The fourth piece of the foundation for this blog is Solus Christus, Christ Alone. This has been talked about a little in the Sola Gratia post but here it will be fletched out in a more intentional way. While both the Old and New Testaments point to Christ, I will mainly focus on the New Testament and what it says about Christ. There may be a future post regarding the many prophesies of the Old Testament that Christ fulfilled.
The first aspect of Jesus Christ we must understand is that He was and is both fully God and fully man. First we can examine what Christ has said about Himself. During His show trial in Mark 14:61-64, “But He [Jesus] kept silent and did not answer anything. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus, “And all of you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What is your decision?” It is ironic isn’t it, that the earthly high priest in the line of Levi was calling The Great High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek, the Son of God, the plan for salvation from before the creation, a blasphemer. Man’s eyes were blinded and hearts hardened, just like Pharaoh in Exodus, in order that the will of God might be fulfilled. In John 14:6-7, 10-11, “Jesus told him [Thomas], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you know me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him…Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.” By this assertion of Christ, He is equating Himself to the same level as the Father in terms of deity. However in Philippians 2:5-11 the Scriptures say, “Make your attitude that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – of those who are in heaven and on earth – and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Even though Jesus Christ is God, part of the Holy Trinity, He submitted Himself to the Father’s will for the glorification of the Father! Because of this, the Father has made Christ the one and only bridge between God and man. This is where Christianity really differs from all the other religions of the world. Other religions may allude to Christ or come out and say that He was a real person but they all deny the deity of Christ. Some say He was a good teacher, others say He was a prophet. Still others say He was nothing but a fairytale; something people have made up through the ages to make themselves feel better or give themselves a sense of purpose in this life. All of these fall far short of the truth of who Christ really was and is and will always be. Jesus was and is the Son of God who sits at the right hand of the Father in glory.
The second part of Christ we must hold true is that while He was fully man He lived a perfect life so by the shedding of His blood He could be the Savior and Messiah. All of the sacrifices of the Old Testament, the perfect lambs without blemishes, were all leading up to and pointing to the Lamb of God without blemish who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Only by the shedding of Christ’s blood, the perfect sacrifice, could the debt of sin be washed away. Hebrews 9:22, “According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”By the shedding of Christ’s blood as an atonement for sin, He fulfilled the will of God and paid the debt we could never pay in and of ourselves. Jesus said in Matthew 26:28 during the Last Supper, “For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” There are two major camps that take issue with this aspect of Christ. One says that it is impossible for a person to live a perfect life without ever sinning. The other says, “There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Everything is relative.” To the first camp, I agree. No person could live a perfect life. But Jesus wasn’t just any person. He is 100% God and 100% man. Hebrews 4:14-15 says, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens – Jesus the Son of God – let us hold fast to the confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.” This verse clearly states that Jesus was fully exposed to the temptations of the enemy and yet, He did the will of the Father and remained sinless throughout His time here on the earth. He was tested in every way we are yet He remained perfect. How easily are we led astray by our own weakness? How many passes of the enemy does it take before we give in to our old selves and fall into sin? I know for me it is way too easy. The One who sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us has been tested in the same way we have been. He knows our struggles. How wonderful is it that we can come to Him and He understands by personal experience what we are going through. To the camp that says, “everything is relative”, I say that is repackaged idolatry. In this form of idolatry, we elevate ourselves as the ‘god’ of our own universe. It’s Satan’s wish, “I will be like the most high”(Isaiah 14:14), that he has used since the Garden of Eden. We replace “Thus saith the Lord” with “Thus saith I”. There is nothing new under the sun, and that includes sin. The enemy repackages it as necessary but it’s just the same lie repackaged. “Did God really say…”. Satan puts doubts in our hearts about what God really says in His word. That was the precursor to the fall.
Third, is the resurrection of Jesus. “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. After Christ physically died on the cross as the atonement sacrifice for the debt of sin we accrued, He rose from the dead and was glorified at the right hand of God the Father. John 10:17-18, “This is why the Father loves Me, because I am laying down My life so I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from My Father.” 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” By Christ’s resurrection, death has lost its hold on those of us who follow Christ. Romans 6:5-6, “For if we have been joined with him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For we know that our old self self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin…” Christ’s resurrection guarantees the resurrection of those who follow Him. Because of Christ’s resurrection we are not only forgiven of our sins because of His atoning sacrifice which is amazing in and of itself, but we also have the hope of our resurrection in Christ after our physical death. There are many detractors of this Scriptural assertion but one of the best resources I have found in response so far is A Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.
Solus Christus. There is nothing we need to, or can, add to the person of Christ to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, who gave Himself – a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.” He is both fully God and fully man, lived a perfect life, is the one and only atoning sacrifice for sin, intercedes on our behalf as The High Priest in the Order of Melchizedek, and sits at the right hand of the Father in glory as the Savior of the world! He is the Son of God and Son of Man. He was obedient to the Father even unto death on a cross. He is our Savior and the one we are to emulate as followers of Christ.
For His Glory!