Semper Reformanda

He is our justifier | The Advent of Christ | 18/25

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3:25-26 (KJV)

It is impossible to love a just and an angry God. There is no prayer reaching him that way. But that is not the hope we share. God is just. Christ is God. And he is our justifier. The Apostle Paul affirms that ‘the just shall live by faith.’[1] Christ achieved for us this administrative justice[2] of the Father, all the while, clarifying that YHWH hates sin not us. Christ demonstrates YHWH’s love for us. He is both just and merciful. The joy of the season could be sum in these words ‘the just shall live by faith.’ Yes! The just shall live by HIS faith; by the faithfulness Christ has demonstrated to us and on our behalf. The advent is not about meeting some abstract law by the power of your will, but to rest in the assurance of Christ.

[1] Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38

[2] https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom38.vii.viii.html

“… servant of all” | The Advent of Christ | 17/25

And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. Mark 10:44 (KJV)

The word for ‘servant’ or ‘slave’ carries distinct meanings in v43 and v44. The former is from diakonos (διάκονος); meaning, an attendant. (G1249)[1] It refers to someone who does service task with some degree of voluntary choice and agency. The latter is from doulos (δοῦλος); meaning, bond-servant (loosely). (G1401)[2] It refers to an absolute form of submission with little to no personal self-determination. This distinction clarifies that Jesus’ call here is not primarily about serving Him in the sense of fulfilling religious duties or earning status through service. Rather, it is a call to absolute surrender; akin to Christ’s own submission to the will of the Father. Piper emphatically states, Christ serves us.[3] It is not the other around. He is our benefactor. He serves us, enables us to grow in Spirit. The Advent reveals this profound truth: that God is glorified in serving us, forming in us the obedience to serve and submit absolutely to Him.

[1] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1249/kjv/tr/0-1/

[2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1401/kjv/tr/0-1/

[3] Piper, J. (2014). The Dawning of Indestructible Joy

“the Son of Man… came… to serve” | The Advent of Christ | 16/25

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45 (KJV)

The ransom was human(e) because sin is human. There are traditional, doctrinal grounded answers to this question. But what bears reflection is that Jesus had to be truthfully human. Yes! Only a divine could have filled that position; but to truly embrace the weight of sin the divine had to become human. Because sin in all its reality is a human experience. As noted above, there are doctrinal grounded traditional answers to this. But what is amazing is that Jesus was truthful even in this, to fully know what being human meant. He was truthful in his experience of being human as well. This is heartwarming, not just from the perspective of Christ as mediator but truly as kin too. He knows what I feel, experience and go through in this life. He knows about my experiences, even those I cannot articulate or comprehend. He is not just a mediator, bounded by the legality of the Law. He is a compassionate intercessor with the expressed objective of granting us joy, peace, and everlasting life.