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“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3-4)
Have we considered the character of God who became the man Jesus? God took on man’s humanity and gave a victory that all of mankind can receive and become blessed by. I have seen brave men charge forward and then falter, cowards, turn to run, and then return to fight. They were just men living in the incapability of their efforts. The world has never seen a man in complete obedience to the will of God, living in full trust that God would give him the joy of eternal victory, except in Jesus, the Son of God. Of all the great men of this earth, none have filled the pages of history as Jesus. Beyond comparison, Jesus is the noblest in His divine wisdom. Every feature of Him in thought, word, and deed displayed His pre-eminent goodness. The people followed Him not because of a rock-star appearance but His superhuman influence.
He took on the flesh of mankind and destroyed the sin within a painful crucifixion on the cross. He did not come as a deity of judgment but to minister to the greatest need of mankind. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) The Prophet Isaiah spoke of Him as the man of sorrows. Jesus walked along the highways of life and was the best helper for the children of sorrow. It was His final sorrow that broke His heart. The sorrow was not His own sorrow but that of being the mediator of man before His Father. There on the cross, Jesus was without sin, lived and only acted will of the Father, took on the debt of the world’s sin, and faced the sorrow of the human race upon the cross of His crucifixion. Jesus drank that bitter cup of the world’s compressed sin.
There on the cross for those long hours of suffering found only ungratefulness. None were they found captivated by His divine love would rally round their Savior to offer Him defense and protection. As the world viewed the force of the Savior’s love, it also sees the degradation of their humanity.
The result of God’s grace to mankind was the world was darkened by His Son’s crucifixion, but through this darkest hour came streams of light. Jesus destroyed for all time the captivity of men to the wage of sins death. Mankind could be justified and sanctified walking not after the flesh but in the power of the Spirit. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16) We mourn that our Savior went to the cross to be crucified in our place, but let us also rejoice that we are free from the bondage of sin. Let us take on the betterment and enrich ourselves in the moral excellence of living in righteousness. Let us not crucify Him again by sinning anew but walk in the purity of His Spirit.
We must note this phrase of Scripture in this passage in verse 3. “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and did not have men’s blood but the Holy blood of His Father. His blood was not tainted by the sins of humanity but was perfect and holy blood from His father in heaven. Neither was Jesus born with the inherited sin-nature but had a perfect human nature in harmony with God. Jesus was tempted as a man, but His nature was not drawn to sinful behavior as men are. The three temptations that we know of Jesus resisted by the Word of God, which Satan himself must adhere to.
We can observe that our human nature is not drawn initially to sin. Jesus brought to humanity a vivid picture of holiness in His own life. A life that we were originally meant to be and an experience that we were created to live. We can see then that by the obedience of Jesus to the law of God that it is true that the nature of man and God’s nature are compatible with each other. We were created in His image, and it is His image we are to reflect. Jesus then, as the second Adam, is the true man and the example of the divine man. “So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45)
The perfection of Jesus, the God-man, was hard to accept. I suspect that the brothers of Jesus, who initially did not believe in Him, may have rejected Him as the Messiah. A sure example of that is in the disciple Peter, who, after witnessing a great catch of fish, stated, “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8) Later after Peter had walked with Jesus, Peter testified this, “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) I do not believe that anyone can be in the presence of Jesus and not be changed. Either by accepting Him for who He is or rejecting the truth of who He is.
Through Jesus’ mission as God’s Son, He enabled us to see all the hatefulness of sin in the view of His loveliness and holiness. Jesus made a complete change in the nature of the religious profession. Jesus was nothing short of a revolutionary in His teaching of the good news of the Kingdom of God. Jesus came into the world, and mankind at once knew that He was the model of strength that they could look up to. Before Jesus, nothing in history could attract humanity to what is now understood as holiness in living. Jesus spoke in gentle words and taught with authority and was the perfect example of the actions of His teaching. And His teaching was commanding. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29)
The power of the mission of Jesus on the cross is the separation of sin from the sinner. Those who followed Him in faith learned from His teaching, and obeyed His commands. They were affected by the separation of sin from the sinner. The law cannot remove man’s sin. But Jesus brought it about by the awareness of the fact of sin and made men aware of His truths in their consciousness.
We learn to live the righteous life through Christ living through us. It is not just a life of surrender but a life of power to accomplish the good work we were created to accomplish. It is not only that our sins are forgiven, but also the power of sin is removed. It is not only if we could be like Jesus but that He comes in to abide with us and us with Him. He renews us each day to become more in the image of Him. Eternal life could never come by law because the law cannot accomplish our righteousness. Jesus gives us a new life filled with holy thoughts and desires that are pure. It is a life of love, joy, patience, peace, and a Christ-like life. It is a life that has the power of new birth. It is a life that fulfills the requirement of the Law. “The requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Is your Savior in Heaven, or is He in you?
Thomas N Kirkpatrick
First Baptist Church of Durant, August 23, 2018
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