Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Religious Studies – Anthology
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Jesus Christ is the Son of God in that Jesus Christ is the one who humbles
himself and is obedient in humilit y. In rendering obedienc e as he does, he does
something only God c an do.
Must emphasize that the Father and Son are one.- The Judge Judged in our Place IV.1, 211
Cur Deus homo? Why bec ome a servant? What purpose, end, sc ope, meaning.
It is an outward activation and revelation of t he whole inward ric hes of his deit y in
all it s height and dept h; God hast ens t o t he help of t he world as it s loyal Creat or,
taking up its c ause. There is no nec essity to this. God bec ame man bec ause the
salvat ion of t he world is inc luded in t he self-purposiveness of t his divine ac t ion.
Deus pro nobis did not have to be, but is. How? God took it upon himself to
share with Israel its plac e, status, and situation by making them his own. God has
not abandoned the world and man in the unlimited need of his situation, but He
willed to bear this need as his own, he took it upon himself, and he c ries with man
in this need.
Sec ondly, God exposed himself to, and withstood, temptation. But why? The Father
sent the son to be the savior of the world. But we must say that he is t he savior in
so far as he is the Judge. He exercises the judgment of God. Serious situation. It is
bec ause of fault and evil that God enc ounters man in the flesh. Jesus Christ bec ame
man in order to judge the world; to judge it to show his grac e, to save us by our
destruc tion.
What took plac e? The Son of God fulfilled the righteous judgment on us men
by Himself taking our plac e as man and in our plac e undergoing the judgment
under whic h we had passed. In His doing this for us, there c ame to pass our
rec onc iliation with God. God bec ame man that he might do this and bring about our
rec onc iliat ion and c onversion. All t his c ame t o pass as t he hist ory of Jesus Christ.
“The Judge judged for us.” This does not mean a general “with us”! “Jesus
Christ for us” means this one true man Jesus Christ has taken the plac e of us men,
of many, in all the authority and omnipotenc e of the one true God, in order to ac t in
our name and t herefore validly and effec t ively for us in all mat t ers of rec onc iliat ion
with God and therefore of our redemption and salvation, representing us without
any c ooperation on our part. He is our Representative and Substitute.
(1) Jesus Christ was and is “for us” in that He took our plac e as our Judge. Jesus
Christ destroys our pretentious self-judgment.
(a) This means the abasement and jeopardizing of every man.(b) It also means immeasurab le liberat ion and joy.(2) Jesus Christ was and is for us in that He took the plac e of us sinner. He does
not come to sin, but to accept responsibility for what we do. As he does that, it
c eases to be our sin. Jesus Christ is quite alone among us, the only One who is
judged and condemned and rejected.
(a) Apart from this we do not know that we are sinful(b) As our represent at ive, Christ bears our sin. Our being in sin is now in his
hands.