February 2004 Meditation
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
(1 Tim. 1:15)
Without question, the coming of Christ Jesus into this world has been the most significant event in human history. Even our calendar is a confirmation of that. All historical events are reckoned as either having occurred before the birth of Christ (and are therefore designated with the letters B.C.), or as having occurred after after His birth (and are therefore designated with the letters A.D.--the year of our Lord). And indeed, Christ's incarnation, His assumption of the human nature, is the defining moment of history. His coming into this world is nothing less than God Himself coming to our planet and entering our history.
For what purpose did our Creator, Jesus Christ, leave the glory of heaven and become a man? The straightforward answer of our text is that He came into the world to save sinners. To appreciate the profound importance of this, we need to define the term sinners—or, to be even more specific, we need to ask ourselves why the Bible considers us, human beings to be sinners.
The word translated as “sinner” refers to someone who misses the mark. In the Greek world of the early Christian church, a “sinner” was a runner who did not make to the finish-line. He missed the mark; he was a failure. It is that word the Bible uses to describe every human being.
Why does God consider us to be failures? Because we fail to live up to the purpose for which we were created. We were created by God to know, love, and serve Him. Sad to say, this is no longer the inclination of the human heart. As fallen sinners we are instead preoccupied with ourselves, love ourselves, and serve ourselves. Worse than that, however, is the fact that as sinners we live in rebellion against the God who created us—the God in whom we live, move, and have our being. Thus to be a sinner is to be failure and a rebel.
Therefore, to be called a sinner by the Word of God is not a very flattering assessment. On the contrary, it is a serious indictment against us. Instead of living lives of devoted obedience to God, we live lives that are devoted to ourselves—lives that are dishonoring and displeasing to God.
To be a sinner, however, is not without consequences. Since, as sinners, we love in disobedience to God's law, we are told by the Bible that we thereby provoke God to wrath, and that every sin renders us guilty—that is, it makes us worthy of punishment. The Bible makes it very clear that we are all guilty in the sight of God. And God's character is such that He demands punishment for every sin we have ever committed. Without that demand being met, it is impossible for God to be favorably disposed toward us. God can only pardon our sin and enter into a relationship with us when our sin and its guilt are removed in a manner satisfactory to Him.
This brings us to the point why Christ Jesus had to come into the world. Since it is utterly impossible for us, sinners, to make things right with the God whom we have offended, God sent His Son into the world to deal with the reality and consequences of our sinnership. How He accomplished this will be considered in next month's meditation.
Pastor B. Elshout
