LD 5: The Person of Christ = 100% God and 100% Man

Because our righteous Savior is 100% Man and 100% God, He alone is worthy to be our Mediator.

That’s my summary of LD 5; now it’s time to explain it more.

Lord’s Day 5 is central to the gospel of Christ because it describes the person of Christ.  The gospel is the good news of what Christ has done in history.  So here, we must first look at Christ’s being and then His doing.  Regarding Christ, it’s absolutely fundamental that we understand both His person and His work.  In these set of questions we look specifically at the person of Christ.

First, I want to highlight the clarity taught in HC #12 concerning the need for 100% justice.  Inherent in our creation is the relationship that all humans have with their Creator.  We were created for His glory; all our actions are in some way directed towards Him; this is true speaking both positively and negatively.  Unfortunately here in LD 5, the attention is on the negative; it’s on our sins.  When Adam fell in sin, the Creator-creature distinction became that much more pronounced.  Our total depravity ushered in a chasm of infinite, eternal quality in relation to our Creator’s perfect holiness.  Furthermore, the consequence of our sin is infinite, eternal punishment.  It is to this grave predicament which HC #12 addresses.

As I’ve written before, God is a just God and his justice must be perfectly satisfied because He is perfect and cannot deny His perfections.  Justice and truth are at the forefront here.  Not one single sin can be left unpunished; all sins must be dealt with justly.  The truth of God’s Word leaves us with this choice: either we pay the eternal punishment of sin ourselves or someone pays that punishment for us.  Either way each and every sin will be punished.  The question is: who will pay that punishment?

God requires that his justice be satisfied.  Therefore the claims of his justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or another. (HC #12)

Perhaps the thought might trickle in that I’ll just make sure to live the best life possible.  I’ll make sure to have my good deeds outweigh every failure and wrongdoing I’ve ever committed, so that by the time my life ends, my life’s resume will allow me an eternal pass from punishment.  But the HC stops me dead in my tracks:

Actually, we increase our guilt every day. (HC #13)

The desire to rest on my own good works sets me straight on the path towards me personally paying for the very sins I’m trying to cover up with good works in the first place.  If I try to offer up my good works, I have to also offer up my sinful thoughts, words, and deeds.  It must be the totality of my life.  On top of that, the Bible is clear that even my apparent good works are tainted through and through with sin.  In the end, I have nothing to offer God except sin and consequently to personally bear the punishment of my own sins.

Thankfully though, Lord’s Day 5 begins the shift from guilt to grace, from law to gospel, and it starts with the person of Christ.  Here is a combined answer of HC #14-15:

To begin with, God will not punish another creature for what a human is guilty of.  Besides, no mere creature can bear the weight of God’s eternal anger against sin and release others from it. We need a mediator, who is truly human and truly righteous, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.

Here’s a simple explanation:

• Who sins?  People.  Humans must pay for the sins which men have committed.  Those paying the punishment of sins must be men… He who pays must be 100% man.
• What are the requirements of heaven?  Perfect righteousness.  Nothing less is acceptable to a perfectly righteous and holy God.  The standard is 100% perfect righteousness.  He who enters heaven must be 100% righteous.
• What are the consequences of sin?  Death.  Death comes to those who sin, but more specifically it’s eternal death.

Enter the Mediator
God’s Word presents Jesus as the only Mediator able to fit these requirements.  When we look at the person of Christ, we see that He’s is presented as 100% Man and 100% God.  How this can be is only understood by God Himself, but inability to comprehend the person of Christ doesn’t hinder its truth.

Jesus must be 100% man because man sinned.  It should be noted that Jesus never sinned, so in that way, was more human than we’ll ever be in this life.  We were created to live without sin for God’s glory.  Jesus wasn’t created (He already was) but He did live completely without sin entirely for His Father’s glory.  As a man, He died for man’s sin.

Jesus must be 100% God to appease the offended party.  Jesus came to this world as the incarnate Son of God.  He had to be God because the full collection of man’s sins are directed at God.  God is the offended party.  God, being an eternal God, must punish sins eternally.  Only an eternal Being can pay for an eternal punish and still conquer the pangs of sin’s death.  Jesus is the only One who can pay the eternal punishment of sin, because He is an eternal Being.

So Lord’s Day 5 begins my summary sentence and Lord’s Day 6 will complete the added description…

Because our righteous Savior is 100% Man and 100% God, He alone is worthy to be our Mediator who is both willing and able to bear the punishment of our sins and earn for us heaven’s righteousness.

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Lord’s Day 5

Q & A 12
Q. According to God’s righteous judgment we deserve punishment both in this world and forever after: how then can we escape this punishment and return to God’s favor?
A. God requires that his justice be satisfied.  Therefore the claims of his justice must be paid in full, either by ourselves or another.

Q & A 13
Q. Can we pay this debt ourselves?
A. Certainly not.  Actually, we increase our guilt every day.

Q & A 14
Q. Can another creature—any at all—pay this debt for us?
A. No.  To begin with, God will not punish another creature for what a human is guilty of.  Besides, no mere creature can bear the weight of God’s eternal anger against sin and release others from it.

Q & A 15
Q. What kind of mediator and deliverer should we look for then?
A. One who is truly human and truly righteous, yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is also true God.