His Sacrifice, His death on the cross, the price of salvation, only comes into context when we understand who our beloved Jesus really was. Moreover, the relationship that should exist with the Lord goes beyond the emotions and feelings felt because of what Jesus suffered during the week.
In The Beginning
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3, 14.Remember that Jesus is God made man. Unfortunately, many deny that fact. But the apostle John tells us that Jesus (the Word) was with God and He was God. Jesus created the worlds and then became flesh and dwelt among us.
The glory of the Father is in Jesus as He and the Father are one. Although covered by the mantle of humanity, the glory of God was in Him. We cannot fully comprehend this concept but Jesus was 100% human and 100% divine.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:1-3.Jesus is the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person. Therefore, He received at the same praise and worship, the same honor as the Father in heaven. He is God, without beginning or end.
Although He Was God
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11.We come to better understand how great the God’s sacrifice for humanity was. Being God, He humbled Himself; He stripped Himself of all honor and glory and came to die one of the worst deaths so that we may be saved. He was not obligated to do so, it was a decision that He made for our sake.
He Paid The Price For Our Sins
He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:3-6.Our destiny due to sin, was changed, thanks to Jesus Christ. We deserved death but He granted us life, for He is life.
Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. "With His stripes we are healed." *Why Did He Do It?
God gave His only-begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain His human nature. This is the pledge that God will fulfill His word…God has adopted human nature in the person of His Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It is the "Son of man" who shares the throne of the universe. It is the "Son of man" whose name shall be called, "Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isa. 9:6. The I Am is the Daysman between God and humanity, laying His hand upon both. He who is "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," is not ashamed to call us brethren. Heb. 7:26; 2:11. In Christ the family of earth and the family of heaven are bound together. Christ glorified is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enfolded in the bosom of Infinite Love.*The Lord came to reconcile us with the Father. He came to reunite the earthly with the heavenly family. Jesus came to restore what Adam and Eve had experienced in Eden. What a privilege! We are called children of God, brothers and sister of Jesus; we are made part of the royal family.
Final Reward
With all that the Lord Jesus has done, we are assured that soon He will return. We can be sure that all who have believed in Him, all that have accepted Him will be reunited in the kingdom of heaven. When the Lord returns, both the dead in Christ and the living righteous will receive the final reward, as faithful and true is He who has promised it.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20, 21.
By His life and His death, Christ has achieved even more than recovery from the ruin wrought through sin…in Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature, the Saviour has bound Himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages He is linked with us. *
JESUS IS COMING SOON, AMEN, YES, COME LORD JESUS!
The Desire Of The Ages, "1. God With Us ", Ellen G. White
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