Friday, April 30, 2021

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS GOD

 


 

The belief that Jesus is God, one of the three Beings (Persons) of the eternal Trinity, profoundly impacts of our lives in many ways:
 
·       TO SHOW US THE ENORMITY OF HIS LOVE: Romans 5:8-10 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 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!”
 
God’s purpose is to demonstrate His love for us even when we were His enemies and hated Him. If He paid the ultimate price for us when we hated Him, we can be assured, now that we are His friends, He will do anything to protect His investment, His beloved friends.
 
However, if Jesus is just a created being, it would have cost God nothing to speak 50,000 Saviors into existence without any cost to Himself. Therefore, the sacrificial death of a created being could not begin to demonstrate God’s love for us!
 
Nor could the death of a “being” who was no more than a manifestation or an appearance of God, as the modalists believe, demonstrate His love. The death of an appearance represents no loss or cost to God at all!
 
In contrast, the suffering and death of God Himself is the only sacrifice that could have proved His love for me. I had been suffering to such an extent that I could not shake the doubt that God might be a deceptive sadist. I didn’t want to believe this, but it often felt this way to me, and there was no way to convince myself otherwise, until I realized that it had been God Himself who had suffered for me. A deceiver or a sadist would never have died for me. Instead, this one act proved that He genuinely loved me.
 
·       JESUS HAS TO BE GOD TO SHOW US THE ENORMITY OF OUR SINS: Hebrews 10:4-7 “…it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll--I have come to do your will, O God.' "(Psalm 40)
 
The blood of animals could not pay the substitutionary price for our sins. Nothing short of the death of God, the Son, could atone for our sins! This should tell us something about the offensiveness of our sins before God. If a created being could have made an adequate payment for our sins, the Father would have redeemed us through him (Matthew 26:39), but even a spotless being could not begin to atone for the sins of the world.
 
Since our sins are such an offense to God (Exodus 33:2-5, 14), we must regard them in the same way and absolutely flee from them.
 
During OT times, the Israelite who sinned had to bring an animal sacrifice to substitute for their sins. However, since Jesus has redeemed us, we need only bring confession and the promise of our heart, repentance, to be restored to our Savior.
 
·       THE DEATH OF GOD, THE SON, WAS ALSO NECESSARY TO HUMBLE US: Romans 3:24-27 [We are] “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.”
 
Our sins are such an offense to God that His holy nature required (“propitiation”) the death of His Son Jesus. Before Jesus had died as a substitute for the death we deserved, God endured our sins and merely “passed over” or covered the sins of His people. It was not a true forgiveness, the eradication of our sins and the cleansing of our conscience so that we could joyously approach our Savior (Hebrews 10:19-22).
 
Twice, Paul wrote that Christ’s death was to teach us by showing us His righteousness, His hatred of sin and His need to punish it. This understanding should eliminate any boasting and humble us since we caused Christ’s death.
 
 
·       THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DEITY OF CHRIST BRINGS US PEACE, CONFIDENCE, AND TRUST: Colossians 1:15-21 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. the interests of others.”
 
Paul listed many evidences that Christ is God. Among these, He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Why is this important for us to know? Since Jesus is the Heir of all things and since we are co-Heirs with Him (Romans 8:17), we are indescribably wealthy and for all eternity:
 
·       Colossians 2:8-10 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. 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.”
 
If we know how rich and beloved we are, we will not be seduced by various philosophies and therapies, which claim to bring happiness. Instead, we can endure and patiently await the return of our Savior. However, we are just co-heirs with a created being or a manifestation, this serves to diminish the glories of heaven and God’s promise to give us all things in Christ.
 
·       CHRIST AS GOD PROVIDES AN ADEQUATE FOUNDATION FOR ETHICS: Philippians 2:3-8 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ 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!”
 
Because Jesus had humbled Himself to empty Himself to die for us, we are also asked to humble ourselves to serve the needs of others. However, if Jesus had simply been created to die for us, He had not truly humbled or emptied Himself for us, since He had nothing from the start.
 
Nor does a mere manifestation, only appearing to die for us, provide a compelling example for us to sacrifice our welfare for the sake of others.
 
But how can we follow the example of Jesus? I fail daily. We tend to be so centered on taking care of our own needs and desires. How then can we honor others before ourselves and to satisfy their hungers before our own? I must admit that I’d rather my wife give me a back massage than the reverse. It is humbling to continually be confronted with my selfishness.
 
How can we bear this constant diet of spiritual failure? Only by knowing the love and forgiveness of our Lord! Only by seeing His compassion for those who call upon Him, like for Peter who had denied Jesus three times after promising he would never do so!
 
Yes, I fail Him daily, but I am convinced of His tender mercies towards me. This gives me the courage to persist. It also endears me to my Savior who delights to daily give me a fresh start. To Him be all the glory!

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