God has made this same Jesus
\nActs 2:36
\nTherefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made
\nthat same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.<\/p>\n
I hear people speak of a Jesus who is trying his best to save everyone,
\nfor it is contrary to his will for anyone to perish. They say their
\nJesus died vicariously for everyone, dying in their place and stead the
\ndeath they all deserve, thereby making it possible for them all to live
\nand never die. They say their Jesus paid the price of redemption for
\neveryone. But they admit that hell will be full of people who perish
\nagainst his will and despite all his efforts to save them. And they aver
\nthat he cannot save any except those who of their own \u201cfreewill\u201d permit
\nand enable him to do so.<\/p>\n
That futile and ineffectual Jesus is what ministers of the Lord Jesus
\nChrist call \u201canother Jesus whom we have not preached\u201d (2 Corinthians
\n11:4). The message regarding that Jesus is called by Jesus\u2019 ministers \u201ca
\ndifferent gospel\u201d invented by \u201csome who trouble you and want to pervert
\nthe gospel of Christ\u201d (Galatians 1:6f). When I hear people speak of such
\na futile and ineffectual Jesus, I conclude \u201cMan has made that Jesus!\u201d<\/p>\n
But in God\u2019s Holy Word I read of the Jesus whom God made, and of all the
\nglorious things God made His Jesus to be. \u201cGod has made this Jesus\u201d
\nreads our present text. Let us here consider some things \u201cGod has made
\nthis Jesus\u201d to be.<\/p>\n
I. God made this Jesus to be like His brethren and to be their High
\nPriest (Hebrews 2:17): \u201cTherefore, in all things He had to be made like
\nHis brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in
\nthings pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019 \u201cbrethren\u201d are God\u2019s adopted children. They are in need of a High
\nPriest who can offer the sacrifice that will once for all obtain
\npropitiation for them. That High Priest must be \u201ctaken from among men\u201d
\nand \u201cappointed [by God] for men\u201d (Hebrews 5:1). That is, He must be of
\nthe same human nature as his brethren and appointed by God to be their
\nHigh Priest. In order that the High Priest might make propitiation once
\nfor all for his brethren, he must be sinlessly perfect. All the Aaronic
\nHigh Priests of Israel were of the same nature as their brethren and
\nappointed by God. But none of them was sinlessly perfect. Therefore,
\nthey were unable to make propitiation once for all for God\u2019s children.<\/p>\n
So God appointed His only begotten and sinlessly perfect Son to be the
\nHigh Priest of His children, and gave them to Him for safe-keeping. In
\norder that Christ may be a \u201cmerciful [to men] and faithful [to God] High
\nPriest\u201d, He was by God \u201cmade like His brethren\u201d. \u201cInasmuch then as the
\nchildren have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in
\nthe same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of
\ndeath, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death
\nwere all their lifetime subject to bondage\u201d (vv.14f). \u201cTherefore, when
\nHe came into the world, He said: \u2018… a body You have prepared for Me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
This Jesus made by God to be the High Priest of His brethren has indeed
\nsucceeded in His High Priestly ministry (Hebrews 10:11-14): \u201cAnd every
\npriest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same
\nsacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had
\noffered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of
\nGod, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For
\nby one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.\u201d<\/p>\n
II. God made this Jesus to be sin for His people (2 Corinthians 5:21):
\n\u201cHe made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us ….\u201d<\/p>\n
God made His Jesus to be sin itself \u2013 that which is in this same text
\nthe antithesis of righteousness itself! Righteousness is what God\u2019s
\nelect become because of their relationship with Christ; sin is what
\nChrist was made to be because of His relationship with God\u2019s elect. All
\nthe sins of God\u2019s elect were gathered together into one load, and that
\nload of sin was by God \u201claid on Him\u201d (not merely imputed to Him), so
\nthat \u201cHe bore the sin of many\u201d in such a way as to be identified as one
\nmass of sin (Isaiah 53:6, 12).<\/p>\n
God made this Jesus to be sin for His people for a specific purpose:
\n\u201cthat we might become the righteousness of God in Him.\u201d The Greek verb
\nhere translated \u201cbecome\u201d (ginomai) is not the same as that formerly
\ntranslated \u201cmade\u201d (poieo). The sense therefore is not that something
\nmerely happens to us for whom Jesus was made sin, but rather that in Him
\nwe are actually brought into an existence as something new (v.17):
\n\u201cTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things
\nhave passed away [Greek parerchomai \/ \u201cperished\u201d]; behold, all things
\nhave become [Greek ginomai] new.\u201d And this new creation in Christ bears
\nHis name: \u201cJehovah Our Righteousness\u201d (cp. Jeremiah 23:6 with 33:16).<\/p>\n
III. God made this Jesus to be a sin offering for His people (Isaiah
\n53:10f): \u201cWhen You make His soul an offering for sin ….\u201d (We are aware
\nof the discussion regarding the proper English translation of the Hebrew
\ntext: Here the prophet speaks of Jehovah making Messiah to be an
\noffering for sin; others say Jehovah speaks of Messiah making His own
\nsoul an offering for sin. Whichever, the Father and the Son are one, and
\nneither acts independently of the other.)<\/p>\n
Christ has indeed been made a sin offering for His people: \u201cGod …
\nloved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [i.e., atoning
\nsacrifice] for our sins\u201d (1 John 4:10); \u201cHe … did not spare His own
\nSon, but delivered Him up for us all\u201d (Romans 8:32). Therefore, the
\nnecessary results have occurred:<\/p>\n
First, \u201cHe shall see His seed.\u201d Jesus\u2019 \u201cseed\u201d are God\u2019s children. Jesus
\nwill \u201csee\u201d them, for \u201cA posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted
\nof the Lord to the next generation. They will come and declare His
\nrighteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this\u201d
\n(Psalm 22:30f).<\/p>\n
Second, \u201cHe shall prolong His days.\u201d Christ therefore assures all for
\nwhom He was the sin offering, \u201cI am He who lives, and was dead, and
\nbehold, I am alive forevermore. Amen\u201d (Revelation 1:18). He will see His
\nseed forever, for Jehovah promises that \u201cHis seed also I will make to
\nendure forever\u201d (Psalm 89:29).<\/p>\n
Third, \u201cand the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.\u201d It is
\nJehovah\u2019s pleasure that His people be saved. Jesus will prosper
\nJehovah\u2019s pleasure by saving every one of His people (Matthew 1:21).<\/p>\n
Fourth, \u201cHe shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.\u201d Jesus
\nwill have no stillborn children! He travailed as a woman in childbirth
\nfor the salvation of God\u2019s children, and shall see every one of them
\nbrought to spiritual life. Furthermore, none of them will perish after
\ntheir new birth, for Jesus gives to them eternal life and securely keeps
\nthem (John 17:1-4).<\/p>\n
Fifth, \u201cBy His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He
\nshall bear their iniquities.\u201d The \u201cmany\u201d whom Jesus justifies are the
\n\u201cmany\u201d transgressors whose sins He bore and for whom He made
\nintercession for salvation (v.12). Every one for whom Jesus died will be
\njustified, and no iniquity or transgression or sin will ever be charged
\nto them. If God made this Jesus to be your sin offering, He will declare
\nyou to be \u201ca just man, perfect\u201d (as was Noah in Genesis 6:9), \u201cblameless
\nand upright\u201d (as in Job 1:1, 8; 2:3). God will never impute sin to you
\n(Psalm 32:1f \/ Romans 4:8), nor ever behold iniquity in you (Numbers 23:21).<\/p>\n
You are among these blessed ones if you rightly answer the first
\nquestions of this chapter: \u201cWho has believed our report? And to whom has
\nthe arm of the LORD been revealed?\u201d<\/p>\n
VI. God made this Jesus to be both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36):
\n\u201cTherefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made
\nthis Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
They err who say \u201cI made Jesus my Lord!\u201d Men made Him to be the worst
\nsort of criminal, the \u201cStone which was rejected\u201d as reprobate (Acts
\n4:11), and publicly accursed (Galatians 3:13).<\/p>\n
But \u201cGod has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord [Master of
\nAll] and Christ [Anointed Son of God].\u201d In so doing, God did not make
\nJesus to be what He previously was not, for Jesus was Lord and Christ
\nprior to His crucifixion. Even from His conception He was \u201ca Savior, who
\nis Christ the Lord\u201d (Luke 2:11).<\/p>\n
The meaning in Acts 2:36 is that God made this Jesus whom men made
\naccursed to be both Lord and Christ in the eyes of those who had
\nrejected and crucified Him. They thereby realized that in crucifying
\nthis \u201cJesus of Nazareth\u201d they had murdered their Lord and Jehovah\u2019s
\nAnointed Son (see vv.22-35; cp. 5:30).<\/p>\n
Nothing they could do against this Jesus could undo what God made Him to
\nbe. First: \u201cGod has made this Jesus\u201d to be like His brethren and to be
\ntheir High Priest, and to make propitiation for all for whom He
\nministered. Second: \u201cGod has made this Jesus\u201d to be made sin, so that
\nHis people might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Third: \u201cGod
\nhas made this Jesus\u201d to be the sin offering for His people, and all for
\nwhom He was sacrificed are saved and justified. Fourth: \u201cGod has made
\nthis Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGod has made this Jesus!\u201d As for His futile rival, \u201cMan has made that
\nJesus!\u201d In whom will you trust for your salvation? \u2013 Daniel E. Parks
\n(December 18, 2011)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
God has made this same Jesus Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. I hear people speak of a Jesus who is trying his best to save everyone, for it is contrary to his will for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,72,64,68,17,10,36,30,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-daniel-parks","category-christ-and-his-church","category-successful-saviour","category-christ-his-person-and-excellencies","category-atonement","category-election","category-redemption","category-righteousness","category-false-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4210,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4209\/revisions\/4210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}