When the Scripture tells us that Jesus is the "one and only," it is saying that there was no one else like Him!
1. Jesus Is The One And Only Son!
It has been said that a son is sure to resemble his father. Surely, this was true of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus was God come in human form to make Himself known to the world! As the Son of God, Jesus was the ultimate revelation of God to us.
The Bible tells us that, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being," (Hebrews 1:1-3a).
John tells us that Jesus was "the Word made flesh." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," (John 1:1); and "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth," (John 1:14).
Prior to His incarnation Jesus Christ was indeed in existence, but only in an invisible form. That which is translated "Word" here is the Greek word "Logos." This word was first used by a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. This word was well suited to John’s purpose in speaking about Jesus.
When Christ came into this world, the Logos became flesh. That which was previously unknowable became knowable. Jesus was God "in the flesh." Indeed, no man has ever seen God in His spiritual essence (John 1:18). But Jesus said in John 14:9, "He who hath seen me hath seen the Father."
In the Rospigliosi Palace in Rome is Guido Reni*s famous fresco, "The Aurora," a work unequaled in that period for nobility of line and poetry and color. It is painted on a lofty ceiling. As you stand on the pavement and look up at it, your neck stiffens, your head grows dizzy, and the figures become hazy and indistinct. So the owner of the palace has placed a broad mirror near the floor. In it the picture is reflected and you are able to study that wonderful work of art in comfort.
Jesus Christ did precisely that for us. He came to us as God’s reflection. He is the mirror of deity. He is, as the writer of the book of Hebrews puts it, "the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being." In Him, God becomes visible and intelligible to us. Jesus was God "with skin on."
As such, He was 100% divine and 100% human, which would make Him the unique person of the universe! There has never been, nor will there ever be a revelation of God such as has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ! He is the one and only Son of God!
2. Jesus Is The One And Only Sacrifice!
Jesus not only came to provide a revelation of God to us. He also came to make possible a relationship with God for us! He accomplished this through His sacrifice on the cross.
You see, Jesus came to deal with the chief problem facing mankind, the problem of sin. Sin is something that each of us has in common with all people everywhere. The Bible tells us that "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23).
Often when we think of sin, we think of rules that we have violated in some way. We think of things we have done wrong that God is upset about. But the word actually comes from a Greek archery term used to measure the distance between the bull*s eye and where the archer*s arrow hit. That distance was called the "sin." It literally was a measurement of how far the archer had missed the mark. Our problem is not just that the bad things we are guilty of are offensive to God (which is true), but that the good things we do deserve credit for are simply not good enough.
In our high-tech culture, sin’s definition of "missing the mark" can be redefined with some help from the computer industry. T.J. Rodgers, founder and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor, told his employees, "A computer chip is the result of literally a thousand multi-disciplinary tasks. Doing only 999 of them right, however, guarantees failure, not success." You see, just one defect in a computer chip renders it useless. Likewise, just one defect in our character is enough to make even the good things we do unacceptable to God.
This is where a lot of people have difficulty in understanding why they have a problem in having a relationship with God. They look at their life and do not find any despicable behavior that they are personally guilty of. They compare themselves to others and say, "Why, I’m not a murderer, or a thief. In fact, I’m a lot better than many of the people I know. Why shouldn’t God be happy with me and accept me?" The question, though, is not "Am I better than others?" The question is, "Am I good enough for God?" The answer to that question is "No." No matter how hard we might try to be good enough for God, we keep falling short. Even the slightest defect is enough to make us unacceptable to a perfect, holy God, and there is only one person who has ever lived who never committed any sin - the one and only Son of God - the unique person of the universe - Jesus Christ.
Which brings us back to where we started this chapter. We cannot, in and of ourselves, reach up to where God is; but God, in the person of Christ, has reached down to where we are. And in reaching down to where we are, He came to take care of the problem of sin, which makes it impossible for each of us to ever be good enough for a relationship with a holy God!
Now if sin only made us unacceptable to God, that would be problem enough, but the problem is compounded by the fact that sin has placed us all under condemnation! The Bible also tells us that, ". . . the wages of sin is death . . ." (Romans 6:23).
Now death can be defined as the absence of life. As one who is guilty of sin, I am condemned to be separated from God, who is the source of all life. Therefore, I am condemned to exist in a state of death in this life and to know eternal death in the next, as I will be forever condemned to spend eternity separated from the life-giving presence of God in a place the Bible calls "hell." In 2 Thessalonians 1:9, the apostle Paul says that those who die without being right with God, "will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power."
As we reflect on the seriousness of our sin problem, we, along with the apostle Paul in Romans 7:24, find ourselves asking the question, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Interestingly enough, Paul answered his question in the very next verse, where he declared, "Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord," (Romans 7:25)!
Jesus came to provide God’s solution to our sin problem, the problem we could never solve ourselves. God’s solution to our sin problem was a sacrifice, a sacrifice He provided through Christ. In the person of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, God sacrificed Himself for our sake, in order to provide us a way to escape the wages of sin and know the wonder of salvation!
In His divinity, Jesus sacrificed His position as God. In speaking about Jesus, Paul tells us, "Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He made Himself nothing; He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form," (Philippians 2:6-7 NLT). You see, Jesus was born for our sake!
A very wealthy man contracted a dread disease for which there was no known cure at the time. When he heard the medical verdict that he had a terminal illness, he offered portions of his great wealth for research into the disease that threatened his life. Inroads were made and medicines were discovered that gave remission to his ailment. He continued to give generously to experimental research and he himself became the human guinea pig the doctors needed as they tried to find a cure.
Finally, many years after the onset of his illness, and after his wealth was depleted, he was declared free of the disease. The man was visited by a wealthy friend. "You have spent all your money on research," his friend asked, "Now you are cured, but you have nothing. Was it worth it? Would you do the same again?"
"Absolutely," declared the cured man, "For when I consider the alternative, I must say it was worth it all!"
A loving God considered the depth of our sin problem and determined that providing a solution would be worth whatever price was necessary. He then renounced the glories of heaven and relinquished His life so that we could be cured once and for all from the plague of sin.
In His divinity, Jesus sacrificed His position as God so that He might come to earth as a man, and in His humanity, Jesus sacrificed His privilege as Son. Paul tells us that, "being found in appearance as a man, [Jesus] humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross," (Philippians 2:8)! You see, Jesus was born for our sake, so that He might die for our sake!
Being God in the flesh, Jesus could do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Being the infinite, unique person of the universe, Jesus was able to suffer in a finite period of time on the cross, the penalty that we, as finite human beings, would have to suffer for an infinite period of time in hell.
You see, God doesn’t send anyone to hell. In reality, they choose to go there themselves, when they do not accept God’s payment on their behalf for their sin. When a person chooses not to accept Christ’s payment for the penalty of his sin, he is saying, in effect, "I will pay for my sin myself." Consequently, he condemns himself to an eternity’s worth of suffering.
But God has provided, through Christ, a way for each of us to avoid having to pay the penalty for our sins. He has paid that penalty in our place.
In the June 25th, 1990 edition of USA Today, a story appeared about Dr. Arkady Novikov and his wife, Soviet tourists, who were visiting the United States. They were looking forward to seeing the famous landmarks of New York City. However, their visit ended in tragedy. Upon returning to their hotel one evening, the couple was confronted by two gun-wielding muggers. After taking their valuables, one of the thieves pointed his gun at Mrs. Novikov and prepared to fire. Dr. Novikov stepped in front of his wife and was struck in the chest by the bullet intended for her. He died before reaching the hospital. Out of love for his wife, Dr. Novikov died in her place.
That is what God has done for each of us in the person of His one and only Son! He came to "take a bullet" for each of us by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sin. Through doing so, God has made it possible for us to avoid the condemnation of hell, but to know instead the blessedness of heaven.
Some early settlers were traveling together across the western prairies of the United States. One day they were horrified to see a fire fanned by strong wind coming their way.
As the flames raced closer and closer, one man, to the amazement of the others, set fire to a large patch of grass downwind. The tinder-dry grass burned quickly and left behind a charred and barren area. Then he told them to move onto the burned over place. They watched as the fire swept toward them until it reached the burned area and then stopped! They found they were safe as the fire passed by them on both sides.
Through Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, God has provided a burned over place. When we take our stand by faith in the finished work of Christ, we are safe in the "burned over place." There is no fear of judgement, for there is nothing left to burn.
The one and only Son provided the one and only sacrifice that could secure for us a one-of-a-kind salvation! Which brings us to one final thought about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the greatest gift ever given.
3. Jesus Is The One And Only Savior!
I understand that the Chinese language creates the word for "righteousness" by placing the character for "lamb" above the character for the pronoun "I." If you or I would be made right with God, it will only be because we have chosen to trust in "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world," (John 1:29) instead of ourselves! It is only through acknowledging the sacrifice of Christ for our sins and accepting His payment for our sins on our behalf that we can be made right with God. The Scripture tells us that, "God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ," (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT).
A tourist who had visited a church in Norway was surprised to see the carved figure of a lamb near the top of the church*s tower. He learned that when the church was being built, a workman fell from a high scaffold. His co-workers rushed down, expecting to find him dead. But to their surprise and joy, he was alive, and only slightly injured.
How did he survive? A flock of sheep was passing beneath the tower at the time, and he landed on top of a lamb. The lamb that broke his fall was crushed to death, but the man was saved. To commemorate that miraculous escape, someone carved a lamb on the tower at the exact height from which that workman fell.
Peter said that the full weight of our sins fell upon Jesus (1 Peter 2:24). We all have fallen in sin, but on the cross Jesus took the punishment for our sin upon Himself so that we might be saved from suffering sin’s penalty. Have you accepted the salvation provided through the sacrifice of God’s one and only Son?
