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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Christ is All-Sufficient is what He does

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life

In this final blog of our little series on John 3:16, we have been unfolding this incredible verse, noting why it is that Jesus Christ is the All-Sufficent Savior.  We saw by the phrases "Only-Begotten" and "gave" that He is All-Sufficient by virture of His full Deity and Humanity.  Thus His All-Sufficiency lies chiefly in Who He is.  Today I want us to look at this beloved verse and note how He is All Sufficient in what He does.  Bible teachers have identified three offices that Jesus Christ occupies on behalf of the saints of God: Prophet, Priest and King

As Prophet, He reveals the true and Living God
A prophet in the Bible is someone who represents God to the people.  As the "Only-Begotten Son", Jesus Christ has the ability and Sole capacity to reveal who God is, since he is God.  Salvation in John 3:16 has as its outcome the goal of imparting "eternal life" to all who believe.  This idea of "eternal life" is defined by Jesus in John 17:3 - "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent".  Unless you know the true God, you cannot say that you have true salvation.  Only Christ, and Christ alone, can gain you access to the true God, for He is both the revelation of God and God Himself. 

As a Priest, he represents believers to God
A priest in the Bible represents the saints of God before God.  Jesus Christ is that One Mediator, that One Advocate, between God and man. (please compare 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:1)  When John 3:16 states "whosoever believes in Him will not Perish", clearly that truth is rooted in who Jesus Christ is as the believer's High Priestly representative.  As it was in the Old Testament, when a saint of God would come to the temple to worship God, they could not just go into the temple unrepresented.  The child of God had a priest who could represent both God's interests and their's.  For us today, Christ fulfills that Office.  As Jesus Himself states in John 14:6 - "I am the way, the truth and the Life, no one comes to the Ftaher but through me".

As the King, He alone has the authority to grant eternal life
When a prisoner in ancient times was sentenced to die, only the King had the authority to reverse His sentence.  When John 3:16 states "should not perish, but have eternal life", that statement is pointing to Christ's All-Sufficient authority as the King of Kings and Lord of Lord's.  When any one by Grace through faith believes on Jesus Christ, they are grabbing hold of His Kingly authority to reverse their death sentence into a sentence of life. 

As Prophet, Priest and King, Jesus Christ forever functions as the Believer's All-Sufficient Savior.  Praise God for John 3:16!