The Savior of the World
JESUS CHRIST
THE HUMILIATION: CHRIST’S ADVENT
“But when the fullness of time had come, God
sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under
the law, to redeem those who were under the
law, so that we might receive adoption as
sons.” Galatians 4:4
 More than 2,000 years ago, God became a
man in the person of Jesus (John 1:1,14).
 Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and
born of the virgin Mary. (Luke 1:27, 34-35)

PIPER : THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE VIRGIN BIRTH
First, it highlights the supernatural. On one end of
Jesus’ life lies his supernatural conception and
birth; on the other, his supernatural resurrection
and his ascension to God’s right hand. Jesus’
authenticity was attested to by the supernatural
working of his Father.
 Secondly, the virgin birth shows that humanity
needs redeeming that it can’t bring about for itself.
The fact that the human race couldn’t produce its
own redeemer implies that its sin and guilt are
profound and that its savior must come from
outside.

JOHN PIPER: CONTINUED
Thirdly, in the virgin birth, God’s initiative is on
display. The angel didn’t ask Mary about her
willingness. He announced, “Behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31). God didn’t
ask Mary for permission. He acted—gently but
decisively—to save his people from their sins
(Matthew 1:21).
 Finally, this virgin birth hints at the fully human
and fully divine natures united in Jesus’ one
person. The entry of the eternal Word into the
world didn’t have to happen this way. But it did.

HYPOSTATIC UNION
He was fully God (Matthew 1:23 “Immanuel”)
and fully human (1 Timothy 2:5, Romans 9:5),
one Person with two natures.
 By maintaining the nature of both God and
Man, it was Jesus Christ who was the Chosen
One of God to be the one and only Mediator
between God and fallen man (1 Timothy 2:5).

THE PERSONAL UNION OF JESUS’ TWO NATURES
So “hypostatic union” may sound fancy in English,
but it’s a pretty simple term. Hypostatic means
personal. The hypostatic union is the personal
union of Jesus’ two natures.
 Jesus has two complete natures—one fully human
and one fully divine. What the doctrine of the
hypostatic union teaches is that these two natures
are united in one person in the God-man. Jesus is
not two persons. He is one person. The hypostatic
union is the joining of the divine and the human in
the one person of Jesus. –John Piper

WAYNE GRUDEM

“God, in his wisdom, ordained a combination of
human and divine influence in the birth of
Christ, so that his full humanity would be
evident to us from the fact of his ordinary
human birth from a human mother, and his full
deity would be evident from the fact of his
conception in Mary’s womb by the powerful
work of the Holy Spirit.” (Systematic Theology,
530)
A SINLESS INTEGRITY
Although Christ experienced the temptations
and difficulties that all humans face, He never
sinned (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21).
 In his earthly ministry, Christ preached, taught,
showed power and authority over evil, and
worked countless miracles (Matthew 4:23-24).

THE 2ND ADAM

Furthermore, He came to walk in perfect
obedience to His Father, fulfilling his role as the
second Adam – wherein the first Adam failed,
He succeeded (1 Corinthians 15:45, Romans
5:12-19).
The Old Testament Prophesies Fulfilled in Christ
THE MESSIAH OF GOD
THE CHRIST

As Christ marched towards the cross at
Golgotha (Matthew 27:33), it became clear that
He was the fulfillment of many Old Testament
prophecies and that He was indeed the
Messiah of God (John 1:41), the Seed of the
woman who would crush the head of the
serpent (Genesis 3:15).
MESSIANIC PROPHECIES FULFILLED
He proved Himself also to be:
 The Prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18)
 The Priest after the order of Melchezedek
(Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5:5-6)
 The Son of David (Isaiah 9:7, Matthew 1:1)
 The Suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)
 He was in fact the Promised One that Moses,
the prophets, and the Psalms had said would
come (Luke 24:27, 44)*.

The Righteous One for the Unrighteous
SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT
OUR SUBSTITUTE
We believe that Christ both voluntarily (John
10:18) and in accordance with the
predetermined plan of God (Acts 2:23) suffered
and died on the cross as a substitute for
sinners (Galatians 3:13, 1 Peter 2:24).
 He did this so that in Him, we might become
the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

PROPITIATION
On the cross He canceled our sin debt
(Colossians 2:14), satisfied the wrath of God
that we deserved (1 John 2:2, 1 Thessalonians
1:10, Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:9), and
by bearing the full penalty for our sins,
reconciled to God all those who believe in
Christ (Romans 5:10, 2 Corinthians 5:18,
Colossians 1:22).
 Propitiation: “appeasement” or “satisfaction”

JUSTIFICATION BY DOUBLE IMPUTATION
Because the wrath and condemnation of God was
fully satisfied in the death of Christ, and because
the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to
us by faith, we now stand justified in the presence
of God(Romans 5:1). There is therefore now no
condemnation for those of us who are in Christ
Jesus (Romans 8:1 ).
 "In the imputation of Adam’s sin to us, of our sins
to Christ, and of Christ’s righteousness to
believers, the nature of imputation is the same, so
that one case illustrates the other." (Hodge:
Systematic Theology, 2:194)

DOUBLE IMPUTATION
"Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation
for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to
justification and life for all men. For as by the one
man’s disobedience the many were made sinners,
so by the one man’s obedience the many will be
made righteous.". (Rom 5:15-18)
 Paul is making the point that if Adam's
disobedience to the law of God was the reason for
death, then Jesus’ full obedience to all the
demands of God’s law all the way to his death is
what brings us righteousness.

The Tomb is Empty
THE RESURRECTION
THE RESURRECTION
If we were to end with the death of Jesus, then
the “Gospel,” which literally means “good
news,” would not in fact be good news at all. (1
Corinthians 15:13)
 We believe that not only did Christ die, but that
He was buried and on the third day, rose from
the dead (Matthew 28:1-7, Mark 16:1-8, Luke
24:1-11).

THE RESURRECTION
After His resurrection, He was seen by many
witnesses, even as was prophesied in Scripture
(1 Corinthians 15:4-8).
 By His resurrection, Christ broke the power of
death and defeated Satan who once had power
over it (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
 Significance of the Resurrection: “And if Christ
has not been raised, your faith is futile and you
are still in your sins.” -1 Corinthians 15:17

SOLUS CHRISTUS
Through this death and resurrection, Christ has
become the only means of salvation. Salvation
is found in no one else.
 There is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved (Acts
4:12), thereby making Jesus Christ the only
Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. No man
is able to come to God except through Him
(John 14:6).

RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
All other religions, alleged saviors, and so
called roads to heaven are false and lead to
hell.
 Religious Pluralism teaches that all religions
are equally true, or a certain religion can be
true for some while another religion is true for
others.
 This is what we call a logical contradiction (the
law of noncontradiction).
