#51 Of Christ the Mediator (Part II) - LBC 8.3-4

​Coalt, Jay, and John dig into the 1689 this week and ultimately decide to do an episode on PSA next week!

Transcript: Slightly Imperfect and a bit funny

Coalt Robinson  
You're listening to the renewal podcast, a weekly podcast that features interviews and discussions and in teaching on various biblical and theological subjects. My name is Coalt Robinson and I'm the lead pastor at Bethel Church in rural South Dakota. And we do this because we believe that our minds are to be shaped and and renewed by the life giving and transforming Word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. So we pray for the next few minutes that as you listen, that you'll just see Jesus more clear.

Coalt Robinson  
 All right, yeah. So it's already going good.Alright, welcome to for new cast. We're going to the London Baptist Convention. Take two. We are in paragraph.No, we're in chapter eight.Paragraph three today. I'll get it rightSo last time, we looked at the first couple paragraphs, and then also seven because Jay thinks that seven with the rest of it better. So, today we're going to we're going to look at we're going to start in paragraph three. And we're going to see how far we get to let's just let's just dive right in. Jay, you want to to read that? 

Jay Wipf  
Sure. The Lord Jesus and his human nature for us united to the divine in the person the son was sanctified and anointed, with the Holy Spirit above measure, having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, in whom it plays the father that all fullness should dwell to the end that being wholly harmless under files, and full of grace and truth. You might be thoroughly furnished to execute the Office of mediator and surety which office he took it upon himself, but was there on to called by his father, who also put all power and judgment in his hand and gave him commandment to execute the same 

Coalt Robinson  
the Lord Jesus Human Nature blessed united with the divine in the person whose son was, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure that line right there kind of caught my attention. What is it? What do we mean when we say that the the sun was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit? 

John Goodell  
Well, I think, I think often we come to the conclusion that Jesus did a lot of his miracles and even his sinless life, performs that, in respect of his divine nature, his divine nature.And I think we often miss the fact that, that it was by the Spirit in his humanity, he was relying upon the spirit. His his divinity wasn't communicated to his humanity. There wasn't a blending of the nature's there. And so as a man he had to live The perfect life for us. And he did that by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the ministry, the Spirit.And I think that's laying that out that his ministry was a ministry by the Spirit.

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah, I think you're exactly right. In Acts in Acts 10. There the reference in the confession, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and then that statement is tied to he went about doing good and healing all who are oppressed by evil for God was with him. God was with him because in that he was anointed by the Spirit of God to do good works, and heal the sick. 

Jay Wipf  
Isaiah 61 one, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted he sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners.

Jay Wipf  
Psalm 45 seven as well you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of joy above your fellows.

John Goodell  
Isaiah 41 I've put my spirit upon Him, and He will bring forth justice to the nation's boss let's start versus the beginning there, Behold my servant to my uphold my chosen and who my soul delights I have put my spirit upon him. So yeah, it's the Messiah would administer in the power of the Spirit.

Coalt Robinson  
So then we go on in the confessional little bit here is having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, what are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that is talking about? 

John Goodell  
You know, I didn't do a lot of thinking on that but but a mark of a godly man is to be full of wisdom and knowledge and for mediator he was in he was the fullness of it, they hid the treasures of it were in Him, He is the perfect, man, the immediate. And so the fullness of that, that all the riches of that dwelled in him, you know, just in thinking about ourselves, we, you know, we should be trying to grow and wisdom and knowledge. 

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah, I think that this this whole section is is really setting up Christ to be the the perfect mediator that the one who is able to accomplish the task that that God said before him. 

John Goodell  
Yeah, 

Coalt Robinson  
I think there's an idea here to that. The idea that the mystery of God that was was hidden before is now revealed in Christ. You know, but you know, like you said, He's, he's just the perfect, man. He's the one that everybody else fell short. Coming up to him. He was he was the thePerfect one, he was exactly the one that God had planned. And in him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

John Goodell  
And the father was pleased to make all fullness dwell in him. I think that's a reference to collections, which is referring to the deity of Christ. I think in cautions, where it says, cautions. 119 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. And then that goes on so that being wholly harmless and defiled and full of grace and truth. He was thoroughly qualified to carry out the Office of mediator and serenity 

Coalt Robinson  
might get us off topic a little bit here. You know, this, this little section here in in him and even that section in Colossians that talk about how Christ is God and the deity of Christ in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. You have certain groups that just elevate the the words of Jesus over all the other words of Scripture? Doesn't this almost sound like we could do that? You see what you see? I'm saying in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge lie, then Shouldn't we put the words of Jesus in red and emphasize those above all other things and use those to turn 

John Goodell  
if Jay doesn't comment I will?

Jay Wipf  
Well, the answer is no.The words are Jesus and read I guess that's, that's fine. The Bible has one author and as God so it's all on equal footing. Go back to the first chapter of the confessional holy scriptures, and it's all inspired by God and profitable for teaching and all the things we run a serious error when we elevate one portion of Scripture above another scripture, interpret scripture

John Goodell  
Jesus is the Word, he is the word. But so was the apostles teaching and as long as they said, I'm, basically I'm paraphrasing, but you received our teaching, as it is the word of God, which it is. It is the word of God. So we don't elevate Jesus teaching over his apostles teaching.

Coalt Robinson  
 Yeah, I think that's it. That's a great point. You know, the Bible doesn't just contain the words of God. If it did, then we should probably elevate certain portions over others and we are free to, to pick and choose what we think God to be elevated, like the words of Jesus, but if the entire Bible is the Word of God, then it all stands on equal footing. And that's what we would say. 

John Goodell  
Amen. 

Coalt Robinson  
You mentioned the word surety. He might be thoroughly furnished execute the Office of either and surety that word was a word that I thought maybe people don't hear very often.

John Goodell  
He would be the one to take our Are place there arethere are guild substitution airy media. 

Coalt Robinson  
Israel there is the guarantee. Yeah, sure do you would be a guarantee a person who takes responsibility for another's performance, kind of like, like co signing alone. Right. So you're taking you're putting your name on there taking responsibility for that. Jesus is the the judge for the father judges no one this is john 522. Father judges, no one but it's given all judgment to the son.And you go over to verse 27. He has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Why? Why is that important that the Bible would say, God does know what he's given that authority to Jesus said, 

John Goodell  
Yeah,

Coalt Robinson  
is it?

John Goodell  
Yeah, it is. I think I may be wrong here. And you guys, maybe have to edit this but I think this is really speaking of it in his role as mediator, as as the as the Messiah as the as the mediator, the god man Jesus, he was given this authority rather than at the rather than, you know, just being the son of God DTE and eternity past I think it's just a qualification statement from God the Fatherof God the Son as the creator that he is has this what do you think of that? 

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah, yeah, I think that this this is a one of those sections to that just highlights. The fact that many in our world in the Christian culture today, really have Jesus messed up. You know, Jesus is all about love, and they really pull him away from those four Is this week of judgment, or God's wrath or anything like that. But, you know, here we see clearly and in the scriptures are very clear that it will be Jesus Christ himself who judges people on the last day. So when people say things like, why can't Christians just act like Jesus or do what Jesus would do or whatever? I think they're, they're not. They're not thinking through who Jesus is. 

John Goodell  
Yeah, I think if Paul, in Acts 17, he says in verse 31, because he has fixed today, on which you will judge the world and righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and who this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. And so, I think this, this idea that this man, Christ Jesus is the appointed one who will be the judge andm And then to answer your question, or your comment. Yeah, I think I think when we talk about things like that in our day, it's kind of it's kind of like you're a hater you know i mean it's if you don't talk about all the love and the grace and the mercy and and the I guess the felt need benefits of the gospel. If you don't focus on that, then you're a hater, your radical over on loving. But that's love speech. You know, when you tell somebody that they need to repent, a God has fixed a day when he's going to judge sinners. And unless you repent, you will be judged for your sins. That's love. That's that's love speech. 

Coalt Robinson  
I read something the other day I saw it was kind of a phrase is a love letter from God. And basically what they did is they strung a bunch of verses together that speak of God's love and care for Those who are are he is you know over and over you You have this emphasized you just as easily could do the same thing and string a bunch of verses together that make it sound like God hates everyone if he just talked about God's wrath and and those things you know so there's there's tues there's two sides but that's but that's what we want to do is we want to only pick and choose the verses in the in the things in the the characteristics and of God that that suit our idea of what we think he ought to look like and be when in reality god you know that that is an important message in Acts 17 that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world and everybody will be held accountable.

John Goodell  
You know, one of my concerns today with technology, you know, people can get a text or a Bible verse or an app They can get a verse. And usually those kind of things are always designed to tickle your ears a little bit, you know, I'm going to give you a verse that's going to encourage you and uplift you for the day. And certainly the Bible's full of those kind of things. And you can cherry pick those. And I'm afraid a lot of people out there who profess to be Christians, or even ask them are you in the word? And they'll say, yeah, you get into it. I was like, Yeah, but I had this app, you know, I get this little Bible verse a day, and that's your, that's your diet. And they're like, yeah, you know, and then it's like you said, then they they come to understand Christianity through this sort of diet of cherry picked, feel good Bible verses, and it's just epidemic and it's bad for the church. gotta read the Bible, gotta read in context, read the whole thing. 

Coalt Robinson  
And I think that's one of the things this this confession does. Well is In this section that that speaks of the greatness of Jesus Christ and how God has put him forward to be this perfect sacrifice for sin and to accomplish that task that he gave him to do, it ties it in with the rest of his ministry, which is one day that that he's going to be judge as well. So I think it gives the the portrait of the Scriptures 

John Goodell  
Yeah, I'm thankful that for those times where I read something hard or something hard comes out of someone's mouth and I'm convicted or challenged or the fear of God is instilled, you know, fresh in my heart to keep me hating sin and loving righteousness. that's a that's a loving thing a good thing. 

Coalt Robinson  
Okay. Paragraph four

Jay Wipf  
 this office. Lord Jesus did most women willingly undertake which that he might discharge he was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill it and underwent the PunisherDue to us, which we should have born and suffered, being made sin and a curse for us, and during those previous sorrows, and his soul and most painful sufferings, and his body was crucified and died, and remain in the state of the dead, yes or no corruption, and the third day he rose from the dead with the same body which he suffered with which he also ascended into heaven. And there says that the red hand of his father making intercession and shall return to judgment and angels at the end of the world. 

Coalt Robinson  
So here, we see that not only did God put him forward is the the perfect mediator, but he willingly undertook that, that he might discharge that office. And it says here that he was made under the law and did perfectly fulfill it. The question then is how did how did Christ perfectly fulfill the law and why is that so important? 

Jay Wipf  
Perfectly, obey. Everything that the law commands till the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind strength of a neighbor as yourself. Christ did that perfectly. He committed no sin and he loves God did everything you're supposed to do with perfection. Why is that important? Because we want to have salvation without it. Yeah, if we just have forgiveness of sins, and we throw out the privilege of being surprised, that just puts us back with Adam Eve in the Garden now perfect. righteousness is still required of us. So we're, we're doomed again to fail. So without Christ, righteousness being credited to us desolation, we have no salvation, the legs from under justification.

John Goodell  
And then he was hit be born under the law. He couldn't just like Jason, he couldn't just, you know, parachute out of an airplane and and land on the cross and die. He had to be born. And, you know, there are a lot of things that go with that, but One of the things is just one under the law, he had to get to live as a kid under his moment as authority to fulfill the fifth commandment, Honor your father and your mother. And he did that. He did that for us. I love to tell my children. Aren't you glad Jesus fulfilled this command for you? Isn't that such good news? They come to the gospel when they've been disobedient. But yeah, that's. We leave that out. I think too often in evangelicalism. today. We talk about the cross is passive obedience, but his act of obedience is critical. In fact that he he did live righteously for us and gives us the credits that righteousness to us and we trust in Him. 

Coalt Robinson  
One of the things I read said that although Christ kept the Mosaic Law perfectly throughout his life, it pointed out that he definitely broke many of the The traditions of the Jews as well. And this is what angered some of the Jews but never once broke the law of God. And I guess my question is, is didn't the Jews view him breaking the traditions? Didn't he view that as or didn't they view that as breaking the law itself? Or did they make that distinction? You think that he was just breaking a tradition and not the law? Like what he healed on the Sabbath? 

John Goodell  
Yeah, I think they began to equate their traditions with law.And when he broke their traditions, he was, you know, he was a rebel. You know, you don't see them making that rock solid case anymore, but they can't. 

Coalt Robinson  
Right, right? 

Jay Wipf  
Yeah. The Gospel of john makes the clear time and again, how mad the Pharisees are. When he breaks the Sabbath to do something. JOHN be one example how the Pharisees are saying, This man is not from God because He does not keep the sabotth. He can't be a good man. He doesn't obey the law that we made up because it was healed the blind man on the Sabbath. 

John Goodell  
Yeah, they equate their tradition with the law. And Jesus, as you noted, Coalt he seems to go out of his way to heal on the Sabbath. He certainly in some of those cases, get awaited to Monday or Sunday, you know, the next day could have said, Hey, I know, I can catch up with this guy tomorrow and, and take care of this. You know, that's an interesting discussion why he went out of his way to do that. I think part of it is, is you know, we're in even relations, it says, Well, you know, we're not to we're free from obedience to men, part of our freedom and where to where to fight for that freedom. We're not to give in to a man made tradition and rules. our conscience is to be king isn't to be captivated by human traditions and precepts. And that's a very strong example of that.

Coalt Robinson  
And that's a and that's that's maybe subject for another day too. But just the fact that that that's hard. I mean, we have our own traditions and, and things as well that we hold, dear that we elevate to some form of righteousness. next section here and he fulfilled it perfectly and underwent the punishment do us that we should have born and suffered, refer to that as a penal substitution, right? 

John Goodell  
Yes, sir. 

Coalt Robinson  
Maybe it's just what do we mean when we say, penal substitution just to kind of I penal, 

John Goodell  
we're meaning penalty, we're meeting. He took our our punishment and substitution in our place. He did this. He did this as a substitute on our behalf and atonement, you know, refers to His work of putting away our sins and reconciling us to himself through through exploiting our sins and perpetrating our sins before God. 

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah, I think that's that's great, simply that Christ died on the cross as the substitute for for sinners. And God took in in imputed the guilt of our sins to Christ. And he in our place bore the punishment that we deserved. So, basically what we're saying here is that the death of Christ on the cross was a full payment for sin of every person that would they would believe that would place their faith their trust in Him full payment was made, and it satisfied both the wrath and the righteousness of God so that he could forgive sinners without compromising his own holy standard.

John Goodell  
Yeah, and and because of the justice of God, if God was going to save sinners, he had to, he had to he had to satisfy his justice. And God has just, he just can, will can't willy nilly forgive sin. He has to satisfy his justice. And so that that's why Jesus had to die. And it wasn't, wasn't one of the many options if he wanted to redeem us from sin. This was, had to be done to satisfy the justice of God. 

Coalt Robinson  
Confession goes on to talk about how he was made sin and a curse for us. 

John Goodell  
He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Second Corinthians five and we're under a curse and he had to become, he had to take our curse upon himself. The curse of the law, which we are Andre and Adam,

Coalt Robinson  
 Isaiah 5310, you know, the father was pleased to crush him. So it was God, the Father who made Jesus who was perfect be sin on our behalf. He was punished by God, not in that there was sin in him but because of our sin laid on him. 

John Goodell  
Our sin was imputed to Christ. And it was that our sin created to him that he that he died for, 

Coalt Robinson  
and the confession here speaks about his sufferings. It says the most grievous sorrows and his soul and most painful sufferings in this body. I think john MacArthur said, Jesus was the man that deserves suffer least but yet the suffered more than anybody else ever has. How How was it that Jesus suffered these grievous sorrows in his soul? I mean, I think he's a lot of times, we emphasize How his body was was beaten and broken and the tremendous pain and weight of the the physical suffering, but how how is it that he suffered in his soul? 

Jay Wipf  
He cries out magnitude? So, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? See some of the agony that he has? 

John Goodell  
Yeah and even think of the lot of the martyrs throughout church history. A lot of them face the agony of physical death with courage and politics, Miss peace, and we see Jesus in agony. It wasn't because of the bodily pain he was going to experience it was because of the the agony of being forsaken by the father and having the father's wrath, the wrath of God come upon him. And the idea of becoming sin of all that sin imputed to Him. In Him carrying that, that, that upon him, then being punished for that that's soul. And that's all. 

Jay Wipf  
He didn't see any corruption. What does that matter? 

John Goodell  
Fulfilled prophecy, sin the Psalms in Acts 16, or Psalm 1610, for you will not abandon my soul to sheol or let your holy one see corruption. On the third day he rose from the dead, what the same body and what she suffered in this body. He also sent it into heaven. There seems to be an emphasis there on the on the continuity of the body. Why do you think that's important? 

Jay Wipf  
It's the same person. It's not someone else or something else. It's the same Christ. 

John Goodell  
He really died. Yeah, 

Jay Wipf  
those prophecy 

John Goodell  
and a dead body really did raise from the dead. 

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah, you know the disciples when they see Jesus afterwards when he's walking to theOn the water and they think it's a ghost. Right? He, he goes to kind of great lengths there to say, No, I am. I'm Jesus, I'm this man. And ultimately then he, he eats with them, you know, showing that the grace we need mean, it was it was really him. And I've been they all obviously, really believe that later on they they certainly did. 

John Goodell  
Yeah. In this body also send it into heaven. Do you think it's important that Jesus doesn't leave office human nature that he's still housing him in nature today? 

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah. Why is that? Why is that important that he's dead? I mean, we would affirm that that he's the eternal God man sits at the right hand of the Father making intercession. You know, he He intercedes for us as a is a great high priest who doesn't, you know, who who understands what we've gone through and understandwhat it is to be human, not just to be dead at one point, but he, he always continually understands what it is to be human because he is. He is human. 

John Goodell  
It just to me, it also shows his great love for humans. And the fact that he would keep that nature united to himself for eternity, he will have, he will have a human nature, the divine nature of the human nature united in one person for eternity. And just his love for us in that that he would so unite. So identify with us for eternity like that. That's just pretty amazing. And you're right. He He intercedes from for us as the perfect Meditor 

Jay Wipf  
here he comes again, he's coming the same way as when he went. 

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah, that's a good point. You know, and in x there right x one where these it says he'll come back the same We saw him go. 

John Goodell  
And he's appointed a day in which he will judge the world by a man. Yeah, I'm in good point. We couldwe could say a whole lot more on the substitution, airy atonement.If we went there, you know, we're not going to get anywhere else. But 

Coalt Robinson  
we're gonna we're gonna have to do a whole episode on that. I mean, we could do that next time if you want. spend some more time on on substitution area. But I mean, I think we're about out of time. 

John Goodell  
Yeah, we've been an hour. Yeah, we don't have I don't know what you think, Jay. I know that our in our, in our circles, the nomination wise that would be that's a important issue.What do you think, Jay?

Jay Wipf  
About

Coalt Robinson  
let's do an episode next week on substitution. Airy atonement. 

Jay Wipf  
That's fine.Try to cover anything in the convention or just refer to it once in a while.

John Goodell  
Well, we could. On 8855 The Lord Jesus has fully satisfied the justice of God. Yeah. been an episode on that statement. If you want to keep to the confession. 

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah, I think I think that would be a great idea.Just kind of say we're just going to emphasize this one. statement, the paragraph and 

John Goodell  
such a big issue. Yeah.

Coalt Robinson  
Yeah, it'll be fun. 

Coalt Robinson  
If you would like to learn more about the renewal podcast or find past episodes, check us out on the web at renewal cast.com or visit us on facebook @facebook.com slash renewalcast. If you would like to learn more about Bethel Church find other resources there. Please visit the church website at Bethelmbchurch.org or connect with us there on [email protected]. Slash Bethel MB Church. Bethel Church exists is to bring glory to God by promoting the joyful worship of Jesus Christ within our context into the ends of the earth.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai