Larger Catechism – Day 15 of Lent
Question 38: Why
did the mediator have to be God?
Answer: The mediator had to be God so that he might sustain and keep his
human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God and the power of
death; that he might make his suffering, obedience, and intercession of real
value and effect; and that, in order to satisfy God’s justice, he might gain
God’s favor, purchase his very own people, give his Spirit to them, conquer all
their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation.
My brain hurts trying to get wrapped around the answer to
question 38 of the Larger Catechism. For
that reason I will only attempt to expound on the latter part of the answer.
“…purchase his very own people…”
The sin of Adam and Eve handed the “pink slip” for each of our
lives to Satan—the prince of this world.
Jesus had to purchase us from Satan, sin and death. The purchase price was the life of Jesus—God in
the flesh. You and I have been bought
with a price. A little over two years
ago Brenda and I bought our boat Prequel. We did our research on older boats. We found the boat we wanted. And then, praise be to God, we purchase the
boat at a rock-bottom price. We got a
GREAT deal! God found the people he
wanted to be his own. Unfortunately, we
did not come at a rock-bottom price. No,
the seller set the price extremely HIGH!
God was willing to pay whatever it would take. We were purchased with the life of Jesus.
“…give his Spirit to them…”
The Parable of the Prodigal Son tells the story of a son who
took his inheritance (while Dad was still alive) to party and do whatever he
wanted to do. The son lost every
penny. Eventually the son went home with
the hope of just being a hired hand on his father’s property. Instead, the father clothed the son in the
finest cloths and threw a big banquet in honor of the son. God gives us (clothes us) with his
Spirit. The Holy Spirt participates in
life with us in many ways: strengthens
us, guides us, gifts us, empowers us, convicts us, comforts us, etc. God gifts us with a wonderful gift—his Spirit.
“…conquer all their enemies…”
Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “For our struggle is not against flesh
and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers
of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms.” We need to understand the
spiritual battle in which we are engaged.
Our “enemies” are not of this world.
Our enemies are not of flesh and blood.
Our enemies are spiritual forces that are strong and powerful. However, Jesus is stronger, more powerful and
eternal. When we attempt to fight the spiritual
battles with our own human power we will be defeated. When we allow God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and
his armies to fight on our behalf we will know victory, but a victor that is not
won by us. Check out the many times in the
Bible when God defeats the enemies of his people! He does the same for us today.
“…and bring them to everlasting salvation.”
God wants us to be with him for all eternity. We are given salvation for the here and
now. We are given salvation for all
time. We are given salvation for
eternity (beyond time). Wow! We serve a great God!
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