As we approach the Passover season, it might be a good time to analyze exactly what Christ did for mankind, and how we can reciprocate, and what we ought to do for God.
We need to understand that God is a Family. God consists of two Beings–the Father and the Son—and has always consisted as such. At some time in the past, prior to the physical creation, God and Christ devised a plan to enlarge the Family of God through man. We are not told when exactly the plan was developed. What we do know is that the plan existed before time began, and we also know that Satan rebelled against God and tried to implement a plan which he felt was better than God’s. However, his coup failed. We are not told to what extent he was to participate and to further God’s plan to enlarge His Family through man.
After the creation of Adam and Eve and their subsequent sin under the influence of Satan, God revealed to man His way to redeem him from the penalty of sin which is death.
Romans 6:23 tells us: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Death is the penalty for sin and since all men have sinned, a human being could die only for his own sins. Unfortunately, such a death does not redeem mankind. There had to be a greater sacrifice for all the sins of mankind. That ultimate sacrifice was the Sacrifice of Christ. God the Father created EVERYTHING through Jesus Christ. As the Creator of mankind and of all spiritual and physical beings and things, His Life was greater than the sum of all of the creation.
What Christ was willing to do for sinful man was to give up His divinity as the Son of God—as an eternal God being–and become flesh, as it were, to die for the sins of mankind. But He could not stay dead. We are saved by His LIFE. God the Father had to resurrect Christ to become our living Mediator and High Priest, so that we could inherit salvation and eternal life.
Acts 2:22-24 quotes Peter as follows: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”
That was quite a sacrifice to give to man. As a God being, Christ had never experienced physical pain, the limitations of the human body and the temptations we have to endure from Satan the devil, society and self–our own human nature. But when Christ became a Man, He was tempted in all things, but He never sinned.
Hebrews 2:18 states: “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”
Hebrews 4:15 adds: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Although He was tempted in all things, He remained sinless. He experienced human suffering that He had never experienced before. Although He never lost a spouse or His mother, He did lose His stepfather Joseph at some point. Although He never lost a limb or had any bones broken or suffered from horrible diseases, He did suffer tremendously throughout His life and prior to His death. He had to experience the consequences of sin. He did not sin, but He became sin for us. The sins of mankind, and the consequences of those sins, were placed on His shoulders. These sins were mind-blowing.
In fact, as the God of the Old Testament, He was surprised at how corrupt and degenerate mankind had become.
Jeremiah 7:31 quotes Christ’s words as follows: “And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.”
Notice, it did not even enter into God’s heart (mind) to do such abominations as sacrificing one’s own children to the terrible idol Baal. There is no evil thought in God’s mind.
James 1:13 explains: “ Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”
Christ gave up His divinity for a season, to walk among His creation and to suffer and be killed through the shedding of His blood to atone for the sins of man. God the Father resurrected Him as a God being—the same God being that He had been prior to His human life on earth — so that we could also be resurrected to eternal life in the future. Christ was willing to put His eternity on the line for His creation to redeem them from eternal death and to give them eternal life in the very Family of God. And God the Father was willing to GIVE His Son so that the world could be saved.
What can we do, in return, for the Father and for Christ?
The most basic and fundamental thing we can do, if we have been called to salvation in this life, is to remain true to our calling. We know that salvation is not being offered to the world in this day and age. God has preordained to call a few now to rule and serve with Christ in the Millennium and during the Great White Throne Judgment, to help others to obtain salvation as well.
There can be no greater joy for Christ and God the Father than for us to remain faithful to the end, as Matthew 24:13 says: “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” The “end” refers to the time of our death or the return of Christ, if we are still alive by then.
Furthermore, the most important words for a true Christian to hear from Christ would be something to this effect: “Well done, My true and faithful servant, enter into the Kingdom and the joy of your Father” (compare Matthew 25:21).
In order to remain faithful and endure to the end, we have to be engaged in the responsibility of the commission given to God’s Church of preaching and publishing the gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world as a witness or testimony. For those not in direct line of that responsibility (which is predominately given to the ministry), they are to support that effort through prayers, tithes and offerings and through whatever practical assistance they could provide to the Church so that this most important Work is carried out. It is also important that their example reflect their calling to show true Christianity in a positive light and to encourage others to want to know more about God’s Way of Life.
Individually, we are to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in order to reach the goal of our salvation, and this can only be accomplished with the tools of prayer, Bible study, meditation and occasional fasting. There are no shortcuts. To the degree that our hearts are in the Work of God, we will grow spiritually. If we get weary of actively participating in the Work, we will soon experience that we are becoming spiritually lazy and lukewarm. We might want to justify our lack of participation or even withdrawal from assembling with one another with all kinds of reasons, and we might even deceive others or ourselves for a while, but God knows our heart, and we can never deceive Him.
We know the time is shorter than it was a year ago. There is still a job to do, and we have to be engaged in that job. That is what we can do to please God and Christ and to ensure safe entrance into the future Kingdom.
As we have seen, God the Father was willing to give His Son for the world, and Christ was willing to give up His divinity for a while to die for sinful man and redeem us with His precious blood. His Sacrifice was greater than the sum of creation, since He was the Creator. He was resurrected by God the Father, giving us an opportunity to be resurrected in the future at the return of Christ.
What a tremendous act of selflessness that was! We should be eternally grateful for what God the Father and Jesus Christ did for us.
What we can do for God which would also be pleasing to Him is to remain engaged in the process of the responsibility of bringing the gospel of the coming Kingdom to the world, and to individually grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ, by using the tools God has given us. If we do these things, we will never fail, and we will be able to receive eternal life and also our reward of rulership as kings and priests, which Christ is anxiously and patiently awaiting to give to His faithful servants at His return.
Lead Writer: Rene Messier
