:
A leper (Matt. 8; Mk. 1; Lk. 5)
A paralytic (Matt. 9; Mk. 2; Lk. 5)
Fever (Peter's mother-in-law) (Matt. 8; Mk. 1)
Physical infirmity (Jn. 5)
Hemorrhage (Matt. 9; Mk. 5; Lk. 8)
Miracles in the Natural Realm
Water changed to wine at Cana (Jn. 2:1-11)
Multiplying food: 5,000 fed (Mt. 14; Mk. 6; Lk. 9; Jn. 6)
4,000 fed (Mt. 15; Mk. 8)
Walking on water (Mt. 14; Mk. 6; Jn. 6)
Miracles of Resurrection
Jairus' daughter (Mt. 9; Mk. 5; Lk. 8)
Widow's son (Lk. 7)
Lazarus of Bethany (Jn. 11)
Miracles were the necessary and natural outcome of His life. It is the expression in the act of
Himself. All of these miracles, which have not ceased even in modern times, are all entirely
congruous with the manifestation and working of the Person of Jesus Christ. All were aimed at
the glory of God and the real benefit of men. The listing above is by no means complete yet even
in this short list they cover the whole ground of our Lord as Savior.
It is the Person of Christ that is the true miracle. He did these miracles because His Father gave
Him these signs as proofs that He had sent Him
These miracles were the natural outflow of the Divine Fulness that indwelt in Him. They were not
mere exhibitions of power, but of Holiness, wisdom, and love. The physical and spiritual pains
that He healed were further revelations of His redemptive mission. When He healed bodily
blindness, it was a type of the healing of the spirit. When He raised the dead it showed that he is
the Resurrection and the Life in the spiritual world as well. By the cleansing of the leper He
revealed His triumph over the leprosy of sin. When He fed over 9,000 men alone, not counting
women and children, He revealed Himself as the Bread of Life.
In continuing with the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, the writings of the Gospels and the
Letters and the Revelation show Him for who He is in reality.
*Matthew* shows the Anointed King who fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. *Mark* reveals
Him as the Son of God; the Son of Man who, as Lord, became the Suffering Servant. *Luke*
reveals the Son of Man who, as Anointed Preacher, is the Saviour. *John* revealed the Way, the
Truth, the Life as the Word who is the great "I AM."
*Acts* reveals Jesus as the Head of the Church who Baptizes in the Holy Spirit. *Romans*
reveals His salvation and Righteousness as the Propitiation for sins. *I Corinthians* is the
revelation of Him as the Resurrection and the Life through the Power and Wisdom of God. *II
Corinthians* reveals the Glory of the New Covenant.
*Galatians* further reveals Jesus as the New Covenant Mediator by His Faith and
Righteousness. *Ephesians* shows God's fulness as the Giver of Ministries through the Head of
the Church, the Bridegroom.
In *Philippians* He is our Joy, Life, Mind, Goal, and Strength. Through *Colossians* the
Fulness of the Godhead Bodily is not only the Creator but the Ruler and Redeemer also.
In *I Thessalonians* our Sanctification is seen in our coming Lord. Further, in *II
Thessalonians* our Coming Lord is seen as the Avenger.
In *I Timothy* Jesus is the Elder, the Deacon, the Teacher who fulfills His Charge. In *II
Timothy* the Righteous Judge is the Lord of the Heavenly Kingdom.
*Titus* reveals the Grace of God through the Saviour and Redeemer. In *Philemon* He is our
Intercessor and Advocate. In *Hebrews* He is the Author and Finisher of our Faith in all
categories as Prophet, High Priest, Minister, and Sacrifice.
In *James* the Lord of Glory and Hosts is also the Husbandman. In *I Peter* Jesus is revealed
not only as the Stone of Stumbling and the Rock of Offense but also the Chief Cornerstone.
In *II Peter* He is the Daystar and Coming Lord. In *I John* the Word is Love, Light, and Life.
In *II John* Christ, the Son of God, is the Truth. *III John* reveals Him as Truth. *Jude*
reveals Jesus as the Only Wise God who is also our Saviour. In the *Revelation* Jesus truly is
revealed as the Head of the Church, the Word, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
Within these writings are the teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught in a highly profitable way by
engaging the thoughts of those He spoke to and is speaking to today. In this mode of teaching
knowledge comes through understanding what He says. Jesus sought the Word of God,
understood it thoroughly, and then began to teach. He not only taught through His speech but
also through His example. His words were heard with wonder and amazement. Sometimes the
multitude on the beach or the lakeside so pressed upon Him to hear, that He had to enter a ship
just to have room. Evens His enemies bore witness that "never a man spake like this man;" and
meager as are the remains of His teaching that we now have, these are very much sufficient for
our understanding of the Kingdom of God.
A Great Gospel Truth is that God is revealed not as flighty in skipping from subject to subject as
most men do, but as steady, straight, always on the matter at hand. He talked on the truth of a
thing from all angles and then presented it so simply that sometimes it is overlooked because of its
simplicity. The greatest amount of truth was told in the smallest possible area and was pointed to
stick in memory. God spoke through Jesus by using those facets of His creation. He used His
observations of nature around him of the colors of the flowers, the ways of the birds, the growth
of the trees, the anomalies of the seasons and in equal parts of the ways of men in all parts of life
as religion, the home, and in business. God is revealed here as very much concerned with the
affairs of men in every little detail. Jesus' teaching was alive with such references: full of color,
movement, and changing forms. There were not abstract statements because God is not the
author of confusion but of those things that are solid and real.
All aspects of life were touched by Him: the lilies in the fields; the sheep following their shepherd;
the narrow and broad city gates; the virgins with their lamps waiting in the darkness for the
bridegroom; the self-righteous Pharisee at prayer in contrast with the publican's bent head and
humble attitude; the contrast and comparison of the rich man and the beggar. Many, many other
similitudes were used to reveal God who cares and loves His people.
Because of His authority He could expound on the Scriptures and the truth of God rather than on
ceremonial trappings of religion. He dwelt on the great themes of justice and mercy, love and
God, life and death. He spoke with the authority of One who had seen the Eternal World. He
knew He didn't send Himself, but rather sent from God and spoke accordingly. He spoke quite
plainly of the coming judgment of those who willingly turn their backs on God. He warned them
that on their acceptance or rejection of the message of the Kingdom of God would depend their
future happiness or anguish.
Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit beyond all measure. Everything He spoke affected someone:
none were aloof or immune to His word. He had the infilling of the Holy Spirit not only in such
degree as to fill Himself, but so as to be able to impart it to others. It overflowed with His words
and seized the souls of His hearers, filling with enthusiasm the mind and the heart.
However, He did not speak with the posture of condemnation. In spite of His tone of authority
and His fearless and scathing attacks on the evils of the world, there was diffused over all He said
a glow of grace and love. It did not matter to Him under what humble dress of social deformity
the spirit searching for God was hidden. He spoke to everyone with the same love and respect and
grace that revealed the Divine love of God. He spoke to people, and still speaks to people, as
individuals, not as those lost somewhere in a large homogeneous mass.
The sole purpose for Jesus' *kenosis*, His coming down from Heaven to be our Passover, is the
Atonement. Our faith is distinctively a religion of atonement. It gives the death of Christ the first
place in the Gospel message.
It is not by accident that the cross is our central symbol. Without the meaning of the Cross
redemption, atonement, would not be meaningful. What the Cross symbolizes is God's way of
dealing with men. The Cross is the meeting point of suffering with love, and God's way of
conquering evil through suffering love.
While Jesus was on the Cross we see that not only did the world's sin thus press itself on His
loving and holy soul in those near Him; it came from afar--from the past, the distant, and the
future--and met on Him. He was bearing the sin of the world; and the consuming fire of God's
nature (the opposite of the light of His holiness and love) washed over him to burn away the sin of
the world. This is the atonement: the way in which Christ's death makes possible the forgiveness
of sin.
Leviticus 17:11 "For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life." In this discussion we find it much easier to allow the Scriptures to speak for themselves on the meaning of blood atonement. God can speak better than any man-made theology.
We find that God told Cain, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not
do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
(Genesis 4:7) God is showing that the offer of the right sacrifice would be accepted--even by
Abel. This shows there was no difference between anyone when it comes to God's requirements
for atonement.
"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding
of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22 along with Exodus 12; Exodus 24:5-8; and
Leviticus 1:2-4)." On a voluntary basis the shedding of blood was a portion of the contract with
God so that atonement could be made for every person for any sin, disease, and corruption among
the children of God. Leviticus 12:6-8 and Leviticus 14:53-57 are very clear in this regard. In
prophecy and in promise atonement has been referred to as being for all men alike whether they be
Jew or Gentile (Malachi 1:11: "My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the
setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because
my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. As well as Isaiah 1:16-20;
11:10; 42:1,6; 49:6,22; 60:3-16; 61:9; 62:2).
The remission of sins has the requirement that "In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the
death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never
takes effect while the one who made it is living. This is why even the first covenant was not put
into effect without blood. When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the
people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop,
and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God
has commanded you to keep." In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle
and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed
with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:16-22; cf. also
Romans 3:24,25; Ephesians 1:17; I John 1:7).
This is the purpose of redemption through the shedding of blood, the atonement, because "For
this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the
promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins
committed under the first covenant (Hebrews 9:15)." "For you know that it was not with
perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed
down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish
or defect (I Peter 1:18-19)."
The blood of the atonement is for salvation from the destroying wrath of Almighty God as
exemplified by the fact that when "when the LORD goes through the land to strike down the
Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that
doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down (Exodus
12:23)." "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from
God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him
through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through
his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through
whom we have now received reconciliation (Romans 5:9-11)." "For God did not appoint us to
suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that,
whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him (I Thessalonians 5:9-10)."
By accepting the blood of atonement we have access to God with the "confidence to enter the
Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the
curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us
from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22)."
"For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the
dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and
regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death
their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who
were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit (Ephesians
2:14-18)."
Access to God is the benefit of the hope of redemption through the shed blood of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God. This is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He
poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, that having been justified by His
grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Noah Webster defines justification as the "remission of sin and absolution from guilt and
punishment; or an act of free grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as
righteous, on account of the atonement of Christ." For (t)here is no difference, for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that
came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.
He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed
beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just
and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus (Romans 3:22b-26)."
We who are justified "know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus
Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ
and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. If, while we
seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that
Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! (Galatians 2:16-17)" Titus 3:4-7 says, "But when the
kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we
had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by
the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that,
having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life."
Thus the blood of the atonement gives atonement for the soul through justification and "not only
is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now
received reconciliation (Romans 5:11)."
Christ redeemed men by one sacrifice for sins because He once suffered for sins having died unto
sin once by paying only one price. 1Corinthians 6:19-20: "Do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your
own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." The blood of the
atonement is as the redemption which bought again something that was sold (cf. Leviticus 25:25).
The blood of the atonement is able to deliver from bondage without ransom. The blood of the
atonement of Jesus Christ delivers sinners from Satan and sin.
Through the blood of the atonement, and all that has been said to this very point, is that God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, is revealed as loving, kind, and forgiving to the sinner by the
shedding of blood, and that the sacrificial blood evinced the sinner's acceptance of the righteous
sentence of God's holy law, so that He could be propitious to the sinner.
Propitiation is the basis on which God sets forth His own righteousness, and yet pardons men
without compromising His own justice and righteousness. God can through the propitiation of
Christ forgive and be just in justifying the sinner who believes and becomes reconciled to Him
through Jesus Christ.
As J. G. Lawson once said, "The atonement is the scarlet cord running through every page in the
entire Bible. Cut the Bible anywhere and it bleeds; it is red with redemption truth."
Just as important as the Blood of Atonement is the Resurrection of Christ. J. G. Lawson,
"Greatest Thoughts About Jesus Christ," (p. 276), declares, "His resurrection was necessary to
His being believed in as a Saviour....A dying crucified God, a Saviour of the world, who could not
save Himself would have been exploded by universal consent of reason as a horrible paradox and
absurdity. Had not the resurrection followed the crucifixion, that scoff of the Jews had stood as an
unanswerable argument against Him. 'Himself He cannot save; let Him come down from the
cross, and we will believe in Him.' Otherwise, surely that which was the lowest instance of human
weakness and mortality could be no competent demonstration of a Deity. To save is the effect of
power, and of such a power as prevails to a complete victory. But it is expressly affirmed, 'that
Christ was crucified through weakness.' Death was too hard for His humanity, and bore away the
spoils of it for a time."
Resurrection is the continuity of the Jesus of history with the Christ of living faith. The
Incarnation, the Cross, and the Resurrection are all together as one divine act within history for
the salvation of the world. This is a Great Gospel Truth of the revelation of God: Jesus is not
another God, but the same God who is with us always as loving Father and indwelling Holy Spirit.
He brings to us through the Spirit of God the same victory He brought to those who saw Him in
the flesh. With the resurrection those who saw Him in the flesh suddenly found themselves no
longer pursuing worldly ends, but intensely spiritual ones. This, really, is the testimony of the
resurrection. The greatest miracle is that of a changed life.
This is the whole purpose of the resurrection: the changed life. This discussion will not reiterate
the established fact of the resurrection, but will focus for a moment on its revelation. The
transformation of the disciples, even to this very day, is the greatest evidence of all time for the
resurrection. We do not notice the same changed lives in the products of other religions.
Somewhow it is impossible to continually narrate a false resurrection with such certainty.
Romans 6: 4-11 says, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a
new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united
with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the
body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone
who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also
live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death
no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives,
he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
It is the result of the resurrection that Paul declares in his sermon at Antioch in Pisidia that it is the
fulfillment of God's promise, "We tell you the good news: What God promised our fathers he has
fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "'You are
my Son; today I have become your Father.'" (Acts 13:32-33). The promise made to the fathers
that was fulfilled by the resurrection of Christ is that "... you are heirs of the prophets and of the
covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples
on earth will be blessed.'" (Acts 3:25).
Jesus is the Resurrected One, as in the promise. His resurrection is the guarantee of the fulfillment
of ALL the promises of God. This is another Great Gospel Truth of the revelation of God in that
Jesus is the Son of God with power, and it shows that the promises of the Bible are as "He said to
them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is
written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."" (Luke 24:44). This
revelation of God is the proof of God's ability to keep His word. R.A. Torrey, "What the Bible
Teaches" says, "If we wish to know that all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus,
we have only to look to that marvelous fulfillment of God's word and promise that has already
taken place--the resurrection--and see in that the guarantee of the fulfillment of all."
Romans 4:23-25 says, "The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, [24]
but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised
Jesus our Lord from the dead. [25] He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to
life for our justification."
I Thessalonians 4:14 declares, "We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that
God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him." We have the same spirit of faith
in the hope of the resurrection "just as the first ripe ears of corn which grew on the plains and
mountain sides of Palestine were immediately brought into the temple, and wave before the Lord,
as a pledge that every corn standing on and growing in Palestine should be safely reaped and
gathered in; so the resurrection of Christ is a demonstration that we his people shall be raised
again.... As surely as the sepulchre of Christ became an empty sepulchre, so surely the sepulchres
of his people shall become empty sepulchres also; as surely as he got up, and sang a jubilee of life
and immortality, so surely shall his people come out of the grave. How beautifully has the prophet
Isaiah expressed it! 'Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for the dew is as the dew of herbs,
and the earth shall cast out the dead. Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall
they arise.'" (Beaumont, The Wesleyan Demosthenes).
When the purpose for which He had come had been fulfilled and fully accomplished, and the
witnesses were ready to begin the new work of bearing His message to all nations, His glorified
humanity, the ending of kenosis, was received up into that world to which it rightfully belonged.
"He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The
grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen." (Revelation 22:20-21).
The series, The Revelation of God, is now closed. Genesis to Revelation has been covered humbly
within these electronic covers. Our prayer is that you have grown to know Him better and want to
make Him known. God bless you.
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