Why Is He So Special?

What matters most?  For some it is who you are.  For others it is what you have.

Are you from the north or the south?  From Newcastle or Sunderland?  From the the east or the west end of the city?  The answer you give may affect the way you are treated.  It may decide whether you are liked or disliked, rejected or made welcome.

This is not new.  Such questions were important 2,000 years ago in Paul’s day.  Dip into his letters and you find he talks about Greeks and Jews, slaves and free people, men and women, and whether a person is circumcised (see Galatians 3.8 and Colossians 3.11).  Why does Paul do that?

Let us take a closer look at Colossians 3 verse 11:

there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

He makes two statements.  First, he tells us what is no longer important.  And secondly, he tells is what is most important – or perhaps we should say, what is of supreme importance.What is no longer of first importance?  

Your pedigree.  Where you are born.  Who your parents are.  To which country you belong.  What type of job you have.  What religion you were brought up to follow.  All these are not the most important matters in life, Paul asserts.

No one doubts that they are issues that can be deemed important.  If you want to travel the world you will need a passport.  And it will need to say what your name is, have a photograph of what you look like, and declare whether you are British, Nigerian, from the Ukraine or another country.  Without such a document you would not get far.  Your pedigree is important.  But, says Paul, it is not the most important thing about you.

No one doubts that having a job can be important.  People get much pleasure from being trained to teach, nurse, or drive trains.  And you know that having a regular income from a job can determine not just whether a person buys a house, but also where it is bought.  A steady income can also open up holiday opportunities as well as influencing the number and type of possessions we have.  These matters are not insignificant.  But, says Paul, you are not to see them as being of first importance.

In Paul’s day Greek people were proud of their history and learning.  They had been ruled by Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire had extended far and wide.  From among the Greeks came great thinkers and philosophers.  People like Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and Zeno – the list is very long.  Knowing human nature, it is not surprising that Greeks saw their history and learning as important.  But, says Paul, such is not of first importance.

In Paul’s day there were Jews who were proud they were Jews.  They were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  These were great men in their day.  And they were proud that they could point people to men like Moses and David.  Moses had led them from captivity in Egypt towards the Promised Land.  And David was a very great king.  Paul himself was at one time proud of his Jewishness – strict, well-taught, and descended from Benjamin.  But he came to see that such privileges are not of first importance.  There is something that excels the finest pedigree, the most prestigious job, and the best privileges any individual could ever have.

What is of first importance?  More correctly the question should be, Who is of first importance?

Paul says Jesus Christ is.  He ends verse 11 of Colossians 3 with these words: “but Christ is all, and in all.”  J C Ryle says that the three words, Christ is all, “are the essence and substance of Christianity.”  It does not take long to read them.  But a wise person spends a life-time reflecting on the significance of them.  Why does Paul say: “Christ is all.”

The answer can be briefly stated.  It is because what matters most is whether a person belongs to Jesus.  Once a Jew becomes a Christian he realises that Christ is more important than Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David or Solomon.  All were important men.  But not one of them can make you right with God.  Not one of them can take away the guilt and pollution of your sins.  And not one of them can secure a place for you in heaven.

What these great men did was point people to Jesus.  They encouraged people to look for the one whom God promised.  They knew that at just the right time the promised one would come.  And they knew that the promised one would do all that was necessary to secure for a sinner forgiveness and a sure inheritance of heaven.

What Paul says of the Jew he also says of the Greek, the barbarian, slave and free.  What matters much more than the country you come from, the job you have or do not have, or the belief system you have adopted or were brought up with – what matters much more is whether you belong to Jesus Christ.

For a Christian, Christ is ultimately all that matters.  Without him all hope of heaven and forgiveness is lost.   And a Christian knows that Christ lives within him and within all who believe on him.

During the second half of 1837, a young student called John Charles Ryle discovered that Jesus Christ is the Saviour that each individual needs.  He also said that he found the Lord Jesus Christ is a most suitable Saviour.  What did he mean?

Ryle lists three facts.  He speaks of:

(1) Christ’s sacrifice,

(2) Christ’s substitution, and

(3) Christ’s intercession.

Christ’s Sacrifice

Jesus is called the Lamb of God.  John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ’s public ministry by calling him “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1.29).  And Jesus declared that he came to “give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10.45).  Both statements point to the fact that Christ would be sacrificed.  He would be put to death.  He came to pay the price required for sinners to be set free from their guilt and sins.

Christ’s Substitution

The words of both John and Jesus quoted above point us to the fact that Christ’s sacrifice directly benefits people.  He came to take away sins committed by a person like you.  He came to pay in full the price for sin so that those who benefit from his sacrifice can go free, be restored to fellowship with God, and have a sure hope of going to heaven.  In others words when Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross he did so in the place of his people.  He stood as their substitute.  Those who deserve to go to hell for each and everyone of their sins find that Christ endured hell in their place on the cross.

Christ’s Intercession

The Christ who died is the Christ who rose.  And the Christ who rose lives.  He is now in heaven praying for his people.  He also watches over them and protects them.  He preserves them and pleads on their behalf to the Father in heaven.

Christ is a most suitable Saviour.

A believer says that Jesus Christ is so special because (1) he died to satisfy God’s justice (his sacrifice); (2) he did so for me (he is my substitute); and (3) he is now asking God to care for me (he intercedes for me).

EPC  1 May 2016