Larger Catechism – Day 17 of Lent
Question 40: Why
did the mediator have to be God and human in one person?
Answer: The mediator, who was to reconcile God and humanity, had to be
himself both God and human and in one person to make the works appropriate to
each nature acceptable to God on our behalf and counted on by us as the works
of the whole person.
Let’s assume that you are owed a debt by the person who lives
just down the block from you. He is
unable to pay off the debt. Along comes me,
Mr. Nice Guy, and declares that the debt is forgiven. You would most likely say, “Who do you think
you are? You have no right to forgive a
debt owed to me!” You would be correct
in questioning my pronouncement because it is not my debt to forgive.
Once again, let’s assume that you are owed a debt by that same
person down the street. They are still
unable to pay off the debt. The collateral
they put up to secure the debt was their life.
Once again, along comes me, Mr. Nice Guy, and tells you that I am going
to pay off their debt. There is a
problem, the contract between you and the debtor stipulates that only “family”
members can pay off the debt. You refuse
to take my payment because I am not a part of the original agreement.
The debt owed to God for Adam and Eve’s failure to fulfill the
covenant of works had to be paid by “parties” to the agreement. The agreement (covenant) was between God and
Man. Jesus (fully God and fully Man) was
the only one who could make the payment and receive the payment. Debt paid.
The result of the paid debt is righteousness given to Man. Jesus, the ultimate God-Man, is the only one who
could make the deal happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment