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Commentary on "Heaven's Means of Communication"

COLLEEN TINKER

 

Day 6: Thursday, January 1, 2009

Thursday’s lesson introduces Christ as “the center and substance of God’s revelation”. It explains that the Bible “far surpasses the revelation of God in nature; yet no written record can equal the personal presence of the Son of God.” The second paragraph of the lesson states that studying the Bible will be of little benefit unless that study leads “to the One it reveals”. “The Bible was written, above all to give to us the revelation of God presented to the world through the life and death of His Son, Jesus.”

It concludes with the point that Jesus was “the true light that gives light to every man,” but that only if a person receives this light will he be saved. The thought questions at the end ask, “How well do you know Jesus yourself? If someone were to say to you, ‘Tell me about Jesus, what He is like and what He can do for me,’ what would you say and why?”

The Teachers Comments on p. 13 under the heading Communication—Examples and Teachings—Through Jesus, says this: “God’s greatest act of mercy was sending Jesus to die for us. Yet all the aspects of Jesus’ life, not just His death, reveal the plan of salvation at work and communicate God’s truth and grace to us: His perfect life is an example of obedience; His vicarious death allows Him to justify us; our faith in His death frees us from the guilt of sin; His resurrection promises us immortality; His ascension into heaven confirms His promise to return to earth and take us to meet the Father.

Further, under “Step 3—Practice” on page 13, the second question asks this: “God communicated directly with humans in the Garden of Eden. He communicated directly with humans when Jesus was on earth. Why, do you think, does God not still communicate with humans face-to-face? Read Joel 2:28, 29; Amos 3:7.”

 

Problems

The copy of the lesson is fairly innocuous, but the teachers comments suggest the underlying assumptions on which the lesson is built. First, in the paragraph quoted above are these words: “His perfect life is an example of obedience…”Jesus came primarily to be a propitiation for our sin (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10). Hebrews 2:17, in fact, states, “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

Jesus became human and lived a perfect life not to show us how we, too, can live without sin, because none of us can keep the law perfectly. (See Romans 7:8-10). Rather, Jesus lived a perfect life as our substitute. He qualified to be our prefect sin offering. He became like us in every respect so He could qualify to be our sin offering, a propitiation for our sin. He satisfied the law’s demands; He became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) and became sin for us so we could become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He came to show us how a person who is spiritually alive obeys and depends on the Father, but His example was not for fallen humans. His example was for those who surrender to Him and who are justified by His grace (Romans 3:24), who have passed from death to life (John 5:24).

His purpose for coming was primarily to be our substitute, our sin offering, our Savior.

Further, His resurrection promises us more than immortality. It promises us our salvation. Romans 5:9-10 says, “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (ESV).

Jesus’ death reconciled us to God; His resurrection, however, is the reason we have eternal life. If He had not risen, there would be no spiritual life for us and no eternal life. We are saved by His life.

Moreover, His ascension accomplished more than confirmation that He will return. Jesus told His disciples that unless He went away, the Holy Spirit would not come: “John 16:7: “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” Jesus’ ascension was necessary in order for the Holy Spirit to come at Pentecost and to launch the church.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit was a new phenomenon at Pentecost. In fact, Pentecost was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2:28 (see Acts 2:16-21). Pentecost fulfilled the prophecy of the “latter rain” when sons and daughters, young and old men would have dreams and visions and would prophecy. Jesus’ ascension marked the fulfillment of His atonement. His blood opened a new, living way to the Father (Hebrews 10:19-22), and the church was launched. It was a completely new reality—and it could not happen unless Jesus ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit.

The reality of Pentecost explains the problematic assumption underlying question 2 under “Step 3—Practice” on page 13 of the Teachers Commentary. Although we are not physically with God, we are united with Him by His Spirit who seals us when we believe in the Lord Jesus (Ephesians 1:13-14). We literally have God living in us when we place our faith in the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit teaches us, makes Scripture come alive, and unites us with the mind of Christ to do God’s work which He created for us to do (Philippians 1:27; Ephesians 2:10).

 

Summary

  1. Jesus perfect life was not primarily our “example” but was our “substitute”. He came to make propitiation for our sin and to create a new, living way for us to be united with God with no veil between (Hebrews 10:19-22; 2:17). Not only His death but also His perfect life substitute for our own. His righteous perfection covers us when we place our faith in Him, and this righteousness is alien to us. It is literally His righteousness that God counts to our credit (Philippians 3:8-9).
  2. Jesus’ resurrection did more than promise us eventual resurrection. It is the means by which we are saved. His death reconciled us to God; His resurrection is what broke the power of death and makes it possible for us to be born again by the Spirit and to become spiritually alive, crossed over from death to life (John 5:24; 3:5-6)
  3. Jesus’ ascension did more than promise He would return. It marked the last step in Jesus’ work. His ascension made it possible for the Holy Spirit to come and to give people new birth and to create the body of Christ, unifying all who believe in Jesus by His life in them. Jesus’ ascension marked the complete fulfillment of the law and the inauguration of the church against which the gates of hell would never prevail (Matthew 16:18).

 

Copyright 2008 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised December 27, 2008. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.

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