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Chapter 5 "LEARN OF ME"

In Romans 8:29 the Bible announces God's grand design of the ages for believers. It is "to be conformed to the image of His Son."

Jesus is the perfect image of the perfect character of God. All virtues display their perfection in Him. So then, if we are to be conformed to His image, if we are to grow and mature in virtue, if the moral character of God is to be developed in us, we must learn of Jesus--learn from Him and learn Him Himself! And to learn of Him, we must focus our attention on Him.

So we read in 2 Corinthians 3:18, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

It has been well said that as believers look into the word of God, the Spirit of God changes us progressively into the character image of the Son of God.

Jesus Himself said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me" (Matthew 11:29).

And what do we learn of Jesus? What are the qualities of His character that we learn from Him and about Him as we learn Him Himself? Let us look intently at them.

SINLESS.

Jesus of Nazareth never committed a sin. He is holy. His obedience to the Father is perfect. He "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). The apostle Peter, who was with Jesus almost constantly for three years, testifies that Jesus "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2:22).

Jesus always obeyed the Father (John 14:31; Romans 5:19; Hebrews 5:8), even to death on the cross (Philippians 2:8).

Romans 8:3 says that Jesus "condemned sin in the flesh." The phrase, "in the flesh," does not refer to "sin," but to "condemned." That is, in the flesh as a human being, Jesus "was in all points tempted like as we are"; yet He fully overcame sin and thus exposed sin as totally inexcusable. And He did so as the Son of Man, relying on the same divine resources that are available to every human being through grace. Sin is not unavoidable; it is not necessary. It is voluntary and therefore inexcusable in all. No one can plead innocence by reason of inability. Man's failure to overcome sin is the direct result of his voluntary surrender to sin. Jesus never surrendered to it.

Thus He became our perfect Sacrifice for sin. "He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin" (1 John 3:5). He could bear our sins because He had no sins of His own. "For He has made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Father made Christ, Who knew no sin, to be sin for us. He "through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God" (Hebrews 9:14). We are redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19).

Christ's perfect obedience has resulted in His exaltation. "You have loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows" (Hebrews 1:9, quoting Psalm 45:6,7). Please note that these words were spoken by God the Father to God the Son.

Jesus is "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26).

We, too, are required to be holy, to share His victory over sin. We do this, not by our own self-effort but by faith (see 1 John 5:4,5). Faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

In Philippians 2:5-9 God admonishes us through the apostle Paul, "Let this mind be in you, that was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him...."

We are to reckon ourselves also to be dead indeed to sin (Romans 6:11). Jesus said, "If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love" (John 15:10).

LOVING.

Jesus revealed the character of God. God's character is summed up in one word--LOVE. The qualities of Christ's character are the qualities of God's love. God's love is fully revealed in Him.

Jesus displayed the compassion of God. Compassion is love's commitment to relieve the hurts of the suffering and the miserable. It is usually accompanied by feelings of pity, but it is more than mere feelings. It is an intelligent commitment of the will.

"But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd" (Matthew 9:36).

"And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick" (Matthew 14:14).

He said, "I have compassion on the multitude because they continue with Me now three days, and have nothing to eat" (Matthew 15:32).

Jesus was approached by a leper, who begged Him to heal him. "And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand and touched him, and says to him, 'I will; be clean'" (Mark 1:41).

When two blind men at Jericho cried out to Jesus for healing mercy, the Master "had compassion on them and touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him" (Matthew 20:34).

Near the city of Nain, Jesus met a funeral procession. A young man was being carried out, the only son of his widowed mother. Her tears of grief were flowing. "And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her, and said to her, 'Weep not'" (Luke 7:13). Then He raised her son to life and restored him to her.

Yes, our Lord's compassion is more than a feeling. It is a genuine commitment of love that produces action.

One time a rich young ruler came to Jesus with an urgent question about eternal life. "Then Jesus beholding him loved him" (Mark 10:21). Jesus loved him enough to tell him the truth, even though the young man would reject it and walk sadly away.

At the tomb of Lazarus, "Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how He loved him" (John 11:35,36).

The tenderness of our Lord's love was openly displayed in His actions toward children. One of the sweetest prophecies concerning Christ is recorded in Isaiah 40:11--"He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs in His arm and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young."

Often Jesus took the little children up in His arms and blessed them. He loved them; and they loved Him, too. And that same relationship continues today between the trusting child and its Savior.

Our relationship with children is one way to tell whether or not we are becoming like Christ. If children do not like to be around us, we need to get alone with Jesus!

Christ's love toward us is a redeeming love. "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1). As we might say today, He loved them "to the max."

Paul wrote to the Galatians, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). Christ's redeeming love toward him was the dynamic behind Paul's Christ-centered life.

The King James Version of 1 John 3:16 says, "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us." Although this verse is speaking about the love of God, the words "of God" are in italics, meaning that they were supplied by the translators. This verse is actually saying, "In this we came to know love" (this is how we know what love really is), that Christ laid down His life for us. The cross is the true definition, the true standard, of love.

How immeasurably great is that love! It is all-sufficient, all-conquering, all-prevailing. Its triumph is proclaimed from the pages of Holy Scripture.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, 'For Your sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 8:35-39).

Christ's love for us is the basis for His "new commandment." "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34). "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; continue in My love" (John 15:9). Verse 12 says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you."

To love one another as Christ loves us means to treat one another only as Christ would treat us. It means to love one another with the same devotion, the same commitment, that motivated Him to go to the cross for us. "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another" (1 John 4:11).

HUMBLE

Our Lord extends to us this well-know invitation: "Come to Me, all of you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

God appeals to us by His own moral qualities. And one of His moral qualities is humility. Psalm 113:6 says that God humbles Himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth.

How beautiful! And how totally above the attributes of the imaginary "gods" that mortals create in their own image! What finite mind would possibly construct a deity whose infinite qualities would include infinite humility, meekness, and condescension? Such is too high, too incomprehensible for the ego-centric mind. Man has always built his deities out of attributes that are contrary to the self-revealed qualities of the only true and living God.

God is infinitely humble, meek, and condescending, just as He is perfect and infinite in every moral quality. And His infinite humility, meekness, and condescension was revealed in Jesus Christ. We learn of Him by what He said. We learn of Him also by what He did.

Condescension is the willingness of one who is higher in being, position, and authority to reach down to the level of those who are lower for the purpose of securing their good. Therefore, because God is infinitely high in His being, position, and authority, for Him to save us was an expression of infinite condescension on His part.

Think of how absolute, how total, was His condescension in Jesus Christ! He was born in a lowly stable; He had not where to lay His head; He ate with publicans and sinners; He reached to the outcasts of society with His redeeming grace; He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt; He took a slave's position and washed His disciples' feet. Finally, He suffered the horrible abuse and humiliation of crucifixion that He might save us. This is condescension beyond human comprehension!

Humility is not self-hate or self-rejection. It is the self-forgetfulness that love produces. True condescension is self-abandon in the cause of rescuing the lost and lifting the fallen.

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, thought He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Christ's humility is demonstrated in His meekness. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness has been defined as "strength under discipline." It is seen in forbearance under provocations.

Now, who has suffered more provocations than God has? Who is higher in being, position, and authority? To disregard Him, to withhold what is due Him, to insult Him, to abuse His name, is an offense and a provocation immeasurably greater than could possibly be committed against any earthly sovereign. And yet He blesses those who abuse Him. He causes His sun to shine on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. How awesome is the forbearance of God under the massive abuse and provocation that He suffers from sinners!

And where do we see it displayed most fully? In our Lord Jesus Christ!

"He was oppressed and He was afflicted; yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opens not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).

Even at His arrest, He said to impulsive Peter, "Put up your sword" (Matthew 26:52). "When He was reviled, He reviled not again" (1 Peter 2:23).

Remember, God appeals to us by His own moral qualities. And so the Scriptures say, "I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:1). Let us learn of Him.

WISE

We also learn wisdom from Jesus Christ. Knowledge is having the facts; understanding is knowing what the facts mean; wisdom is knowing what to do with the facts. Wisdom is knowing what to do with knowledge in the light of what is truly valuable, truly important.

Certainly we see this priceless virtue perfected in Jesus Christ. Even as a child, He grew "strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40). At the age of twelve He astonished all who heard Him conversing with the teachers of the law. "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (verse 52).

During His earthly ministry as an adult, He came into His own country and taught the people in the local synagogue, "insomuch that they were astonished and said, Whence has this man this wisdom and these mighty works?" (Matthew 13:54).

We know. It was from the Father.

All children and young people should follow the example of Jesus by eagerly pursuing wisdom as early in life as possible. True, every child is entitled to a normal childhood, one free from the cares and pressures of the adult world. It is equally true that every child and young person should develop the habit of sound, sensible thinking--and the sooner the better. Instead of focusing on trivia, nonsense, and unwholesome fads, every young person should determine as early in life as possible to get a firm grasp on the things that are truly valuable and important, to understand them thoroughly, and to conduct his or her life accordingly. Even young heads on young shoulders can pursue wisdom. See Proverbs 2:2.

To discover the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, dig into the Bible. One good place is the book of Proverbs, the "get smart" book.

Also, wisdom is embodied and personified in our Lord Jesus Christ, because in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). Receive Christ. Study Christ. Learn of Christ. Live Christ.

"But we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumblingblock and to the Greeks foolishness; but to them who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:23,24).

Verse thirty also declares, "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (NKJV).

Every foolish thing that we do, we do because we fail to come to the Bible and take a good look at Jesus Christ, our wisdom. Likewise, whenever we come to the Bible, learn of Him, and proceed accordingly, we act wisely.

Every choice contrary to Jesus Christ is contrary to wisdom. The choice that conforms to Christ conforms to wisdom. To choose wisely and to live wisely requires that we bring all our values, attitudes, and behavior into conformity with Him. He is our wisdom.

FAITHFUL

Faithfulness is another virtue that we see perfected in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is "the faithful witness" (Revelation 1:5). He "was faithful to Him Who appointed Him" (see Hebrews 3:1,2).

His faithfulness as our High Priest is the basis of our confidence, our assurance of forgiveness when we repent and place our confidence in Him for mercy.

"For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest" (Hebrews 2:17 NIV).

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

If we are ever tempted to say, "Why should God forgive me again, after I have failed Him so many times?" remember the answer: He is faithful. One of His names is Faithful. On the island of Patmos the apostle John saw a glorious revelation of the future return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here is how he describes the beginning of the vision: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:11).

His faithfulness to us is the dynamic, the motivating force, behind our faithfulness to Him. Even if we do not believe, He is faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). He cannot--He will not--deny Himself. Here again, God in Christ appeals to us by His own moral qualities. He is faithful to His purpose to establish faithfulness in us.

"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, Who also will do it" (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24).

"But the Lord is faithful, Who shall establish you and keep you from evil" (2 Thessalonians 3:3).

"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; for He is faithful Who promised" (Hebrews 10:23).

PRAYERFUL

Jesus maintained a perfect relationship with God the Father. Nothing disrupted it. Our Lord nourished this close communion by prayer. His prayer life is the model for all believers.

When the demands on His time, attention, and energies were the heaviest, He prayed more, not less. Mark 1:35 records what must have been a frequent item on our Lord's schedule. "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed."

Sometimes, when facing particularly demanding challenges (such as choosing the apostles), He spent whole nights in prayer. So we read in Luke 6:12. "And it came to pass in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."

On another occasion, "He constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go to the other side before to Bethsaida, while He sent away the people. And when He had sent them away, He departed into a mountain to pray. And when evening was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and He alone on the land. And He saw them toiling in rowing, for the wind was contrary to them; and about the fourth watch of the night He comes to them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed them by" (Mark 6:45-48).

The "fourth watch of the night" was between 3:00 am. and 6:00 am. Most likely, the night had been spent in prayer.

In the seventeenth chapter of John, the Holy Spirit draws back the curtain and permits us to enter the holy place of Jesus' prayer life, there to listen in reverence to our Lord's magnificent high-priestly prayer on our behalf. The profound depth of that sublime prayer never loses its power to awe, encourage, and inspire us.

The intensity of Christ's prayer life is revealed at Gethsemane. Again, the Holy Spirit allows us to witness a scene most sacred. Beneath the olive trees our Lord prayed with such utmost intensity of soul that "His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Such was the agony of His soul. We read the full account in Luke 22:39-44.

The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews testifies to the intensity of Christ's intercessory praying: "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears..." (Hebrews 5:7).

And so He taught us to keep spiritually awake and prayerful (Luke 21:36). He gave us a pattern of priorities in what is commonly called "The Lord's Prayer". It is recorded in Matthew 6:19-36 and Luke 11:2-4.

If the Lord Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, need to pray, certainly we do!

ZEALOUS

There was nothing bland and colorless about Jesus. He had a dynamic personality. We need to dismiss the notion that He was an unemotional person. Our Lord had tremendous drive. But His was not merely a passing surface enthusiasm. He was moved by deep, constant imperatives. His love mobilized His full energies.

Jesus certainly was not lazy. His world-redeeming love fired Him with holy zeal.

"I must preach the gospel to other cities also" (Luke 4:43).

"I must work the works of Him Who sent Me while it is day" (John 9:4).

"From that time forth began Jesus to show to His disciples how that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things" (Matthew 16:21).

I must. I must. I MUST! These are the driving imperatives of divine love.

On one occasion Jesus told His disciples, "I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and how greatly and sorely I am urged--impelled, constrained--until it is accomplished " (Luke 12:50 Amplified).

His yearning to accomplish our redemption was so intense it was like an inner pain that would not go away until He the completion of His sufferings on the cross.

Jesus Christ was never indifferent. Twice the outrage that was going on in His Father's house moved Him to take strong action. After He cleaned up the temple the first time, "His disciples remembered that it was written, 'The zeal of Your house has eaten me up'" (John 2:17). The quotation is from Psalm 69:9.

John 11:33 and 38 record that at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus "groaned." That King James word is too mild. The original Greek word here was used to describe the snorting of a horse. Here it was employed to describe our Lord's indignation at death.

"Take that stone away from there!"

"Lazarus! Get out here!"

The divine authority of Jesus Christ was exercised with driving zeal.

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:34 NIV).

In Acts 10:38 Peter declared that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (NKJV).

Jesus put everything into the kingdom of God, and He expects the same kind of commitment from us.

When Jesus chose His disciples, He did not go where lazy loafers gathered to waste their time in idle talk. Instead, He called people like hard-working fishermen along the Sea of Galilee. Jesus chose busy people and fired them with white-hot zeal for the kingdom!

Oh, yes, He had to get some of them under control. There was impetuous Peter, and also the "sons of thunder." At times they argued about who would be the first in the kingdom. Yes, they were a lively bunch. But one thing for sure--there were no dead-beats among them!

We see the same spirit in the apostle Paul. He wrote in his Epistle to the Romans, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11 NIV). And Paul lived what he taught.

How can anyone who claims to have the love of God not be filled with the holy zeal of Christ? We are workers together with God, pursuing the same goals by the same means. Let Zion awake and throw off her slumber, lest she hear the indictment handed down against the Laodicean church: "I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I would you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth" (Revelation 3:15,16).

JOYFUL

Jesus is called the Man of Sorrows. And so He was. But we must dismiss the notion that Jesus had a sad and somber attitude. The oft-repeated assertion that Jesus never smiled has no basis in the Gospels.

Jesus was serious. At the same time, He was full of joy. Little children loved to be around Him. That in itself is clear evidence that Jesus had a pleasant, magnetic personality. Little children are not attracted to a sourpuss.

Luke 10:21 records an occasion when "Jesus rejoiced in spirit." The Greek word used here means to exult, to rejoice greatly, to be overjoyed. No doubt that is only one example of our Lord's joyful spirit and behavior.

Jesus spoke of His joy. He said, "These things have I spoken to you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). If Jesus had been joyless, those words would have meant nothing to the disciples.

He mentions His joy in His high-priestly prayer to the Father, just before His crucifixion. "And these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves" (John 17:13).

Jesus looked beyond the agony of Calvary to the joy that awaited Him. And so we read in Hebrews 12:2, "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame."

Jesus Christ has brought us joy, great joy, full joy, abundant joy! He had inner joy. He lived a joyful life. We find joy in Him, and we learn joy from Him. Certainly, "the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17).

Our Lord still invites us: "Learn of Me."

Chapter 6 THE DIVINE MISSION OF JESUS CHRIST

Jesus Christ came to Earth on a unique mission. That mission was no after-thought, no stop-gap "Plan B" to be activated only if some "Plan A" failed. The mission of Jesus Christ was God's "Plan A," His master purpose from all eternity to all eternity.

Jesus Christ came to redeem us. He fulfilled that mission on the cross and at His resurrection.

The broader definition of His earthly mission includes also the full scope of His earthly ministry. That earthly ministry laid the foundation for His great redemptive act, and it established a revelatory context for that redemptive act so that we would understand its full nature.

We can think of the earthly ministry of Jesus as a tripod. At the top is His redemptive act. The three "legs" of the tripod are named in Matthew 4:23--"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people."

Teaching, preaching, healing--those were the main features of our Lord's ministry while He was here in the flesh.

We read in Mark 6:34, "And Jesus, when He came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things." Matthew 7:29 says, "He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes."

Jesus delivered to us the words of the Father. What is written in the gospels are not the philosophy and opinions of a radical rabbi from Galilee. They are the words of God spoken to us by His Son.

Jesus Himself made that very clear. "He that sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him" (John 8:26). "For I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father, Who sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting; whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said to Me, so I speak" (John 12:49,50). "The words that I speak to you I speak not of Myself" (John 14:10). "The word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father's, Who sent Me" (John 14:24).

In His great high-priestly prayer to the Father, Jesus reported, "I have given to them the words which You gave Me" (John 17:8).

Jesus Christ is the Truth, and everywhere He went He spoke the truth. What He taught are God's instructions to us for right living. If we listen and obey, we will build our lives and our eternal future on the solid rock; if we disregard them, we build on shifting sand (Matthew 7:24-27).

Success or failure in life depends on what we do with the words of Jesus.

Jesus was the Master Preacher as well as the Master Teacher. He proclaimed the truth in preaching and explained the truth in teaching. In teaching He spread the truth out before us; in preaching He "honed" it to a fine point and drove it "home" in penetrating power.

"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17).

In teaching there is a body of truth to be deposited. In preaching there is a message to be delivered and an urgency to proclaim it.

We sense that urgency in our Lord Jesus Christ. "I must preach the gospel to other cities also, for therefore am I sent" (Luke 4:43).

Another part of Jesus's mission was to fulfill the law of Moses. He said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17). That is why believers are no longer under the Mosaic jurisprudence.

Jesus came also to heal and to bless. Early in His ministry, Jesus stood up in His home synagogue at Nazareth and read these words from the prophecy of Isaiah "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord" (Luke 4:18,19, from Isaiah 61:1-3).

What a mission! What an anointing! Jesus came to make people completely whole--spirit, soul, and body--by the power of God! He was--and still is--the perfect revelation of Him Who is "the Lord Who heals" (Exodus 15:26).

One cannot read the gospels and be unaware of the healing ministry of Jesus. It is an essential component of the gospel narrative.

Peter said to Cornelius and his household, "That word, I say, you know, which was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, Who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him" (Acts 10:37,38).

Everywhere He went, Jesus destroyed the works of Satan, the results of sin, and the ravages of sickness and disease. He cleansed the lepers; opened the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, and the mouths of the mute. The crippled walked and the maimed were made whole. Infections died and fevers broke. Demons fled. The dead were raised to life again. Jesus hated death, and He delighted in breaking up funerals. Even at His arrest, the Master took time to restore the severed ear of Malchus. His word brought life. His touch brought healing and blessing. His presence brought joy and happiness. So it continues to be today!

Above all this, His main mission was to save us from our sins. The angel said to Joseph, "You shall call His name JESUS, for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21).

Jesus Himself made His mission crystal clear. "The Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17). "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world" (John 12:47).

Jesus encompassed it all when He said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

That abundant, full, happy, satisfying life that you have been longing for is yours right now in Jesus Christ. Come to Him. Surrender to Him. Trust Him.

A man who at one time had been a self-righteous but miserable, guilt-ridden sinner wrote out of the fullness of his heart, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Timothy 1:5).

Another apostle wrote, "And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin" (1 John 3:5). "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (verse 8). "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world" (1 John 4:14).

Although Jesus made it clear that He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it (because it was condemned already), He did come to call people to a decision. That decision would separate people into two basic kinds: those who accept Him, and those who reject Him.

Jesus and His gospel create an issue, a crisis. No one can be neutral about Jesus Christ. Personal response to Jesus Christ divides mankind into two camps. What we do with Him determines our destiny. The choices bring opposite results. Receiving Him means light, peace, and life. Rejecting Him means darkness, strife, and death.

"And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they who see not might see, and that they who see might be made blind" (John 9:39).

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I am come not to send peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34).

"I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled" (Luke 12:49).

It has been said that if half of the people in the world were genuinely converted to Jesus Christ, the other half would get fighting mad. That is true. It happens in families. Many a spouse has raved, "If you don't give up that blankety-blank religion, I'll leave you!"

Yes, often there is a price to pay to follow Jesus Christ. But it's well worth it.

Finally, Jesus Christ came to be King. "Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say that I am a King. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37).

Instead of crowning Him, they crucified Him. But He is still King, and someday all will acknowledge Him to be Who He really is. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess (Philippians 2:10,11).

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8 NIV).

Amen and amen!

Chapter 7 "IT IS FINISHED!"

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ have been likened to a north pole and a south pole, creating an axis around which all redemptive truth revolves.

In 1 Corinthians 15:3,4 Paul defines the gospel. "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures."

The fact of sin needs no proof. Why attempt to prove the obvious? A drowning man needs no proof of the existence of water. He is surrounded by it, and it is fast choking the life out of him. So it is with sin. It is everywhere, and billions of people are drowning in it.

If a person sins only three sins a day (and some people sin three sins in less than three minutes!), at the end of fifty years of sinning there would be against that person's record in the court of Heaven no fewer than 54,786 sins!

Let us suppose that each person on earth who is morally responsible were assigned a page. On that page were recorded that person's sins for one day. To record the sins of the world for one single day would require a library shelf over one hundred miles long!

And that is counting only individual acts of sin, without taking into account the real essence of sin--the continuous, on-going, uninterrupted, twenty-four-hours-a-day posture of the will in its commitment to self-gratification and its resistance to God and rejection of Jesus Christ. This sinful, self-willed set of the heart spawns the outward acts of sin that swarm throughout human society like a plague of killer bees.

Who can truthfully say that he or she has never sinned? Who can stand before a holy God and demand His favor on the ground of justice? Who can claim a right standing before Him on the basis of his or her own merits?

None! All have sinned (Romans 3:23), and this fact alone completely cuts the ground from under all self-righteousness.

We have all sinned, and the soul that sins shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). The broken law demands the penalty. Nothing is nearly as destructive as sin. The universe must be protected against it at all costs. The moral law, supported by the most horrible penalty possible, stands as the universal bulwark against sin.

Yes, God has a world of guilty sinners on His hands; and as the moral Governor of the universe it is His obligation to uphold moral law and moral order. That means the execution of the penalty upon those who have broken the moral law.

No, God is not looking forward to judgment day with any delight. The judgment of the world is a heart-breaking job that God has to do because it has to be done and He alone is qualified to do it.

Also, "the Lord... is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

God wants to forgive, not to punish.

But how can God exercise mercy safely? To forgive sin is the most dangerous thing that God could do. It means setting aside the penalty for someone who has broken the moral law. The most terrible penalty possible has not prevented people from sinning, and now should God remove even that deterrent? How can He do so for even one person without acting in reckless disregard for the very moral order on which the well-being of the entire universe depends?

How valuable are the interests that the moral law protects? Look at the penalty.

How serious is the Lawgiver in His commitment to protect those vital interests through the administration of moral law? Look at the penalty.

How great is the guilt incurred by the violation of the great moral law? Look at the penalty.

How do these principles apply to sin and to how the moral government of God deals with sin? LOOK AT THE PENALTY!

It must be clear by now that if God is going to forgive sin--that is, if He is going to remove the penalty for someone who has sinned--something must be put in the place of the penalty that will do what the penalty is intended to do with at least as much effectiveness as the penalty itself. It must carry the same message as the penalty--yes, an even stronger message than the penalty. It must say to all that mercy is not to be misunderstood as laxity.

It must have the power to deter sin at least as effectively as the penalty it replaces.

The only answer is a qualified substitute. Someone who is innocent must die in the place of the guilty, demonstrating to all (especially to the contrite offender) that in the exercise of mercy the integrity of moral law is in no way being compromised. Mercy is free, but it is not cheap. It cost the innocent substitute everything.

Now, how valuable are the interests that the moral law protects? Look at the substitute.

How serious is the Lawgiver in His commitment to protect the vital interests of the universe by upholding the integrity of moral law? Look at the suffering substitute.

How great is the guilt of sin? Look at the suffering substitute.

How great is the commitment of the Lawgiver to provide a way to forgive sin without lessening respect for moral law, without violating His holiness and otherwise doing immeasurable harm? How great is His love and mercy? LOOK AT THE SUFFERING SUBSTITUTE!

If the repentant offender ever thought that his or her sins were not so serious after all, that God is less than sincere in His pronouncements against evil, that the magnitude of God's mercy means that He is not very concerned about sin, all he or she has to do is to look at the suffering, dying substitute for a correct view of the matter. He looks and sees his substitute dying in agony and blood, and immediately he realizes (or should realize) "that suffering and death is because of my sins; it cost the substitute everything so I could be forgiven."

The blood sacrifice keeps all human pride and flippancy out of the great act of mercy.

The only way that sinful man can be reconciled to a holy God is by a blood sacrifice. The innocent must die in the place of the guilty. God kept this fact before ancient Israel by building into the Mosaic Law an elaborate system of required animal sacrifices. There were morning sacrifices and evening sacrifices, sin offerings, burnt offerings, peace offerings, offerings of various kinds. God was being very clear that "without shedding of blood is no remission" of sin (Hebrews 9:22).

But why is the blood of the innocent sacrifice so essential? We find the answer in Leviticus 17:11. "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul."

Yet, we also read, "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4).

What! All of those animals sacrifices on Israel's altars never took away one sin?

That is correct. They were only a temporary covering for sin, pointing forward to the one great Sacrifice that would totally and permanently remove sin.

But why were those animal sacrifices not sufficient?

The answer is quite simple: the sufferings and death of animals are not an effective preventive of sin, and therefore cannot ultimately substitute for the penalty. Animal sacrifices do not say what even the penalty says, much less what an effective substitute must demonstrate. In other words, seeing a lamb or a bullock suffering, bleeding and dying for our sins does not awaken in us the realization of the seriousness and guilt of sin, the necessity of repentance, and the greatness of the love and mercy of God. It does not break our hearts, turn us against sin, and bring us to God.

Also, it does not satisfy the just demands of the broken moral law because such sufferings and sacrifices are not sufficient to prevent mercy from being perceived as only a wink at sin.

Animals are on a level far below human beings. They are not moral agents. But we are. We sinned. We went against intelligence. We violated reason. We knowingly placed petty self-gratification above the interests of God and of others. We are responsible and accountable. Our conscience sternly condemns us.

We were created in the image of God, and we abused those God-given moral powers. We are answerable to God Himself, and no brute beast can answer for us.

Who, then, can make the required sacrifice? Who can be our Substitute? Who can take our place and satisfy the demands of the broken moral law? Who can make a substitutionary sacrifice of such magnitude and influence that, once it is clearly perceived and understood, will do what even the penalty itself has not done?

Shall a mere human being do it? No, because "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23). We can die for our own sins, but our sins have disqualified us from dying for another.

Shall an angel come from Heaven and become the sacrifice? No, because not even the sufferings and death of an angel (were that even possible) would have sufficient influence to be an effective preventive of sin. Besides, man has sinned, and man is accountable. Man must bear the penalty. No angel can substitute for all mankind before the moral law that mankind has broken, and before the sovereign God Whose moral obligation it is to uphold moral law and order.

Who, then, can take our place and redeem us from our sin and its terrible consequences?

It would have to be someone who is innocent himself.

It would have to be someone who would do it solely out of supreme love, because he certainly would not owe it to us.

It would have to be someone of highest status, position, and importance, because his sufferings and death would have to have utmost and universal influence. When people understood what he had done for them, it would have to affect them powerfully enough and deeply enough to turn their hearts to God and to cause them to hate sin and forsake it.

But who? There is only One--God Himself!

But how can God do that? After all, God is God and not man. How can He substitute for us?

But Who is this leaving the throne of eternal majesty, laying aside His divine prerogatives, taking on Himself full humanity, entering and developing in the womb of a virgin named Mary, and then as a new-born baby lying in a manger, as the universe watched in utmost wonder?

It is God Almighty in the Second Person of His eternal Trinity, incarnate in Jesus! God became man to redeem man!

John the Baptist proclaimed, "Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

This grand announcement must have startled John's Jewish listeners. After all, wasn't God's lamb the one that God through Moses commanded them to sacrifice on the feast days? And what is this about taking away sin? Did not the sacrifices only cover sin, requiring the sacrifices to be repeated? And what is this about taking away the sin of the world? Wasn't God's provision of an atonement for Israel only?

This was an astounding declaration indeed!

The scene changes. We come now to Calvary. The sight shocks us. Jesus is hanging on a Roman cross, nailed there at the insistence of the religious establishment and the emotional mob.

We stare at the blood that flows from His wounds and stains the rough-hewn wood. Remembering what God had said in Leviticus 17:11, the truth hits us like a sledge hammer--that is the life of the Son of God being poured out for our sins!

With one last heave of His holy soul, He cries out, "It is finished!" He dies under the weight of our sins. He bridges the unbridgeable chasm between God and man, and brings us together!

It is the spectacle of the ages. The great, offended Lawgiver once and for all upholding the honor and integrity of the moral law by personally suffering under its penalty on behalf of us, who have violated it!

In the death of Jesus Christ on the cross God is showing us several things. First, He shows us how precious we are. That is, He defined our value. That does not mean our moral worth, because we lost that due to our sins. It means our eternal value as persons created in His own image and capable of endless joy or misery. This value is intrinsic; it does not depend on our moral character.

As human beings we are equally valuable as human beings, whether sinners or saints. We are not "junk." We are highly valuable in God's sight. Christ died for us. That says it.

Also, in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross God shows us how much He loves us. He loves us totally. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

In the death of Jesus Christ on the cross God shows us the seriousness and the wickedness of our sins. It demonstrates how much we hurt Him by our pride, rebellion, and blasphemy; by the way we have ignored, rejected, and abused Him in our cruel selfishness. It shows us the guilt of the way we have treated others in our selfishness.

In the death of Jesus Christ on the cross we also see God's determination to provide the only way to make it morally possible for Him to forgive us and still uphold the integrity of the universal moral law, that we violated. We see God's determination to forgive us only on conditions that would satisfy the demands of the moral law and effectively break the power of sin in our hearts and lives.

If the sight of Almighty God, the lawful Sovereign of the universe, our Creator and Judge, taking on Himself full humanity and dying on an old rugged cross in agony and blood, under the weight of our sins, along with the realization that it was our own personal wicked disobedience that caused Him to be nailed there--if that does not break our hearts, cause us to love Him and turn to him, make us hate sin and forsake it forever, then nothing will!

Take your pet sins and the temptations that appeal to you the strongest, and place them alongside the bleeding, dying Savior. Now you see them in all their ugly reality. How detestable, how repulsive they are! Temptations lose their appeal in the presence of nail-scarred hands.

How can we even think of holding on or going back to the sins that nailed the Son of God to the cross? Real Christians would rather die than hurt Jesus!

Isaac Watts expressed it so powerfully in a hymn:

"When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

"Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ my God; all the vain things that charm me most I sacrifice them to His blood.

"See, from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down; did e'er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

"Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."

And listen now to the declarations of holy Scripture:

"For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

"Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4).

"Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity" (Titus 2:14).

"Now once in the end of the world has He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Hebrews 9:26).

"He died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to Him Who died for them, and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15).

When we take the communion (Eucharist), we are showing the Lord's death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).

The unbelieving world asks us, "Why do you love Jesus? Why do you live differently from most people? Why do you love to pray, read your Bible, and go to church?

When we hold up the elements that represent His broken body and shed blood, we are saying, "Here is your answer! He died for me; I'll live for Him!"

Paul declared, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14).

Judas Iscariot betrayed his Lord for a paltry 30 pieces of silver. When the enormity of what he had done finally hit him, he cried out, "I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood!" (Matthew 27:4). His despair drove him to suicide.

"How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10:29).

Judas did not need to hang himself. Jesus would have forgiven and restored him if he had run to the Savior.

And He will forgive you, too, if you will come to Him with all your heart and trust His blood to wash away all your sins.

Let us go once more to Calvary. You are standing at the foot of the cross. Jesus is dying. The weight of your sins is pressing down upon Him. His life blood is flowing out of Him and staining the cross and the ground below.

Suddenly, the Savior looks up. His eyes meet yours. With tender love He speaks. He calls you by name. Then He says, "I'm doing all this for you--because I love you."

Can you turn around, walk away, and go on living the kind of life and doing the things that nailed Him there? Not if there is an ounce of human decency in you.

Instead, everything in you moves you to fall on your knees and cry out, "My Jesus, I didn't know You love me this much! I love You! I give myself to You! I'm through with sin! Forgive me! I believe You! I trust You as my complete Savior! I will love You and live for You forever and ever!

Do it now.