Jesus Our Righteousness (4)

 

“I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in me.” John 14:30.

 

“He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21.

 

“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even unto death.”

 

How might Revelation 12:10 -11 relate to John 14:30 and 2 Cor. 5:21?

 

If the ruler of this world could find nothing in Jesus, then the ruler of this world can find nothing in us, for we are in Jesus Christ; the sinless Lamb of God was made sin for us, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

 

We overcome the accusations of the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The Lamb has purchased and cleansed us with His blood (Rev. 5:9; 1 Pt. 1:19; Eph. 1:7). His blood also cleanses our conscience (Heb. 9:14; 10:19 – 25) so that we can live in holy intimacy with God and with one another.

 

When we read John 14:30, we first see Jesus and then we see ourselves in Jesus, for our lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). If the Lamb has indeed purchased us, then we belong to Him, we are His property, He is our Sovereign, our Lord. We can trust our Master to speak for us, to defend us – He is well able to protect and keep those whom He has purchased. We look to the blood of the Lamb as our assurance that we are purchased, cleansed, forgiven, and justified.

 

What is “the word of their testimony”? What is our testimony? It is, first and foremost, the Gospel of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is our testimony – we talk about Jesus, not so much about ourselves…and any talking we do about ourselves ought to be rooted in Jesus and pointing to Jesus – only one person can occupy center stage, and that must ever and always be Jesus Christ.

 

The perfect work of Jesus Christ is so remarkable that it even cleanses our consciences! (Heb. 9:14; 10:22).

 

What a tragedy that so much of the professing church now substitutes man-centered therapy for the miraculous Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

What would marriages look like if husbands and wives saw themselves in Jesus Christ, and saw each other in Jesus Christ? What would families look like? What would churches look like? What would church leadership look like? What would we look like, as God’s People, if we stopped accusing ourselves and one another (including in our teaching) and instead saw ourselves as cleansed, forgiven, justified, sanctified, and glorified in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:28 – 30)?

 

We can believe what the enemy says about us, we can believe what others say about us, we can believe what we think about ourselves, or we can believe what God says about us in Jesus Christ. Why O why will we not believe Jesus Christ? Why will we not believe His glorious liberating Good News?

 

Why would we rather serve as slaves, shackled in galley ships, pulling the oars of condemnation and accusation and the Law – rather than live as free women and men in Jesus Christ?

 

We overcome the enemy, in all of his insidious forms, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony of, and in, the Lamb. What is true of Jesus in John 14:30 is also true of us in Jesus Christ.

 

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1.

 

“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of sonship as sons [and daughters] by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” Rom. 8:15 – 16.