by: Kandice Barley
The Word Became Flesh
We believe that after 400 years of Biblical silence, God
remembered the promises He made to Israel. By the
power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father sent God the Son
to save humanity. Born of a virgin, God the Son became a
human being named Jesus. Through His life, death, and
resurrection, Jesus conquered sin and death. His sacrifice
redeems humanity and establishes His authority as the
Messianic King. In Jesus, the Kingdom of God is restored.
All who follow Him become a part of the Kingdom and will
live in community with Him forever.
In the beginning, Jesus was there and all of creation happened through Him. Then there was the fall, and in that moment we see the need for redemption of mankind. In each of the old testament covenants, we see time and again a need for a savior, a messiah who will fulfill the promises and the law set forth in each respective covenant. In the wisdom books we see God’s people cry out in emotional pleas their need for grace, mercy, and redemption--their need and desire for the messiah to come. Then the story of scripture continues to point to Jesus as the prophets warn the people of Israel of their sin, of the unrighteous abounding, of their need for repentance and right relationship with God that can only come through the chosen one. Again, our story points to Jesus.
And we often give Jesus alone all the glory when it comes to our redemption and salvation. We see bumper stickers proclaiming the good news “Jesus Saves!” We wear catchy Christian garb that boldly declares, “Jesus Saves, Bro.” We slap it on every coffee cup, every journal, every phone case, everywhere we can think of. Don’t get me wrong, this is in no way a bad thing. “Jesus Saves” is a catchy and faithful way to summarize the gospel. Romans 10:13 does say “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But have you ever stopped to think that it isn’t just Jesus who takes part in the miracle that is our redemption and salvation?
BUT...we must stop and consider that Jesus is part of the Triune God. We must be biblically accurate to the whole story of salvation. We cannot possibly separate what Christ accomplishes in salvation from what the Father has done from the beginning--laying out the redemptive plan throughout all of history in His Sovereign wisdom-- and what the Holy Spirit does in sealing our salvation. In fact because Jesus is part of the Trinity, and we must understand the role all three, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit of God play in the story of redemption.
So, let’s dive in and make sure we have a sure foundation and understand biblically the role each person of the trinity plays in redemption and our salvation. Arguably, no passage in the bible better explains this great work of salvation by the Father, Son, and Spirit than Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:3–14. Turn with me to this passage, or should I say click, and let’s closely read these verses.
First, the Father planned our salvation. He chose us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). He predestined us (Ephesians 1:5, 11). In the mind-boggling work of the Trinity before creation, God the Father chose to save those created in His image, mankind, through his Son and to make known this great redemption to the universe (Ephesians 1:9–10). He “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11), so we can be confident that this great gospel is rooted in the unfathomable wisdom and Providence of God.
Second, the Son purchased our salvation. Paul says, “we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7). “In Christ” we are saved and blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3–4, 7). Jesus saves. Jesus saves in all His glory, fully, and freely. Later in this letter, Paul reminds us that Christ loved the church and gave himself up for his church to save and sanctify her, because he nourishes and cherishes her (Ephesians 5:25–29). Christ did not begrudgingly go to the cross, mumbling all the way like a scorned school-boy angry at His Father. Instead, because Jesus was also divine He knew the Father planned to save a people, and King Jesus also set his affection on those people. So we might say that while the act of dying on the cross for us was brutal, gruesome, and cruel, Jesus lovingly and joyfully purchased our salvation.
Third, the Spirit seals our salvation. When we put our trust in Jesus, we are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13). My husband built me this very large, very beautiful planter box for my backyard a few years ago. It is corrugated tin edged with wood and I adore it. However, he did not seal the wood and after just two years of scorching New Mexico sun, wind, and the occasional rain storm, the wood is beginning to look weathered and some of it is rotting. IT WAS NOT SEALED. In a similar way, the Holy Spirit is our “salvation sealer.” Upon acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior of our life, the Holy Spirit immediately indwells us, sealing our salvation. But unlike a wood sealer, we don’t need to reapply the Spirit every two-three years. Once he has been poured out on us, he is our living guarantee of this great salvation (Ephesians 1:14).
Not only does the Trinity’s work in salvation give us great hope, Hope with a capital H, but this plan gives God all the glory. Ephesians 1:3–14 culminates with Paul saying that this plan of redemption is “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:14). The Father plans it, the Son purchases it, the Spirit seals it, all to the praise of His perfect glory. What greater wisdom and glory could we see in our great redemption? AMEN!
So now that we have all of that established, we are going to switch gears and look at John 3:1-21. In this section of scripture, a Pharisee named Nicodemus encounters Jesus. Nicodemus, like all of us at some point is searching for THE answer. Let’s read this passage together.
Notice that Jesus points out that one must be “born again” verse 3 and expounds on what that means in verses 5-6 and 13-17. But notice here that Jesus does not take all the credit. He mentions in this encounter with Nicodemus a few things we must stand upon.
1.) The Kingdom is God’s verse 3. But because He is a Father who delights in His son, everything is by Jesus and for Jesus (Colossians 1:16-20)
2.) To be born again (saved) is a rebirth of our spirit through the power of the Holy Spirit. He comes to dwell within us when we become believers.
3.) Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. Because Jesus did not come to the world to condemn us, but to save us, to redeem us, to purchase us, to be our substitute for the crimes which we committed. He paid the price, death, so that we may be reconciled to the Father. ALL we have to do is choose Jesus.
So this one passage reaffirms what Ephesians tells us as well. Each person of the Trinity has a role to play in our redemption. The Father delights in Jesus being the star of the story, and the Holy Spirit is the agent through which Jesus worked at creation, while Jesus walked among men, and works within the hearts of men now that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father. To know Jesus, is to know redemption. But don’t stop there. Truly dig deep and know all three. For when you do, you walk with Christ becomes richer, fuller, more lovely that anything you could ever imagine.
For more information on the Triune nature of God, we recommend Michael Reeves’ Delighting in the Trinity