He Was Made

Q: What does the Bible say about the incarnation of Christ?

The Bible teaches that the Word was made flesh, emphasizing Jesus' real humanity while maintaining His full deity. The incarnation is a crucial doctrine, illustrated in John 1:14, where it states, 'The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.' This emphasizes that Jesus Christ, being fully divine, took on real human nature. He lived, suffered, and died as a man, experiencing life just like us. Yet, He did not cease to be God, indicating a profound mystery in the union of human flesh with divine nature. This event was necessary for the redemption of God's elect, as only through the Son of God taking on human frailty could the law's demands be satisfied and salvation secured for sinners.

Q: How do we know that Christ is our surety?

The Scriptures declare that Jesus was made a surety of a better covenant, fulfilling all the law's demands on our behalf. Hebrews 7:20-22 specifically mentions that 'Jesus was made a surety of a better testament.' This means that Christ stands as our guarantor, fulfilling the covenant of grace agreed upon by the triune God before the world began. His role as surety implies that He took upon Himself the responsibilities and consequences of our sins. Therefore, His perfect obedience and sacrifice serve as the foundation for our acceptance before God, guaranteeing that all the conditions for our salvation were met through His life and death.

Q: Why is the death of Christ considered necessary for salvation?

Christ's death is essential as He was made sin for us, satisfying God's justice and securing our redemption. The necessity of Christ's death is central to the gospel. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 states, 'He made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.' This signifies that Jesus, though sinless, was made to bear our sins, thus experiencing the full wrath of God in our place. His sacrificial death fulfills the requirement for justice, permitting God to justly forgive and redeem sinners. By being 'made a curse for us' (Galatians 3:13), He bore the penalty of sin, enabling believers to receive the blessings of righteousness and eternal life through faith in Him.

Q: What is the significance of Christ being made under the law?

Christ being made under the law signifies His role in fulfilling the law's demands for our salvation. In Galatians 4:4, it states that 'God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.' This means that Jesus lived a life subject to the law, fulfilling its righteous requirements perfectly. His obedience to the law was necessary for providing a righteousness that could be credited to our account. Since He was under the law as a man, His perfect adherence to it allows believers to be considered righteous before God. Christ's submission to the law underscores His identity as our representative, ensuring that all legal demands were satisfied in Him.

Q: How does the concept of Christ being made sin relate to our justification?

Christ being made sin secures our justification by transferring His righteousness to us through faith. The link between Christ being made sin and our justification is profound. As stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21, Christ was made sin for us, allowing His righteousness to be attributed to believers. This transfer ensures that when God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ rather than our sin. Justification is a legal declaration where God pronounces the guilty sinner righteous based solely on the perfect work of Christ. Therefore, our justification before God hinges on Christ's vicarious atonement and His imputed righteousness, making it essential for our salvation.

Those songs always sound a whole
lot better when they sing them than they do when I go over them.
Thank you, David. Let's turn together to Hebrews
chapter 7. Hebrews, the seventh chapter. I always look for indications
in God's providence for that which needs to be preached
at any given time. I'm never ready. But I believe the Lord gave me
direction earlier this week with these three words that have been
on my mind ever since I opened the letter and read it on Tuesday.
He was made. He was made. Hebrews chapter 7, verse 20. And in so much as not without
an oath, he was made priest. Throughout the New Testament,
The word made is used to describe that which our Lord Jesus was
made to be and made to experience as our mediator and our substitute. Listen to these words in the
book of God. The word was made flesh. God's son, Jesus Christ, our
Lord, we're told in Romans 1, was made of the seed of David,
according to the flesh. Just as the first man, Adam,
was made a living soul, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15,
the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. God sent forth his woman or his
son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them that were
under the law. And the Lord Jesus was made surety
of a better testament. The word made in all of those
passages of scripture is a very intense, strong word. It means cause to be or cause
to become. It involves experience. In all of those places, the word
that's used of necessity involves something experienced. Our Lord
Jesus experienced being made a surety. He experienced being
made a man. He experienced being made of
a woman. He experienced being made under
the law. He experienced being made a curse. All those things he experienced. Never is it said that it was
reckoned as though he were made these things. Never is it suggested
that somehow He pretended to be made those things. Heaven
forbid. Never is it suggested or implied
in any way that these things are just reckoned as though they
were so. No. He was made to experience
all these things. Caused to be these things. He was made. All that the Lord
Jesus Christ is as God. All that he is as God. In his absolute, infinite, eternal,
self-sufficient being as God. The second person of the Holy
Trinity. All that he is as God. He is from eternity, forever,
and eternally, immutably. He is that as God, if I can use
such language and be understood by nature. In order to be God,
this is what he must be. Everything that he is as God
the Son. But all that he was made as a
man. All that he experienced as a
man. All that he was caused to become
as a man. was necessary for the saving
of our souls. These things came to pass in
time because He came here to be voluntarily obedient unto
the Father as the Father's servant, unto the Father's will as our
Savior, as the surety of the everlasting covenant. Now I want
us to go through the book of God this morning. And I don't
know whether I'll get finished or not. If I don't, I'll come
back to it another time. But I found nine, ten things
in this book, ten things that Christ is specifically said by
God the Spirit to be made for us. Now, obviously, I'm not going
to spend any time on any one of them, but I want you to see
these ten things because they are all linked together and all
stand together. All are things involving the
salvation of our souls. Christ Jesus, we're told, was
made something. Let's begin in Hebrews chapter
7 then. Look down just two verses from our text in Hebrews 7 20
to verse 22. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. The word testament I've told
you many times the New Testament is the word covenant. It's the
very same word that's translated covenant. The word is a word
that speaks of a covenant that is an agreement between two people. It is spoken of as a testament. That is the will of one that's
left to those who are his inheritors, who inherit his estate, who inherit
his legacy, that which is given to them as a testament. Our Lord's
testament to us, His covenant with us, is given to us in these
words that we use to represent humanity, because we're just
puny little men. When Scripture speaks of a covenant,
the Scripture do not anywhere suggest that somehow God thought
this way and then He decided to do this and then the Son of
God did that and the Spirit of God proposed this. No. But it's
presented that way It's presented that way so we can get a handle
on it It's presented that way so we can get some grasp of it
the Lord Jesus Stood forth as our surety the surety of an everlasting
covenant before the world began all the conditions Necessary
for the salvation of God's elect every chosen sinner was set forth
before him agreed upon by the triune God And the Lord Jesus
stood forth from eternity as the covenant man, our surety. And he said, I will go and I
will redeem my people. I will save them. I will justify
them. I will bring them here and present
them thoughtless before the presence of your glory. Trust them to
me. And the father trusted the son. And the Lord Jesus was accepted
of God as our surety and we accepted in Him before the world began
and He set about to do it. But it's also a testament. It
is that which He declares shall be the gift of God to every chosen
redeemed sinner. It's a testament. So that when
we come together and the Lord opens his word to you. We've come for the reading of
his will. Now, I don't know many folks
who've got anything much worth having, but you know, if Joyce
Montgomery were to name me in her will, and she should happen
to die before I do, I suspect, when I got a notice from the
lawyer that it's time to read the will, I'd be there. I just
suspect I'd be there, wouldn't you? I'd suspect I would. When
you come to the house of God, you come for the reading of the
Master's will. That's all. And when God saves
sinners, He gives them to know their place in His mercy. as heirs of covenant grace, and
the will is read to them. The will is put into effect,
the testament, only by the death of the testator, we're told in
Hebrews chapter 9. The Lord Jesus died to put into
effect that which was written up for me before the world began. But do you know what would just
be dead sure to happen if Joyce were to name me as her heir? Man, there's lots of Montgomery's
over yonder in that county. There's lots of them. And somebody
else would get it. I guarantee you, somebody would
contest it. She must have been out of her
mind. She must have been. Well, more than likely, that's
the way it'd go. Because she's dead. And she can't
say. But the son of God lives as Lord. to enforce his will. He not only entered into a covenant
and said, I will save them. And the father accepted him as
a surety. But the Lord Jesus made his will
and said, this is the will of the triune God for my people. And God made him Lord and said,
do it. And the Lord Jesus then is the
surety of this better testament, this better covenant that's ordered
in all things insure. Turn back to John chapter one,
John chapter one. And I urge you read carefully
the article I put in the bulletin today about the word being made
flesh. John chapter one, verse 14. Don't read it now. I want to
preach to you now, but really when you get home, if you haven't
already, John 1 14, the word was made flesh. Why? Why? What reason can be given
for the incarnate God taking on himself, our nature for what the law could not do
in that it was weak. through the flesh. What couldn't the law do, Alan?
It couldn't put away your sin. It couldn't make you any better.
It couldn't justify you. It couldn't convince you. It
couldn't convict you. It couldn't get... The law couldn't
do anything. Why? What's wrong with the law? Nothing.
Nothing. It couldn't do it because of
your flesh. It's weak through the flesh. because your sinful
flesh prohibits it, because your sinful flesh forbids it. What
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the father, full of grace and truth. These words describe
the incarnation of the Son of God. The union of our nature
with God. The union of God with our nature. The permanent marriage of man
and God. The permanent worlding of man
and God together. The permanent union of Godhood
and manhood. All His other works God could
do and did do. With no cost. Cost God nothing
to make this world. Not even effort. Not even effort. He only doeth
wondrous things, the psalmist said. And that's all he ever
does. They're just wonderful stuff. Wondrous stuff. And it doesn't even cost him
effort. He's God. He's God. That's just, that's
just beyond me. He wills it, and it's done. That's
all. He spoke, and it was light. Not even an audible speech. Just
His will. Just His will. Everything else
God did and has done, He does with no cost to Himself, with
no sacrifice. but in His matchless, infinite
holiness, justice, and truth. God could not save your soul
without the sacrifice of His Son. Hereby perceive we the love of
God for us. In this was manifested the love
of God to us. God commended his love toward
us. And while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. In order to save us, the word
was made flesh. God Almighty came into this world
in a body of human flesh. He lived and breathed. He grew and hungered. He learned and thirsted. He worked
and ate. He got tired and sat down by
a well. He got tired and laid down for
rest. He got tired and suffered and
died as a man, all as a real man. And yet, he never ceased
to be God. He never, his godhood never declined,
never diminished. Brother Don, that's impossible.
God's accustomed to doing the impossible. He'd been doing it
since the beginning. God almighty laid down his life
for us. All right, let's turn to Galatians
chapter four. Galatians the fourth chapter, look at verse four. Paul has been telling the Galatians
of the utter foolishness of justification by works or sanctification by
works. He's been telling us that you
must be saved by free grace alone. He's about to give an allegory
of Sarah and Agar to demonstrate that. And here in chapter four,
he tells us how God's free grace comes to sinners. Look at verse
four. When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his
son, made of a woman, made under the law. Here we're told that
Christ was made of a woman and made under the law. The first
statement has to do with our Lord's virgin birth. Now some things are so clearly
essential to Christianity that to deny them is to deny Christianity
altogether. Some things revealed in this
book so essential to saving faith that to deny them at all is to
be an infidel, not a Christian. We speak of God's sovereignty,
his character as God. I have no objection to the terms,
the sovereignty of God. I love God's sovereignty. Well,
I like his sovereignty. I love God who's sovereign. There
is a difference. It is the sovereign God we worship. And rob God of sovereignty, you've
robbed Him of Godhood. What do you mean, Brother Doug?
I mean, uh, to suggest or imply or think
in your mind somehow that God Almighty does not always have
His way. That God Almighty somehow can
be manipulated by you. that God somehow can be controlled
by you, that somehow the influence of hell and demons and devils
can alter God's purpose or alter God's work, is to deny His sovereignty. And I don't care if you call
Him Jehovah or Allah or Buddha or Don. If you deny His sovereignty,
you're an idolater. Just, well, hold that handkerchief
up, call it Jehovah, and say that's God. Such a God is nothing
but a rabbit foot God. You carry him around in your
pocket and you rub him for good luck. That's all. To deny man's
depravity is to deny Christianity at its very essence. Man is dead
in trespasses and in sins, as we've just heard. Man is absolutely
dead. Graveyard dead. That means if
anything depends on you, There's no hope for you or anybody else.
To deny the deity of our Lord Jesus is to deny the gospel at
its very core. There are lots of folks these
days who seem to have found some way to embrace as brethren Mormons
and Russellites and others who deny that Jesus Christ is God. But in reality, the fellows who
embrace them themselves deny that Christ is God, for they
deny the efficacy of his atonement. They deny the efficacy of his
intercession. They deny the efficacy of his
will. To deny these things is to deny
deity. It is to deny that Jesus Christ
is God. To deny the irresistible grace of our God. To declare
that God is one who can somehow be resisted in his will, in his
operations of grace, is utter blasphemy. He who can alter the
order of nature won't have any trouble altering the will of
man. These are fundamentals. These are essentials of the faith. And another of those vital, indisputable
things is the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus. Now I'll say
little about that now. I'm going to be dealing with
that tonight, the Lord willing. But I fully agree with I.M. Haldeman
who made this statement. He who denies the virgin birth,
denies Christianity, smites the mother of our Lord with shame,
snatches the crown of deity from Jesus' brow, strips Christ of
his sinless humanity, makes the cross a bloodstained failure,
and bids us face eternity with no light in the darkness the
word was made flesh and God sent forth his son made of a woman
just as he promised in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 here's the
next thing made under the law why Is that stressed? Christ is the one who made the
law, Bobby. He's the one who gave the law. And now we're told
that he's made under the law. Nowhere else. Do we read those
specific words made under the law? I, uh, live in Boyle County. I'm under the law of the United
States under the law of the state of Kentucky. under the law of
Boyle County, Kentucky. That is, I am subject to every
ordinance established in the record books of the law from
time beginning, that is, time beginning of the state, time
beginning of this country, to this very day. I'm subject to
them all. I went for a visit just a couple of weeks ago to
Mexico. And I'm not a citizen of Mexico.
But do you know what? Being a citizen of the United
States ain't worth beans in Mexico. I was under law to Mexican government. I've done that one time, watch
them take down a flag. I wish they did it around here.
Shelby and I looked up, I was standing in city square in Merida
about five o'clock in the afternoon. We heard a marching band. I looked
around, where's the parade? And all of a sudden here comes
a fully dressed military unit going to take down the flag.
And they got, automatic weapons and got bayonets on the end of
the weapons. And you stand at attention, Mexican
or otherwise. There's a fellow standing beside
me. He wasn't paying any attention to him. He just went right on
yapping. This little Mexican fellow took his gun and his bayonet
and tapped him on the shoulder. And he got quiet. And the fellow
turned around and started yapping again. He tapped him on the shoulder
again. And the fellow turned and looked
at him, and he gave him a stern look. And he still had a hat on his
head. And the fellow stuck his bayonet and stuck it right in
his hat, and then stuck the bayonet right in his chest. That fellow
pulled his hat off, stood a-titchin'. How come? Because you're on Mexican
territory, you're under Mexican law. How can Jesus Christ, God's
Son, be made under the law, and why? The only way he can be made
under the law is to come here as a man. And he's made under
the law, all the law, made subject to the moral law, made subject
to the civil law, made subject to the laws of ceremonies, made
subject to the dietary laws, made subject to all the law that
God gave in Sinai, all of it, to fulfill it. How come? Because he's a surety. And righteousness
must be brought in. God Almighty Cannot and will
not save a sinner except by righteousness By his obedience in life The
Son of God from the time he came into his mother's womb To the
time he said it is finished Was obedient to the law of God What
you mean the law of God all the written will of God All the decreed
will of God. All the covenant will of God. He came to do his father's will.
And having lived on this earth for 33 years, he never did anything
but right. Only right. He never had an evil
passion. a corrupt thought, a cold emptiness of heart. Ever. Ronnie walked before God
in the perfection of manhood for somebody else. Not for himself,
but as a surety, as a representative, as our covenant man, the God-man. And by His union of manhood with
Godhood, the Word being made flesh, made of a woman, made
under the law, here is a man of infinite worth living in perfect
righteousness for a multitude that no man can number. And His
obedience is of infinite worth to God, obedience that is made
to be ours, so that that which is His righteousness is the righteousness
God gives to us in free salvation. Look at Romans chapter 1. Romans
the first chapter. In the opening verses here of
Romans 1, Paul describes the gospel of God. And he describes
it in tremendously instructive language. People all the time
asking about the gospel. You'll hear news commentators
and you'll hear television stories and You'll hear babbling religious
idiots everywhere this time of year talking about the gospel
of Jesus. The gospel says, the gospel teaches, the gospel taught
us. If you want to know what the
gospel is, go to the book and find out what it is. Here is
one of those many places where the gospel is clearly defined.
Romans what? Verse what? Paul, a servant of
Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel,
the not but one, the good news of God, which he had promised. The gospel is something God promised.
The good news is something God promised afore, afore by his
prophets in the Holy Scriptures. So whatever the good news is
in the New Testament, it's exactly what was written in the Old Testament.
Concerning his son, the gospel has got nothing to do with you.
The gospel, the good news has got nothing to do with you, nothing
at all. The gospel is all together about
his son, Jesus, who is the Christ, our Lord, which was made of the
seed of David, according to the flesh, made of David's royal
seed, David. You remember, God promised to
David, said, I'll never like a man to sit on your throne.
And the book of God speaks about David's throne, long after David
was dead. And the Lord spoke about a day
when there'd be one fold and one shepherd, and that shepherd's
name would be David. Well, David had been dead a long
time. What was he talking about? He was talking about Christ.
He was talking about the son of David, who was typified by
David. David represented Christ, he
prophesied of Christ, he promised Christ, and he descended from
Christ. He is both the one who descended
from Christ and the one from whom Christ descended. He's the
root of David and the offspring of David. He's declared then
to be the son of God with power. How's that? According to the
spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. This one who came
into this world, he said, I am the Christ. And he made sin and
he goes to the tomb. Ah, look at him. He couldn't
have been the Christ. He couldn't have been the son
of God. He's dead. We're done with him. We washed
our hands of him. Hold on. Watch him on the third
day. He's declared to be the son of
God with power by the resurrection from the dead. By whom we have
received grace. This resurrected Christ, the
son of David, We've received grace and apostleship for the
for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name among
whom ye also are the called of Jesus Christ. All right. Now, second Corinthians five
verse twenty one. Here, the word made is a different
word. For he hath made him sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. He knew no sin. He knew no sin. You're unaware of these things
for the most part. Because I dare preach what this
book says in its language, men who can't stand the language
of the book, who have motives of their own, seek to discredit
the message of scripture. And word is out, Fortner says
Jesus was a sinner. Fortner never said any such thing
and never thought any such thing. Never. The book says he was made
sin. He knew no sin. He did no sin. There was no deceit in his mouth,
no lying under his tongue. He is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. Judas Couldn't even die with
a lie on his lips. He said, I betrayed innocent
blood. Surely this man, the centurion
cried, was the son of God. Yet he was made sin for us. Made wondrously. mysteriously, unexplainably
made sin. By a marvelous transfer of grace, my sin became his. He made sin. When the Lord of glory died in
our room and stayed upon the cursed tree, He died under the
wrath of God justly. Justly. God never did and never
does anything except justly. Justly. How can Bill Raleigh
be punished for a crime? Justly. Justly. Well, the court found him guilty. That doesn't make it just. That
may make it legal. That doesn't make it just. How
can Bill Raleigh be punished for a crime? How? Only if he's
guilty of the crime. Can't be punished otherwise.
Not justly. And somehow, By work that none but God could
do, God made his darling son guilty. All my guilt on him was laid. And justice drew forth its dreadful
sword and cried awake. Awake, O sword, against one that
is my fellow. Smite and slay the shepherd. The Lord God says, he that justifieth
the wicked and he that condemneth the just, even they both are
an abomination to the Lord. These things are too profound,
too great, too mysterious for me to comprehend. but not too great for me to believe,
and not too great for me to proclaim. I'm astonished, I'm sickened
by the fact that some find these things alarming, dangerous, some
even heretical, and I won't answer them. Let the potsherds of the earth
strive with the potsherds of the earth. These things aren't
debatable. I can't imagine why anyone would
even think about debating them. Can it be dangerous or heretical
to state exactly what God says in this book? Can that be dangerous? Can that be heretical? What does
God say in this book? The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. had made Him to be sin for us. Can it be dangerous or heretical
to state things exactly as God has stated them? Is it possible
to state the doctrine of the cross in the very language of
Scripture and yet misstate it? No, sir. No, sir. Christ Jesus
was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Justified. How can God justly take me to
glory? How can he do it? Justly. Justly. How can I justly be rewarded
with everlasting glory. How can God rightly and justly
look on me in the last day and say, well done, thou good and
faithful servant, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world? How can he do that justly? Well, I went to church and I
rubbed my rosary beads and I Had my rabbit foot guard and I said
my confessional and I went to the preacher at the Baptist Church
and I said to sign the decision card and I said, I believe in
Jesus and I don't want to go to hell. I want to go to heaven
and everything's all right. You know better. You know better. You know better. Try taking your
rosary beads to the hospital bed, laying in intensive care,
waiting to die. Try it. Try taking your little
decision card to the hospital, laying down with a doctor telling
you, you got an hour or two to live. Try it. You know better. How can I, a sinful, wretched,
vile, worthless man, be taken to glory justly only if I am
made the righteousness of God in His Son? Made righteous? Made righteous? How can that be? How can that
be? Made righteous because Christ
was made sin and He satisfied all the justice of God for my
sin. And that righteousness, which
is His alone, He makes mine. Just as fully as He was made
sin, Just as really as he was made sin, just as mysteriously,
just as wondrously, the Lord God Almighty has called me to
be the righteousness of God in his Son. All right, look at verse
13 in Galatians chapter 3. Now we're talking about justice.
We're talking about righteousness. We're talking about truth. By
mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. Galatians 3, 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. What? What? When God took His Son and nailed
Him to the tree, did God Almighty make Him a curse? A curse. So that all the horrid ignominy and shame All of it is made his, so really
his, that the father turns his back on his cursed son hanging
on the tree. For sex. Why? Look at verse 13. That the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,
that we might receive promise of the
spirit through faith, the promise of the spirit. Why was Christ
made sin? Why was he made a curse? Because
there's no other way for God's elect to get God's blessing.
No other way for God's covenant people to have God's covenant
blessing. No other way for us to have the
gift of the spirit, the promise of the spirit, eternal life in
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Look in John 17. I'm sorry, let's
go to Acts 2, Acts chapter 2. This one who was made sin, who
was made a curse, we're told had been made both
Lord and Christ. Now that the curse is removed
from him, now that he has ceased from sin, Now that he's been
raised from the dead, that is justified in the spirit. God,
the father has given him the throne of universal dominion. He promised to him as the reward
of his obedience. He said, ask of me, I'll give
you the heathen for your inheritance. Look at Acts 2 36. This is what
Peter says happened. Let all the house of Israel know
assuredly. No, without a doubt. no amen. Let all the house of Israel know
assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus wondrously, mysteriously,
unexplainably made him whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Thou hast given him power over
all flesh. that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. To this end he lived and
died and revived, but he might be Lord both of the dead and
of the living. Back to Hebrews chapter 7. I want to just touch on a couple
more things, but I want to hurry and get to my last statement.
Hebrews 7 verse 20. This is where we started. He was made
a priest. No, that's not right, is it?
That's not what it says, is it? He was made priest. He was made
priest. In him, we are priest unto God,
every believer. But there's no priest except
him. No priest. Brother Tom Harding was a Mormon
before God saved him. He was, his next step up, he
was about to become a priest in the Mormon church. Oh no,
they don't have any priests, they just have pretend priests.
But what about the priest of Rome? He's just a pretend priest,
he's just got a fancy costume, that's all. Just an old man with
a fancy costume, and a lot of folks with synod-looking costumes
following him around. Not a priest. Oh, you can't say that, he's
going out on national, international broadcast. Let the world hear
him. He's no priest. He's no priest. Had no power with God. He didn't
do business in the holy place. He's not accepted of God. No,
no. Christ alone is made priest. We have an advocate, an intercessor
with the father, an advocate, an intercessor at God's right
hand. I hear some folks say, well,
I'm not concerned. I've got a I've got a friend
in the court. You reckon God's going to bend
the law for you? I've got a friend in court. I can take care of
this. I'll just slip a little money
under the table and it'll be all right. God doesn't operate
that way. Churches do and courts do, but
God doesn't. Well, what good does it do to
have an advocate with the Father? His name is Jesus, Savior, Christ,
the one spoken of, promised, anointed, accepted of God, the
Christ, the righteous, the righteous. God Almighty accepts him for
me because he's the Lord, my righteousness. And I made the
righteousness of God in him. And he's the Lord. He's the Lord.
This great high priest of ours is the priest of God. And look
at first Corinthians 15. First Corinthians 15. Because he has satisfied the
law, being made sin and made a curse, because he's king with
sovereign authority to give life to whom he will, because he is
the priest whom God appointed, anointed, and accepted, the Lord
Jesus has been made of God a quickening spirit. Look at verse 45. So
it is written the first man Adam was made a living soul and God
Scraped up some dust. I reckon maybe he shaped it in
the form of a man and there he lay just dust Look like this Just dust just dust a real nice
piece of sculpture and but dust until God breathed into his nostrils
and man became a living soul. So also the first man Adam was
made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening
spirit. The Lord Jesus lay in the earth His body, there just dust. For three days, just dust. God
reached in and took out his rib to make a woman for him called
his bride to church. And there he lay just dust. But
the third day, the third day he revived and he came forth. quickening spirit. A quickening
spirit. What's that mean? He giveth life to whom he will. He gives life to whom he will,
quickening whom he will as the quickening spirit. The one who
is life. He is life. Eternal life. Who stood forth in the beginning
as the covenant man? life that's one for us by his
obedience as a representative man and life in him the everlasting
man Now gives life to whom he will Now one more passage first
Corinthians chapter 30 chapter 1 sorry verse 30 first Corinthians
1 verse 30 If the Lord Jesus, who was made
a quickening spirit, has given you life and faith by his sovereign
grace, then he is made of God unto you. Watch this. Of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto you, made unto
us, wisdom. Wisdom. Wisdom to show us God. Bring God to us and bring us
to God. Wisdom, the word in whom and
by whom God's revealed. And righteousness. Righteousness. People talk about righteousness,
religious and otherwise, talk about righteousness in lots of
ways. In the language of this book, Speaking of righteousness before
God, the only righteousness there is, is Christ. And the only righteousness any
man has is the righteousness Christ has made to you. Both
in free justification and in sovereign regeneration. Not only
is his righteous record ours, but in the new birth he gives
us his righteous nature. Christ in you, the hope of glory. He's righteousness and sanctification. God comes at the appointed time
of love and he separates his sheep from the goats. He calls
them by name. And he puts a new nature in them,
that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. That's
the righteousness Christ Jesus our Lord brought to be made ours
in the sweet experience of his grace and redemption and redemption. Deliverance, deliverance by blood,
deliverance by power, deliverance. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. by his blood. He redeemed us
from the dominion of sin and guilty conscience by the power
of his grace through his blood. I read something just this morning,
wrote it down, that law, wrath, pains of conscience and horrible
fretting can only be alleviated and sweetly eradicated by Christ
bore my sins in his body on the tree. And soon, oh bless God soon,
redemption's coming. Redemption by the merit of his
blood, by the power of the outstretched arm, and these bodies shall be
redeemed. from all the evil consequences
of sin and resurrection glory. Why does God do things this way? Why does God make Christ everything
to his people? Why is Christ alone our Savior? So that you can't get any glory. and
I can't get any glory and nobody else can get any glory that according
as it is written he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord the
Lord Jesus came here for the suffering of death and he will
have that for which he bled upon the curse tree He will have His
people with Him in His glory rightly and justly. Amen.

He Was Made

What does the Bible say about the incarnation of Christ?

How do we know that Christ is our surety?

Why is the death of Christ considered necessary for salvation?

What is the significance of Christ being made under the law?

How does the concept of Christ being made sin relate to our justification?

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He Was Made

What does the Bible say about the incarnation of Christ?

How do we know that Christ is our surety?

Why is the death of Christ considered necessary for salvation?

What is the significance of Christ being made under the law?

How does the concept of Christ being made sin relate to our justification?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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