THE WORTHINESS OF JESUS

2 Corinthians 5:20,21;  Acts 2:36;  Hebrews 2:7-10

I often long to be able to speak in a more worthy way of the Lord Jesus, but I am comforted to know that all that He has done has glorified God. I am glad to know that all the work that He was given to do He has fully completed, and I am thankful that, as a consequence, everything for the sinner’s blessing is fully available.

These scriptures read all make reference to what the Lord Jesus was made. We might wonder why it should be said that the Lord Jesus was made certain things. We are told in the epistle to the Hebrews that by Him the worlds were created; He is also said to uphold “all things by the word of his power”, Heb.1:3. Why then should He be made certain things? This first scripture gives us to understand that “Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us”. It is a very sobering thing to think of what the Lord Jesus was made on account of all that sin brought in before God. As sinners, we need to be reconciled to God. It is impossible for us to return to innocence. We have no means in ourselves to clear our guilty past, and yet God, because of His holiness, must have us suited to Himself, if we are to be near Him. His righteousness demands full clearance of guilt, otherwise we must come under condemning judgment. How then can I get right with God? How valuable these precious words are: “Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness in him”. Therein lies the answer to satisfy God, and therein lies the answer to the sinner’s need.

All that sin had brought in that was so offensive to God had to be removed to satisfy God, and all that I was and all that I have done had to be cleared in order that I might be accepted before God in righteousness. The answer is that Christ has done it all. Of Himself, He came into a condition of flesh and blood. The scripture indicates that He became flesh (John 1:14), and moved in that condition “sin apart” (Heb.4:15), but there came a point when that blessed Man was “made sin”. He was made what He never was before, because He was entirely free from sin. He was made what was so offensive to Himself that He might settle the great issue that sin had brought in before God. I would speak carefully and well of the wonderful life of the Lord Jesus, but I would say with reverence that atonement was not made by the life of Jesus. He must be made sin and must die if God was to be satisfied. I sometimes wonder if we realise the immensity of what that meant for the Lord Jesus. No wonder that those three hours on the cross were surrounded by darkness. The gaze of man was not permitted to take account of the mighty transaction between Himself and God. The settlement of the issue was so profound and deep before God that that blessed Person was then forsaken by God. He was truly made sin. He suffered there upon the cross where He died, and His precious blood was shed whereby the sinner’s guilt might be fully cleared before God, so that all that I am as a sinner, and all that I have done through my sinful ways, might be fully settled before God, and that I should be before God in perfect righteousness.

It is said here, “that we might become God’s righteousness in him”. You might ask me, How can I then gain entrance into that favour? There are two basic principles in the gospel from our side. The first is “repentance towards God”, and the second is “faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ”, Acts 20:21. Sometimes at school, children are presented with several options, and the appropriate answer has to be selected. Most things in this world have become extremely complicated, but the gospel is blessedly simple. The way into blessing from our side is by repentance and trusting in the Saviour. What assurance God would give us in relation to His acceptance of all that Christ has done. We are not left in any doubt as to God’s complete satisfaction with the accomplished work.

That is why I read from these other passages of how “God has made him … Lord and Christ”. God has put Him in the place of highest honour in the universe. He has a name greater than that of angels or of men, He has the place of highest glory at the Father’s right hand. I might add that His place at God’s right hand is not only a witness to the place of honour, but is an evidence of the Father’s delight in Him. What delight the Father had in raising Christ from among the dead! He was made “some little inferior to angels”. We have to speak carefully about what the Lord was made, but He was made inferior to angels in order that He might go into death; this scripture says, “on account of the suffering of death”. That is, He not only bore the intensity of God’s judgment on the cross, but all that was so offensive has been completely ended and put out of God’s sight in Jesus’ death and burial. But that glorious Man has risen victorious from among the dead; He is now “crowned with glory and honour”.

What delight we have in speaking of the Saviour. To whom then does the word of the glad tidings apply? Such is the grace of God that it is towards all. That is another wonderful witness to the fulness of the Saviour’s work. We each know, or must come to, some judgment of the seriousness of our own guilt, but through the shed blood of the Saviour I can find peace with God. Oh, the value and blessedness of being forgiven! It is a most unhappy thing to have a sense of guilt in your conscience, and in a way it is worse still when you know you cannot do one thing of yourself to clear it. But in coming to the Saviour, we are brought into the enjoyment of full and free forgiveness. He has “made peace by the blood of his cross”, Col.1:20. It has cost the Saviour so much, but the blessing available to us has become supremely great. If you have not done so before, may you turn in repentance today, put your trust in the Saviour and know the joy of being forgiven. I was once preaching in the open air and quoted the passage from Romans, “all have sinned” (Rom.3:23), and a man came up and stood right before me, and he said, ‘Excuse me, sir, that does not apply to me’. What a dreadful loss, to face eternity without being reconciled to God because I think that I have no need, when the Saviour has suffered so much and was made sin in order that He might establish my peace with God. May we come to love Him more and more. To know how much we have been forgiven is part of the way we come to love Him more – loving much because we have been forgiven much.

How worthy the Lord Jesus is of the greatest affection of our hearts. God has set Him there in glory as the great Object for our faith. It is not a secret that Christ is glorified at God’s right hand. God has been pleased to reveal that wonderful place that Christ has been given. The Spirit has come from that very point in glory to bear testimony here to Christ’s place above. The apostle Paul speaks of himself and others as ambassadors; he said, “We are ambassadors …”. What a wonderful thing that God should send out persons in such a dignified way to tell souls universally of the outgoing of His love in mercy to undeserving sinners. What grace that He should be prepared to grant the gift of His Holy Spirit to those who obey His word in order that His love might be shed abroad in our hearts. I cannot speak too highly of the wonder of God’s love, to think that He did not spare His Son and that He made Him sin for us when I should have been condemned and you should have been condemned. But God in grace has come out in order to bless us, not only to clear our guilt but, as it says here in Hebrews, He is “bringing many sons to glory”. Think of God taking us into favour in such a way that He might bring us near as sons, making “perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings”. What a marvellous way God has taken in love to glorify Himself and to so bless us in Christ Jesus.

I leave the word with us, just to ponder over what Christ was made. If it secures anything today, may it serve to deepen our love for the Lord Jesus. It has cost Him more than tongue can tell. I have sought to say a little about it, but how could I ever unfold the depth of what was transacted in those hours on the cross. I can only rejoice again that God is glorified and satisfied. Christ has become my Saviour and also my hope, for beyond all that the sinner could ever wish for, we have come to know that the Lord is coming again to receive us to Himself, that where He is we also may be, there to be with Him, there to be like Him and there for all eternity. May God be glorified through the outgoing of His word today. May we be deepened in our appreciation of the Saviour and yield our hearts more responsively to Him, for His name’s sake.

Preaching of the gospel, Bad Endbach, Germany

8 October 2017

J. Laurie