We finished our last
meditation with Paul’s lament: “Who will free me from this life that is
dominated by sin?” (Romans 7:24*)
His answer to that
question is: “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7:25*)
To the church in
Philippi (Greece), Paul explained how Jesus Christ became God’s answer to the
problem of sin: “Though he (Jesus Christ) was God, he did not demand and
cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble
position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently
humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross.
Because of this, God
raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every
other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:6-11*)
The apostle John shows
that God’s love for mankind resulted in Jesus’ sacrificial death for our sins.
He writes: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16*)
In Meditations 2 to 12
we pondered on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ:
-- His divinity and
humanity. (Meditations 2 to 4)
-- His guilt offering
for the sins of all men. (Meditation 5)
-- His resurrection and
enthronement in heaven. (Meditation 6)
-- His position as the
only mediator between God and man. (Meditations 7 and 8)
-- His divine
assignment as God’s ultimate Messiah (Christ) and Saviour of the entire world.
(Meditations 9 to
12)
In Meditation 102 we
identified the most important words, used in the Old and New Testaments, which
portray the essence of sin. Today we want to see how these terms are linked to
the death of Jesus Christ who is God’s Messiah.
THE OLD TESTAMENT
· chata = to miss, to miss the way, to sin
This Hebrew verb and
its derivations describe the act of sinning in general. One of its derived
nouns is used to focus on the reason for the death of God’s Messiah. In the 8th
century B.C. the prophet Isaiah prophesies about Jesus in the past tense,
saying: “... He poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the
transgressors. For he bore the sin of many...” (Isaiah
53:12**)
· pasha = to rebel, to transgress, to revolt.
This Hebrew verb and its derivations describe the act of sinning as
deliberate disobedience to God’s Word and His will. In relation to the death of
the Messiah, we read about man’s rebellion against God in:
-- Isaiah 53:5**: “He was pierced for our transgressions.”
-- Isaiah 53:8**: “By oppression and judgment he was
taken away. ... He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression
of my people he was stricken.”
· awa = to bend, to twist, to distort, to
sin, to commit a perversion or an iniquity.
Its main derivative is the masculine noun ‘awon’ (occurring 231 times
compared to the verb that is found 17 times) with the meaning: iniquity, guilt,
crooked behaviour, perversity, depravity. This noun especially describes the
sinful intention of man’s evil heart behind the act of sinning.
In a dramatic way, the use of this noun is linked to the Messiah’s death
in:
-- Isaiah 53:5** “He was crushed for our iniquities.”
-- Isaiah 53:6** “We all, like
sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has
laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
THE NEW TESTAMENT
· hamartanó = to miss the mark, be in error,
to sin, do wrong, transgress
When the Greek New
Testament speaks about sin in all its ugly ‘gradations’, it mostly uses this
verb and its derivatives when it is interlinked with Jesus’ sacrificial death.
His sacrifice causes all those who believe in Him to have:
§ Salvation from sin:
-- The evangelist Matthew testifies to the heart of Jesus’ mission: “She
(Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus
(meaning ‘Saviour’), because he will save his people from their sins."
(Matthew 1:21**)
-- The apostle John describes the reaction of John the Baptist when he
sees Jesus for the first time: “John saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
‘Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
(John 1:29*)
§ Forgiveness of sin:
-- On the evening before His death, Jesus explains that the sacrifice of
His life will cause many to receive forgiveness of their sins. Matthew reports:
“As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God's blessing on
it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, ‘Take it
and eat it, for this is my body.’ And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to
God for it. He gave it to them and said, ‘Each of you drink from it, for this
is my blood, which seals the covenant between God and his people. It is poured
out to forgive the sins of many.” (Matthew 26:26-28*)
-- On the day of Pentecost, after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the
apostle Peter addresses the listening crowd, saying: “We apostles are
witnesses of all he (Jesus) did throughout Israel and in Jerusalem. They put
him to death by crucifying him, but God raised him to life three days later.
Then God allowed him to appear, not to the
general public, but to us whom God had chosen beforehand to be his witnesses.
We were those who ate and drank with him after
he rose from the dead. And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify
that Jesus is ordained of God to be the judge of all-- the living and the dead.
He is the one all the prophets (the Old
Testament) testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have
their sins forgiven through his
Name.” (Acts
10:39-43*)
§ The light of God’s love
and truth:
-- The apostle Paul testifies before king Agrippa: “I have had God's
help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great
alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses (the Old
Testament) said would happen -- that the Christ would suffer and, as the first
to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the
Gentiles." (Acts 26:22-23**)
§ God’s righteousness is
more than Mosaic Law:
-- The apostle Paul reminds the Christians in Rome that “No-one will
be declared righteous in his (God’s) sight by observing the (Mosaic) Law;
rather, through the Law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness
from God, apart from Law, has been made known, to which the Law and the
Prophets (the Old Testament) testify.
This righteousness from God comes through faith
in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,
through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in
his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished --
he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and
the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:20-26**)
-- Paul writes to the church in Corinth: “God made Christ, who never sinned,
to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God
through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:21*)
§ Salvation from God’s
righteous anger and reconciliation with Him:
-- Writing to the church in Rome, Paul pronounces: “You see, at just
the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very
rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might
possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be
saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were
reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been
reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6-11**)
-- The apostle John writes about Jesus as the One who reconciles us with
God and represents us before Him as a true intercessor: “My dear children, I
write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin,
we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence--Jesus Christ, the
Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for
ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1
John 2:1-2**)
§ Salvation from God’s
righteous judgement of sin:
-- To the Roman Christians, the apostle Paul exults, saying: “There
is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the
life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin
that leads to death.
The Law of Moses could not save us, because of
our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent
his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful.
God destroyed sin's control over us by
giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the
requirement of the (Mosaic) Law would be fully accomplished for us who no
longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4*)
§ Salvation from our
sinful world:
-- Paul writes to the churches in Galatia (a region in modern Turkey): “May
grace and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He
died for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us
from this evil world in which we live.” (Galatians 1:3-4*)
§ Salvation from Satan’s
power:
-- Paul reminds the followers of Jesus in Colosse (Greece): “He (God)
has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has
brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. God has purchased our freedom with
his (Jesus’) blood and has forgiven all our sins.” (Colossians
1:13-14*)
How could we ever thank our triune God enough for His
greatest love gift to our lost world: Jesus Christ! Let us close this
Meditation by joining in Paul’s marvellous acclamation: “Thank God for his Son-- a gift too wonderful
for words!” (2
Corinthians 9:15*)
Translations: * New Living Translation; ** New International
Version; *** New King James Version.
No comments:
Post a Comment