God's Message To Us In Christ

The Scriptures tell us that God is not silent regarding His presence, His direction, His expectations from us, and the message of salvation He brings to all who will hear and obey Him. He has spoken to us through the wonder of creation (Psalm 19:1-3; Romans 1:18-22), the words of the prophets, and as the writer of Hebrews tells us, He has spoken to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1-4; Hebrews 1:1-4). The author of Hebrews was directing his message to his fellow Jews who had come to know Jesus as both Messiah and God Incarnate. His objective was to show that Jesus was superior to men and angels who had presented God's messages to Israel in the past. Jesus was superior to Moses, the great lawgiver. He was superior to the prophets who had foretold His coming. Jesus was superior to the Aaronic priesthood as mediator between God and humanity. The Lord Jesus became the great High Priest and at the same time, the final sacrificial Lamb who gave HIs life as a sacrifice for our sins. As the Holy High Priest, His death for our sins and resurrection showed that the continual sacrifices in the Temple as an atonement for sin was no longer needed. When He declared upon the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:6-11), nothing else needed to be done. To add anything else to what God did in Christ was to propagate a damning false gospel (Galatians 1:8-9).

In Christ Jesus, God speaks to us about His Unique Nature. From the beginning people have wondered about the nature and character of God. People have sought an explanation for the origin of the universe and why we possess a unique nature apart from other living creatures. Thoughts about God as the Creator range from being the all-powerful principle behind the design of the universe and some think of Him as an impersonal entity who "wound up the clock" of the universe and left it to "fend for itself". We cannot rely on our finite minds to define the nature and person of God. We must turn to the Bible for the complete and correct answer of Who He is and What He does. The Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Old Testament, record God's progressive self-revelation, doing so continually as people received and responded to that revelation. In other words, He takes His time to show us His Holy nature and direction. We cannot absorb it all at one time. It would be too much for us (Psalm 19:6; Job 5:9, 33:13, 37:23; Ecclesiastes 3:11, 8:17; Isaiah 40:28; Jeremiah 23:18; Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16). When the Lord Jesus started His ministry, He taught about the love and goodness of God. He taught His disciples to think of God not only as our king, but also as our Heavenly Father. He presented word pictures that showed God as the Great Shepherd who looks for a lost sheep and as a father anxiously and eagerly awaits a wayward son's return. He portrayed God as a God who rejoices and welcomes home the prodigal son, immediately preparing a banquet.

To understand the nature of God, we need to look at the nature, character, and motives of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:18, 14:7-9). When we see Jesus, we see the work and person of God the Father as well as the power of the Holy Spirit working within the believer to encourage us, to teach us, (John 16:5-15), and give us that comfort and "peace that passes all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). It is in Christ that God speaks to us not only of His Divine nature, but also the message concerning our need for salvation (Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 1:21; Mark 10:45; John 1:29; Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:3). The awfulness of our sins is seen in the agonizing death that Jesus endured for our sakes so that we might have eternal life and escape the wrath of God, who will not allow sin in His Holy presence and will not allow us to enter His heaven by any other means. The Bible says that it is only through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins that we have any hope, real peace, and the means by which to be in the presence of God eternally. To say that there has to be another way to heaven is to insult God and render Christ's work ineffective. If there had been another way, then the cross was not necessary. It is the cross of Christ that knocks all pride and feeling of "self-effort" out from under us and makes us see ourselves for who we are, like it or not. I am not going to place my faith and trust in another person's efforts who is just as finite and sinful as I am. I am not going to rely on imperfect human "rationality" to redeem myself. I am not going to rely on my so-called "good works" to get me into heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9). Nobody can. We are fallen, corrupted, and reprobate, and we have a lot of nerve to come before a Holy God and tell Him that He has to provide another more "convenient means" to save us that will "fit the bill". It is this kind of prideful arrogance that will keep many out of heaven and fill hell at the last judgment (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 12:13-21; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:11-15).