Was Jesus Like Us, or Different?
"Through Ins own blood, (he) entered in once for all into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption" (Heb 9:12,
RV).
It is a fundamental point of truth that death came upon all
men through Adam (Rom 5:12,15), and that condemnation came upon the whole race
through his offence (vv 16-19). Paul summarizes this principle when he writes:
"in Adam all die" (1Co 15:22).
Here was -- and is -- the breach between God and the human
race. Christ's mission was to heal that breach and reconcile the race to God. If
we carefully examine all Paul's teachings on this subject we shall find that all
the advantages of Christ's sacrifice for us depend upon the fact that he was one
of us "in all points", and hence under the same condemnation that Adam brought
upon the race.
Two aspects
Christ was one of the race which, as a race, was separated
from God by the defilement caused by Adam's sin. (There is of course no guilt
attached to the simple fact of separation.) It was only by being a member of our
defiled and condemned race that he could fulfill the requirements for the
redemption of that race. And. furthermore, the redemption of the race involved
-- necessitated, for that matter -- his own redemption also.
It was also true that Jesus from his birth -- even from his
conception -- was a holy thing (Luk 1:35) and a special creation. He was the Son
of God in a sense that could be true of no other man. He had a unique
relationship that, in part, strengthened him (Psa 80:17) and allowed him the
possibility of living a sinless life -- and this was necessary also for the
reconciliation of man to God (2Co 5:19-21).
It is the failure properly to balance these two necessary
aspects of Christ's identity that has caused considerable misunderstanding,
discord and even division among Christadelphians. From the earliest days of our
history undue emphasis on one or the other of these two aspects (and a
corresponding neglect of the counterpart) has created problems. Both must be
kept in view at all times: the condemnation that rested upon Christ, and the
uniqueness of his relationship with the Father. Or, put another way, that which
made him like all other men, and that which made him different from every other
man. One point of view should never be allowed to overshadow or displace the
other. The two aspects are equally important.
Christ partook of our condemnation
Christ was a man (1Ti 2:5: Ads 2:22. etc) who came in the
flesh (1Jo 4:2) being born of a woman, under the law (Gal 4:4). It would
logically follow, even in the absence of any other testimony, that, in having
the same physical constitution as ourselves, he was thereby subject to the same
racial condemnation as the rest of mankind: in other words, that he had the same
"law of sin" in his members (Rom 7:23).
But there is plenty of other testimony to this
effect.
1. Heb 2:14,15: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."
There are two points here. First, the fact: that Chris was made in all points
like his brethren; note the repeated expressions "also", "himself", "likewise",
"the same". Second, the reason: so that he might destroy the "devil".
It was necessary for him to partake of the same flesh and
blood in order that he might destroy the devil by death. We know that the devil
is sin in the flesh. Jesus had to have sinful flesh in order to overcome sinful
flesh and by dying to destroy sinful flesh. This is the very strength of the
whole argument.
2. Heb 7:27: "Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to
offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this
he did once, when he offered up himself." The simple and obvious meaning of this
verse is that Christ offered once for his own sins and for the people's. This
conclusion is sometimes evaded by objecting to the expression "his own sins",
inasmuch as Christ was free from personal transgression. But by an examination
of the ordinance referred to we find that the high priest offered "because of
the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions"
(Lev 16:16, RV).
So "sins" in Heb 7:27 includes uncleanness as well as actual
transgression; it includes the whole "sin constitution". It is only by
considering these two aspects of sin as inseparable parts of one whole that we
can understand how Christ, by destroying the body of sin on the cross, could
cover our transgressions.
Our sins are not something separate from our nature, they are
a development of it. There are not "two kinds of sin", one moral and real, and
the other only shadowy and metonymical. Rather, there are two aspects of sin:
the "root" in our flesh and the "branch" in our actions. And the two aspects are
intimately and absolutely connected to one another. In us sin is too strong for
us and becomes manifest in our actions. In Christ sin was controlled and
overcome, and never became manifest in action. But in both cases it is the same
battle with the same adversary.
3. Heb 9:12: "By his own blood he entered in once into the
holy place". The holy place signified the immortal state beyond the "veil" of
the flesh. Christ entered it "by" (RV, through) his own purifying, sacrificial
blood. The text continues: "...having obtained eternal redemption". The "for us"
in italics in the AV is incorrect, and is omitted in the RV, RSV, NEB, NIV, and
NASB. The verb "obtained" is in the middle voice, indicating reflexive action;
that is, it means "having obtained for himself".
This is what one would naturally take from the passage as it
stands in English. The translators of the AV appear to have added the "for us"
in direct violation of the grammatical meaning, just to support their false
theory of' 'substitution'. Any theory that attempts to separate Christ from the
effects of his own sacrifice is just a variation of the old 'vicarious
substitution' doctrine, and a denial of the representative nature of his
sacrifice.
4. Heb 4:15: "(He) was in all points tempted like as we are."
We are tempted by the law in our members, which wars against the law of our mind
(Rom 7:23). We are tempted when we are drawn away of our own lusts and enticed
(Jam 1:14). Then this must be how Christ was tempted, and this must be what he
perfectly resisted and overcame, and this must be what he destroyed by
death.
5. Rom 8:3: "God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Christ had to be in the very
likeness of sinful flesh in order to condemn sin in the flesh. Sin had to he
condemned in the very 'arena' where it had reigned supreme. The word "likeness"
does not mean apparent similarity; it means absolute identity.
6. John 3:14-16: "...as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up..." According to Jesus' own
testimony, he was the antitype of the brazen serpent that Moses erected in the
wilderness (Num 21:9). What did this symbolize? How could it possibly typify
Jesus Christ?
That which caused death was lifted up as a type of sin's body
being crucified, thus forming the basis of reconciliation for all that look
toward it. Paul refers to this when he says: "Our old man is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin" (Rom 6:6). Christ overcame and crucified our "Master", "Sin-in-the-flesh",
and delivered us from his service. The "serpent" dwelt in his "body of sin", and
required first to be restrained and finally to be crushed (Gen 3:15). Christ
raised up the body of sin on the cross just as Moses raised up the brazen
serpent, exhibiting and condemning that which brought death; those who look upon
him in faith are delivered.
7. Heb 9:22,23: "Almost all things are by the law purged with
blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary
that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these (that
is, animal sacrifices); but the heavenly things themselves with better
sacrifices than these." We know that the Mosaic Law points forward to Christ.
Under the Law the high priest was to purify with blood, among other things, the
mercy seat and the altar (Lev 16:15-19). What is the antitypical fulfillment of
the cleansing of the mercy seat and the altar by blood? What is signified by
this? Who is it that was typified by the mercy seat and the altar?
"God has set (Christ) forth to be a Mercy-seat" (Rom 3:25,
Diaglott);
"We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which
serve the tabernacle" (Heb 13:10).
Christ is the mercy seat and the altar, cleansed by his own
blood from the uncleanness of sinful flesh.
That which was accomplished provisionally in the temple
offering (Luk 2:22-27) and in his baptism (Mat 3:13-16) was accomplished
absolutely in his death and resurrection.
8. Gal 3:13: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
law, being made a curse for us: for it is written. Cursed is every one that
hangeth on a tree." He had to come under the curse of the Mosaic Law, reasons
Paul, in order to redeem those under that curse. This is parallel with the
argument that Christ had to be flesh and blood in order to destroy the Adamic
curse. He had to come under it in order to destroy it in himself, and open a way
out of it for himself, and for all those who unite themselves with him in the
appointed way.
He came under the Adamic curse by birth, as we all do. The
Mosaic curse he came under, as Paul says, by the manner of his death. He came
under both without the loss of his personal righteousness, it is true; but both
were real nevertheless.
9. 2Co 5:21: "He hath made him... sin for us". In what way was
he "made... sin", other than as Paul explains, by partaking of the same flesh
and blood as the children, in whom the law of sin reigned?
10. 1Pe 2:24: "Who In his own self (we our sins in his own
body on the tree." In what way did he hear our sins "in his own body"? As Paul
explains, it was by partaking of sinful flesh, bearing "in his body" the root
and tendencies of sin which he conquered and subdued.
"In his own body" establishes the connection between him and
us. He was one of the defiled race. Therefore he could be accepted by God as
representing the race.
If God had exacted a penalty from someone upon whom it did not
rightly fall this would have been neither justice nor love. Instead it would
have been a paganized 'substitutionary' 'sacrifice'. But when God especially
provided and strengthened one of the race, and enabled him to fulfill the
conditions which all (including himself) should fulfill, and then was and is
willing to receive all the rest on the basis of an identification with this one
perfect example and sacrifice -- there indeed is both love and justice
demonstrated with beautiful Divine wisdom and power!
11. Heb 13:20: "God... brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus... through the blood of the everlasting covenant." Here is another key
statement of great importance. Jesus was brought from the dead (surely this must
include his glorification also?) by his own blood. His purification, redemption,
and final exaltation to immortality were contingent on his being really
associated with his blood.
Testimony of the 'pioneers'
To this essential truth the 'pioneer' brethren
agreed:
- "Sin could not have been condemned in the body
of Jesus, if it had not existed there... the purpose of God... was to condemn
sin in the flesh; a thing that could not have been accomplished, if there were
no sin there" (JT, Elp 128).
- "Sin... had to he
condemned in the nature that had transgressed... 'He (Jesus)... took part of the
same; that through death he might destroy... the diabolos', or elements of
corruption in our nature, inciting it to transgression, and therefore called
'Sin working death in us' " (JT, Eur 1:106,107).
- "He (Jesus) was Sin's Flesh crucified, slain,
and buried; in which by the slaying sin had been condemned, and by the burial,
put out of sight" (JT, Eur 2:124).
- "If the
principle of corruption had not pervaded the flesh of Jesus... (sin could not)
have been condemned there: nor could he have 'borne our sins in his own body...'
" (JT, Eur 1:203).
- " 'Iniquities laid on him.'
This is a figurative description of what was literally done in God sending forth
His Son, made of a woman (Adamic), made under the law (Mosaic), to die under the
combined curse... This was laid on Jesus in his being made of our nature" (RR,
Xd 1873:400).
- "What is cancelled at baptism (and
it is only cancelled potentially -- for there is an "if" all the way through) is
the condemnation resting upon us as individual sinners, and the racial
condemnation which we physically inherit. I have never diverged from this
view..." (Robert Roberts, from the Introduction to Resurrectional Responsibility
Debate).
- "He offered first for himself... He
obtained eternal redemption in and for himself, as the... verb... implies... He
was brought again from the dead 'through the blood of the everlasting covenant'
" (RR, Xd 1875:139).
- "Christ... (was) purged by
the antitypical blood of his own sacrifice... He must therefore, have been the
subject of a personal cleansing in the process by which he opened the way of
sanctification for his people" (RR, LM
170,171).
It may be true that an occasional brief citation, out of
context, may appear to teach otherwise than the above (for example, several
brief answers by Robert Roberts during the heat of debate). But the above are
only a few quotations from a pervasive, altogether consistent whole of
exposition in the works of John Thomas and Robert Roberts and others, to the
effect that Jesus shared with us every aspect of Adamic condemnation.
*****
We have established that Christ was under the same
condemnation as all the rest of mankind, and that his sacrifice was first for
his own cleansing and redemption from that condemnation. This is half of the
full picture; now we must examine the counterpart (just as necessary to
understand), that Christ was a holy and special person set apart from all other
men by his divine parentage.
Christ had a unique relationship with the
Father
Heb 1:3: Christ was "the brightness of (God's) glory, and the
express image of (God's) person." He was the perfect man; the perfect image of
God (in a moral and spiritual sense); the flawless, unblemished manifestation of
the eternal Father. He was the perfect Son because he was the perfect likeness
of a perfect Father. Do we fully appreciate who and what this man really was?
Have we concentrated on the fact (undeniable though it he) that he was not the
pre-existent, eternal second person of the Trinity to such an extent that we
have missed the honor and glory due to him as the Son of God?
John 14:9: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." The
Father was revealed, or unveiled, in Christ (John 17:6) in an absolutely unique
way. He was a man, truly: but not 'a mere man', not 'man only'. As to his nature
(and the condemnation he bore), he was certainly man in the fullest sense; as to
his status, and his relationship with his Father, he was the manifestation of
God and "the Lord from heaven". We must never forget this.
John 1:14: "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of
grace and truth". Christ was "Emmanuel", "God with us" (Mat 1:23; Isa 7:14),
"God... manifest in the flesh" (1Ti 3:16). In the face of Jesus men could see
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God (2Co 4:4-6). And all of this was
true of Christ even before he was made immortal. It was true while he still bore
the curse of a condemned nature.
Col 1:15,16,18: Christ is the "image of the invisible God" (cp
Heb 1:3), by whom (Greek: in whom) all things were created (this is undoubtedly
the new or spiritual creation: cf Col 2:12; 3:1,9,10; 2Co 4:6; 5:17; Gal 6:15,
etc), "that in all things he might have the preeminence."
John 13:13,14: "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well;
for so I am". It was not immodest of Jesus to say such a thing, even in the days
of his flesh. While he never presumed upon his Sonship and special status (this
is the point of Phi 2:5-8), there is no doubt that he asserted its reality. Even
before he was crucified he was "the Lord of glory" (1Co 2:7,8), the "Lord... of
the sabbath" (Mar 2:28. etc), and the Lord over all illnesses and disease (Mar
1:39, etc), over the wind and the waves (Mar 4:41), and even -- to a limited
extent? -- over death (Joh 11:25).
1Jo 1:1,2: "That which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands
have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested...)". The
apostle echoes the introductory words of his Gospel. Even in the days of his
flesh Jesus possessed recognizable divine qualities: he was "the Word of life",
who manifested "the eternal life, which was with the Father". "Never man spake
like this man" (Joh 7:46).
Out of the numerous possible quotations from earlier
Christadelphian writers that attest to the necessarily unique status of Christ,
one will be sufficient:
"The two relationships are here presented in a manner to show
how completely Jesus was qualified to meet the requirements of the fallen race.
A 'son of man' merely had never been found, during four thousand years, who
could accomplish the work; and yet the redeemer must be son of man in order to
practically and representatively redeem fallen human nature by overcoming its
sin-produced proclivities. But a son of man merely was not equal to the task;
and had such an one done so there would not thereby have been a manifestation of
God's love and the glory due to Him as the Saviour. Therefore Jesus must be 'the
only begotten of the Father, full of 'grace and truth' (John 1:14) as well as
the 'Son of man' according to the flesh in order that the work of redemption
might be possible" (Thomas Williams, The World's Redemption 428,429).
Truths of salvation
We must have both these truths concerning Jesus as 'foundation
stones' upon which to erect the true gospel of salvation in Christ. It was
imperative that Christ be of our nature in every sense of the word so as to
identify with us, and allow us to identify with him. Otherwise any 'victory' he
won could have had no practical connection with and effect upon us. But it was
equally imperative that he be specially created and specially strengthened by
his Father to win that special victory. Otherwise there would be no triumph or
glory to God. We do him no service when we attempt to diminish either of these
concepts.
We are not playing with words; this is the reality of
salvation. As a race, we are 'sin'. Everything we do naturally is sin. Sin is
the very fiber of our being. We are conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity (Psa
51:5). This was true of Christ, and most assuredly of us as well. It is from
this 'constitution of sin' that we need redemption, cleansing, and deliverance.
Let us realize this fully; sin is far deeper and more pervasive than we may he
willing to admit. A full realization of what we are is the key to the
achievement of what we may become. Facing the facts is always the essential
beginning to any solution. Let us face this reality concerning Christ and
ourselves.
By total devotion to God, and with absolute faith in God
(without which it would have been impossible), Christ lifted himself out of the
universal sin-constitution. He cleansed himself from it in the sacrificial way
appointed by God from the beginning. Now he who was "made... sin" (2Co 5:19-21)
is no longer "sin", or sin-tainted (Heb 7:26), in any respect. He is free from
sin, without sin; sin has NO MORE dominion over him (cp Rom 6:7-14).
And he now offers, by God's merciful arrangement, to reach
down and lift us out -- if we have total faith in him, and give total devotion
to him. This was the very purpose of his creation and existence and glorious
work.
Paul said: "in me, (that is, In my flesh) dwelleth no good
thing" (Rom 7:18). And Jesus could say exactly the same: "Why callest thou me
good? none is good, save one, that is, God" (Luk 18:19). That is why he
crucified the flesh, and tells us we must do the same, to the best of our
abilities. And the fact that Jesus could say this along with Paul is what MAKES
HIM ONE WITH US IN OUR PROBLEM. It is what makes his putting the flesh to death
a manifestation of God's justice (Rom 3:25). in which HE himself totally
concurred.
In that death Jesus was saying exactly what Paul said
publicly, humbly, and to the glory of God: "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
This is what sin's flesh deserves. I have never yielded to it for a moment. I
have always crucified it within me. And now, in obedience to the Father, and in
full agreement with Him, I am pulling it to death in me once for all. I am
destroying the diabolos. That is the essence and climax of my work of perfecting
myself so that I may save you."
Redemption of himself
Christ -- in the God-appointed way, and with the indispensable
God-provided help and guidance -- had to cleanse himself from sin and destroy
sin in himself. This he did, not in one act, but by a total, inseparable
life-and-death work. That is the basis and meaning of what we may too glibly
call 'sacrifice'. It was his only way to his own personal salvation. He was made
perfect by "suffering" (Heb 2:10), and thus was the "suffering" required. He was
redeemed "by his own blood" (Heb 9:12).
His great work was not merely a symbol, illustrating what
should be done to someone else. Neither was it, as some imply, just one final
ritual. It was, instead, the ultimate one-time act (Heb 9:12,26). It was an
actual, essential accomplishment: the self-cleansing from, and destruction of,
sin. He did not just typify this: he did it. He did not 'pay the penalty' for
anyone else. He did the actual job of destroying sin that was required by God's
holiness, so that the race could he saved. He did it in and for himself. There
was no other way or place he could do it.
It is true that Christ was always one with God. There was
never any barrier separating them morally, although he was of sin-defiled flesh.
But still the defiled nature was a barrier in one sense, for him as it is for
us. He could not be one with God in perfection and eternal substance, as he is
now, until that barrier was removed: not a moral barrier, but a physical and
legal one: not a 'guilt', but a misfortune, a disability, an inherited disease
of the flesh that must he cleansed in God's required way.
As to the motive for his sacrifice, Christ did it, not for
himself, but in love and obedience to his Father, and for the sake of the
glorious "seed" whose eternal redemption and joy was to he his eternal
satisfaction (Isa 53:10,11).
The total life-and-death work of sin-destroying that was laid
upon him as the representative man of the race was essential for his own
cleansing and salvation, as part of the race. As the representative man, the
embodiment and nucleus of the new race, the beginning of God's new creation, he
must first himself be transformed from a defiled, condemned condition to a
totally purified and perfected condition.
And his culminating blood-shedding death on the cross was an
inseparable divinely required part of that work of racial salvation. He was not
just ritually "cleansed" by "sacrifice". It was not just an arbitrary form that
God required him to go through as an act of obedience, or to symbolize
something. It was an actual personal process of conquering and self-cleansing; a
being made perfect by suffering.
Redemption of the race
The work Christ did -- the essential, race-redeeming work that
was preordained and foreshadowed from the beginning -- was the overcoming and
destroying and condemning of sin in himself and, necessarily, for himself. It
was not in and for himself as a personal, selfish motive, but as a practical,
necessary operation to achieve the redemption of the race.
As a moral and physical actuality Christ could conquer and
destroy sin only in himself. His flesh was the arena of his total and perfect
victory over sin, by which he laid the eternal foundation for his further work.
Christ will complete the battle against sin by two final related acts:
(1) He will absorb into his own glorious, sin-free nature all
those who accept this deliverance provided by God and who in faith do what God
requires them to do to receive it (Rev 21:1-7):
(2) He will destroy all who do not accept him and enter into
him (Rev 20:11-15; 21:8). In these two ways the whole of mankind will eventually
be saved or destroyed.
The race in Christ
Could Christ have attained to immortality without that
blood-shedding death? No, because he must share the common racial salvation, or
it has no benefit for us. In God's wisdom that particular death was essential to
lay a sound basis for the salvation of the race. And (let us strive to grasp
this wonderful and exalted concept) Christ was, and is, the race! He is all
mankind. None can live eternally except within him and as part of him, by
becoming "one" with him in the appointed fashion: "Of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord" (1Co 1:30,31).
