Let's look at Job chapter 7.
Now, I've entitled the message, What is Man? Took that title
from verse 17. Job asked this question, What
is man? That thou shouldest magnify him,
and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him, and that thou
shouldest visit him every morning and try him every moment. Now, we're going to look back
at verse 1 here in a minute, but you know Job is continuing
his response to his friend Eliphaz. And Eliphaz had been pretty hard
on Job. He brought down his religious
form of legalism upon Job in his false gospel of the health
and wealth based upon the sinner's obedience. And Job recognized
that for what it is. He found no comfort in it. You
know, I thought about this. If the Spirit of God has broken
your heart over your sin, and that's what He does to every
one of God's people. If the Spirit of God has truly
broken your heart over sin, you will get no comfort anywhere
but in Christ. You might find moments where
you lose sight of that. But you really, you won't find
any relief, any peace, any lasting peace or any real comfort except
in Christ because that's the way the Spirit works when he
points sinners to Christ. And so Job found no comfort in
the words of Eliphaz because they were the words of a self-righteous
legalist. But he continues his response
here. And so as we go through and we
see Job's response, we're going to find out That Job, Job with
all the things that God has already said about him in the opening
of this book, that Job still can rise no higher than what
any of us can say about ourselves as justified people. And that is we're still sinners
saved by grace. We've got a lot to learn. At
times, we'll just mess things up. We'll say things we shouldn't
say. Job does. He already has said some things
he shouldn't say. But the thing about it is, and
this chapter here, and this verse 17, you know, that's, I believe
it's a quote that what David wrote and Saul made is a quotation
of that, but either way, it doesn't matter. It's still expressing
the same thought from a different perspective. And then we see
the same thought in Hebrews chapter 2 from the same perspective that
David expresses, and we'll look at that later on. But I got to
thinking about this, you know, perspective and perception, they're
amazing things, aren't they? You know, we say often, you know,
we're talking about something, you know, that everybody has
observed, or everybody thinks, and we'll say something like,
well, the way I see it, the way I see it, Well, Job is going
to deal with this question, what is man, the way he sees it in
his particular situation. In Psalm 8, David deals with
it the way he sees it. And then in Hebrews, the Apostle
Paul deals with it the way he sees it. So let's look at that.
First of all, let's go to verse 1, Job chapter 7. He starts off,
he said, Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? And are not his days also like
the days of a hireling? Now, that first question, is
there not an appointed time to man upon the earth? We know all
times are appointed by God. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 speaks
of that. To everything there is a season,
there is a time, and it's all appointed by God. That same scripture,
after it goes through the long list of all that's been appointed,
it speaks of how God has set eternity in man's heart. And
because of sin, we have that eternity as a void that cannot
be filled by anything but the glory of God in Christ. Man tries
to fill it with religion, with other things, distractions of
this world, but it won't last. But what Job is doing here, he's
stating to Eliphaz and the other two men that he has a reason
to complain. And he wishes for death by observing
the common case of man on earth. And that's important for you
to understand as you read Job 7. Job is coming here from the
perspective of man on earth. Even saved men and women on earth. This world. In other words, he's
not really thinking eternally right now. He's just thinking
about his situation. And I can understand that. I
mean, if any of you, and I know some of you have, you've gone
through some sore trials and tests, pain, sorrow. And in those
moments, you just don't think in an eternal perspective necessarily. Sometimes maybe you do, by the
grace of God. But sometimes you don't. And
this is what happened to Job. This first question, he says,
is there not an appointed time to man upon the earth? It's literally
to war upon the earth. In other words, my life here
in this world, in this world, is a warfare. It's a warfare. It's a struggle. That's what
he's saying. I'm in a struggle here. That's what he's telling
his friends. We know something about that
struggle. Life in general is a struggle. Life, our physical
life here is a struggle. It's a struggle with the elements.
It's a struggle among men. Warfare and fighting and all
of that. It's a struggle with self and
even for a believer it's a spiritual warfare isn't it? A struggle.
Read Romans chapter 7 sometimes. What a struggle that is. Now,
thank God that spiritual warfare, if we're engaged in that, we
have the assurance that that warfare is accomplished and we
have victory in Christ. That's why Paul concluded that
section as the Holy Spirit inspired him to write, when he said, O
wretched man that I am. It's almost like Job right here
in chapter 7, he's stuck in that gear, O wretched man. We know
something about that. Oh, I know we haven't seen the
depths of our depravity. We haven't even come close to
that. No, sir. But we know something of the
wretched man. And so Paul wrote, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
And he said, I thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord. There is
therefore now no condemnation of them that are in Christ. But
it's a warfare. And then the second question,
he says, are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
He's talking about hard labor there. He's talking about forced
labor there. Somebody that's hired to work
for their wages. And so this is the key. This
is man upon the earth. His days on earth are appointed
by God. They're numbered by God. And
his days upon earth are a warfare, a struggle, and a labor. So here's
the conflict. Here's the warfare. Man with
man. Man with the elements. The spiritual man. The warfare
of the flesh and the spirit. It's here. His life on earth
is a struggle. And you know why? You know why
it's a struggle? Turn back to Genesis chapter 3 with me. Now this is part of the curse
that came from our ruination in Adam. We fell in Adam. And you know this portion here
where the Lord is pronouncing three curses here. The first
one is upon Satan. And it's in that curse, in the
middle of that curse, what an amazing thing, that we have the
first stated prophecy. I believe we have the first prophecy
of Christ in Genesis chapter 1, the type there of creation,
let there be light, and Christ is the light of the world. But
the first stated prophecy is in Genesis 3, 15, the seed of
woman. And then he pronounces the curse
upon the woman. And then he pronounces the curse
upon Adam. And look at it, verse 17 of Genesis
chapter 3. He says, Under Adam, he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it. Cursed is the ground. Now, how are you going to live
on cursed ground? You know what that means. Cursed
means it's condemned to death. That's what it means, under the
sentence of death. It's a dying world. Well, it's
a warfare, it's a struggle, it's a labor. And he says, he says,
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Now,
we have moments of happiness, but in general, it's a sorrow.
He says in verse 18, Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth
to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground,
for out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return. In Job chapter 7, it's like Job
is describing that curse. And again now, we can understand
Job. He's hurting. Here's a man who's
lost everything he has on this earth. He hasn't lost the grace
of God. Nobody can do that. He hasn't
lost Christ. He hasn't lost his faith. You don't lose faith. Like I
said, we may lose sight of some things. But he's talking about
man in this world. Man in this world. Man's life
here on earth, it's a struggle. He's a hireling. He's like a
hired laborer. Another word for this would be
like a mercenary. A mercenary. Somebody who wars
for hire. Now, here's the point. The only
salvation from this curse is to be made a willing, loving
bond slave of Christ. Is to be a victor in the army
of Christ. Put on the whole armor of God.
That's the only way. The grace of God. That's the
only deliverance, the only salvation for man on this cursed earth.
Now, false religion, now think about this, false religion tries
to keep men as hirelings. In other words, bringing forth
fruit unto death. But the daily struggle, this
brief life on earth, it's a continual reminder that we're sinners.
It's a continual reminder that our salvation is not in this
world. the things of this world. And
if we know Christ, if we belong to Him, if we're redeemed by
His blood and washed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness,
if we stand in Him secure, what do we realize? This world's not
our home. It's not our home. We're just
passing through. We're passing through the struggle.
We're passing through the labor. You know, the daily struggle,
the only hope of anything better is the grace of God in Christ.
That's why Christ said, come unto me all ye that labor and
are heavy laden. He said, and I'll give you rest.
He said to his disciples, he said, in this world you'll have
tribulation, but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. Look
at verse 2. He says, as a servant earnestly
desireth a shadow, And as an hireling looketh for the reward
of his work. What he's doing here is he's
justifying his desire for death. Remember Job said, I wished I
could die. Somebody might come along and say, well, Job, that's
wrong. You shouldn't wish you could
die. Well, he's justifying it here. And what he's saying here,
he's like a slave under hard labor who looks for one thing,
the shadow. You know what that means? That
means quitting time. You ever been there? All I'm looking forward
to is quitting time. You know, that song, Working
for the Weekend. You know, that kind of thing.
That's what he's saying here. And he's talking about life,
though. That's what Job's talking about. I'm just waiting for quitting
time. I'm hurting, fellas. I'm under
the struggle. I'm in a warfare here that you
haven't experienced, and I'm just waiting for quitting time.
I'm waiting for death, because I know I have a good hope. And
that's what he's saying. He's like the hired hand who's
waiting for payday. Because that's the best day.
And so look at verse 3. He says, So am I made to possess
months of vanity? Talking about this life now and
this world. Ultimately, what is it? Vanity
of vanity. You know, you could compare Job
7 to a lot of the statements in the book of Ecclesiastes.
When you're looking at things from the perspective of life
here on earth, vanity of vanities, always vanity. That's what Job
is saying. I'm made to possess months of vanity. He said, and
wearisome nights are appointed to me. I can't even sleep. He
says in verse 4, when I lie down, I say, when shall I rise? And
the night be gone. I can't wait for the night. It's
almost like he said, I can't wait to go to bed. And then when
I go to bed, I can't wait to wake up. It's just one big vain
cycle after another. And I'm full of tossings to and
fro unto the dawning of the day. No peaceful sleep. No peaceful
rest, you see. He says in verse 5, he says,
My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin is
broken and become loathsome. Remember Job was scraping his
skin with those shards of broken pottery. You know what he's just described
there? Spiritually speaking, in a spiritual way, man at his
best state, altogether vanished. What is man? He's a sinner. He's a sinner. Who, if left to
himself, would what? Wallow in his sins and die. What a sad state. But that's
what man is by nature. And then look here in verse 6.
He says, My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and
are spent without hope. Now again, understand Job's talking
about life here on earth. He's not talking about his heavenly
hope here. He's explaining to these three
miserable comforters why I'm complaining, why I'm saying these
things in his mind. Now, we know that the purpose
of anything on this life is for the glory of God ultimately,
but Job's not thinking about that right now. He can't. He said, I'm hurting. And a weaver's
shuttle, that's the weaver that, it's like it had a shuttle on
it and they go back and forth like that. And just that going
back and forth, that's how swift he said, my days are. I thought about that, you know,
when we're talking about perspective. You know, how you see things,
it is an amazing thing. You know, when you're young and
you think time will never end. Oh, you know, how long is it
going to be till I get my driver's license? Seems like an eternity. And then when you get old, it
just seems like it's gone like that. A weaver shut up. I feel
like time has speeded up on me. How about you all? I really do.
It hasn't. But I see it that way. That's
the way it looks to me anyway. It's just going fast. Now, it's
not going any faster than when I was 10 years old. But it just
seems that way to me. And that's what Job is expressing
here. You know, as man, you know, is hurled toward his end. It
just seems like it's so fast. And he said, they're spent without
hope. And what he's talking about is
hope of getting cured here. Hope of having a comfortable
life here on earth. Look at verse 7. He says, Oh,
remember that my life is wind. Comes and goes. Mine eye shall
no more see good. I won't see anything good on
this earth again. Now Job's not right. We know
that because what? We know the end of the story.
Job doesn't. But this is the way he looks
at it. See, this is the perspective. What is man? He's one who suffers. That's what Job would say. He
suffers. And given the swiftness and shortness
of his days, given the degree of his suffering, what hope of
seeing goodness did he have? as long as he was on this cursed
earth. This life is fleeting. And the lesson here is that we
have to live life in light of eternity, in light of death,
in light of judgment, in light of eternity. Isn't that right? And the only way to face, live
this life in light of death and judgment and eternity is to live
it in Christ. lived by the grace of God look
at verse 8 he says the eye of him that has seen me shall see
me no more thine eyes are upon me and I am not he says as the
cloud is consumed and vanishes away so he that goeth down to
the grave shall come up no more that is to this life you know
a lot of people go to this verse and they say well see there Job
didn't believe in the resurrection of the dead oh no read Job 19
he did believe in the resurrection of the dead But he's talking
about once you leave this life, and he's right here. Once you
leave this life, I guarantee you, you're not coming back to
this life. And don't you thank God? He says in verse 10, he shall
return no more to his house. See, Job explains there, my household. He says, neither shall his place
know him anymore. Pretty soon he'll be gone and
forgotten by the ones that are left behind. Therefore, I will
not refrain my mouth. I'm not going to stop my complaints. That's what Job would say. I
will speak in the anguish of my spirit. Underscore that. That's
how you see this. There's Job speaking in the anguish
of his spirit. You ever spoke from the anguish
of your spirit? I have. And sometimes, by the
grace of God, what I speak in the anguish of my spirit is good.
Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's of the flesh.
But he says, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Now again, that's life on this
earth. Job knew that he would be raised
again unto eternal life, but he knew he'd never return to
this world. Look at verse 12. He says, Am I a sea or a whale
that thou settest a watch over me? What he's saying here, now,
most, most versions, translations translate the term whale, either
as some beast, just a wild beast. There's some commentators say
it means a crocodile. Here's what Job was saying. When
they thought of the sea back then, they thought of something
that was wild and dangerous and could not be tamed. And that's
what he's saying, am I like the sea? It's almost like he's talking
to God here. He says, am I so wild and untameable
like that sea or like that wild beast? Am I so wild and untameable
that you have to set such a watch over me like you're doing? You
have to keep me beat down like that? He says in verse 13, look
at it, he says, He says, when I say my bed shall comfort me,
my couch shall ease my complaint, then thou scarest me with dreams
and terrifies me through visions. Again, he can't sleep. He can't
get comfortable. He can't rest. He has nightmares. That's what he's saying. He says
in verse 15, so that my soul chooseth strangling and death
rather than my life. I'd rather be strangled. I'd
rather die than live like this. He says, verse 16, I loathe it.
I hate this life. He said, I would not live always.
I don't want to live like this always. Let me alone. You know
who he's talking to here, don't you? He's saying, Lord, let me
alone. For my days are vanity. Ease up on me. That's what he's
saying. Now, it's easy for me and you
to sit there and say, well, Job ought not talk like that. Well,
you walk in his shoes a little bit. See what he's going through. Go a day, go through a day like
Job was going through and see how you talk or how I talk. That's
human nature, isn't it? That's part of this struggle
with the flesh and the spirit. Look at verse 17. So he says,
what is man? That thou shouldest magnify him.
Now God did magnify man. He magnified man in the garden.
He made man the head of that garden. He said, you have dominion
over this whole world. He said, be fruitful and multiply.
What did man do? He failed. And then, God has
magnified man ultimately in the person and work of Christ. But
hold on to that thought, I'm going to come back to it. Now
look, he says, what is man that thou shouldest magnify him and
that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? Now that sounds
good, doesn't it? But now look at Job's perspective
as he states it in the next verse. He says, and that thou shouldest
visit him every morning and test him every moment. Job felt like
that God's visitations was a continual test. And up to this point, it
has been. And so he says in verse 19, look
at it. And what he's saying there is,
Lord, why are you so focused on me? You know, won't you spread
this suffering out a little bit among the community here? Why
do you hone in on me? Set your heart on me in chastisement. And so now look at verse 19.
Now he says, How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me
alone till I swallow down my spittle? Now that was an old
phrase that the Hebrews used to represent a moment of time.
Our equivalent phrase would be like in the blink of an eye.
They'd say, just swallow down your spittle, just that quick.
So he says, how long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me
alone till I swallow down my... In other words, I can't even
swallow that little bit of time without being beat down. That's
what he's saying. And he says in verse 20, now
I have sinned. What shall I do unto thee, O
thou preserver of men? Why hast thou set me as a mark
against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? Job admits he's a
sinner. He knew that. He knew that if
God gives us what we deserve and what we earn, it'd be eternal
damnation. But all our sinners, he's saying,
here's what he's asking. He's saying, I'm a sinner. But
has my sin been so much worse than everyone else's that I need
to go through all this? That's his perspective. So he
says in verse 21, And why dost thou not pardon my transgression,
and take away mine iniquity? What he's saying is if there
is a problem that's bringing this on me, then why don't you
just take it away? Pardon it and take it away. He
says, For now shall I sleep in the dust, and thou shalt seek
me in the morning. But I shall not be. In other
words, I'm getting to the point where I'm just going to snuff
out of existence and won't be able to be found. Now there's
man. What is man from that perspective
in this life? Well, back up there in verse
17. What is man? That thou shouldest
magnify him, and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him. David,
turn over to Psalm 8 that I read at the beginning. The psalmist
David, he quotes these verses and he quotes them in light of
a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that gives you another
perspective on this thing, doesn't it? About what is man. What is
man in this world? What is man in himself? What
is man without God? What is man without Christ? I'll
tell you, he's nothing. He's a few days and full of trouble.
He's a warrior against a hostile, cursed world and he's destined
to lose. He's a laborer working hard and
he's destined to lose everything. That's what man is. But what
about another perspective? Look at Psalm 8 verse 4 or verse
3 rather. He says, When I consider the
heavens, the works of thy fingers, the moon, and the stars which
thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him,
and the son of man that thou visitest him? And then he says,
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast
crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under
his feet. Now that can be said about man and Adam in the garden
before the fall. But who's he talking about? Well,
turn to Hebrews chapter 2 with me. Who's David talking about? And I want you to know something
about Job now. Job is speaking out of the anguish
of his soul. Alright? But Job is going to
be reminded of this very thing that we're looking at right here.
What David knew. And what Paul knew here in Hebrews
chapter 2. In this passage in Hebrews chapter
2, I want you to see this. Just like David, you know, Job,
he takes that truth. And he speaks out of his pain
and his anguish, wishing that God wouldn't think about him
so much. Don't hone in on me so much in the realm of chastisement
and suffering. David, he took the same thought,
those verses, and he relates them to God's grace in Christ.
And he asks this question, why would God ever be that good to
us? Why would God even think to stoop
down and be mindful of worms like us. And that's what Paul
writes here as he's inspired by the Spirit. He's talking about
the great salvation that God provides for such sinners as
we are. And he says, he says that all
of this is dependent upon one thing, this salvation. It's dependent
upon the glory and the honor and the dominion of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man. That's what it's dependent on.
In other words, if I'm going to have any salvation from this
cursed earth, cursed due to the fall of man, as recorded back
in Genesis chapter 3, if I'm going to have any victory in
this warfare, if I'm going to have any reward in this labor,
It's going to come through one person and one person alone.
And that is the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, when
you think about it, when you think about what we are, what
is man? Sinful as we are, wretched as we are, weak and helpless
as we are, depraved as we are, rebellious as we are, How awesome
it is to consider what man is and how God would be mindful
of us in a way of grace. Look at it, verse 6. He says,
But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou
art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Now here's how God's mind is now. Here's how the grace of
God works. He says in verse 7, Thou madest
him a little lower than the angels. What do you think he's talking
about there? He's talking about the humanity
of Christ. God became a man. What is man? God, the Son of God incarnate,
the second person of the Trinity. He stooped down. Paul wrote about
it in Philippians chapter 2. How he condescended and took
upon himself the humiliation of human flesh without sin. You know, it's bad to think about
that. Human flesh in sin. But it was even a humiliation,
a humbling of Christ to take on human flesh without sin. So he was made a little lower
than the angels. That's talking about his human nature without
sin. He says, and thou hast crowned him with glory and honor and
set him over the works of thy hands. What's that talking about?
That's talking about his finished work on Calvary. As God made. To save sinful men. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. Look at verse 8. He says, Thou
hast put all things in subjection under his feet. That is under
the feet of Christ. Now do you know, now here's the
thing, right now all things are put in subjection under his feet. Look at it. He says, for in that
he put all in subjection under him, under Christ as God-man,
Christ as the Redeemer, who satisfied law and justice on the cross
of Calvary by his obedience unto death, the Lord our righteousness,
right now he put all in subjection under him. Now listen to this
one. He left nothing that is not put under him. Now is there
anything that's not under subjection to Christ in his sovereign lordship
as God meant? The answer is no. All things
under him. Now, Think about it. Are all
things under Christ? Yes. How do you know that? God
says it. Now, when you look around and
you see this world in all of its wretchedness, that warfare,
that struggle that Job's talking about, does it look like all
things are in subjection to him? No, it doesn't look like it.
It doesn't look like it. Look at verse 9 again or verse
8 again. He says, but now we see not yet
all things put under him. Now, think about these Hebrew
believers that are reading this epistle.
Many of them were going through hard trials, persecutions. Many of them, their lives were
being threatened. Now, Paul tells them over in
Hebrews chapter 12, he said, none of you have suffered yet
unto death like those in Hebrews 11. But he said, he said, these
chastisements are coming. They're here. They're common
to all believers. And many of them were struggling.
Paul himself was struggling. He was in a warfare. He was in
a labor. So when they heard this, all
things are put in subjection to Christ right now. Well, it
doesn't look to me like it's all put under him. Looks to me
like somebody else is winning this battle. Well, that's not
so. Well, how do we know that all things are put under him?
Well, God said it, but look at verse 9. We don't yet see all
things put under him, but we see Jesus. Now, that's who we
see. You see, think about this. This
warfare that we're engaged in, it's a warfare of the flesh and
the spirit. It's a warfare against the world,
the flesh, and the devil. Who is our victory? Christ is,
in all cases. This labor that we're under,
we're not laboring for our salvation. We're laboring because we've
already been saved by the grace of God in Christ. We're not trying
to establish a righteousness of our own. We're laboring because
we've already been made righteous by Christ on the cross. God has
given us his righteousness, imputed it to us. And we received it
by God-given faith. We see Jesus. We see God, our
Savior. We see victory. We see all our
sins washed away in His blood. And this is the same one that
David wrote about. He was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death. In His death, we see
His dominion. Think about that. Job longed
for death because of his suffering, because he knew that'd be the
end of suffering. He wouldn't see this world again. But Job's
salvation was not in his death. Job's salvation was in the death
of his substitute. We see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death. What
does that mean? That means he's our substitute.
That means he's our surety. He's our sin offering. Somebody
said, well, sin offering isn't good enough. Well, read Hebrews
10 and verse 14. For by one offering, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. Don't tell me an
offering isn't good enough. By his one offering, he what? Perfected. How long? Forever them that are sanctified. That's his offering. The offering
of himself. He offered himself without spot. to God. And he died. He literally died. He really
died. And I can't tell you a whole
lot about that other than that he died. And that death is our
salvation. And so it says, He's crowned
with glory and honor because He died. He satisfied justice. He finished the work. He brought
in everlasting righteousness and that He, by the grace of
God, should taste death for every man or every one. Talking about
His elect, His sheep. Look at verse 10. Here it is. For it became Him. It was appropriate,
fitting, It met the qualifications of Him, God. That's what it's
talking about. For whom are all things, and
by whom are all things, even our suffering, in bringing many
sons unto glory. There's the everyman. There are
many sons. To do what? To bring them unto glory. His
dominion. You see, what is man? Well, when
you look at man on this earth in himself, he's nothing. Less
than nothing. And even if you look at Job,
he's a poor wretch out on the ash heap outside the city. But
when you look at man in the person of Christ, what do you see? He's
going to bring many sons unto glory. How he gets them there,
that's his business. But he's going to bring them
to glory. I know this, every one of them are going to come
by way of the cross. Every one of them. And he says, to make
the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. Who's
the captain of our salvation? That's Christ. How is he going
to be made perfect through sufferings? Well, that's not talking about
moral perfection there. That word perfect means complete.
And he would be made complete through sufferings because in
his sufferings there would be a complete work. He'd finish
the work. For Christ is the end, the finishing,
the completeness, the perfection of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes. It is finished. And so he says
in verse 11, for both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified
are all one. All of one. We're one in Christ. One. He's our representative. He's our high priest. He's our
substitute. He's our sin offering. He's our
lamb. One in the eyes of God's law
and justice. We stand in him justified. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
can condemn us? It's Christ that died. That's
what man is in Christ. That's not what all men are,
because all men are not in Christ. But that's what man in general
is through Christ who saved his people from their sins. And it
says, for which cause he's not ashamed to call call them brethren. I love that. That's an amazing
thing. What is man in Christ? We're
his brethren. We're his brethren. And I'll tell you what, when
you look at, when each of us surveys our lives, you know really,
we've got a lot for him to be ashamed of, but he's not ashamed
at all. Because we stand perfect in him. We're made the righteousness
of God in him. And so we have nothing to be
ashamed of, so that when we live our lives for the glory of God,
die in Christ, and stand at the judgment, we won't be found naked. We won't be found ashamed. We
won't be found there in ourselves and in our own. We'll be found
in Christ. And He's the glory of the Father.
So we have nothing to be ashamed of. That's what man in Christ
is. What is man? Verse 12, he says,
saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, and in the
midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. Well, we'll
conclude there, but isn't that something? Perspective means
everything, doesn't it? And that's why that the Lord
tells us, commands us, that when we run this race, we run it looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He is, Christ is
to be our perspective. You know, when we look at man,
look at ourselves in these issues. All right.