WSC Q&A #26

Q: How does Christ execute the office of a king?
A: Christ executes the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
1 Corinthians 15:24-26: Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom of God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 

Brothers and sisters, can you read this week's catechism and coinciding Scripture passage and not be deeply stirred in your heart? Does it not move you and shake you to the core of your being to know that Jesus Christ is King? Does it not stir your affections to know that he is subduing you to himself? Does it not lift your spirit to know that Jesus Christ is ruling, and to know that he is defending us? Does it not give you hope beyond measure to know that he not only restrains, but conquers all his and our enemies? 

The battle has been decided. The victory has already been won, though our enemies still linger on and cause much damage. But be assured. Our enemies may hold onto their outposts. They may strike, and strike hard at time. We still feel the pain and are deeply wounded by the sword of Death. But they are a defeated enemy, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the reigning King, will uproot them from their outpost, and completely and utterly destroy our enemies, Death included. 

Our heart longs for the day when all our enemies will finally be destroyed. Our heart longs for the day when we see with our own eyes the death of Death. What a glorious day it will be, when we see our King Jesus crush our enemies beneath his feet! It will be a grand day!

There is a moment in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in which he captures so greatly the glory of that final day. I'll close this blog post by quoting this section of Tolkien's work, realizing that as heart-stirring and glorious Tolkien's words are, the reality of that day will be beyond the words of even the greatest of writers and poets!

 "'Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What's happened to the World?' 
'A great Shadow has departed,' said Gandalf, and then he laughed and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days and days without count."

Revelation 22:3-5: No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

WSC Q&A #25

Q: How does Christ execute the office of a priest?
A: Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and reconcile us to God; and in making continual intercession for us. 
Romans 5:10-11: For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

It's important, again, to keep the Old Testament understanding of a priest in mind. In the Old Testament, the priests would go before God on behalf of the people. They would offer the sacrifices in the temple. They would intercede for the needs of the people. They acted as liturgists (worship leaders), helping to frame the worship of God's people in a way that God found acceptable. They were the ones who would enter the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement. And yet, they themselves were not holy. They themselves were sinful and in need of atonement. The offerings and sacrifices they offered were only temporary. They could not truly restore the people to God. All of it: the priests, the sacrifices, the temple, the liturgy, it all pointed to a Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, who is holy, without blemish, in no need of sanctification, now stands as the head of the people before the throne of God above. He stands there, having lived a life of perfect obedience and righteousness, as the true spotless lamb. He stands there, having offered himself up as the perfect, once for all time sacrifice that is truly able to take away the sins of God's people. He stands there as our minister in the high places, our great liturgist, our worship leader, framing and directing the praises of God's people towards the throne of the Majesty on High in a way that pleases the Father. He has torn the great temple curtain in two, and through him and by him we have been given access to the Holy of Holies. And it is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, the visible image of the invisible God, very God of very God, who is interceding for us, praying, as the puritan Thomas Watson said, for our keeping from sin, for our sanctification, and for our glorification. And, he is a great high priest who is able to sympathize with us in every way  (Heb. 4:15).

Just as Christ is the prophet, the only prophet we need, he is also the priest. He is the only priest we need. No earthly priest can do what Christ has done and is doing now for us before the throne of God. By no other name do we dare go before the throne of the Father! 

WSC Q&A #24

Q: How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?
A: Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. 
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

A prophet, in the Biblical sense, was someone who brought the Word of God to the people. Jesus Christ, of course, is the ultimate revelation of God's Word. We might think of John's words at the beginning of his gospel when he writes of Jesus, "the Word became flesh". Christianity teaches and believes that Jesus Christ is the center of all biblical revelation. Christ is the center of God's revealed word. Every page of the Bible is either pointing to Christ, or reflecting back upon him. 

Jesus Christ himself talked about his prophetic office. Matthew 11 has Christ declaring that he has come to reveal the Father. In Luke 22 he says that he came to do the Father's will. John 8 records that Jesus stated, "I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me." All these statements show us that Jesus was fulfilling a prophetic office by showing us and revealing to us who the Father is and what his will for his people is. 

Others in Scripture talked about Christ's prophetic office as well. Moses spoke of another prophet who God would raise up (Deut. 18:15). The Apostle Peter would use the words of Moses in his sermon in Acts 3: "Moses said, 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.'" Peter boldly declares that Jesus Christ is the prophet Moses spoke of, and that in Jesus Christ alone is salvation found. 

Jesus Christ, therefore, is not merely a prophet, as many false religions would teach. He is the prophet. He is the prophet that all other prophets spoke of. He is the ultimate revelation of God's will, God's Word, God's plan for salvation, God's character. There is no prophet now apart from Jesus Christ, for no prophet could possibly reveal more or add to what Christ has already revealed to us in himself. It is because of this that the author of Hebrews would write, "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..." Who would ever dare try to add to such a divine, such a complete, such a beautiful revelation of God!?

WSC Q&A #23

Q What offices does Christ execute as our redeemer?
A: Christ, as our redeemer, executes the offices of a prophet, a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

This is an introductory to the next several questions of the catechism, as we examine more closely the ministry of Jesus Christ, not only in his life and death, but even now as he is seated at the right hand of the Father.

There can be, however, some confusion around terms as we begin thinking of Christ as our prophet, priest, and king. The confusion is not so much around the idea of Jesus as our king (the great and sovereign ruler who reigns over the hearts of his people, over the kingdoms of this world, over the church, and over all creation), but perhaps people aren't so clear as to what is meant when we speak of Christ as a prophet and as a priest. Here, it is important to remember the Old Testament offices of prophet and priest. In the Old Testament, a prophet was the mouthpiece of God. He was one who brought the word of God to the people. He made the will of God known to the nation of Israel. A priest, however, was one who went to God on behalf of the people. He was an intercessor on behalf of God's people, pleading their case before the throne of God. As we think of Christ fulfilling these roles, keep these Old Testament offices in mind.

WSC Q&A #22

Q: 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.
Philippians 2:7: but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 

I once read a popular "evangelical" author and pastor explain his faith this way. He said for most Christians, their faith is like a brick wall. Remove any of the doctrinal "bricks" in the wall, and the entire wall collapses. He went on to boast how his faith is like a trampoline. If he were to find out that, say, the virgin birth was myth and not true, his Christian faith would not collapse on him, but rather he would simply bounce right back up. 

I found it remarkable that this person would use the virgin birth as an example. Why not pick a doctrine like infant baptism, or election, or an issue of church government? Surely, if we were to find out that our understanding on these doctrines were wrong, our faith could stand as well. But the virgin birth? It highlighted to me that this person did not grasp how essential the virgin birth is to Christianity. If it is not true, then our entire faith should collapse!

The incarnation of Jesus Christ (Christ becoming a true, living, breathing, fleshly man) is absolutely essential to our redemption. Only a true man could make atonement for the sins of man. The Old Testament sacrificial system shows us this. The animals could not satisfy completely for the sins of men. They could offer temporary atonement, but they could never atone in an eternal sense. They could not satisfy the justice of God concerning sinful men. Only a man, a man who was without sin, could satisfy God's justice. But man is not without sin, and therefore could have no hope in making atonement for himself. So God would, if he were to redeem man and uphold the covenant of grace, have to provide a way for a true man to make atonement for the sins of God's elect. And he did. God himself became man, took on our flesh, lived the perfect life we could not live, was obedient even to the point of death on a cross, and then died, spilled his own sinless blood, took upon himself the wrath of the Father for all the sins of God's people, and made a perfect, once-for-all-time atoning sacrifice. 

And the virgin birth is the means by which God becomes flesh. It is the vehicle of the incarnation. It shows us that Jesus Christ was a true man. He was, as Karl Barth would say, a "real son of a real mother." He didn't simply resemble man, he was man. And yet, he was conceived by God the Holy Spirit. His birth comes directly from God himself. Because of this, he can be fully man and fully God. He can stand in solidarity with sinners, and yet he can be the sinless sin-bearer. 

Take away the virgin birth, and you take away our once-for-all-time perfect sacrifice. You take away our hope. You take away our atonement for sin. You take away the idea of God being both the judge and the justifier. Were the virgin birth simply a myth, were it not true, then yes, the entire "brick wall" of our Christian faith would indeed collapse. There is no bouncing back from this reality!