11
The Multi-Layered Story of Our Salvation (John Calvin)
John Calvin says that being a Christian is all about Jesus: ‘our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ.’ In other words, when we become part of the story of Jesus we enter into the multi-layered story of our salvation:
- our salvation— in his very name
- our untroubled expectation of judgment—in the power given to him to judge
- our protection, security, abundant supply of all blessings—in his Kingdom;
- our gifts of the Spirit—in his anointing
- our strength—in his dominion
- our purity—in his conception
- our gentleness—in his birth
- our redemption—in his passion
- our acquittal—in his condemnation
- our remission from the curse—in his cross
- our satisfaction—in his sacrifice
- our purification—in his blood
- our reconciliation—in his descent into hell;
- our mortification of flesh—in his tomb
- our newness of life—in his resurrection
- our immortality—in the same
- our inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom—in his entrance into heaven
Calvin concludes, ‘In short, since rich store of every kind of good abounds in him, let us drink our fill from this fountain, and from no other.’[1]
[1] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (ed. John T. McNeill; trans. Ford Lewis Battles; 2 vols.; Library of Christian Classics 20–21; Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960 [1559]), 527-28.
14
Jesus and the Ten Commandments
I am currently reading John Frame’s The Doctrine of the Christian Life in preparation for a sermon I am giving at fixchurch (27 Sep) and Christ Church Gladesville (18 Sep) titled ‘The Desires of the Heart’. He says,
Jesus is not only a perfect law keeper, according to his humanity, but also the one we honor and worship, according to his deity, when we keep the law.[1]
That is, Jesus not only keeps each of the 10 Commandments but perfectly embodies them at every point. So,
- Jesus is the only God we are to worship (1 Tim 2:5)
- Jesus is the one perfect image of God (Col 1:15)
- Jesus is the name of the God (Phil 2:10-11)
- Jesus is our Sabbath rest (Matt 12:8)
- Jesus is our elder brother who restores us to the Father (Jn 5:19-24; Lk 15)
- Jesus is our life – he gave his life that we might live (Col 3:4, Mk 10:45)
- Jesus is our bridegroom (Eph 5:22-33)
- Jesus is the source of our inheritance (Eph 1:11)
- Jesus is God’s truth (John 14:6)
- Jesus is what we need – he satisfied the desires of our hearts (2 Cor 3:5)
[1] John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub., 2008), 400.
4
The eucatastrophe of Man’s history
The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation — This story begins and ends in joy. (J. R. R. Tolkien)