This is the final episode in our series on ‘What think ye of Christ?’ so we should briefly re-cap to remind ourselves of the big picture here. In the words of John Newtown’s hymn:<\/p>\n
What think ye of Christ? is the test
\nTo try both your state and your scheme;
\nYou cannot be right in the rest,
\nUnless you think rightly of him;
\nAs Jesus appears in your view,
\nAs he is beloved or not,
\nSo God is disposed to you,
\nAnd mercy, or wrath are your lot.<\/p>\n
Some take him a creature to be,
\nA man, or an angel at most:
\nSure these have not feelings like me,
\nNor know themselves wretched, and lost;
\nSo guilty, so helpless, am I,
\nI durst not confide in his blood;
\nNor on his protection rely,
\nUnless I were sure he is God.<\/p>\n
Some call him a Savior in word,
\nBut mix their own works with their plan;
\nAnd hope he his help will afford,
\nWhen they have done all that they can;
\nIf sayings prove rather too light,
\n(A little they own they may fail)
\nThey purpose to make up full weight,
\nBy casting his name in the the scale.<\/p>\n
Some style him the pearl of great price,
\nAnd say he’s the fountain of joys,
\nYet feed upon folly and vice,
\nAnd cleave to the world and its toys;
\nLike Judas, the Savior they kiss,
\nAnd while they salute him, betray;
\nAh! what will professions like this
\nAvail in his terrible day.<\/p>\n
If ask’d what of Jesus I think,
\nAlthough my best thoughts are but poor;
\nI say he’s my meat and my drink,
\nMy life, and my strength, and my store,
\nMy shepherd, my husband, my friend,
\nMy savior from sin, and from thrall,
\nMy hope from beginning to end,
\nMy portion, my Lord, and my all.<\/p>\n
We began by\u00a0considering some of the perversions so far as what people think of Christ. They were mainly with respect to the substance of his nature – is he man, is he God, is he both, always, entirely? Having a right view of these truths is absolutely fundamental to the rest of the truth of Scripture. As we have seen over the last few weeks the Word of God reveals him to be the Eternal Son of God and therefore, eternally God and as being incarnate – God manifest in the flesh, truly God, truly man from his conception up unto this present day. These truths underpin the\u00a0work of Christ, past, present and future.\u00a0Particularly so far as his work for us is concerned,\u00a0at Calvary as the sin bearer and presently as High Priest and then his future work in the world as Judge – he cannot be those things except he be truly God and truly man. So these\u00a0truths are absolutely crucial.<\/p>\n
However, there is still confusion amongst people as to his present and future ministries. And so we do well to consider this aspect and above all, be encouraged\u00a0and have further cause for worship of our Saviour.<\/p>\n
The ministry of the Lord Jesus as High Priest is brought out in the book of Hebrews where he is shown to be one who\u00a0could sympathise with the difficulties which the believers were going through since after all,\u00a0He had also gone that way. This is a great encouragement to us all, especially in times of persecution, trial or sorrow. We can be sure of this, that whilst in relation to the work of the cross nothing more needs to be done, that in relation to our sojourn down here the Lord Jesus is very much active in constant service to aid, relieve and support His people.
\nHe wept, He suffered, He bore reproach, He learned obedience, He was tempted (yet without sin). And so He understands. He understands as a true man. If you go through trials, endure persecution or experience sorrow, you can pour\u00a0out your heart to Him and know that He totally understands.<\/p>\n
The work of the High Priest in Hebrews is\u00a0not in relation to dealing with sin. The matter of our sin is not really in view. This is important because we often confuse the High Priestly ministry of the Lord Jesus as being one that is<\/em> connected with addressing our daily sin. Whereas, the writer says that the matter of sin has once and for all been dealt with. It is because it has been dealt with that he can be a High Priest, notice the words ‘that He might be’ in Hebrews 2:17-18. This type of confusion is easily explained – we generally think of the High Priest as one who would<\/em> be involved in the matter of sin’s being atoned for. And the writer to the Hebrews speaks of the intercession which the Lord Jesus makes for us (Hebrews 7:25). But with ‘types’ of the Lord Jesus that come over from the Old Testament, it is important to note the contrasts as well as similarities\u00a0between the earthly type and the\u00a0heavenly reality. The matter of dealing with sin (past, present & future) is one such contrast. Since\u00a0we know that ours sins have been dealt with once and for all, the intercession which the Lord Jesus makes for us cannot be in relation to the forgiveness of sins. Rather it has to do with\u00a0obtaining mercy and finding ‘grace to help in time of need’, (Heb 4:16). So what about the matter of daily sin. True, it is dealt with once and for all. But there’s no use pretending that practically speaking, we can just live in sin. True Christians wont –\u00a0indefinitely. They become deeply upset by the fact that they have sinned, let God down, failed again! What can meet our need in these circumstances. How can things be resolved so we can move on. This is where the ministry of The Lord Jesus as Advocate comes in.<\/p>\n Now confusion abounds here also because we project our understanding of what an Advocate does in the context of a legal defence, into scripture. The Lord Jesus does not\u00a0go before the Father to plead our case and seek forgiveness for\u00a0sins that we have committed, pointing to his finished work at Calvary. Remember, the matter of our sin – from a legal, punitive perspective – is dealt with. So when we come to 1 John 1, we don’t have a court room scene. We explained it this way – a child misbehaves at the dinner table and the father asks him to leave the table, go to his room and think about what he has done. The child storms upstairs completely defiant. At this point, the child leaves the sphere of family fellowship and whilst in his room, in particular, moves outside the sphere of\u00a0enjoyment of his\u00a0relationship\u00a0with his Father. A short while later, the mother will go to the child and firmly but graciously make the child aware of why he was asked to leave the table. The child calms, remorse sets in and in due course, he apologises and sheds a tear or two. Then, the mother takes the child’s hand and brings him back to the dinner table where he re-enters the sphere of family fellowship and his enjoyment of his relationship with his Father continues as if nothing had happened. This, is how the Lord Jesus ministers to us as advocate. These two ministries are unhelpfully combined in the hymn ‘Before the throne of God above’ which perpetuates the idea that our Advocate is pleading for us. Apart from that it’s a great hymn – one line even states “Who made an end of all my sin”.<\/p>\n In the wider sphere of Church testimony there is a great deal of emphasis on the Lord Jesus as King. This is down to a\u00a0fairly\u00a0fundamental difference in the way God’s plan of events is viewed for the world vs the church. Supposing for a moment we viewed\u00a0Matthew 28:18 as referring to a literal kingdom authority. Supposing we viewed 1 Corinthians 15:25 as referring to Christ’s literal reign as being present. Then we would see the Lord Jesus’ primary ministry as King. Although he is not here physically, nevertheless we are his subjects and in due time all things will be subdued. The constitution is perhaps captured best in the sermon on the mount and that is what we should seek to bring into effect socially and even politically where possible. When all the world is subject to him through the vehicle of the church Christ will come (and may or may not establish his millennial kingdom). Now scriptural clearly teaches that there is a kingdom which all believers are in since being ‘delivered…from the power of darkness’ (Col 1:13).\u00a0And in a spiritual way we do recognise the Lord Jesus as King of our hearts. But he is not physically in residence yet and the remit of the church is not to bring\u00a0reform inline with the normal responsibilities of a kingdom authority. Instead, our remit is to call men to\u00a0spiritual rebirth\u00a0through the preaching of the gospel. The Kingdom of God is within us and we should by all means show that by living out the beatitude attitude, but the Lord Jesus’s present role so far as authority is concerned is primarily defined as being Head over the church – our role as being members of his body to serve him out of love not out of duty. And so collectively we recognise him to be Head\u00a0understanding there will come a day when Christ’s primary charge, received of His Father,\u00a0will be to reign over a physical kingdom.<\/p>\n Again, hymnology plays a role here in\u00a0forming our view, perhaps inadvertently, but either way.<\/p>\n Judge:\u00a02 Timothy 4:1<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is the final episode in our series on ‘What think ye of Christ?’ so we should briefly re-cap to remind ourselves of the big picture here. 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\nAgain, the Lord Jesus isn’t High Priest for an finite\u00a0period of time as with the earthly Tabernacle. Rather, his priesthood is after the order of Melchisidec, a priest continually. Thus the one that is there to support us today will always be there, the same dependable Christ. We don’t have to start over with a new High Priest like they would have had to in the earthly Tabernacle. Christ is better = the message of the book of Hebrews.<\/p>\nAdvocate<\/h3>\n
\nWithout building on the illustration anymore than we need to, as Advocate, the Lord Jesus is the one who makes us conscious of failure and draws us back into the sphere of enjoying fellowship with the Father (which John states is his primary reason for writing, 1 John 1:1-4).<\/p>\nFuture Ministries<\/h2>\n
King<\/h3>\n
\nThat however, is not how we view those scriptures. We view them as future and not present.<\/p>\n