Section 6 - How does Scripture, the word of GOD, evaluate Christ’s mission?
                 Conclusion
 

How does Scripture, the word of GOD, evaluate Christ’s mission?

Scripture records Christ's Own assessment concerning the objectives for which he was sent down to earth. He claims to have finished the work He had been given by God, completing it at the cross.

Jn.17:4,5   I glorify Thee on the earth, 
finishing the work which Thou hast given Me, that I should be doing it. 
And now glorify Thou Me, Father, 
with Thyself, with the glory which I had before the world is with Thee.

Jn.19:28  …Jesus, being aware that all is already accomplished, 
that the scripture may be perfected, is saying,

Jn.19:30  …He said, “It is accomplished!” 
And reclining His head, He gives up the spirit.

Act.2:31-33 …concerning the resurrection of the Christ, 
that He was neither forsaken in the unseen, nor was His flesh acquainted with decay. 
This Jesus God raises, of Whom we all are witnesses.

Act.3:15   …Whom God rouses from among the dead, of which we are witnesses.

1Cor.15:3-8    For I give over to you among the first what also I accepted, 
that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was entombed, 
and that He has been roused the third day according to the scriptures, 
and that He was seen by Cephas, thereupon by the twelve. 
Thereupon He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, 
of whom the majority are remaining hitherto, yet some were put to repose also. 
Thereupon He was seen by James, thereafter by all the apostles. 
Yet, last of all, even as if a premature birth, He was seen by me also.

Rom.4:24,25  … who are believing on Him Who rouses Jesus our Lord from among the dead, Who was given up because of our offences,  [ …dia ta paraptömata hêmön ]
and was roused because of our justifying. [ …dia tên dikaiösin hêmön  ]
[ Greek dikaiösis, justifying, the noun, the act of constituting us to be righteous ]

1Cor.15:22-24  …in Christ, shall all be vivified. Yet each in his own class: 
the Firstfruit, Christ; 
thereupon those who are Christ's in His presence; 
thereafter the consummation,…

1Tim.2:5,6    For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and mankind, 
a Man, Christ Jesus, Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all
(the testimony in its own eras),

2Cor.5:14,15   …if One died for the sake of all, consequently all died. 
And He died for the sake of all…

Rom.6:9,10  …Christ, being roused from among the dead, is no longer dying. 
Death is lording it over Him no longer, 
for in that He died, He died to Sin once for all time,…

Col.1:18b  Firstborn from among the dead, 
that in all He may be becoming first,

Rev.1:5  … Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, …

Act.26:23   He, the first out of a resurrection of the dead, …

1Cor.15:20  … Christ has been roused from among the dead, 
the Firstfruit of those who are reposing.

1Tim.6:16a  Who alone has immortality,… 

Jn.3:13   …no one has ascended into heaven except He Who descends out of heaven, 
the Son of Mankind Who is in heaven.

1Tim.6:16b   …making His home in light inaccessible, 
Whom not one of mankind perceived nor can be perceiving, …

Eph.1:8-10  …in all wisdom and prudence making known to us the secret of His will
(in accord with His delight, which He purposed in Him) 
to have an administration of the complement of the eras, 
to head up all in the Christ--both that in the heavens and that on the earth--

Eph.1:22,23  and gives Him, as Head over all, to the ecclesia which is His body, 
the complement of the One completing the all in all.

Col.1:18a  He is the Head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, 

Mt.28:18  …saying, “Given to Me was all authority in heaven and on the earth…”

Jn.17:2  Thou givest Him authority over all flesh, 
that everything which Thou hast given to Him, 
He should be giving it to them, even life eonian.

Jn.17:5  glorify Thou Me, Father, with Thyself… 
the glory which I had before the world is with Thee. 

Rev.19:16   And on His cloak and on His thigh He has a name written: 
"King of kings and Lord of lords."

1Tim.6:15, …He is King of kings and Lord of lords, 

Jn.5:22,23  For neither is the Father judging anyone, 
but has given all judging to the Son, that all may be honoring the Son, 
according as they are honoring the Father. 
He who is not honoring the Son is not honoring the Father Who sends Him.

Phil.2:9-11  Wherefore, also, God highly exalts Him, 
and graces Him with the name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus 
every knee should be bowing, celestial and terrestrial and subterranean, 
and every tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
for the glory of God, the Father.

Eph.1:20-22  …rousing Him from among the dead 
and seating Him at His right hand among the celestials, 
up over every sovereignty and authority and power and lordship, 
and every name that is named, not only in this eon, but also in that which is impending: 
and subjects all under His feet,

Heb.1:3  seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heights…
a more excellent name than they,

Heb.1:13  "Sit at My right, 
till I should be placing Thine enemies for a footstool for Thy feet"

1Cor 15:24,25   thereafter the consummation, 
whenever He may be giving up the kingdom to His God and Father, 
whenever He should be nullifying all sovereignty and all authority and power. 
For He (Christ) must be reigning 
until He (God) should be placing all His enemies under His (Christ's) feet.

1Pet.3:22   Who is at God's right hand, being gone into heaven, 
messengers and authorities and powers being subjected to Him.

Heb.2:8,9  All dost Thou subject underneath his feet." 
For in the subjection of all to him, He leaves nothing unsubject to him. 
Yet now we are not as yet seeing all subject to him. 
Yet we are observing Jesus, … wreathed with glory and honor…

Act.2:33  Being, then, to the right hand of God exalted, 
besides obtaining the promise of the holy spirit from the Father, 
He pours out this which you are observing and hearing.

Act.5:31  This Inaugurator and Saviour, God exalts to His right hand, 
to give repentance to Israel and the pardon of sins.

1Jn.2:1   these things am I writing to you that you may not be sinning. 
And if anyone should be sinning, we have an Entreater with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just.

Rom.8:33-35  Who will be indicting God's chosen ones? God, the Justifier? 
Who is the Condemner? Christ Jesus, the One dying, yet rather being roused, 
Who is also at God's right hand, Who is pleading also for our sakes? 
What shall be separating us from the love of God in Christ Jesus?…

Conclusion:

We believe that God is love. This love requires objects, or more correctly, subjects to be loved. By design He included in His creation living, intelligent, beings with the potential to appreciate that love and to respond to it positively. In order to fulfill His intentions and to completely achieve His goals, however, this potential is temporarily inhibited, or masked, until released in accord with His pre-determined schedule for each and every one!

The Being of God is first realised in the fact of the presence of His Logos, His Word or Expression. This first creation prepares the way for the rest of God's creative acts. Everything else, without exception, that has ever come into existence was created IN this Firstborn by God Who, then, working THROUGH this Original as His channel, brought the ‘blueprint’ of creation into reality and sustains its operation. Very much later on, this Logos, Who was with God from that beginning, was made flesh and from then on is recognised as Jesus Christ, the ‘Anointed Saviour’, the One Who is appointed and consecrated by God for the purpose of saving.

Jesus Christ is the First of God’s creative acts, the First to come into being in God’s creation. He is revealed as ‘God’s Creative Original’ and ‘the beginning of the creation of God’. Jesus is, also, the ‘Firstborn of every creature’ and He ‘is before all’. Whether we believe these declarations or not, will not, and cannot, affect this truth in any way! And, whether we can believe them or not, depends entirely on God's enabling power!

God, Who is the only ‘One Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will’ brought into being the One Who is His Image, created in the form which would adequately and honourably represent God to His creation. Having the right given by God Himself to represent Him in all things, He is God's Representation as well as His Representative, and the Effulgence of God's glory as well as the Emblem of His assumption. He may be rightfully called God - but not in any absolute sense. The structure of the Greek indicates that, just as God is like light, and God is like love, the Word is like God to the rest of creation! 

Jesus, Himself, declares the fact that the Father, only, is the true God! He does not leave it as a matter for speculation, nor as a truth for us to construct or to formulate! It is purely a matter of accepting God's declaration through His Anointed.

Not only does He represent God, His function in relation to the rest of creation is to direct every one of them toward God, to a knowledge and realisation of God, and to a true relationship with God! This process, which began at the creation of the universe, is ongoing through the eons and will find its completion at the Consummation. 

To effect this, when the time came, this Original of God’s creation divested Himself of all the glory that is rightfully His and, in accord with God's design and schedule, became flesh. He received a 'hands-on' experience of suffering and discipline in obedience - even to death. Thus, Jesus Christ was tried in all respects like us yet did not succumb to the dictates of Sin. This model Man is our qualified Representative. He is the Mediator on God's behalf as well as the Mediator on our behalf. This Man Christ Jesus is the ONE Mediator fit to represent God and fit to represent mankind.

God distinguishes Himself from all other so-called gods by His unique position as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This belief that Jesus is the Son of God separates believers of God from unbelievers. If we are believing God, then, whatever God says must be true, contradictions from other sources notwithstanding. 

Jesus faithfully acknowledges His Father’s absolute supremacy. Scripture shows our relationship, as believers, with God and with Christ. Just as we belong to Christ, Christ belongs to God. He is not God; He is God’s possession. And, just as Christ is the Head of every man, God is the Head of Christ! God is above Christ, just as Christ is above us! Could anything be clearer than these plain statements?

Jesus was always alert to and focused on God’s objectives. He was sustained through doing the will of God, finding pleasure and fulfilment in it. Often we read of some incident of Christ's ministry that took place so that 'the scripture may be fulfilled', or because Scripture had so said.

When He came in flesh He was given a definite and specific commission to be effected only among the lost sheep of the house of Israel. With single-minded dedication He carried out His commission as the Servant of the Circumcision. He did not try to fit in with the crowd. He made no attempt to find favour with the religious authorities. He castigated hypocrisy and spiritual oppression. He did not seek fame and acclaim from men as the would-be Saviour of His people, Israel. They were expecting the Messiah Who was prophesied to appear around that time - their wise men could even point to the place and time of His expected birth. But that nation, represented by the religious authorities, just could not accept this One. They rejected Him and, even to this day, await their Messiah.

Many of today who profess to be believers, also do not recognise the Christ of the Scriptures. They have come to accept another Christ, another so-called 'evangel', another spirit. They have set their minds on, and dedicate their energies to, the establishment of 'the Kingdom' - all of them blissfully unaware of the fact that this refers to the restoration and enhancement of the Kingdom to Israel! These misled believers of today are not conscious of the fact that they are victims of a systematised deception that has been in operation since Paul's time. 

All of mankind have been constituted sinners. God sent His Son to save sinners! It must follow that Christ came to save ALL of mankind! It is because of Christ that all of mankind will be constituted just! The sacrificial work of Jesus Christ is effective universally. His work, not our efforts! This is good news. God IS the Saviour of all mankind, especially of believers. All will be given salvation. It is only the timeframe for this that is the variable factor. But, first, He wants humanity to come to know for sure, through sorrow and frustration, and sobering tough experience, that it is totally impotent and incompetent to effect this salvation by its own efforts! 

Christ died for our sins. He did not die to save only those who would place their faith in Him. The fact is that our faith in Christ does not save us! Christ’s faith in God is what saves all humanity. The essence of the evangel of the Uncircumcision is about God's righteousness through Christ's faith! We are saved because of God's gift of faith, and not because of our self-generated faith. The gift is out of Christ's faith for our faith. Our faith in Christ is a result of our having been given Christ’s faith, the evidence that what Christ has earned through His faith has been applied to believers now! 

Do we see our omniscient and omnipotent God's work through Christ's sacrifice as absolutely efficacious? How then can we have the audacity to even think to add to it by our puny efforts? God has not simply made it possible for each one of us to be reconciled to Him. He has ensured that it will be so for each and every one!

God places His Son first in everything. Though others have been resurrected, Jesus is the first to be vivified, the first to possess immortality, where death has no more hold on Him. On Jesus has been conferred all authority, all rule, and all judging by God.

God, when He planned to create man, intended and designed to subject all under humanity. This has not yet come about. But we already see the Man, Christ Jesus, in that place of honour and glory. Mankind will be there one day, thanks to Jesus Christ! 
 

Back to:
....Main menu of articles

....Section 1 - Introduction
......................The Image and The Firstborn
....Section 2 - The Son of God
......................The Christ of God
....Section 3 - The Way Jesus is God
....Section 4 - Christ Came: To Minister to the Lost Sheep of Israel
......................Christ Came: To Confirm the Patriarchal Promises
....Section 5 - Christ Came: To Save All Mankind
......................Christ Came: To Annul the Works of the Adversary