Have an Auspicious New Year in Jesus Christ—the Lamb of God
Great expectations loom ahead as every one looks towards yet another New Year, wishing that it will be more auspicious（祥）than the last. Yet, to be honest, we must admit that it may not be so. Envy, murder, dishonesty, war, and a possible nuclear holocaust await us daily as we flip the newspapers and look at the world around us. This great catastrophe hanging over our heads is the result of sin and more than two millennium of human effort have not made things better. The Bible says, “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21b). Living under the eyes of an all holy and righteous God, what we can expect in this coming year is His judgment. Nothing auspicious at all, you may think!
God taught the early people of God a very real object lesson: He told them to kill a lamb and offer it up as a sacrifice for their sin. This was a picture of the TRUE LAMB of God that would come in the future. Finally about 2000 years ago, the REAL LAMB （羊 ）of GOD （礻） came in the person of Jesus Christ. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins once and for all. He was buried and on the third day rose from the dead. Through Him we can have forgiveness of sins, peace with God and the hope of eternal life. The true meaning of 祥 indeed!
“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Health and wealth this new year profit very little, if we have to spend eternity in hell, don’t you agree?
“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
(Source: Chinese New Year gospel tract from Calvary Pandan BPC.)
*****
By One Man’s Obedience
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Rom 5:19).
Jesus’ Obedience in Undergoing Baptism
Why did Jesus go to John for baptism? We know that John’s baptism was a baptism “unto repentance.” Jesus was sinless. There was nothing for Him to repent of. John himself was puzzled as to why the Lord would seek baptism from him.
The Lord Jesus told John the reason why He had to be baptised. Jesus said that He needed to be baptised in order “to fulfil all righteousness.” What does this mean? Calvin insightfully commented, “The word righteousness frequently signifies, in Scripture, the observation of the law: and in that sense we may explain this passage to mean that, since Christ had voluntarily subjected himself to the law, it was necessary that he should keep it in every part” (Harmony, 1:180). Calvin also said that Jesus had “to offer His Father full obedience, while the particular reason was to consecrate baptism in His own body, that it might be common between Him and us”.
God the Father required God the Son to do His bidding as man’s perfect Representative. The Son obeyed the Father and humbly submitted Himself to do His will. That is why after Jesus went through the waters of baptism, we hear the Father’s commendation: “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Herein is another instance of the active obedience of Christ. Christ obeyed this ceremonial law of water baptism in order to earn the righteousness we need for salvation. Jesus achieved this through the power of the Spirit which was given to Him without measure.
Jesus was at this time “about thirty years of age.” Jesus was just about 6 months younger than John (Luke 1:26, 36). If both were born in BC 5, they would be about 30 years old by this time (AD 26). In the OT, the Levites began their service when they reached 30 years of age (Num 4:47). At that age too, Joseph became “prime minister” of Egypt (Gen 41:46), and David became king of Israel (2 Sam 5:4). So it was fitting for Jesus to begin His public ministry at 30 years of age.
Jesus’ Obedience in Overcoming Temptation
The temptation of Jesus is recorded in all 3 synoptic gospels. It was truly a crucial event in the life of Christ. We are told that Jesus, being full of the Spirit, was immediately led by the Spirit into the desert. There He was tempted by Satan for a period of 40 days and nights. During this period of time, Jesus fasted, and did not eat anything. This made Him all the more vulnerable to the devil’s temptations.
Why did Jesus have to go through this time of temptation or testing? Jesus had to go through this time of testing because He had to earn the righteousness His people needed to enter the kingdom of heaven. It was part of His active obedience. Just like Adam had to be tested in the Garden of Eden in order to secure life eternal through obedience, Christ as the greater Adam had to go through such a test to secure our salvation. This is clearly taught by Paul in Romans 5:12-21: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Adam failed, but Christ passed the test. We are not only saved by His death; we are also “saved by His life” (Rom 5:10).
In Luke, the temptation account is placed immediately after the genealogy of Jesus which Luke has traced right back to Adam. Luke through Paul’s instruction has correctly portrayed Christ as the 2nd Adam who must accomplish what the 1st Adam failed to do, namely, eternal life. What Adam failed to do under the Covenant of Works, Christ succeeded under the Covenant of Grace. Christ, being man’s perfect Representative, kept the Law of God on our behalf through His active obedience. Adam failed to obey God’s commandment in the Garden by yielding to Satan’s threefold temptation (Gen 3:6, 1 John 2:16). But Christ successfully resisted the same threefold temptation, thereby securing “righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom 10:4). The threefold temptation consists of (1) the lust of the flesh, (2) the lust of the eyes, and (3) the pride of life. Having been tempted by Satan, Eve partook of the fruit because it was (1) “good for food,” (lust of the flesh), (2) “pleasant to the eyes” (lust of the eyes), and (3) “to be desired to make one wise” (pride of life). By so disobeying God, Adam and Eve plunged not only themselves, but also the whole human race into the condemnation of sin. Jesus Christ was also tempted in the same threefold way: He was tempted (1) to turn stones into bread (the lust of the flesh), (2) with the kingdoms of the world (lust of the eyes), and (3) to jump from the pinnacle of the temple (the pride of life). Christ was victorious. He defeated Satan with the Word of God quoting (1) Deuteronomy 8:3, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God;” (2) Deuteronomy 6:13, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve;” and (3) Deuteronomy 6:16, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17). It is a very effective weapon against Satan’s fiery darts of temptation. Christ conquered Satan. He obeyed the commands of God perfectly, and by so doing saved us by His active obedience.
