Provided by the Church of the Lutheran Confession - Board of Missions

An Introduction to Lutheran Doctrine

and the Church of the Lutheran Confession
Lesson 4.3 – The Triune God Revealed in His Word – God the Son

IV. The Triune God Revealed In His Word

Son
God the Son is our Redeemer. He came to this world in the flesh, and became man to be our Savior,
Jesus Christ, true God and true man, lived a life of perfect obedience to God’s Law on behalf of every
sinner. As the sinner’s substitute, He suffered the full punishment of hell on the cross. He atoned for
the sins of the whole world, completely removed all guilt, and reconciled everyone to God.
On the third day He rose from the dead in glorious victory over sin and death. We believe that God has
justified (declared righteous) all sinners because of Jesus’ perfect obedience and His sacrificial death.
Galatians 4:4-5: But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a
woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption as sons.
2 Corinthians 5:19-21: God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their
trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s
behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him.
Romans 5:8-10: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of
His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Comments:
Jesus said of the Old Testament Scriptures: “These are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). Jesus
said of the Holy Spirit given to His apostles: “He will glorify Me” (John 16:14). Jesus’ apostle Peter told
Cornelius and his household: “To Him (Jesus) all the prophets witness that, through His name,
whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (Acts 10:43). It is clear that the central focus
of all of God’s revelation in Scripture (both the Old Testament and the New Testament) is on this one
Person: Jesus of Nazareth. His various names and titles tell us what we need to know about Him. He is
called Son of God, Son of Man, Messiah, Christ, Savior of the world, Lamb of God, Lord, Redeemer and
many other names throughout Scripture.
The Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed summarizes Jesus’ life and work: “Jesus Christ, His only Son,
our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there He
will come to judge the living and the dead.”
The first chapter of the Gospel of John teaches that Jesus is true God from eternity and became a male
human at a certain time in history: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,

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ands the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14). The words of
Paul show us that Jesus was also true man from the moment of His conception: “There is one God and
one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1
Timothy 2:5-6). Paul also clearly states the purpose of Jesus’ incarnation (His becoming human):
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Galatians 4: 4-5, quoted above,
reveals the same truth.
Romans 5:19 summarizes the work of Jesus by the word “obedience”: “For as by one man’s
disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made
righteous.” The previous verse shows that the “many” in both cases are all human beings of all ages.
Adam’s disobedience brought condemnation to all; Jesus’ obedience has won righteousness for all.
The obedience of Jesus includes both His active obedience and His passive obedience. His active
obedience is that Jesus, God’s Son, truly obeyed every law of God throughout His entire life on earth.
Jesus was “born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5). We
sinners were the ones under the law, subject to the law and cursed by the law because of our
disobedience. Jesus willingly put Himself under the law to redeem us; this was part of His redemptive
work for us. Jesus challenged His enemies with the question: “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John
8:46). His enemies charged Him with sins, but their charges always proved to be false, because “In Him
there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).
Jesus’ passive obedience is that Jesus, although totally innocent, took on Himself all the sin of the
world and its punishment and allowed Himself to be punished as though He had committed all the
sins of the world. Isaiah told in advance this work of the Messiah: “He was wounded for our
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and
by His stripes we are healed… And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). As
apostle Peter wrote: “You were not redeemed with corruptible things… but with the precious blood
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
Jesus poured out His holy blood on the cross as our Substitute. God punished Him for the sin of the
world in our place, even though Jesus Himself was God. This is why Jesus cried out from the cross in
the hours of darkness: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). The full
punishment for sin is eternal damnation, that is, everlasting separation from all the blessings of God.
This is what Jesus endured fully on the cross in place of the sinful world. “For He (God) made Him
(Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2
Corinthians 5:21). “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us”
(Galatians 3:13).
There can be no doubt that Jesus died for the sin of the whole world. Jesus is “the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). We can say that Jesus redeemed all and that He
reconciled the whole world to God, as is stated in 2 Corinthians 5:19: “God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself.” What this means is clear from the words that follow: “not imputing their
trespasses to them.” In other words, since Jesus was punished on the cross for the sin of the world,
God no longer charges the sin of the world against the world; God has already made Jesus guilty of
that sin and punished Him for that sin. On the cross Jesus took the sin of the world on Himself, and in
its place, He gives the world His own perfect righteousness. That is, He has established the forgiveness
of sin for every sinner. Jesus wants His followers to announce this “word of reconciliation” to
everyone. In this way Jesus’ followers are “ambassadors for Christ,” speaking “on Christ’s behalf”. We
plead and implore sinners, God Himself speaking through us, that sinners should accept, believe in,
and trust in the redemption that Jesus Christ has won for them by His suffering and death in their
place.
We can be sure that Jesus truly has taken away the sin of the world because God accepted His sacrifice

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as full payment for all human sin. We know God accepted His sacrifice because God raised Jesus from
the dead on the third day and received Him into heaven at His ascension. The apostle Paul wrote: “If
Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty… If Christ is not risen,
your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:14-17). Then he added triumphantly:
“But now Christ is risen from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Paul himself lists many of the
appearances of the risen Jesus to His followers after His death and burial in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.
In Romans 5:8-10 Paul points out that “Christ died for us” “while we were still sinners.” In other words,
there was nothing good in us that led Jesus to die for us. It was God’s decision to love us and send His
Son to save us even though we were His enemies. In Paul’s words, we have been “justified by His
blood” and “saved from wrath through Him.” Because of Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, we
are justified — declared righteous in God’s sight — and all our sins have taken away and forgiven. To
be saved from wrath means to be saved from God’s anger and curse that would bring us eternal
damnation.
Paul says: “We were reconciled to God through the death of His Son.” To be reconciled means to be
brought from hostility back into a state of friendship. We and God were enemies because of our sin
against God. Our sin made it necessary for God to punish us. But because Jesus took our place and
absorbed our punishment, there is now a state of friendship between us and God. Our sin that
separated us has been removed.
Now that Jesus has died in our place and is alive again through His resurrection, we know that God is
on our side. Because He lives, so we, too, shall live. “We shall be saved by His life.”
Questions

1. Why can we say that the main purpose of Holy Scripture is to direct us to Jesus?
2. How is Jesus of Nazareth different from all other human beings?
3. What evidence is there that Jesus is true God living on earth?
4. For what purpose did Jesus come into the world?
5. Why is it correct to say that Jesus existed before He was conceived?
6. How is Jesus the direct opposite of Adam?
7. What was Jesus’ relation to the law of God while He lived on earth?
8. What is meant by Jesus’ passive obedience?
9. How did the Old Testament foretell this obedience?
10. Why did Jesus say on the cross that God had forsaken Him?
11. Did Jesus die only for believers or for everyone in the world? Give the reasons for your answer.
12. How was Christ’s death on the cross a great exchange?
13. Why is the resurrection of Jesus so important?
14. Explain the following terms: reconciliation, justification, forgiveness of sins, impute,
ambassador.

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