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Christ Alone
Part Two
32 Then Jesus said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God
is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. (John 6:32-33)
47 Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat
manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread
which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of
this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:47-51)
Bread of Heaven and Bread of Life! That sums up the gift of Christ in salvation
to us; and not only salvation, but a joyful and victory-filled life in Him as we
consume, and digest, that Bread of Heaven. The wilderness church subsisted on
Manna from Heaven, too, but it was a bodily sustenance that Manna provided. It
was their diet ALONE just as Christ is our Bread ALONE! When there was no other
source of food in the Wilderness, God sent them Manna from Heaven that typified
that better Manna that was to come. For the Lord’s elect, there is no other
spiritual nourishment than that of our Lord Jesus Christ that can grant life
eternal. He ALONE can save. He ALONE died for the remission of our sins. He
ALONE rose from the grave and up to His Father in Heaven to intercede on our
behalf – ALONE!
Not only did the Manna typify our Lord, but also that great Rock on the
Mountain of the Lord (Horeb) which cleft for us to provide the Water essential
for life in a dry and barren land. Jesus Christ was cleft for us on the cross
by the Centurion’s spear. The Mountain of God at Horeb symbolized mercy in
granting water to the people. It stands just before Mount Sinai (also called
the Mountain of God). Horeb represents mercy whereas Sinai represented the Law.
Horeb came BEFORE Sinai, therefore mercy trumps Law.
Since there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood (see
Hebrews 9:22), the
Children of Israel had no hope of surviving the last curse in Egypt without the
blood of the lamb to cover their dwellings. That lamb symbolizes the Lamb of
God, sacrificed for us before the Foundation of the world. (see
Rev 13:8). That
first Passover in Goshen shadows that great Passover which Jesus became for us.
(see 1 Cor 5:7)
Despite the helpless predicament of Israel, penned in the marshes of the Red
Sea with the Sea on the east and Pharaoh’s pursuing army on the West, God both
followed and led the Children to victory across the dry bed of the Sea. His
Pillar of Cloud by Day and fire by Night was ALONE their protection. 19 And the angel of God, which went
before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the
cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: 20 And it came between the camp of
the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them,
but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other
all the night. (Ex
14:19-20) The
intelligence officer of Pharaoh’s army must have been a real idiot not to
be impressed by the powerful force that had thus far protected Israel. How
could Pharaoh, knowing of all that God had done to preserve Israel, believe
that His Mighty Hand would fail in the bed of the sea! He pursued with his
multitudinous army. That great Power that preserved Israel was the same which
spelled doom for Egypt: 24 And it came to pass, that
in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the
pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, 25 And took off their chariot
wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee
from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians. 26 And the LORD said unto Moses,
Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the
Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. 27 And Moses stretched forth his
hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning
appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the
Egyptians in the midst of the sea. 28 And the waters returned, and
covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came
into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them. (Ex 14:24-28)
The absurdity of Israel’s doubt that God would preserve them under every
challenge is, to us, immeasurable, but, remember we are looking back on the
accomplished event. They were forced to proceed on faith in the Lord ALONE!
No man had ever witnessed or even imagined such miracles up to that time.
Neither could the disciples imagine the events of the crucifixion and
resurrection though they had been told by the Lord.
A Near Perfect
Picture of Christ:
4 And they journeyed from mount
Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the
people was much discouraged because of the way. 5 And the people spake against
God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in
the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul
loatheth this light bread. 6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. 7 Therefore the people came to
Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and
against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And
Moses prayed for the people. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses,
Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass,
that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of
brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had
bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Num
21:4-9)
You may wonder how the serpent
is a type of Christ – it is not precisely so. The serpent represents the sins
of each of us that Christ took upon Himself on the cross. But the serpent (the
very thing that represented the sins of Israel) being nailed to a pole does
foreshadow the crucifixion of Christ on the cross in remission of our own sin. 14 And as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up: 15 That whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John
3:14-15) We are all bitten by that old Serpent of the Garden and
infected with deadly sin. Looking to the crucified Christ on the cross as our
Savior, Redeemer, and Lord, we too are healed of the deadly wage of sin which
is death.
As promised to Abraham, and all
who believed the Promise made to Abraham, 4 But when the fulness of
the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a
servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Gal
4:4-7) It is
important to note that all who are the elect of Christ are sons and daughters.
This gives lie to the NIV, ESV, and others that make the deceptive translation
of John 3:16 to read, “one and only son” instead of “Only Begotten Son.” Christ is the natural
offspring and very substance of the Father whereas we are sons and daughters by
adoption.
On the lonely, moonlit hills
overlooking tiny Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, the great Angel and his
cohorts appeared to lonely shepherds “keeping watch over their flocks by
night.” The Angel did not appear in the halls of power in Jerusalem, but
rather to these simple shepherds. The Promised Seed of all time and eternity
had been born of Mary in the small hamlet below. The sleepy village itself was
oblivious to the epochal event as are many today. But no such marvelous thing
had ever happened in Bethlehem, or any other place on earth, to compare with
that which had occurred on that wintry night. God does not ask for a resume
before He calls a soul to His heart. He does noot single out the wealthy, the
prominent, or the strong; but men of simple hearts and humble disposition. He
neither excludes the rich and powerful – but these usually are less likely to
recognize their depravity and need for Christ - much like the rich young ruler.
Our Lord came to us
as a gentle Baby at Bethlehem, traversed the land healing, teaching and
resurrecting the dead; He shall come again with Power and Great Glory to judge
the world. 29 Immediately after the
tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken: 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matt 24:29-31)
At that moment, there will be
“no loving the sinner and hating the sin.” The character of all will be sealed
at that split-second of time. He comes with Great Power for no reason. He will
wield that power against the wicked who have not only denied Him, but
persecuted those who believe. 11 And I saw heaven opened,
and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and
True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12
His eyes
were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name
written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a
vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them
with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath
of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17 And I saw an angel standing in
the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in
the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the
great God; 18 That ye may eat the flesh of
kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of
horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and
bond, both small and great”(
Rev 19:11-18)
I realize my two devotions on Solus
Christus fall far short of the beauty and glory necessary to adequately
expound upon the glory of Christ ALONE. But the Holy Bible does, indeed,
possess that exposition in full beauty and truth. My only hope for success of
my devotion is that it will inspire a curiosity in the heart of the reader to
diligently study, learn and digest the beauty available through the pages of
the Book of Books.
5 Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth; 11 And that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil
2:4-11)
20 He which testifieth these
things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you all. Amen.
(Rev 22:20-21)
