Reflecting on Truth #21
Q: What sort of Redeemer is needed to bring us back to God?
A: One who is truly human and also truly God.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6)
Why does this matter?
Last week we learned that the identity of this Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle John tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1) and that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). From here, we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly God, because he is the Word, and truly human, because the Word became flesh. There is no one else in human history who is like our Redeemer.
In the coming weeks, we will explore why the Redeemer must be truly human and truly God. But at this stage, it is sufficient for us to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is someone we can identify with, because he is truly human, and we should worship, because he is truly God. Just like the sacrificial lambs that were slain to save Israel from the tenth plague of Egypt were mortal, our Redeemer ought to be mortal for him to be slain. But unlike the sacrificial lambs that need to be slain frequently, our Redeemer ought to be not only immortal, but divine, that his sacrifice be all-sufficient.
What does this mean for us?
Because our Redeemer is truly human, we can be like him in his humanity. Our Lord Jesus Christ lived his life with weaknesses like ours. He tired, hungered, thirsted, cried, suffered, and died, just like us. So, what strengthened him? The Holy Spirit strengthened him (Lk 3:22; 4:1, 14). And the same Holy Spirit, who indwelled and strengthened our Redeemer, indwells us Christians too. This means, when struggling with sins and worldliness, we cannot use the excuse, “Well, we are just human beings afterall.” Yes, we still fall occasionally. But our Redeemer was also truly human and tempted. But he did not sin. Hence, being human cannot be a cop-out for sins and worldliness. The question for us is now not only, “Are we relying on the Holy Spirit to lead our lives?”, but more importantly, “How are we relying on the Holy Spirit to lead our lives?” Our Lord Jesus Christ was reliant on the Holy Spirit in his humanity. Are we?
Because our Redeemer is truly God, we can be secure of our status before God. If we have been transformed by God, if the sins that we used to love, we now hate, and if the God we used to avoid, we now crave, we can be certain that we are now back to God. Let not the Deceiver deceive us with feelings of guilt and shame to draw us away from God, because our Redeemer has sufficiently redeemed us back to God.
May we live by the Holy Spirit who indwells us and seals our salvation in our great Redeemer, Jesus Christ.