Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth . . . I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18, 20
Bible Readings:
6. Jesus Christ is the Master of the natural world: Mark 4:35–41.
7. He is the Master of life and death, of health and sickness: Mark 5:21–43.
8. He gives new sight: John 9.
9. He is the Lord of demons: Luke 4:31–37, 40–44.
10. He is the One who rules over all the power of the enemy: Luke 10:17–20.
45. What benefits do we gain from all these gifts?
We receive immeasurable blessings, because Jesus Christ has received the Holy Spirit, with all his gifts in order to make us partakers of them and to distribute them to each one of us, according to the measure that God thinks best. God has done this so we might receive of all his fullness. Moreover, we draw on our Lord Jesus Christ as the only source of spiritual life. Every spiritual blessing we possess comes immediately from Him.
But by his doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30.
46. What does his prophetic work provide to you today?
Jesus Christ is a Prophet for his own people.2 Thus my savior has received this responsibility: He bestows upon me, myself, today, the light of the true knowledge of the heavenly Father. He instructs me today in the truth so as to make me today a faithful servant of God, who confesses his faith in his savior and Master. By this work I become his companion in his Prophetic work. 3
No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. John 1:18.
. . . no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Luke 10:22.
47. What use to you today is the sacrifice of Jesus?
The sacrifice of Jesus profits me in two ways: first, in as much as He is my Mediator, Christ reconciles me today with God his Father, who becomes my Father. Second, by means of Him I have access to the heavenly Father to present myself today before Him and to offer myself with all that I have, as a sacrifice of thanks. I am also able to intercede before God for my fellow creatures. By this work, I become a companion of the Lord Jesus in his Priesthood (see Question 276).4
For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Hebrews 9:24.
By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all . . . for by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Hebrews 10:10, 14.
I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1.
Bible Reading:
The Son of Man is able to forgive sins: Luke 5:17–26.
48. Finally, what does his Kingship give to you today?
It liberates my conscience from the lordship of all but God in Christ alone. All authority belongs to my King. I must therefore follow Him with absolute fidelity and render loyalty to no one else no matter how close to me or great in the world’s eyes.
Likewise I must submit myself to all those authorities that my King has established over me whether in family, state, or church. My great and victorious King communicates to me all his spiritual riches, so that I may live henceforth in holiness.
By Jesus’ kingly rule, I receive the power to vanquish Satan, sin, the flesh and the world, which are the unrelenting enemies of my soul. Moreover, it assures me that I will reign with Christ in eternity over all created things. In all this I become a companion of his Kingdom and partake of it with Him.
. . . Fight the good fight keeping faith and a good conscience. . . 1 Timothy 1:18.
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery . . . for you are called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:1, 13.
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 1 John 5:4.
Bible Readings:
1. Jesus delivers me from the power of Satan: Luke 11:17–22.
2. The liberated Christian is guided by the Holy Spirit: Romans 8:1–17.
3. The fruits of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:13–26.
4. The purity of the children of God: 1 John 3:1–10.
The name of Christ includes three offices, which God has given to his Son for the purpose of communicating today to us the fruit, and power of those offices. This is his fullness, of which we receive grace upon grace.
By this continual giving of his gifts and graces, Christ makes us beneficiaries of all that He has (see Question 134).
49. Why do you call yourself by the good name “Christian”?
I bear the good name “Christian” because of all these things. I am a Christian because I am a member of Christ and I participate therefore in all his gifts.
1. I am a Christian in order to confess his name. In this, I am a prophet.
2. I am a Christian in order to offer myself to my God and my Savior, as a living sacrifice of thanks, and in order to pray for my brothers. In this, I am a priest.
3. I am a Christian in order to fight in this life against sin and Satan, with a good conscience. I am a Christian in order to reign at last to all eternity with Christ over all created things. In this, I am a king.
As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you . . . 1 John 2:27.
It is a trustworthy statement: for if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us . . . 2 Timothy 2:11–12.
2. The chapter entitled The Preaching of the Word of God, Source of Christian Faith, Questions 121–142 will specify some aspects of this question.
3. Here reread the Scriptures from question 45. The chapter on Confessing the Faith, questions 161 and following, will make clear the importance of confessing the faith.
4. This work of Christ will be studied in detail in a long section in the second part of the Apostles’ Creed.
Lesson 8
The Only Son Our Lord
SUMMARY: Christ is the eternal Son of God. Before the creation of the world, the Son lived by the side of the Father. With him, the Son created the world; with him, after the creation, the Son works in preserving the world and fighting evil and sin.
It is this unique Son of God who took to Himself a human nature of the flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary. He was made like us in all things except for sin, in order to wipe away (or expiate)