JESUS CHRIST: THE GIFT OF GOD TO MAN

church. The first provision is God's gift to man: the Lord Jesus Christ. God gave

His only begotten Son and, with Him, God has given everything that pertains to

life and to godliness. All of the provisions of God's grace are bestowed upon us

through Jesus Christ. Two scriptures form a sure foundation for our faith--

John 3:16 and Romans 8:32:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Rom. 8:32).

The gift of God was His Son, and with Him God freely gives us all things.

Jesus said to the disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes:

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you (John 16:14-15).

Paul echoes this concept in writing to the Colossians about Jesus Christ:

For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell (Col. 1:19).

And again,

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9).

So all that God is, and all that God has, is in His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ;

He is the fulness of God. This is the relationship between God and His Son. Then

Paul makes an amazing statement about the relationship between Christ and His

church:

And gave him [Christ] to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all (Eph. 1:22-23).

John agrees with Paul's concept:

And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace (John 1:16).

Jesus is the fulness of God, and the Church is the fulness of Christ, who

fills all in all, and Paul says that

We are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power (Col. 2:10).

In summary, we might say that everything God is, everything God has, and

all that God has done is in, and for, and through His Son Jesus Christ, and in the

same manner all that Christ is, all that He has, and all that He has done is in, and

for, and through His church, His bride, His beloved. Therefore, God's perfect gift

is Jesus Christ "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col

2:3), and concerning whom the Apostle Paul could say,

My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).

It is by Christ Jesus that God has provided a complete, perfect salvation.

The reason God must provide such a salvation is that every mouth must be

stopped and all the world become guilty before God. If there is any lack, if there is

any area of life in which God has not accepted responsibility and made provision,

then man or Satan can accuse God of being unjust. However, if God has assumed

the responsibility for the needs of man, then man cannot gainsay God. As I

meditate upon this great salvation, I am convinced that God has made a complete

provision, and the only reason for failure or lack is that we do not avail ourselves

of the grace of God. In each situation of life I recognize that Jesus has provided a

fulness. If I am tempted, He reminds me that He was tempted in all points even as

I am, and He has provided a way of escape that I may be able to bear it (I Cor.

10:13). If I am distressed, He reminds me that the "chastisement of my peace"

was laid on Him (Isaiah 53:5). If I am ill, He would point me to the cross where

He was "wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and with his

stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).

Jesus said,

I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

and John said,

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17).

Jesus did not come to show us the way--He is the way. He did not come to

teach us the truth--He is the truth. He did not come to give us a new life style or

tell us how to live--He is the life. Paul said,

For in him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).

Jesus is not just our savior, He is our salvation: "He that hath the Son hath

life" (I John 5:12). Jesus is not just our healer--He is our healing. It is His life

flowing through us that makes us whole, physically and spiritually. All that Christ

is to us and all that He has provided for us may be summed up in the words of the

Apostle to the Colossians:

For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him (Col. 2:9-10).

We are complete in Christ. This is God's gift to us--a complete, perfect

salvation in Jesus Christ.