Musings and Contemplations

O Christ, Savior, in your love you took upon yourself our sins; innocent, you accepted death to free us from death. We praise you, O Lord.[1]

Saving the World

John 3:1-17 NRSV
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”
Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is, with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”
Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

He Gave What Was Most Precious to Show His Abundant Love
The sum of all is God, the Lord of all, who from love of his creatures has delivered his Son to death on the cross. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son for it. Not that he was unable to save us in another way, but in this way, it was possible to show us his abundant love abundantly, namely, by bringing us near to him by the death of his Son. If he had anything more dear to him, he would have given it to us, in order that by it our race might be his. And out of his great love he did not even choose to urge our freedom by compulsion, though he was able to do so. But his aim was that we should come near to him by the love of our mind. And our Lord obeyed his Father out of love for us.[2]

Westminster Confession of Faith
Chapter 8, Section 5
The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience, and sacrifice of himself, which he, through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of his Father; and purchased, not only reconciliation but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto him.

R. C. Sproul
Christ had an obligation as our representative not only to die for us but also to live for us. By achieving a life of perfect obedience, He fulfilled all the terms of the Old Testament covenant. Stipulations were imposed in the covenant by way of the law. The dual sanctions of the covenant included both the blessing and the curse . . . Jesus was the only one who ever fully kept the terms of the covenant. Everyone else earned God’s curse. In His death, Christ took upon Himself the curse deserved by the covenant-breakers. Furthermore, by His life of complete obedience, Jesus achieved the blessing that was promised to those who keep the terms of the covenant.[3]

Almighty God, your Son fasted forty days in the wilderness and was tempted as we are but did not sin. Give us grace to direct our lives in obedience to your Spirit, that as you know our weakness, so we may know your power to save through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.[4]

It Is a Thing Most Wonderful

[1] The Worship Sourcebook, Calvin Institute of Worship, p. 555.
[2] Isaac of Nineveh, “Mystical Treatise 74,” Ancient Christian Devotional Year A, pp. 79-80.
[3] R. C. Sproul, Truths We Confess, pp. 215-216.
[4] The Worship Sourcebook, Calvin Institute of Worship, p. 572.