The nature and saving mission of Jesus Christ – the nature and role of Jesus
The corporate culture in contemporary America is one driven by the concepts of vision and mission. Corporate executives swoon before mission and vision gurus as though they have discovered the treasure map to gold at the rainbow’s end. However, these mission and vision gurus haven’t discovered anything new or revolutionary. God, in His Bible, articulated his mission and vision for His son, Jesus. John 3:16 clearly outlines God’s strategic plan for Jesus when He states, “16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” I am one of those “whoevers” that needs Jesus in his role of both God and man to take on my sin, die as a sacrifice in my stead, intervene on my behalf, and through what can be described only as incredible grace – redeem me and deliver me to the Father as innocent and pure.
To complete his divine mission, Jesus had to be fully God and fully man. John 1:1-14 makes the case and illustrates for us that Jesus is fully God and that he came to us fully man. These scriptures (John 1:1-13) make their final point in stating, “14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Further though, we see the deity of Christ who became man in Philippians 2:5-11 where again Jesus is referred to as, “6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, “ Thus both God and man.
To be fully man, Jesus would have to be … well … fully man. That means he had to arrive as a man, as all men do, through the birthing process. Yet, in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah, “14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin h will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel. j” The arrival of Jesus would have to be nothing short of miraculous. The virgin birth confirms the miracle in Matthew 1:18-25 and in Luke 1:26-38. So, we see in the birth of Jesus, immaculate and miraculous conception, and the humble beginnings of human birth and all the messiness that entails. We also see the duality of Christ’s two natures. In Colossians 2:9, we are made to understand the fullness of the living Deity while, at the same time, acknowledging that Hebrews 2:14-18 makes clear that the living Deity also had to be human in every way.
Further, the same Hebrews scriptures tell us that Jesus, in his humanity, became “a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God” In service to God the Father, Jesus came to bring reconciliation between God and humanity. His atoning work prophesied in Isaiah 53:4-6 speaks to the suffering that Jesus would have to endure, asserting that “. . .we are healed. “
To complete the discussion of the dual nature of Christ and his descent into humanity, we must explore his death, resurrection, and ascension. This may be a holdover from my Lutheran upbringing, but the words of the Apostle’s creed ring strong in this discussion,
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
This belief is further entrenched by the truths found in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5, “3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, i and then to the Twelve. “ and Acts 1:9-11, “9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
From His ascended throne, Jesus lives and continues to reign, according to Ephesians 1: 22-23, “over everything for the church.” Further, we must rest assured that Jesus is constantly and continually at work on our behalf. Hebrews 7:25 tells us, “25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
The mission has been clear since the fall of mankind into sin, redemption, and reconciliation. Jesus was and is the “vehicle” by which we “whoevers” can have eternal life. Jesus was, is, and always will be offering His saving grace and mercy to all of us “whoevers”!