The Work of Christ

The apostles Creed is perhaps the most recited confessions of Orthodox Christianity. It declares belief in the triune God, the one true church, the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life, but have you ever wondered why it mentions the name of the pagan ruler who authorize the crucifixion of Jesus will find out next this week on Renewing Your Mind that Darcy's goal is explaining the foundational doctrines of the Christian faith using the apostles Creed as a framework.

Today we come to that point where we declare that Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate.

One of the aspects of the creed that RC will be talking about is why this pagan ruler is mentioned by name as we continue our overview of the apostles Creed we face something of a dilemma here in order to cover all of the articles of the creed in this brief time together. I have to escape very lightly and very quickly over what really is the heart of the creed in the dimension that deals with the work of Christ. What we have left with respect to Christology is suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified, dead and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the father Almighty, from which it shall come to judge the quick and the dead. All of that has to do with the work of Christ, and I'm going to try if possible to just give a brief overview touching the more problematic aspects of that since we do have other lessons available to go into detail into each of those aspects of the work of Christ that are more familiar like the crucifixion and resurrection. The ascension and so on. Let's look them at that segment of the creed that begins with the statement suffered under Pontius Pilate to look at the dimensions of the creed that provoked questions and for me this is one the most provocative. I asked myself. First of all, why does the creed jump so abruptly from a confession of the birth of Jesus immediately to the passion of Christ as if nothing happened between birth and death, and will, of course, we know that the New Testament and the early church and grades of the church place great importance on the life of Jesus.

It's not simply the death of Jesus that redeems us, but his life of perfect obedience is a prerequisite for the sacrifice and offering that he makes as an atonement for us on the cross, but we have to say here that we do have this abrupt move from Earth to suffering. But the confession of Christ suffering is not a negative thing in the early church.

It's part of the joy of the gospel to ever wonder.

For example why we call good Friday Good Friday is the blackest day in the history of the world. From one perspective I get from another perspective, it is the day of redemption. So there is a sense in which the creed is indicating to us something joyous that there is a link from birth to death that Jesus was in fact born to die, not as a tragic hero, not as one who dies and disillusionment, not as one who is like a Buddhist, resigned to the inevitability of suffering and the tragic but his death is his destiny for us for our redemption, but the more puzzling question to me is not why the creed should mention the suffering of Jesus because we know it's through suffering for the Via Dolorosa that our redemption is secure. But why under Pontius Pilate, whether different answers have been given to that, historically, and there is an element of speculation. We don't know for sure why that receive such a special place in the creed one perennial answer again is that by saying that he suffered under Pontius Pilate immediately puts the suffering and the passion of Jesus into the arena of world history, and some maintain that the reason why the allusion to a well-known secular person was to stop the miles of the Gnostics and the Dossett Terrace who had an attempt to spiritualize the significance of Jesus and divorce.

The work of Christ from the arena of world history, and since Pilate is not simply a Jewish figure, but he is known secular figure. According to the annals of world history. This indicates the historical foundation to the work of Jesus. Now that is particularly important in today's theological atmosphere because some historians have said that we are living in the strongest period of neo-Gnosticism. Since the second century all kinds of attempts have been made in modern theology to D has store assize the gospel the rip it out of the context of history and put it in some X essential realm or supra-temporal realm. What brutal one called a theology of timelessness.

So that's one of the speculative answers that is given. Other things are important about pilot. He occupies what the Jews would call the role of public persona and that's easily translated up public person. He is not functioning as a private individual, but Pilate's judgment is a judgment that expresses the legal opinion of the highest secular court in the world and what is the judgment upon the one hand, he says echo, behold, the man he calls attention to Jesus and repeatedly. He declares the innocence of Jesus and so from this public seat of judgment. Jesus is declared to be innocent, but there is another element that, to the Jew was perhaps even more important, and to the early church. The Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah and of the suffering servant of the sin bearer of the people is one who will suffer for the people, but he will suffer outside the camp. The biblical prophecies are that the Messiah will be delivered to the Gentiles for judgment.

They remember how this is all and acted in the figures and the images of the day of atonement in the Old Testament where the Lamb is killed, but you don't only have the Lamb where the sins of the people were placed upon the land and the llama sacrifice. But there's another animal. The scapegoat and the priest goes through an elaborate ritual where he lays his hands on the scapegoat symbolizing the transfer of the sins of the people to the back of the goat, then what happens. The goat he's driven into the wilderness. Again, remember when Israel encamped in the wilderness experience they can't divide tribes and in the very center of that tribal encampment was what the tabernacle and in the innermost center part of the tabernacle of the innermost place was the holy of holies and the owners are sacrificed so that on the day of atonement, the land that was sacrificed for sacrifice in the middle of the camp, but the sins of the nation were put on the back of the scapegoat and he's driven outside the camp into the outer darkness into the realm of what is unclean. Jesus is killed not by the Jews he is taken by the Jews to the moments. The Romans try to give them back Harrods in town is a haze in Galilee and he's under Herod's authority as the pilot shuffles and back to Herod had shuffles him back to Pilate and the final judgment comes by Gentiles and even the means of death. The means of execution is not a Jewish me. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified.

How significant is that Jewish method of capital punishment was for stoning, not through crucifixion, Paul makes an enormous mileage out of the fact of the means of Jesus death in the book of Galatians calling attention to the fact that under the Old Testament legislation. There were laws of purification and loss of defilement in the formula. In the Old Testament for the sanctions of the law that were positive and negative were the positive benefits for those who kept the law were called what blessed and the negative punishment for breaking the law was: what curses and to be cursed meant to be cut off from the presence of God driven outside where the benefits of God's presence are concentrated.

Think of the Hebrew benediction May the Lord bless you and keep you as a parallel may the Lord make his face to shine upon you right lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. A parallelism glass make his face to shine, lift up the light of his cons was the Jew saying that you understood blessedness in the concrete terms of the images of being close in their proximity to the radiant defaulting glory of the face of God. The closer you are to God, the greater the blessedness. The further away removed, the greater the curse, and so to be shot out into outer darkness outside of the covenant community outside of the household of faith was to be cursed now.

Deuteronomy tells us, cursed is anyone who hangs upon the tree and Paul makes a big deal out of the fact that the mode of Jesus death was by crucifixion, which is under the ban under the curse of the Old Testament system. It's a Gentile form of death, and so for Jesus to take all of the curse.

That is the penalty for disobeying the law of the Old Testament. He must not only offer his blood like the Paschal Lamb, but he also must fulfill the role of the scapegoat and be delivered to the Gentiles die outside the camp normally outside of Israel at the hands of Gentiles, but you would think of Jesus going fulfill the role of a lamb without blemish or would you expect them to die in the temple. But not only does he not die in the temple. He doesn't even die in Jerusalem he goes outside the city walls of Jerusalem abandoned to the Gentiles to receive the curse. Several Parsifal was crucified, dead, and buried here. We have to understand the significance of the burial in light of the Jewish messianic prophecies of the progress of the servant of the Lord which, generally speaking, is not an absolute moves in a pattern from humiliation to exultation, but the New Testament makes a big deal out of the mode of Christ's burial. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 53 he foreshadows and predicts the suffering of the servant and it said he will make his grave with the rich because of his innocence. What was the normal punishment for an executed criminal under the Roman system. The guaranteed thrown in the garbage seat. They were not given a regular burial service, but rather they were taken outside of Jerusalem to the garbage dump that was always on fire because it every day in her garbage was thrown in there and it was called Gahanna became the principal image of hell for the New Testament writers and yet God had promised that he would not allow his holy one to see corruption in the point of the New Testament is the transition from humiliation to exultation doesn't start with the resurrection. It starts before the rich.

It starts with the Barry. The burial is the first sign of the vindication of God that he has accepted the sacrifice that it is finished on the cross is finished on the cross as of the moment. He is brought down from the cross. He begins to enter into his glory. Now that creates problems with the next phrase he descended into hell. Now we know that some churches delete that statement from the creed and others use an asterisk. That means that he was in a state of death for three days and we know of course that that was not in the old Roman symbol and presumably was a later addition even to the apostles.

Now some churches Roman Catholic Church. For example, believe that in between the time that Jesus died and he rose again from the dead, he experienced a local what we called the census infernos, a local descent into hell. If you ask okay what was the spirit of Jesus during in the interim between burial and resurrection. While the theory is, he went to health without their different theories about some say that he went to hell to finish paying the ultimate penalty for death and others argue know that he went there triumphantly on a redemptive mission to rescue captives who were there Old Testament saints or whoever it out based on the passage in Peter this very cryptic in the reformed tradition: for example, argued that Christ descent into hell was real. The cheese is really what the hell, but where did he go to hell on the cross so that if Calvin were going to recite the creed he would say he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, descended into hell. Dead buried rose again from the dead. Because it's on the cross that Christ experiences the curse is on the cross that Christ is forsaken by the father and the full measure of divine wrath is poured out upon him on the cross but the question of what Jesus was doing in between is a question I'm going to just leave you hanging about.

I think there is a response to the correct understanding of that pattering passage that I personally don't believe that Jesus went to Hades, or anywhere like that. I think that touching his spirit. Jesus was where Jackie what he told the thief on the cross today. You should be with me in paradise but granted the whole question is complex and difficult to solve. And so I'm going to move on. Then of course the creed moves quickly from the descent into hell to the resurrection.

Why is the resurrection so important to Christie bulimia.

Said another way, is it conceivable remotely conceivable that we could have a meaningful Christian faith apart from resurrection again in our day. There are theologians who are arguing that the resurrection of his historical event is not necessary for a meaningful Christian faith. Paul of course had a different view of the whole 15th chapter, first Corinthians argues and what we would call ad hominem fashion.

He's faced with the problem the Christian community that some people were denying the reality of resurrection as to what Paul does masterfully in first script is 15 is two things in the first place.

He gives us a detailed argument for the resurrection, based upon the fulfillment of Scripture, the eyewitness testimony of the apostles of the 500 people, and of his own eyewitness experience.

But then he argues at home and they said all right let's take your argument from an suppose there is no resurrection of the dead.

If a what follows was the result of that. Let's take your thinking to its logical conclusion of Christ is dead and there is no resurrection from the dead than what the implications of that and he spells about the implications are what you're still in your sins, your faith is in vain. Your faith is useless. Your preaching is futile. You become false witnesses of God because you're telling everybody that God did in fact raise them from the dead. Not only that, but there are other personal shattering implications that those who have fallen asleep in the Lord have perished your loved ones that have died. You have no hope for them in any guessing I met is what a life. I will well be said Ephesus know why am I sacrificed every day. You think I'm doing this for my health, and he protests about it and then submit now is Christ raise from the dead and doesn't leave us with just the negative implications of a non-resurrection.

But again, the point is that the apostle Paul take away the resurrection, you take away Christianity. He said if Christ is not race, we are of all people. The most to be pitied and we must will embrace the creed of the Epicurean eight drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. But the positive significance is that the greatest enemy of man, that enemy that hangs over every human being like the sword of Damocles every day of our the ultimacy of our own personal death which threatens everything that we do everything that we say everything that we learn with ultimate chaos was with the X specialist calls the abyss of nonbeing of annihilation that enemy is conquered by the resurrection because the resurrection is not seen in the New Testament as an isolated event simply for the benefit of Jesus, but the New Testament declares that his resurrection is as the firstfruits of those who have done so that we are promised that we will participate in the resurrection of Jesus, and not only that the resurrection is God's sign an indication that he has received the atonement of Christ, and he is raised as the Bible says, for our justification, not simply to vindicate his son, which God does the main all world shouts guilty. Jesus is killed, and for three days.

God is silent and on the third day he screamed, and he vindicates his son by raising him from the grave. But not only is Christ vindicated, but those who are Christ's, are vindicated are justified. In other words, without resurrection, and the New Testament that there is no justification there's no reduction okay.

He rose again from the dead, and he didn't just rise again from the dead and then to continue his earthly ministry for another 50 years. He ascended into heaven, or try to say this and by 30 seconds. I just want to peak your interest. By this, that in the New Testament. One of the most important moments of redemptive history happens at the moment of the ascension of Jesus. There is a certain sense and I come right to the rim of heresy here when I say that in terms of the biblical expectation of the kingdom of God that the resurrection of Christ which is so crucial, so important, so supremely significant is in a certain sense the pen ultimate event of New Testament history, not the ultimate there's something beyond resurrection.

That's ascension where the resurrected one now moves out of humiliation completely to exultation to be enthroned as the King of Kings. He was going to the seat of authority so that immediately in the creed.

The ascension is followed by what we call the session. The seating at the right hand of God, where he sits there in the position of power and authority and kingship which we've already talked about, but not only that for us as a go into the holy of holies in the rear chamber of heaven himself to be our high priest and Old Testament Israel. The Jews one day year had human high priest who himself had to go through all kinds of radical cleansing rights in order to Gwen and offer a sacrifice that was good for 365 days for the people for their sins, and I pray that God accepted.

I have a perfect high priest completes my case with the father in the air chambers of the courts of heaven. Every minute, every day. One of the guys rejoiced as if they were to miss you ever and I hate to be without you. But if that's where you're going and he said I'm going to prepare a place for you okay and so the creed then ties up the Christological confession by saying but even that isn't the end of story that he will come from that same place from whence he shall come. There's a final chapter will be written the last page of redemptive history is still not yet fulfilled he will come from to judge the quick and so the Christ is our King.

He is our priest is the judge in this very brief outline.

The apostles Creed continued so much truth in very few words.

It's been universally accepted as a statement of orthodoxy in the church for centuries. That's where were taking time to explain it this week here on redoing your mind. We are sharing portions of Dr. RC Sproul series basic training. There are six lessons in this series and we will be happy to send you the DVD for your gift of any amount today you can give your gift securely online when you visit Renewing Your Mind.org or you can call us to make a request at 800-435-4343 no hearing. RC explain the fundamental doctrines of Christianity is helpful no matter where you are in your Christian walk. This series is formatted in 623 minute messages. If you teach a church membership class a Sunday school class or lead a small group. This would be a great series to share. So I asked for it by name again.

It's titled basic training by Dr. RC Sproul, our number again is 800-435-4343 and her online address is redoing your mind.org. Perhaps you have a family member or friend. It was a new Christian who wants to learn some of the basic doctrines that Dr. Strohl teaches in this series. Let me encourage you to share this program with them. You can send them a link both from our website or from the free litigator app tomorrow. Dr. Strohl continues this series with a lesson on the Holy Spirit. What is the Spirit's ministry in housing work in our lives. I hope you'll join us Thursday for Renewing Your Mind