01.01.03 - Jesus Christ is truly Unique

3. Jesus Christ is truly Unique: At the end of these times (i. e., of Hebrews 1:1), God spoke to us by a Son, whom He appointed heir of everything, and through whom He [the Father] made the ages. Hebrews 1:2.

Here we see the uniqueness of our dear Lord unimpeded. He is God’s one and only Son, a title that at once embraces all of the human and divine facets of His unique Person. And He is in His humanity the heir of all things as a result of His victory at the cross, having won the battle over Satan (Colossians 2:15; Revelation 5:5), having won the hand of His Bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:25), and having won eternal redemption for all mankind, all who are willing to accept it (Hebrews 9:12). And He is in His deity the One through whom the Father brought about the creation of the universe, space and time. In His unique Person, therefore, Jesus Christ, God incarnate, binds all things together, whether they be of this creation or transcend it. For it was [God’s] good pleasure for the fulfillment [of His plan] to reside entirely in [Christ], and so through Him to reconcile everything to Himself, having made peace through Him, through the blood of His cross, whether things on earth, or things in heaven. Colossians 1:19-20.

Jesus is the unique “bridge” between all that is material and all that is immaterial, and one can scarcely comprehend or appreciate the graciousness of the Father in offering His own dear Son for this role or our Lord’s incomparable and ineffable sacrifice in accepting it. Suffice it to say that through His becoming truly human forever at the same time that He remains divine in an undiminished way, Jesus has wed Himself and therefore has wed the divinity to saved mankind forever, having poured out His life on the cross to accomplish this merciful deliverance of us all. Thus the fundamental transformation of what was before creation, what creation meant (because of what in the grace of God it was going to entail in terms of Jesus’ sacrifice), and what now will endure to the ages of the ages is completely bound up in the unique Person and work of Jesus Christ, through whom we have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and because of Him God will forever, on that blessed day of days when time ends and eternity begins, make His abode with saved humanity forevermore (Revelation 21:3). For in Him (i. e., Jesus Christ), dwells all of the fullness of deity in bodily form. Colossians 2:9.

Here we see deity and humanity combined in an absolutely unique way. Jesus Christ is truly a man (since His incarnation: Php 2:6-11). Jesus Christ is also truly God (Colossians 2:2 Greek). Only by having a body could our Lord deliver us from our sins, because only in this way could God die for our sins. This is the mystery of the gospel (Colossians 2:2), the plan and power of God for saving sinful mankind (Romans 1:16). Therefore Jesus is the plan of God, the Cornerstone of all that God has purposed to accomplish (Matthew 21:42; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6-7; cf. Romans 5:6; Romans 8:29-30; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:17-20; Hebrews 9:26).

. . . . . in all wisdom and understanding [God] has made known to us the mystery He has willed (according to His own benevolent purpose which He determined in [Christ]) for administering this [present] fulfillment of the epochs: namely the incorporation of all things in Christ, things in heaven, and things on earth – Ephesians 1:8-10. As the ages were designed for our Lord Jesus Christ as well as through Him (Colossians 1:16-17), there is scarcely any respect in which the scriptures do not reflect this distinctive uniqueness of the One who saved us through His death. While it is thus not possible to comprehensively delineate every single way in which our Lord’s uniqueness is essential to the plan of God, the mention here of a sample of some prominent areas in which that uniqueness is critical is appropriate: a. That uniqueness is shown by the fact that only by being God and man could Jesus be the Firstborn, the One who would earn the privileges of rulership, priesthood, and double portion (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 1:5; cf. section I. 5.f. 4.c below):

He is the exact image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Colossians 1:15.

Since Jesus is the one and only Son of God (John 1:14; John 1:18; John 3:16, John 3:18; 1 John 4:9), His status of firstborn refers not to any order of birth but rather to the privileges that fall to the lot of the firstborn, namely, rulership (Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 22:41-45; Matthew 28:18; Colossians 1:18; Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews 3:1-6; Revelation 2:27), priesthood (Hebrews 5:6; Hebrews 7:13-14), and double portion of inheritance (Revelation 19:9; cf. Deuteronomy 21:15-17). As with His priesthood and His Messiahship, Jesus’ status of “firstborn” is a privilege earned through His sacrificing of Himself for us all on the cross, for He is the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:5), indicating that it is His death for us that forms the basis for His receiving all of the rights and privileges of firstborn status (cf. Genesis 49:4; and Hebrews 12:16; where it is made clear that this privilege is based upon merit).

I will also appoint Him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
Psalms 89:27 NIV

We have discussed above Jesus’ rulership and priesthood, the first two benefits of firstborn status (and it a wondrous thing to contemplate that we, His Church, share in all of these by virtue of our sharing in His status of “firstborn”: Hebrews 12:23). As to the third, the firstborn’s double-portion of inheritance, in our Lord’s case, this consists of His dearest possessions, the Bride (i. e., the Church consisting of all pre-second advent believers: Revelation 21:9; cf. Ephesians 5:22-33; Revelation 19:7-8; Revelation 21:2; Revelation 22:17), and “the Friends of the Bride (i. e., the equal number of millennial believers: Psalms 45:14-15; Revelation 19:9). Our Lord’s uniqueness is thus pellucidly clear in His unprecedented rulership of the world which only the Messiah can attain (Matthew 22:41-45; Hebrews 3:1-6; Revelation 1:5-7; Revelation 5:4-5; Revelation 11:15), the eternal priesthood “according to the order of Melchizedek” which required the sacrifice which only God’s Son could provide (Hebrews 7:26; cf. Hebrews 2:15-17), and in the fulfillment and possession of the Bride and her Friends, which only the God-Man will achieve (Romans 8:29; Hebrews 2:13). b. That uniqueness is shown by the fact that only by being God and man could Jesus be our Sin-bearer, the One who would pay the penalty for our sins on the cross (Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:12; Mark 8:31; Mark 9:12; Luke 9:22; Luke 17:25; Luke 22:15; Luke 24:26, Luke 24:46; Acts 1:3; Acts 3:18; Acts 17:3; Acts 26:23; Romans 8:17; 2 Corinthians 1:5; Php 3:10; 1 Peter 4:1): My God, My God, why did You forsake Me? Psalms 22:1.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with suffering. Like a person people hide their faces from, He was despised, and we did not hold Him of any account. For He bore our sicknesses and He carried our weaknesses. And yet we considered Him as [the One who had been] punished, smitten and afflicted by God. But [in fact] He was made subject to torment on account of our transgressions, and He was crushed because of our collective guilt (lit., “guilts”). The punishment [required] for making peace [with God] on our behalf [fell] upon Him. Because of His wounding, we have been healed. Isaiah 53:3-5. But now we do see Jesus crowned with glory and honor on account of the death He suffered, even Him who became “a little lower than the angels” for a brief span so that by the grace of God He might taste death on behalf of us all. For it was fitting for [the Father] to make complete through sufferings Him on whose account all things exist and through whom all things exist, namely, the Captain of their salvation, even Him who has led many sons to glory, [our Lord Jesus Christ]. Hebrews 2:9-10. For because He has suffered, He is able to help those who are being tested, since He Himself was [also] put to the test. Hebrews 2:18. For we do not have a High Priest who is not able to sympathize with our weaknesses, since He too was put to the test in all things just as [we are], [only] without sin. Hebrews 4:15.

[Jesus our High Priest] who in the days of His flesh[ly life] (i. e., while He was on earth prior to the resurrection), having offered up prayers and petitions with powerful shouting and with tears to the One who was able to save Him from death, and having been hearkened to on account of His devoutness, although being [God’s one and only], nevertheless came to understand [firsthand] from what He suffered [what] obedience to God [truly is] (i. e., what it takes for a human being to be obedient to God), and, once He was perfected (i. e., perfectly completed His course), became the source of eternal salvation for all who are obedient to Him (i. e., believers). Hebrews 5:7-9.

Therefore Jesus also suffered outside of the gate, in order to sanctify the people through His blood (i. e., His death on the cross). Hebrews 13:12. For it is to this [sharing in the sufferings of Christ] that you have been called, for Christ also died on your behalf, leaving you an example so that you might follow in His footsteps: He committed no sin, nor was any guile found in His mouth. He did not return slander when He was slandered, did not threaten when He suffered, but entrusted Himself to the One who judges righteously. 1 Peter 2:21-23. But to the degree that you are [truly] participating in Christ’s sufferings, be joyful about it, so that at His glorious revelation, you may also rejoice with great gladness. 1 Peter 4:13. c. That uniqueness is shown by the fact that only by being God and man could Jesus be the Messiah, the One who fulfills the duties of the Father’s mission: At that time (i. e., His birth) He [Jesus Christ in His deity] said, ‘Behold, I have arrived (i. e., been born) – in the scroll of a book it is written of Me – to do your will, O God’”. Hebrews 10:7 (Psalms 40:7)

Jesus is the One whom the Father sent into the world to save it (Luke 2:25-35; John 3:16; John 3:34; John 7:18, John 7:28-31; John 17:18; Romans 8:3; Hebrews 3:1; 1 John 4:9-10; cf. Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 8:6; Zechariah 2:9, Zechariah 2:11; Zechariah 4:9; Zechariah 6:15), the Messiah (Hebrew: Meshiach, xywm), the One prophesied to come into the world and deliver it from sin by dying in its place (the cross: Isaiah 52:13-15, Isaiah 53:1-12), and to deliver it from evil by reigning over it in perfect righteousness (the crown: Psalms 2:1-12; Psalms 45:1-17; Psalms 72:1-20; Psalms 110:1-7). The Hebrew title Messiah, translated into Greek as “Christ” (Christos, Χριστός), means “Anointed One”, and reflects the Hebrew custom of demonstrating through an anointing with oil that a person had been officially commissioned into an extraordinary office (as in Samuel’s anointing of Saul:1 Samuel 10:1; of David:1 Samuel 16:13; or Moses’ anointing of Aaron: Exodus 28:41). In all such cases, this anointing with oil is symbolic and represents divine empowerment through the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Numbers 11:17-29; 1 Samuel 10:6, 1 Samuel 10:9-10; 1 Samuel 11:6; 1 Samuel 16:13). While never symbolically anointed with oil, Jesus was symbolically “anointed” with our sins (the meaning behind His unique water-baptism: cf. Mark 10:38-39; Luke 12:50), after which He immediately received a special and dramatic symbol (i. e., the Spirit descending upon Him in the form of dove) of the unction of the Holy Spirit He possessed from birth by virtue of His unique status as the Anointed One. His status of anointing is unique both in terms of its exceptional degree (Isaiah 11:2-3; John 3:34; cf. Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32), and also in that it demonstrates the Father’s pleasure with Him in the undertaking of His earthly mission (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; cf. Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35; John 12:28). And it was essential for the Messiah, the Anointed One, to be both God and man to fulfill His mission because 1) only the God-man can be the sin-bearer who redeems mankind; 2) only the God-man can be the Father’s regent to rule over redeemed mankind forever; and 3) only the God-man can mediate between the Father and sinful mankind as high-priest. Thus our Lord was Ruler, Redeemer, and Mediator by right of birth as the firstborn, won the right for us to share with Him in these offices by being our sin-bearer, and discharged (redeeming us at the cross), is discharging (mediating for us even now), and will discharge (ruling the world at His return) each of these offices in fulfillment of the Father’s mission in His status as Messiah, with each accomplished in its proper time.