Over a three day period, I have decided to talk about the trinity-- the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit-- and how they are interrelated. Yesterday I started off with the introduction and the Father. Today, I will be looking at the Son.
Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (NIV)
We know that God the Father sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to come die for our sins. But what does that mean, really? Did He send Himself? Well, for Jesus to come to earth, God the Father imparted His seed into Mary to impregnate her. This not only made Jesus born without the nature to sin (which comes from man via Adam), but also made Him wholly man and wholly God-- able to walk this earth alongside mankind.
Jesus was both His own person and a part of the Father, much like we are with our earthly parents. However, Jesus' coming allowed us to see what God was like in physical form. That is his purpose as the shoot of the mango tree, from the analogy I used yesterday. Before, God was more distant to us. He was far off and difficult to understand because He dwelled above us. With Jesus, God dwelled among us.
Jesus' specific purpose within the trinity was firstly to show us how it is possible to live a lifestyle in perfect communion with the Father, even as a man. Jesus never broke the lines of communication with the Father and He always sought His guidance at every step of His ministry here on earth. Jesus may have not had the nature to sin, but He was all man. He could still have sinned at any point. But He received His strength supernaturally from His Father-- the same way we are to get our strength from the Father.
The most celebrated and unbelievable reason that Jesus came to earth was to carry the weight of our sins. He lived the perfect life that we could never live, in perfect communion with His Father. He was not worthy of death, for the only thing worthy of death is sin. But He sacrificed Himself for our sins on the cross. He died the death that we deserve, so we could live a life in freedom as He had on earth. That is our goal.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (ESV)
It is important to note the difference between the Son and the Father. The Bible tells us that the Father turned His face away from the Son while He was on the cross, crying out to Him in agony as He suffered through our punishment. Jesus' death broke the Father's heart, but He let Him die out of His great love and desire to be reconciled with us. The Bible mentions these two exclusively, aiding to the point that they are separate parts of one whole.
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (ESV)
Also, it is critical for us as Christians to know that the Father chose to make Jesus the name above every name. He chose for us to worship Jesus. He chose to make Jesus the way to the Father in Heaven. He even chose for the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus. Yet, at the same time, all three parts of the trinity are in submission and humbleness towards each other.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (NIV)
Philippians 2:6-11 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (NIV)
Therefore, we in the Christian faith follow Jesus. Jesus leads us to the Father, and the Holy Spirit (as I will discuss tomorrow) leads us to Jesus, and Jesus leads us to the Spirit, and so on and so forth. They are in perfect harmony with one another. The Father and Holy Spirit want us to worship Jesus. By this we give all three parts of the trinity honor and glory. Today worship our friend, savior, and the lover of our souls-- Jesus.
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