In the last post, 10 things about the Person of Christ, we discussed how Jesus was fully God and fully man, how He was born of a virgin, and how He is the model for what God intends for humanity. In this post, we will turn our attention to the work of Christ, which involves things Christ has done in the past, things He is doing now, and things He will do in the future.
- Jesus worked in creation. Christ had a part to play in the act of creation and He is the one who sustains all the creation in the universe (John 1:13, Colossians 1:16-17). Jesus is the Word of God. He embodies all that God wants to say to humanity, but it is through Christ, the Word, that God spoke creation into existence, and it is through Christ that He continues to sustain the existence of all things. Christ holds the very fabric of the universe together.
- He taught us how to know and do the will of God. Jesus became incarnate and, in His public ministry as an adult, He announced the coming of the Kingdom of God. He taught the disciples how to follow His teachings and prepared them to build the church after His death and resurrection.
- Jesus died for our sins. His ultimate mission in the incarnation was to die as a substitute for our sins. His death provided redemption for our sins and reconciles us back to the Father. It is through His blood that God looks at us without requiring that we face His wrath for our sins.
- Jesus provides forgiveness. Jesus did not just die in our place; His death extends to us the mercy and forgiveness of God. It is through the acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice in our place that we are forgiven for our sins.
- He is our example of how to live. Christ is the second Adam. In all the ways Adam failed, Christ succeeded. Adam brought about sin; Jesus brings redemption. Adam brought death; Jesus brings life. Adam hid from God, Jesus allows us to openly come before the Father.
- Jesus rose from the dead. His resurrection is the proof that God accepted His sacrifice on the cross. It is the proof that Jesus was the God-man He claimed to be. His resurrection is the hope that Christians have that we too will be resurrected and receive new bodies in the eternal state.
- He reigns as our heavenly King. Presently, Christ has been exercising His Lordship (1 Peter 3:22; Ephesians 1:21-22; Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 1:13; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28). He reigns over creation from heaven now, but will reign in the midst of His creation when He returns.
- Christ prays for us. Jesus is interceding for us in prayer as our Great High Priest (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:24). We can learn what Christ prays for by reading John 17:1-26. He prays for God’s preservation of believers in the world, for our safety from the evil one, that we be sanctified in the truth, that we may be unified with Christ, and that we may behold His glory. Christ is the mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
- Christ will return. At His return, believers will be resurrected and given their new bodies. The lost will face final judgment. Death will be no more. When He returns, He will right all wrongs, make all things new, and will redeem the cosmos.
- Christ is the judge. At His return, Christ will judge believers. This judgment will be a judgment of reward. It is called the Judgment Seat of Christ. At this judgment, believers will be given crowns for the things they did for the glory of Christ. Then they will lay those back at Christ’s feet because they will desire to give back to the Lord all He has done for them in salvation.
Now that we have looked at the Bible, God the Father, the Trinity, and the Person and work of Christ, in our next post for this series, we will look at 10 essential things to know about the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit.
