In our Ask FGBC Anything video series, listeners submit questions that we then answer in a video format.

Transcript

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

god, person, hypostatic union, christ, answers, sins, righteousness, punishment, lord jesus christ, infinite, adam, blood atonement, natures, forgiveness, died, son, forfeits, doctrine, covenant theology, book

SPEAKERS

Pastor Jim Butler, Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick, Wim Kerkhoff

Wim Kerkhoff  00:06

Okay, so question here, how could one man pay for the sins of the world? If we deserve an eternity in hell as just punishment for our sins? How was Christ able to pay the punishment for billions over a period of 36 hours? It was, after all Christ according to His humanity that died for our sins.

Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick  00:30

Just let me formulate my thoughts here.

Pastor Jim Butler  00:34

I would say Covenant Theology, the doctrine of God, dealing with us based on either Adam the first or Adam the last. So the Bible tells us that in Adam all died. So when Adam takes that fruit he does rebel against God, he transgresses God’s law, he forfeits eternal life for he and his posterity. So God’s corrective or remedy is to send his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. So as Adam represented us, or was what what is called a covenant head, as he was that one who stood in our place, and we fell in him. So Christ comes as God’s answer and God’s remedy to that situation. So Christ is a public person, he’s a representative. And I would extend that 36 hours to 33 years because it’s not just his death that we need. We need that for blood atonement, for forgiveness for cleansing of our transgression, but we need His righteousness, we not only need him to die for us, we need him to live for us. And it’s not just as an example, oh, look at how good Jesus was in those 33 years, I need to go and do likewise. No, what Jesus does in terms of his what we call active obedience to the law, is provide a righteousness for us so that when we, by God’s grace, believe the gospel, that righteousness is imputed to us and received by faith alone, and that forgiveness is given to us based on the doing and the dying and the rising of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick 02:09

I also think theology proper can help us hear the doctrine of God as well as Christ. So what is God? Well, God, God is infinite in His being. And so when man sins against His infinite God, this infinite God requires an infinite punishment. And there’s only one who is infinite, and that is God. And thankfully, our God exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so then we have to then think of who our Christ is, and what he is, he is with that hypostatic union, though the one person in two natures, but it’s the one who it’s the one eternal Son who takes on a human nature. And so man has engaged in this infinite sin against this infinite God. And it can only be infinite God assuming human nature, to be that perfect sacrifice for his people. So the fact that it is the eternal Son is vital and important to one person, the one person.

Pastor Jim Butler  03:04

that’s right, the one who the hypostatic union.

Pastor Mike Kirkpatrick  03:07

Who he is and what he is.

Wim Kerkhoff  03:12

This is almost actually where we can plug it the book we’re studying on Saturday mornings here in this answer. Wellum’s book, right?

Pastor Jim Butler  03:19

Yeah, still, Steven Wellum’s book, the person of Christ, and introduction. So we do that every other Saturday morning, we have a theology class at Oh, dark 6:30 In the morning, all are encouraged and invited to come to that. So yeah, we’re presently concerning are considering the person of Jesus Christ. Yeah.

Wim Kerkhoff  03:40

It’s definitely been helpful to me just around the natures and how you attribute these things and such.

Pastor Jim Butler  03:47

That goes back to something we were discussing earlier, you know, with reference to theological precision and articulation. When you start asking questions, it’s not bad to find answers. You know, the longer you grow in your Christian faith, the more questions good ones, you know, how is it that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us? That’s not a bad question. And the Bible provides the answers. And the church, thankfully, has mined out or has looked at and executed those answers and provided them for us. So it’s a recognition that God’s called us to do theology, to think through these things.

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