From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase |
Part four of a series. Read part three.
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The Bible speaks of the believer's present certainty of salvation, and confident future expectation of glory, in terms of seven incorruptible things. Four of them have to do with God's own nature. Today we consider the third - our incorruptible Savior.
The King, Eternal, Incorruptible
Because we have an incorruptible God, we have an incorruptible Savior - God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In First Timothy 1:15-17 we read this:
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The word "immortal" in verse 17 is the same word that was translated "incorruptible" in the passages we focused upon in the previous articles of this series, about our incorruptible God and His incorruptible Word. Jesus Christ is "the King, eternal, incorruptible, invisible, God who alone is wise," to whom is due all the "honor and glory forever and ever."
Jesus Christ existed from all eternity, incorruptible. And He came into this world in a human body and remained, incorruptible and not subject to compromise. He could not and he did not sin. And even when He died for our sins and was buried, His flesh did not see corruption. God fulfilled the great prophecy of Psalm 16:10, "You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo corruption." He is, in every sense, the incorruptible Savior.
A Supernatural Fact
Now in order to believe in the incorruptible Savior, you have to believe in the supernatural. But through time, many have rejected the supernatural. One of those was Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. Thomas Jefferson had his own version of the Bible. It became known as the Jefferson Bible, and in the 19th century it was actually published. It was a copy of the King James Bible, but with all the references to the supernatural eliminated. Jefferson literally carved up the incorruptible Word of God in order to make an un-supernatural Jesus who was the product of his own unregenerate mind.
The closing words of the Jefferson Bible are these, from Matthew 27:59-60 -
And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
That's how the Jefferson Bible ends - with Jesus in the grave. But praise God, that is not where His authentic record ends! Our Bible ends in the book of Revelation chapter 22, with the risen, ascended, glorified, incorruptible Lord Jesus Christ saying, "Surely I am coming quickly!" - and the Apostle John responding - we can almost hear him shout it - "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
Next: Our Incorruptible Savior's Incorruptible Blood
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