Howdy!
At this point we are getting into the meat of the work of Jesus Christ for our salvation. The catechism is expanding with every question to show us how this all works for the glory of God and for our blessing.
Sorry for getting this out a little late. Been a bit busy. 😊
Let’s get right into it:
Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
A. The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.
Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.
There is a lot in there! Understanding more about who Jesus is and what it means that He is both God and Man is not the easiest thing to grasp, but the more we do the greater our love for Him will be. It is one of those hard subjects that rewards folks willing to put in the effort of thinking through how it all works.
Today in our catechism lesson we are going to talk about two aspects of the doctrine of Christ that we learn from these questions which will to help develop our faith and love for our Savior.
1) The Redeemer of God’s Elect
When Jesus is praying to the Father in John 17 the Scripture says, “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him...’” Hearing these words reminds us that Christ was sent by His heavenly Father to complete a mission. That call was to lay down His life for the sheep. (Matt. 1:21). He did that by offering Himself up as the Kinsman-Redeemer. The Father has in the resurrection shown us His acceptance of Jesus’s gift. This sacrificial love aids us to see that when we confess that Christ is the “Redeemer of God’s Elect…” we are not just repeating some esoteric theology, but the very heart of the gospel. Christ died for sinners, and those sinners who are His hear their master’s voice and come to Him. Our salvation is not a possibility, but a certainty precisely because Jesus has accomplished what He set out to do. As we have heard in our sermons from Genesis the promise of the Seed of Adam, who came from the “mother of all living”, was none other than Christ almighty. His being born of a virgin and taking on flesh, God becoming Man is how He is able to be the Redeemer of mankind and that will be the subject of what we speak of next.
2) God and Man in Two Distinct Natures
Now in this section we get into a little more depth. Comprehending what the divinity and humanity of Christ means gives extra strength to our faith. As the catechism answer makes clear Christ’s divine nature had no beginning. He has been, and always will be, God. In history the Second Person of the Holy Trinity became flesh of our flesh, in every way truly human, yet without sin. When Jesus fell down He bled and felt pain. His weeping for the death of Lazarus was not a show. Testifying that Christ is the God-Man expands our peace in the midst of trial. Knowing that Jesus literally experienced the weight of the fallen world in His nature as man reminds the Church that we have a God who is not alien to our experience. Great comfort is the result of these truths. However, there is more to the blessing of Christ becoming Man than just this. He had to take on our nature in order that His sacrifice would be sufficient for our sins. We know that Adam was the federal, or covenant head of all humanity. As Romans 5 makes clear we sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression. While we may not have personally eaten of the forbidden fruit it is as if we did. This corporate responsibility means that we need someone like Adam, like us, to fulfill the broken Covenant of Works. That person had to be in every way truly human and Jesus alone was able to do this because, as we noted above, He was without sin. Born of a virgin. That’s why it matters. Our redemption is impossible unless Christ kept the law perfectly and no sinner can do that. That is why it is unacceptable to believe anything other than that Jesus was both 100% God and 100% Man. It is the only way we could be saved. God incarnate did that for us. Remember what Philippians 2 says:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.
It is in this seraphic testimony from the apostle that we hear the words of the catechism become even more clear. The God who spoke to Moses at the burning bush and brought destruction upon the Egyptians in the Passover has not only brought death to its knees at the cross through His shed blood, but as our covenant head, the Second Adam, the Testator of the Covenant of Grace, Christ has gained redemption for our sins by His gracious gift of Himself. The God-Man is our hope and our peace.
For today’s reading here is some more from Joel Beeke.
https://www.monergism.com/jesus-christ%E2%80%99s-two-amazing-natures
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church