From Paul’s message to the Athenians presented in Acts 17:

“I am preaching about the ‘Unknown god,’ whose statue I saw in your city. Furthermore, the God I preach is not new; He is the oldest God, the Creator of all nations. Until now, He allowed them [the nations] to go their own way, searching for Him, but now He commands all nations to repent [of their idolatry] and worship Him. He has shown His intent by raising a man from the dead, who will be Judge of all.”

Implicit in Paul’s statement is the death of the Lord, Jesus. Without His death, there would be no resurrection. The Lord, Himself, says in Matthew 20:26-28:

“But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man [Lord Jesus] came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So Paul declares the humanity of Christ in Athens. Matthew reports the testimony of the Lord to his purpose first-hand. Now John, in his Gospel account, declares the divinity of Christ to his kin, the Jews, and eventually to all of us through the Scriptures. We see the Lord’s divine nature declared in John 10:27-30:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

In an age where the citizens of the world are more connected and able to interact than ever before in history, our beliefs, focus, and acts reflect outwardly our inward or spiritual, even eternal, alignment. Either you believe that God became man in the person of the Lord Jesus, who died and was raised from that death to pay the penalty for your sins…or you don’t. And once saved by the bloodshed of the Lord at Calvary, believers, followers, sheep, His beloved – you and me – can live victoriously and contently resting in the hand of God.

Paul’s message of propitiation to the community of believers at Colosse in chapter 2 of his letter found in the New Testament, Col 2:12-15:

“God made [you and me] alive together with [the Lord Jesus], having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This [debt] He set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

And with that picture of the payment remitted for all of our sins, nailed to the cross on which the Lord gave His life for yours and mine, let me leave you with this encouraging thought from the same letter and chapter by Paul, Col 2:6-7:

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

DH – Set Free Correspondence Ministry of Wisconsin
January 9, 2021