2 Jn. 11 speaks of how teaching that Jesus was not truly human is
associated with " evil works" . Surely the implication is that good works
are inspired by a true understanding of the Lord's humanity, and evil works
by a refusal to accept this teaching. The tests of genuineness which John
commanded centred around two simple things: Do those who come to you hold
true understanding of the nature of Jesus; and do they love. The two things
go together. And they are a fair test even today. For where there is no
love, the true doctrine of Jesus is not truly believed, no matter how nicely
it is expressed in words and writing.
BOLD PRAYER AND WITNESS
Therefore in the daily round of life, He will be a living reality, like
David we will behold the Lord Jesus before our face all the day. We will
really believe that forgiveness is possible through the work of such a
representative; and the reality of his example will mean the more to us, as
a living inspiration to rise above our lower nature. Appreciating the
doctrines of the atonement enables us to pray acceptably; " we have boldness
and access with confidence by the Faith" - not just 'by faith', but as a
result of the Faith (Eph. 3:12). Hebrews so often uses the word " therefore"
; because of the facts of the atonement, we can therefore come boldly before
God's throne in prayer, with a true heart and clear conscience (Heb. 4:16).
This " boldness" which the atonement has enabled will be reflected in our
being 'bold' in our witness (2 Cor. 3:12; 7:4); our experience of imputed
righteousness will lead us to have a confidence exuding through our whole
being. This is surely why 'boldness' was such a characteristic and watchword
of the early church (Acts 4:13,29,31; Eph. 3:12; Phil. 1:20; 1 Tim. 3:13;
Heb. 10:19; 1 Jn. 4:17). Stephen truly believed that the Lord Jesus stood as
his representative and his advocate before the throne of grace. Although
condemned by an earthly court, he confidently makes his appeal before the
court of Heaven (Acts 7:56). Doubtless he was further inspired by the basic
truth that whoever confesses the Lord Jesus before men, He will confess him
before the angels in the court of Heaven (Lk. 12:8).
The connection
between the atonement and faith in prayer is also brought out in 2 Cor. 1:20
RSV: " For all the promises of God in him are yea. That is why we utter the
Amen through him" . The promises of God were confirmed through the Lord's
death, and the fact that He died as the seed of Abraham, having taken upon
Him Abraham's plural seed in representation (Rom. 15:8,9). Because of this,
" we utter the Amen through [on account of being in] Him" . We can heartily
say 'Amen', so be it, to our prayers on account of our faith and
understanding of His atoning work.
LOVE
The fact the Lord Jesus didn't
pre-exist as a person needs some meditation. The kind of thoughts that come
to us as we stand alone at night, gazing into the sky. It seems evident that
there must have been some kind of previous creation(s), e.g. for the
creation of the Angels. God existed from infinity, and yet only 2,000 years
ago did He have His only and His begotten Son. And that Son was a human
being in order to save humans- only a few million of us (if that), who lived
in a 6,000 year time span. In the specter of infinite time and space, this
is wondrous. That the Only Son of God should die for a very few of us here,
we who crawled on the surface of this tiny planet for such a fleeting moment
of time. He died so that God could work out our salvation; and the love of
God for us is likened to a young man marrying a virgin (Is. 62:5). Almighty
God, who existed from eternity, is likened to a first timer, with all the
intensity and joyful expectation and lack of disillusion. And more than
this. The Jesus who didn't pre-exist but was like me, died for me, in the
shameful way that He did. Our hearts and minds, with all their powers, are
in the boundless prospect lost. His pure love for us, His condescension,
should mean that we also ought to reach out into the lives of all men, never
thinking they are beneath us or too insignificant or distant from us. No
wonder 1 Jn. 4:15,16 describes believing that Jesus is the Son of God as
believing the love that God has to us.
True Christianity holds that
personal relationships matter more than anything in this world, and that the
truly human way to live is- in the last analysis- to lovingly, constantly,
unreservedly give ourselves away to God and to others. And yet this is
ultimately rooted in the fact that we are seeking above all else to follow
after the example of Jesus. This example is only real and actual because of
the total humanity of Jesus. As He taught these things, so He lived them.
The word of love was made flesh in Him. At the deepest level of personhood,
His was the one perfect human life which this world has seen. And exactly
because of His humanity, exactly because He was not " very God" but " the
man Christ Jesus" , because Jesus didn't pre-exist, we have the pattern for
our lives and being. To claim Jesus was " God" is to depersonalize Him; it
destroys the wonder of His character and all He really was and is and will
ever be.
THE REALITY OF JUDGMENT
We will be judged in the man Christ
Jesus (Acts 17:31 R.V. Mg.). This means that the very fact Jesus didn't
pre-exist and was human makes Him our constant and insistent judge of all
our human behaviour. And exactly because of this, Paul argues, we should
right now repent. He is judge exactly because He is the Son of man.
CONCLUSION
John makes such a fuss about believing that Jesus came in the
flesh because he wants his brethren to have the same Spirit that was in
Jesus dwelling in their flesh (1 Jn. 4:2,4). He wants them to see that being
human, being in the flesh, is no barrier for God to dwell in. As Jesus was
in the world, so are we to be in the world (1 Jn. 4:17 Gk.). This is why
it's so important to understand that the Lord Jesus was genuinely human.