Compelling Love

Paul declares in 1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”

Jesus Christ is both the Son of Man and the Son of God.  Therefore, He alone was qualified to pay the judgment for the sins of the world.  He laid down his life so that all who believe in him can have eternal life.  In explaining this to Nicodemus in John 3, Jesus refers to himself both as “the Son of Man” and “the Son of God”.

John 3 (NKJV)
¹³ No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. ¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

¹⁸ “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

This title, “the Son of Man”, which Jesus frequently used when referring to himself, is the same term used by the prophet Daniel in his vision of God’s coming kingdom.

Daniel 7 (NKJV)
¹³ “I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
¹⁴ Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.

Online theologian “Johannes” explains that  Jesus is the eternal Son of God who has assumed a human nature, as pictured in Daniel’s prophecy.  He adds, “It is precisely because He is the Son of God that, in his human nature, He will be given dominion and glory and is worthy of being served and worshiped by all peoples.” (https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/24923/difference-between-son-of-man-and-son-of-god )

Because Jesus Christ is both the Son of Man and the Son of God, and because He was faithful to do all that the Father gave Him to do, the blood He shed for us is able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  Receiving him and believing in him, we are able to “walk in the light as He is in the light”, as 1 John 1 describes.

1 John 1 (NKJV)
⁵ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  Every soul is precious to God. When we trust in Him with all our heart, He promises to direct our ways, leading us into ever increasing light, as pictured in Proverbs 3 and 4.

Proverbs 3 (NKJV)
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 4:18 (NIV)
The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

In Romans 12, Paul urges believers to offer our whole lives as a “living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God”.  Then we will be “transformed by the renewing of our mind”.  Our goal is to be what He wants us to be, knowing and walking in His will and purpose for our lives.

Romans 12 (NIV)
A Living Sacrifice
¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul sums up the calling we as believers have to reveal Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and Son of God, to the world.

2 Corinthians 5 (NKJV)
²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

David Krause, dhkrause@neteze.com, 5/27/2018, https://compellinglove.net/

Photo credits:
(1) https://www.pinterest.com/thebible4/1-timothy/
(2) https://biblepaedia.wordpress.com/2014/06/24/prophecies-of-christ-daniel-713-14/
(3) http://www.rgcaz.org/2016/06/june-1-john-17/
(4) https://thepreachersword.com/2014/09/17/great-verses-of-the-bible-romans-121-2/