Lesson 5. God’s Plan of Salvation. Part 1. A school covering the foundations of the Christian faith that every Christian should know. The school consists of twelve lessons. The school’s founder is the Christian Bible Institute.
As we already discussed in the previous lesson, saving a person from sin and its consequences required a unique Person who would unite God and man in Himself. That is why God, in His love and wisdom, took a unique step: His only begotten Son, being an inseparable part of the Triune God, became part of the human race, taking on human flesh and giving His life as payment for human sin.
1 Tim. 3:16 “And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh,”
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The Nature of Christ
The uniqueness of Jesus Christ lies, first and foremost, in His nature. No one else could have fulfilled the role of the Savior of humanity except one who was one hundred percent God and, at the same time, one hundred percent human.
1. One Hundred Percent God
- Christ—the Source of Life
The absolute Deity of Jesus Christ plays a very important role in the matter of our salvation. To free a person from the deadly grip of sin, the Savior had to be free from the effects of the Fall of Adam and Eve. He had to have life in Himself in order to give it to people who were dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore, beginning his Gospel, John immediately speaks clearly about Jesus Christ:
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men… 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”
A very important condition for Jesus Christ to have the source of life in Himself was His sinlessness. Christ could not have taken upon Himself the sin of the world if He had had His own sin and guilt.
1 John 3:5 “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.”
1 Peter 2:21 “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.”
- Christ—Victor over the Devil
In addition to bringing life into the human realm of death, the Savior faced another task: He had to defeat the devil, who had deceitfully seized dominion over humanity and its world. Only God's Son, Jesus Christ, possessed sufficient power to defeat the one who considers himself the “ruler of this age.”
Col. 2:9 “For in Him (in Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.”
Eph. 1:20 “which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come, 22 and He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the Church,”
2. One Hundred Percent Human
Jesus Christ was one hundred percent God; if He had been anything less, He would not have been able to be the Savior of humanity. But in addition to His absolute divinity, Christ also had to be fully human. Otherwise, He could not have paid the price for human sin or become the founder of a new family of born-again people.
- Sinless Birth from a Human Mother
To resolve the problem of human sin, God performed one of the greatest miracles ever to take place in the universe: the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, was born of the virgin Mary through the work of the Holy Spirit, without the involvement of a man.
Matt. 1:20 “...an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; 21 and she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Thus, God resolved one of humanity's most difficult problems: the Son of God who was born belonged to the human race, yet He did not have within Him the sin that had afflicted humanity.
- Experiencing Everything That a Human Experiences.
Another reason Christ had to be fully human was His role in freeing people from sin. In freeing people from sin, Christ does not immediately take them out of the sinful world. Living on earth as a human being, Christ demonstrated to people both the model and the possibility of a practical life of devotion to God, in opposition to rebellion against God.
Heb. 4:14 “Therefore, having a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
- Able to Take Human Sin Upon Himself
Being a sinless human being, Jesus Christ was able to take human sin upon Himself and die for it, while giving people His righteousness.
2 Cor. 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Christ's Sacrifice
Without the incarnation of Jesus Christ, without His earthly life and death on the Cross of Calvary, human salvation would have been impossible.
1. The Intervention of Life in the Realm of Death
Humanity without Christ was a kingdom of death in which everything was subject to decay. Absolutely all human attempts to escape the influence of death were futile because humanity was stricken by sin, which is the cause of death and decay. Only the intervention of Life, existing outside the human kingdom of death, could give people hope of freedom and eternal life.
1 John 1:1 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have observed and our hands have touched, concerning the Word of life—2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you this eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us,”
2. A Blameless Life
While living on earth, Jesus Christ lived a blameless, sinless life, showing people and angels the possibility and benefits of submitting oneself to God.
- Voluntary Limitation of His Divine Power
Being fully God, Jesus Christ always had the ability to draw on His supernatural attributes, which could have greatly eased His earthly life. But being fully human, Jesus Christ voluntarily limited Himself, refraining from using His supernatural abilities to protect Himself.
Philippians 2:6 “Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped; 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness; and being found in appearance as a man, 8 He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”
Matthew 26:51 “And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, drew his sword, and striking the servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back in its place, for all who take up the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot now appeal to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? 54 How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?’”
- A Real Life of Godliness and Devotion to God
Throughout His earthly life, Jesus Christ demonstrated constant submission to His Father. Opposition to God is a fundamental component of sin. Being sinless, Christ had a nature of complete agreement with the Heavenly Father.
John 5:30 “I can do nothing of Myself. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
Even when, from an earthly perspective, submission to the Father’s will brought suffering, Christ chose the Father’s will because it was the natural state of His inner nature.
Luke 22:41 “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, 42 saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.’”
- Substitutionary Death on the Cross.
Perhaps the most significant role in the work of Jesus Christ was played by His death on the cross. Being righteous, Jesus Christ should not have died. He died only because He died in our place.
- Voluntary sacrifice – paying the price for sin.
Christ voluntarily gave Himself to death in order to pay the price for your sins and mine. He did this solely out of love for us, people who were perishing.
1 Pet. 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Titus 2:13 “Our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
- Imputed righteousness.
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Calvary was not only the price for our sins; it also made the righteousness of Jesus Christ available to everyone who believes in Him. By taking human sin upon Himself, Jesus Christ gave believers in Him His righteousness. As soon as a person turns to God in repentance, Christ clothes them in His righteousness. This righteousness is not earned by the person; it is the righteousness of Christ, which is imputed to a person when they are born again.
1 Cor. 1:30 “It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’”
Phil. 3:8 “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith”;
- The victory of the resurrection
Jesus Christ not only paid the price for our sin on the Cross of Calvary and gave us His righteousness; He also defeated the devil through His resurrection. Because Jesus Christ was absolutely obedient to His Heavenly Father in everything, God raised Him from the dead, granting Him a tremendous victory over the devil. Therefore, all who believe in Jesus Christ are no longer slaves to sin and the devil; instead, their nature finds complete fulfillment in submission to and service of God.
Eph. 1:19 “and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might, 20 that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come,”
Through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ gave humanity victory over sin and death.
1 Cor. 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, 23 but each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes every rule and every authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”
Homework: Memorize 1 Cor. 1:30–31
Source: Christian Bible Institute
