Sermon on LD 6
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
LD 6 is a triumphant LD. It is the first LD from the HC in which the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned (apart from LD 1 which is, however, like an introduction to the HC). In this LD 6 our Lord Jesus is more or less introduced. The preceding LD’s have carefully worked towards this point. Our misery is explained at length. Many things have come to light which taken in itself leave us sad and depressed. But the section about our sin and misery is followed up with one about our salvation. So, there is salvation! We find that quite evident, we in fact expect it to come.
But, really, it is not that evident at all. If it were up to us the HC would have ended with LD 4: God is a righteous God and therefore he demands that our sin be punished with the most severe punishment – full stop. But then, in LD 5, we are presented with a way out of this after all: if only we had someone to mediate for us. If only we had someone who could stand in our place. If only we had someone who is so strong that he, in spite of the severity of the punishment, would still survive. Someone who then can ‘transfer’ the obtained pardon to the people in whose place he stood. So LD 5 concludes: we need a divine and human mediator united in one person.
This person is of course our Lord Jesus. And that is what LD 6 is all about. There is lots to say about this LD. We can speak about the two natures of Christ. We can speak about his substitution for us, his suffering in our place. We can elaborate on Christ’s divinity or his humanity. But all of these wonderful subjects can be summarised in one word really: Mediator. Jesus Christ is our Mediator. Like in a human conflict, a war between nations for instance, a mediator is involved to bring the two warring parties together, in much the same way Christ was given to bring about reconciliation between the two warring partners of the covenant: God’s people and God himself.
Yet, because God himself is one of the parties involved, we must mention yet another word in this context. The word mediator does indicate that there are two or more parties involved, but it does not say anything about the nature of his position and work for the sake of these parties. The word that does say something about that is found in Hb 2,17: high priest. In fact, essentially the book of Hebrews is all about Christ as High priest. The Mediator is at the same time High priest because he takes the place of one of the conflicting parties. A normal mediator would never do that. But a high priest makes atonement for the people before God by taking sin away. That is how Christ is at the same time Mediator and High priest of the new covenant between God and his people.
And that is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why this LD is truly a triumphant LD. Christ has taken our sins upon himself to reconcile us with God. He stood in our place to take the wrath of God away and bear the punishment himself. That is the wonder of the love of God. With people there would have been no way out of the misery. But God himself steps into the breach of the covenant. He repairs the breach, by his own choice, with his own means. We can add nothing to that. We could never even have thought of something like it. Christ is given to us. That is the good news - the reason why we are in church and can come to church. It is the reason why we have hope in a world caught in sin and its consequences. We will speak about this with the following theme and points:
Jesus Christ is Mediator of the new covenant
- He is true and righteous man
- He is at the same time true God
- He is revealed by God
1. The Mediator is true and righteous man
LD 5 concluded by saying that God demands that man should pay for sin. God will not have another creature take the blame for our sins. This reminds us of the so many animal sacrifices of the OT. All the blood shed by those animals could never really take away the wrath of God for the sins of people. In fact, not even angels can pay for people. They are messengers of God. They exist in a completely different way than we do. They are creatures of God, for sure, very beautiful and mysterious ones at that, but they have a different nature from ours.
That is why q/a 16 says clearly, that the human nature must pay, not just the humans, but the human nature. Essentially not just man is the evil doer, the cause of all sin and misery, but the sinful human nature. All people are included in that nature. So when Christ came to earth and took on human nature, he did not just come to save a small group of people, like his contemporaries or his disciples, but he came for all people. He washes the sins of anyone who believes in him. Indeed, his sacrifice is sufficient for all the sins of all the people who ever lived on earth.
In Hb 2 beautiful things are said about Jesus’ humanity. The writer of Hebrews compares the status of Christ to the status of angels. In ch 1 he says that Christ originally has a place above the angels. He is the Son of God, God himself to whom all the angels are submitted. But in 2,9 the writer says that for a short while Christ has lived like a human being on earth and therefore had a lower status than the angels. And why was Christ made lower than the angels for a while? So that he could die for the sins of the people. Christ became completely and fully man to be able to bear the punishment for the sins of all people.
This shows that the Person who came as Mediator between God and man, paid the punishment in person. That is something unheard off. We sometimes hear in the news today that some president or the United Nations try to mediate in a conflict. Suppose that president Barack Obama mediates in a conflict and at one point says: take me, take my life, and let that be the end of your conflict. That is not going to happen! And, to be honest, it is not surprising that this does not happen. After all the mediator is not a party in the conflict. The mediator is not supposed to be punished, but the perpetrator (that is, in the eyes of either party). That is why the position of Christ is so extraordinary. He made himself a party in the conflict. He basically took sides with the people, to be able to save them. He sacrificed himself to be able to save people who of themselves did not stand a chance. This is the wonderful love and compassion of our Lord which we may enjoy and adore.
Let’s see if the children can understand this as well: imagine, kids, that you see two of your friends fighting at school. Suppose that one of them has lost a footy ball that belongs to the other. He kicked it over the fence and now they can’t find it anywhere. Well, you don’t like them arguing, do you? So you try to help. You pull them apart. Then what do you do? The one friend can not give back the footy ball that he kicked over the fence. So then, you say: you can have mine. You can have my footy ball, and then your argument will be over. Well, that is really what the Lord Jesus did. All people were arguing with God because they had lost their good nature and their love for God. And then the Lord Jesus said: I give you my love - God will accept my love, and then everything is okay again between people and God. You understand? Jesus Christ made everything right again between God and man by giving to God what man had lost.
We see this even clearer, brs and srs, when we realise that he was a righteous man. Someone who is guilty himself, can not pay for another. That is why Christ became true man, with this one exception: he was without sin. And this completes the mystery. For in our comprehension a man without sin cannot be. But Christ was just such a man. And if anyone would ever be able to escape God’s punishment, it would have been him. But Christ gave up all his rights, to give life to sinful people.
And so he became our High priest. Like a high priest in the OT made atonement for the people, Christ died in our place on the cross on Golgota. This too we find in Hb 2, in vs 17. Christ was made like his brothers and sisters in every respect so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Christ sacrificed himself. And with this reconciliation through Jesus Christ the new covenant came into effect. Christ’s suffering and death are the means by which the covenant with God was renewed. No more payment is necessary, for Christ has paid. No more sanctuary, for God dwells in the church of Christ and in the hearts of believers through the Spirit. To be able to accomplish these things, Christ needed to be true and righteous man.
2. The Mediator is at the same time true God
To be able to be our Mediator Christ also had to be true God. In q/a 17 the HC gives two reasons for that. First of all the burden of God’s wrath was so great that no mere man was able to bear it. Secondly, not only did God’s wrath have to be taken away, but also the purity of life had to be restored.
Let discuss God’s wrath over sin first. This wrath is too great for a man to bear. How are we to picture this exactly? Well, the Bible teaches that no one can exist in the sphere of God’s wrath. In Ps 130,3 it reads: ‘If you, O LORD , should mark iniquities, O LORD, who could stand?’ And in Nahum 1,6 the prophet speaks about God’s anger: ‘Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.’ Now, when we think about wrath and anger, we do so in human terms. As in: God is terribly angry. And then we imagine how angry we can get at something or someone and then imagine God’s wrath twice as bad. But God’s anger is not anything like human anger. It is not like human anger to the tenth power. God’s anger is not different from man’s anger in quantity, but in quality. We can not comprehend the depth of God’s wrath. God is holy, there is nothing in him even close to sin. He is completely and perfectly good. God is love. God is perfectly righteous. And the everlasting, infinite God gets infinitely angry about the injustice that is done to him and the injustice that people do to each other. When the almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth gets angry, then no one can exist in his presence.
That is why a mere creature could never bear the wrath of God. To be able to do so, someone had to come in the place of man, someone just as holy and infinite and powerful as God himself. Even more, this Mediator had to be of the same being as God is. That is why this Mediator can only be one Person, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The second reason why the Mediator needed to be God, is that he not only had to bear his wrath, but also restore life. In Hb 2,10-11 this is made clear. In vs 10 we find that God wanted to bring many sons to glory. That means he wanted to save many people. But in order to do so, not only sin had to be taken away by the sacrifice of the Christ, but the children of God had to be sanctified as well. The dirty clothes of sin needed to disappear from the lives of God’s children, and then the new clothes of the new life had to be put on as well.
This is the divine work of sanctification and regeneration. The justification needs to be followed up by the sanctification. This work is usually thought to be a work of the Holy Spirit. This is true, but the Spirit and the Son both work in this respect. This sanctification is no less than an act of re-creation. New life does not come into existence by itself. That is why we need the divine involvement of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. A man can not make himself holy, let alone another man. But Christ, the Son of God, and the Spirit who proceeds from him, creates new people. God changes people so that they change into the proper image of Christ. That is a divine act. That is the second reason why our Mediator has to be God.
At this point comes a very important question. We have to find a Mediator who is true man and God at the same time. But where can we find such a person? That is the question of q/a 18. We are taught in the Bible what such a Mediator must do. But then we look around in the world and see that we cannot find one like that, we can not come up with a person like that ourselves. And then the true triumphant element of LD 6 emerges: this Mediator was given to us by God himself. We were lost in our own sin and guilt, we could never save ourselves from our sin and misery. The only way out was impossible for man to go. And then comes the good news, the wonderful news: God has given the Mediator himself: our Lord Jesus.
In Titus 3,4-5 it reads: ‘But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.’ We are saved not by means of our own righteousness, but through the compassion of God who regenerates us. In Rom 11,33 the apostle Paul exclaims: ‘Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!’ Indeed, we said earlier how much God’s anger goes beyond our imagination and comprehension. Well, the same must be said of his love and mercy. We cannot comprehend it. We can only worship God for his love, thank him for it without ceasing and praise his wisdom and goodness.
3. The Mediator is revealed by God
In the course of our time there has been a lot of criticism on this teaching of the two natures of Christ and the importance of that for the teaching of the reconciliation with God. Many cannot believe that one Person’s death on the cross could actually atone for our sins. The Bible warns us for this kind of unbelief. In 1 Cor 1 the apostle Paul writes (vs 18): ‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’ And in vss 23-25: ‘We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.’
So for many it is hard to believe what we are taught in LD 6, but the church has not made all of this up. LD 5 & 6 are written systematically, for sure, but then q/a 19 wants to make sure that we do not think of the teaching of atonement and the two natures of Christ as if it were our own invention. God has revealed to us that it is so.
In his letter to the Galatians Paul makes the same point. False teachers there accused him of teaching an easy message, because Paul taught the people that they no longer needed to be circumcised nor keep any other OT laws without taking into account the changing of the dispensations of the covenant. These teachers accused Paul of teaching his audience what they wanted to hear. But Paul responds that his message is not an easy one. Even more, it is a message which can hardly be understood by anyone. In 1 Cor 1 he even calls it folly. For someone who does not want to believe it is folly indeed to accept that someone died on a cross to pay for our sins. It is impossible that a Person, who was God and man joined in one person, would die the cursed death on the cross to save those who believe in him. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not according to man. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not something that we can come with up ourselves. In our eyes it is unthinkable and unacceptable.
It is good to realise that every now and then brs and srs. Most of us have been brought up with this message. To us it sounds quite reasonable. But to those who do not believe. it sounds strange and unrealistic. That is why we say in q/a 19 that we confess these things only because God has revealed them to us. It is hard to believe, but it is true, because the patriarchs and prophets of the OT have announced the coming of the Messiah. And all the sacrifices of the OT have foreshadowed his work. Countless sacrifices and a constant river of blood flowing from the temple symbolised and announced and foretold the one sacrifice of the Lamb of God on the cross on Golgota. The one sacrifice of the Son of God is enough to pay for all the sins of all the people that ever lived. We know this because the Bible tells us so. That is why Jesus was able to say to the Jews in Jn 5,39: ‘You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.’ And Paul says in 1 Cor 2,9: ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, God has prepared for those who love him.’
Conclusion
And so we must conclude. Jesus Christ is the manifestation of the love of God. We find salvation in his sacrifice. God has revealed it to us himself. Do never forget, brs and srs, to sometimes see through the words and systematic exposition of the Reformed teachings. The teachings of the church are not dry theory merely for the purpose of memorisation. In the teaching of the two natures of Jesus Christ and his coming into this world, sent by the Father, we hear the heart of God beating with love for his children. When we listen to his voice in the Bible, and when we teach the confession of the church, let also always see the love of our God in Jesus Christ his Son through the Spirit of God. Amen.
Liturgy:
Ps. 84:1
Ps. 84:5,6
Scripture reading Hb. 2:5-18
Ps. 22:8,9,11
Text: Lord’s Day 6
Ps. 65:1,2
Ps. 18:1,8