Nov
01
2008
In Jesus, God Comes Near
In Jesus is made known to us the ultimate reality of God as a moral and spiritual being.
In Jesus, God appears as righteous love.
In Jesus, God comes near for our salvation.
In Jesus, the grace and power of God are manifested for our redemption.
In Jesus, God takes the initiative in seeking us.
We are found and awakened by the gospel. But our sin binds us. We know ourselves alienated in heart and life from God. We are unable to redeem ourselves. We belong to a kingdom of evil and are held captive.
We need forgiveness and reconciliation. Through his atoning work Christ brings God near in forgiving grace.
We need moral and spiritual transformation. Christ supplies the motives which lead to repentance and the new life.
“In Christ” is the phrase which expresses the total meaning of the new life. He is its source, its structural law, and its goal.
We are, in other words, regenerated and spiritually constituted in Jesus Christ.
- E.Y. Mullins, The Christian Religion in its Doctrinal Expression, pg. 165