The faithfulness of Jesus

“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also
vain…And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”
(1Cor 15:14-16)

Here we see clearly that the death and resurrection of Christ is all essential to
our faith. Had he not died and rose there would be no hope of salvation.
Hence what Christ accomplished on this earth he accomplished “for us”.

“For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” (1Cor 5:7)

“Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present
evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:” (Gal 1:4)

“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:14)

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (Timothy 1:15)

Now we know that Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins. But did you
know that in that same death he secured something else essential to our
salvation? The bible goes on to explain that the very temptations that Christ
endured and overcame were all done “for us” too!

“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves
likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath
ceased from sin;” (1Pet 4:1)

What does it mean when it says that Christ did suffer for us?

“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour

them that are tempted.” (Heb 2:18)

To suffer means to be tempted. Christ was tempted “for us”! What was
Jesus to achieve “for us” by being thus tempted?

“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he

suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him;” (Heb 5:8, 9)

Jesus Christ learnt obedience by the temptations he suffered and he did this
work “for us”. Hence we have obedience or righteousness – the
righteousness of God – that was achieved “for us” by Christ. And if Christ
had to achieve obedience/righteousness “for us” it means that we could not
achieve obedience/righteousness for ourselves.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John
15:5)

And yea more than this, he achieved this righteousness for the whole world,
“in the flesh”, in a nature not of angels, but a nature, that of man. (Heb 2:16)

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also
himself likewise took part of the same…” (Heb 2:14)

Yes, he was made like unto us “in all things”. His flesh of which he was
made was of that same quality and substance as that of which we are made –
sinful flesh.

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh:” and he did this “That the righteousness of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom
8:3, 4)

Where man finds himself willing to do what is right but finding no strength at
all to perform it (Rom 7:18) is where Christ also found himself. Christ did
share in all of our experiences except in sin. He was clothed with the same
nature as us, enticed to sin in the same way as we are, touched with the very
feeling of our infirmities as we feel them (Heb 4:15), yet he learnt
obedience by these temptations through the divine faith that he had. And he
did all this “for us”.
He was faithful even unto death, that in him we too may be faithful even unto
death.
He overcame the world and all the things that are in it, that in him we too
may overcome the world and all the things that are in it.
He so thoroughly beat the devil and sin that they had nothing in him, that in
him we too may so thoroughly beat the devil and sin that they have nothing
in us.
He was righteous all the time and every time in the flesh, that in him we too
may be righteous all the time and every time in the flesh!

Said Jesus,

“I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:19, 30)

And when tempted of the devil to use his divine power to free himself from
the hunger pangs that we are subject to, he said

“It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Jesus was acknowledging that he was to live as man, be tempted as man,

and to overcome as man. Hence with each succeeding temptation Jesus used
that which was available to man to overcome sin and the devil – the Word of
God.
Since faith comes by…the Word of God (Rom 10:17), to live by the Word of
God is to live by faith. Therefore for Jesus to say that man is to live by the
Word of God is like saying in another way, “Man shall live by faith.” This is
just what Jesus did and it was through this faith that he was always able to
find exceeding abundant strength to perform all that the law requires, for
righteousness comes by faith (Rom 10:10), and it will be through this faith –
the faith of Jesus – that in him we too will be able to perform all that the law
requires.

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom 8:3, 4)

The faith-ful-ness of Jesus Christ our Lord is simply Jesus our Lord being
full of faith. And he was full of faith “for us” so that after achieving
righteousness in the flesh for our sins he can well and truly save us in the
flesh from them! (Mat 1:21) Sin in the penalty of it (Rom 6:23) and sin in the
doing of it! (1 John 3:4)

By Jonathan Dantzie