The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of Heaven and earth. He does not live in temples built by humans. He gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man (Adam), God made all the nations, and He marked out their appointed times in history. God did this so that people would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though the Lord is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being…..Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. (Acts 17:24-28 excerpts; John 17:3)
G. K. Chesterton’s Famous Three Words
Gilbert Keith “G.K.” Chesterton (1874-1936) was an English writer and philosopher. Before he came to faith in Christ, he was an agnostic, dabbled with the occult, and suffered from spiritual darkness and depression. But as he studied the Scriptures, Jesus made more and more sense. God the Holy Spirit was making Christ attractive to him.
Chesterton met and married Frances Blogg (1869–1938), another author. He admired her Christian faith and how she lived it out. She trusted and obeyed the Bible, she taught Sunday school, and she cared for sick and elderly people. Frances was the first person Chesterton had known whose faith in Jesus was woven into every aspect of her life. She led him to Christ as the Liberator of his soul.
Chesterton once responded to a newspaper’s question, “What is wrong with the world?” Chesterton avoided all the usual causes —breakdown of the family, flawed education, greed, injustice, or violence. Instead, he gave a famous answer:
In the eternal sense, the answer to the question,
“What is wrong?” is, or should be, “I am wrong.”1
Chesterton was right. Each of us is a rebel who fails to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And we fail to love our neighbors.2 Most problems on our planet flow from these two failures.
But wait. There’s good news! Pastor Jack Miller (1928–1996) said: “Cheer up! We are worse sinners than we ever dared imagine. And we are more loved by God than we ever dared hope.”
How Did Our Problem Start??
God created humankind, male and female, in His own image and likeness. Humans are unique among all God’s creatures, different from animals and a little lower than angels. The Lord made us to imitate Him in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.3 What a splendid start! Adam and Eve lived in loving harmony with their Creator Lord until they followed Satan and his rebellious ways.
Our first parents, by their own free choice, distrusted and disobeyed God. Even in paradise, they fell from their beautiful beginning, dragging us all down with them. Now our thinking, being, and doing are bent away from God. Now everyone does whatever seems right in our own eyes.4 That makes us dangerous people and the world a dangerous place. Most of human history tells this sad truth. Even secular people recognize that we are a mess.5
What was God’s Plan?
Praise the Lord, He is loving, gracious, and merciful. So He did not reject or abandon the human race. The Lord’s image in us can be defaced, but it can’t be erased. God decided to reclaim all that we lost and make it better! From Genesis 3:15 onward, the whole Bible tells about God’s rescue mission, fulfilled in Jesus.
The Lord says: I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people… They will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (Jeremiah 31:33-34)6
To bring His Old Testament people back to Himself, the Lord used prophets (like Moses), priests (like Aaron), and kings (like David) as mediators. These leaderss were only human beings, sometimes faithful to God, sometimes not. But each of them pointed ahead to Jesus. Over 300 prophecies in Scripture foretold Christ. Only He is fully human and fully God. Only Jesus (which means “God saves”) is qualified to deliver us from our sin and bring us back to God.7
“Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. It’s a title and means the Anointed One, the Messiah, the One God sent to crush Satan and all evil. Over 2,000 years ago, God’s reclamation project came to its pinnacle when Jesus came into this world, into history. Unlike Old Testament mediators, Christ (the God-man) is our perfect Prophet, Priest, and King. He is the Lord’s “Triple Cure” for all that ails us.
How is Christ our Prophet?
In our heads (our knowing), we don’t know God and His ways rightly. We are suckers for following the crowd and the devil’s lies. So Jesus is the long awaited Prophet, better than Moses, who reveals God to us.8 Christ is the Master Teacher of all time because no other teacher ever loved his students as Jesus loves us. Christ’s first hearers said, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.” Everyone was impressed with Christ and amazed by His gracious words. They were open-mouthed at Jesus’ teaching because He taught with real authority, unlike other religious leaders.9 Christ said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”10 So we ought to follow Jesus gladly.
How is Christ our Priest?
In our hearts (our being), we are guilty of not acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.11 And the Lord is completely holy and just, so He hates and must punish sin. Sin is rebellion against God’s loving rule, by our doing wrong as He defines it and neglecting the good He commands. Sin also ruins people made in the Lord’s image. The idea of sacrifice seems primitive to modern people, but God says that sin cannot be pardoned and purified unless there is blood shed from a death.12 Christ must be punished for our sins or else we must be punished. Deep down we know this is true. Jesus is the Priest who offered Himself up once and for all to satisfy God’s justice and to reconcile us to Himself.
The Bible says: Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them receives God’s mercy… Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. (Proverbs 28:13; Psalm 32:1)
How is Christ our King?
In our lives (our doing), we are weak, worried, wandering, and wild without God’s loving leadership. So Jesus comes as the King of kings and Lord of lords to rule and defend us. He restrains and conquers all of His and our enemies. Christ also guides us in paths of righteousness (doing the right things) in our everyday lives.13 We must bend our hearts, minds, and lives to Him as our Boss forever. And what a loving, gracious King He is!
Why Do Evil Things Still Happen?
The Bible describes Christ’s kingship unfolding in stages. God is fulfilling all His plans and giving people more time to turn back to Him:
- From all eternity, He was, is, and ever will be King of His Creation.
- All through the Old Testament, Jesus ruled history and saved people from sin and danger.
- At Christ’s first coming, He accomplished a mighty salvation for us and decisively defeated Satan.
- Between His first and second comings, Jesus is hallowing God’s name, advancing His kingdom, and causing His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
When Christ returns, He will consummate our salvation, destroy His enemies, and bring us into a new heaven and a new earth, where there will be only righteousness.14
Receiving Jesus’ sacrifice as our Savior and surrendering to Him as our Lord is what makes us Christians. Have you done that? If not, ask God to save and rule you.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You have done everything for us as our Prophet, Priest, and King. We know and believe that You are the eternal Son of God. Now help us to taste and see Your infinite goodness. You came to seek and to save the least and the lost, including us. Your love is so amazing, and so divine, You demand our souls, our lives, our all. Help us to follow You with our whole hearts, minds, and lives. You deserve nothing less! All our confidence is in You.15
- Dying, You destroyed our death
- Rising, You restored our life
- Lord Jesus, come in glory! Amen.16
Notes (various Bible translations used): 1 London Daily News, Aug. 16, 1905. 2 Mark 12:29-31 (quoting Deut 6:4-5; Lev 19:18). 3 Gen 1:27-28; Psalm 8:5; Col 3:10; Eph 4:24. 4 Judges 17:6, 21:25. 5 See Ferdinand Lundberg, The Natural Depravity of Mankind: Observations on the Human Condition, 1994. Lundberg defines depravity as individuals putting their personal interests ahead of the law and the common good. 6 See also Ezek 36:24-29. 7 Matt 1:21; Rom 3:21-26; 1 Tim 2:5; Rev 5:9. 8 See Deut 18:15; Acts 3:22, 7:37. 9 John 7:46; Matt 7:28-29; Luke 4:22. 10 John 14:6. 11 Micah 6:8. 12 Heb 9:22. 13 Psalm 23:3. See also 1 Cor 15:25; Col 2:15; Rev 17:14. 14 See 2 Peter 3:13; Isaiah 65:17, 66:22; Rom 8:21. 15 Prayer based on Psalm 34:8; Luke 19:10. 16 “Dying You Restored our Death,” Presbyterian Hymn #567.