Main passages: Romans 3:10–12; Philippians 2:5–8; Isaiah 53; Ephesians 1:7; Romans 6:6–7; Revelation 5:9

Who He Is — and What He Did

We have been studying the biblical foundations — Christology, weeks four and five. "The person of Christ and the work of Christ" is just a fancy way of saying who He is and what He did. We have covered who He is; today I want us to look at what He did: His crucifixion above all, and His resurrection, ascension and exaltation, His intercession for us, and His coming again. Take this with devotion, not as an academic exercise: we are who we are today because of His work.

First, I Must Understand My Sin

To speak of His work, I must first understand sin. Scripture uses many words for it — wickedness, guilt, iniquity, rebellion, wandering away — and its study is called hamartiology. In Greek the central word is hamartia: missing the mark. Alfred Nobel made dynamite for good uses; men took it and used it to kill. So with our lives: created for the glory of God, for His pleasure, we make them about ourselves. A dart thrown clean off the board — that is sin.

Not Just Bad Habits

I think of the arranged-marriage inquiry: the family wants a boy "without any bad habits" — he doesn't smoke or drink, except once in a while, and only drinks when he comes out of prison! Quitting a couple of habits does not make me righteous. God's mark is a wholeness in thought, word, action, attitude, and motive. I can do the nicest thing for the poorest person, and if I do it for my own glory, it is sinful.

The Bar That Jesus Raised

God gathered the law and the prophets into two commandments: love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Can I rejoice at my neighbor's promotion as if it were my own, or is there jealousy? Then Jesus raised the bar higher: hatred is murder in the heart, a lustful look is adultery, and His new commandment is to love one another as He has loved us. There are sins of omission, too, as well as commission — and the Word of God is a mirror: I do not only read it; it reads me.

None Righteous — Not Even One

Romans 3 captures our helplessness: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God" (Romans 3:10–11). The Gentiles are lost — and then the Jews are lost too. That is total depravity: there is nothing good in us. God does not lower His standard because we are weak: "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Instead, He raises our ability, putting His Spirit within us. And grace is not a ticket to heaven that lets me live as I please — that is cheap grace. Real grace brings me before Him crying, "Lord, there is nothing good in me — fill me with Your goodness."

Even My Motives Are Corrupt

I may correct my actions, my words, my thinking, my attitudes — but my motives are the hardest of all. If two men wrong me — one I have helped greatly, one I have not — I will judge the first more harshly, because my giving expected something in return. Only a supernatural work of God can change that. I will never be a doormat, we say — yet He became like a doormat, a servant to all, and says to me, "Become like Me."

He Emptied Himself

So I come to His work on earth. He "emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant," and "humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:7–8). And Isaiah 53, written some 700 years before He was born, describes it in detail: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3).

The Separation He Endured

"Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22). He redeemed us by His blood, "not with perishable things such as silver or gold" (1 Peter 1:18). On the cross He endured separation from the Father — the cry of Psalm 22 on His lips: "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" In all eternity there had never been a separation, but there was then, as He bore our sin: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). That separation — not the beatings, not even the dying — was the greatest punishment He took.

What His Cross Accomplished

And what did it accomplish? "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7). He purchased us out from under another authority. He rescued us from this present evil age and freed us from slavery to sin: our old self was crucified with Him, "for one who has died has been set free from sin" (Romans 6:7). He came to seek and save the lost, and made us His workmanship for good works. And "by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). This freedom is not license; it is freedom to be His child, justified by His blood, saved from wrath.

The Greater Wonder: Redemption

A few weeks ago God gave us a vacation in Alaska, and the scenery was beautiful beyond words. On the flight home the Lord convicted me: you praise Me so much for that one little corner of creation — what do you think about the work of redemption? The greatest thing the Bible speaks of is the sending of His Son. Whatever my starting point for praise, I must always come to the cross. That day, we forgot everything else and began to sing of the darling of heaven, crucified.

A New Song in Heaven

Revelation 4 shows heaven's eternal worship of the Creator. But Revelation 5 brings a new song, one only the redeemed can sing, to the Lamb: "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God" (Revelation 5:9). Heaven's song changed, because now there is a Redeemer to praise.

Let Doctrine End in Doxology

Pastor Joe Thomas said it: if doctrine doesn't lead to doxology, it is almost diabolical. So I will not even look at my last slide today — Jesus is coming again, He is praying for us, He is our only Mediator. Instead, let us worship Him. He created us for His good pleasure; we missed the mark and sinned — but He has redeemed us to Himself, from every tongue and tribe and nation, to praise and glorify Him. Let us stand together and celebrate Jesus Christ.

The Work of Christ: The Cross at the Center