The Work Of Christ
References for Further Study:
Berkhof, Reformed Dogmatics, I, pp. 333–362; Hodge, Systematic Theology, II, pp. 610–638; Hodge, Outlines of Theology, pp. 438–
44; McPherson, Christian Theology, pp. 321–330; Dick, Lectures on Theology, Lect. LX–LXIII.
THE WORK OF CHRIST
THE OFFICES OF CHRIST
Since the days of Calvin it is customary to speak of three offices of the Mediator. Man, as he was created by God, was intended to function as prophet, priest, and king. Hence he was endowed with knowledge and understanding, with righteousness and holiness, and with dominion over the lower creation. The entrance of sin into the world affected the whole man and made it impossible for him to function properly in his threefold capacity as prophet, priest, and king. He is subject to the power of error and deception, of unrighteousness and moral pollution, and of misery and death.
Christ came as the ideal man and for the purpose of restoring man to his original condition, and as such necessarily functioned as prophet, priest, and king. In some circles there is a tendency to recognize only one of the offices of Christ. Rationalism stresses the prophetic,
Mysticism the priestly, and Chiliasm the kingly office of Christ.
Modern liberal theology is inclined to deny the offices altogether. It is so much in love with Christ as the ideal man, the loving helper, and the elder brother, that it dislikes to think of Him in any official capacity.
A. The Prophetic Office. The Old Testament predicts the coming of Christ as a prophet in Deut. 18:15, a passage that is applied to Christ in Act 3:22, 23. He speaks of Himself as a prophet in Luke 13:33.
Moreover, He claims to bring a message from the Father, John 8:26– 28; 12:49, 50; 14:10, 24; 15:15; 17:8, 20, foretells future things, Matt.
24:3–35; Luke 19:41–44, and therefore speaks with singular authority, Matt. 7:29. In view of all this it is no wonder that the people recognized Him as a prophet, Matt. 21:11, 46; Luke 7:16;
24:19; John 3:2; 4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17.
1. THE SCRIPTURAL IDEA OF A PROPHET. The classical passages, Ex. 7:1 and Deut. 18:18, indicate that there are two sides to the prophetic office, the one receptive and the other productive. The prophet receives divine revelations in dreams, visions, or verbal communications; and passes these on to the people, either orally, or visibly in prophetic actions, Num. 12:6–8; Isa. 6; Jer. 1:4–10; Ezek.
3:1–4, 17. The receptive side is the most important and controls the other. Without receiving the prophet cannot give, and he cannot give more than he receives. Yet the productive side is also essential. One who merely receives revelations is not yet a prophet. It was the duty of the prophets to reveal the will of God to the people, to interpret the law in its moral and spiritual aspects, to protest against formalism and sin, calling the people back to the path of duty, and to direct attention to the glorious promises of God for the future.
2. THE WAYS IN WHICH CHRIST FUNCTIONS AS PROPHET. The
prophetic work of Christ should not be limited to the time of His earthly life or His public ministry. He functioned as prophet during the old dispensation as the Angel of the Lord, and also in and through the prophets, 1 Pet. 1:11; 3:18–20. He did it while He was on earth in His teachings and by means of the accompanying signs. And His prophetic work did not cease when He ascended to heaven. He
continued it by the operation of the Holy Spirit in and through the teaching of the apostles, John 14:26; 16:12–14; Acts 1:1; and still continues it through the ministry of the Word and in the spiritual illumination of believers. Even while He is seated at the right hand of the Father, He is ever active as our great Prophet.
3. MODERN EMPHASIS ON THE PROPHETIC WORK OF CHRIST.
In so far as there is any recognition of the official work of Christ in modern liberal theology, the emphasis is altogether on the prophetic work of Christ. Christ stands out before the modern mind primarily as the great teacher of mankind. To believe in Christ is simply to accept His teachings and to submit to His guidance. By His word and example He is leading His followers to ever higher levels of moral and spiritual life.
B. The Priestly Office. The Old Testament predicts and prefigures the priesthood of the coming Redeemer. There are clear references to it in Ps. 110:4 and Zech. 6:13. In Isaiah 53 we see the Servant of the Lord especially in His priestly capacity. Moreover, the Old Testament priesthood, and particularly the high priest, clearly prefigured a priestly Messiah. In the New Testament there is only a single book in which He is called priest, namely, the Epistle to the Hebrews, but there the name is applied to Him repeatedly, 3:1; 4:14; 5:5; 6:20;
7:26; 8:1. However, other New Testament books also refer to His priestly work, Mark 10:45; John 1:29; Rom. 3:24, 25; 1 Cor. 5:7; Eph.
5:2; 1 John 2:2; 4:10; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18.
1. THE SCRIPTURAL IDEA OF A PRIEST. The Bible makes a broad but important distinction between a prophet and a priest. The prophet was appointed to be God's representative with the people, and was primarily a religious teacher. The priest, on the other hand, was man's representative with God. He had the special privilege of
approach to God, and of speaking and acting in behalf of the people.
The Old Testament priests were also teachers, but their teaching differed from that of the prophets. While the latter emphasized the moral and spiritual duties, responsibilities, and privileges, the former stressed the ritual observances involved in the proper approach to God. The characteristics of a priest are given rather fully in Heb. 5:1. The priest (a) is taken from among men to be their representative; (b) is appointed by God (vs. 3); (c) is active in the interest of men in things pertaining to God, that is, religious things; and (d) offers gifts and sacrifices for sins. In addition he also makes intercession for the people.
2. THE SACRIFICIAL WORK OF CHRIST.
a. The Nature of Christ's Sacrificial Work. The work of Christ was first of all to bring a sacrifice for sin. The peculiarity in His case was that the priest was also the sacrifice. In other words, the sacrifice of Christ was a self-sacrifice, a sacrifice in which He laid down His life for sinners. Moreover, this one sacrifice combined all the elements represented in the various sacrifices of the Old Testament. It was a sinand trespass-offering to make atonement for sin; it was a burntoffering of whole-hearted and complete consecration to God; and it was also a peace-offering through which the sinner enters into blessed communion with God. In view of this it may be said that the sacrifice of Christ was of a many-sided character. b. The Sacrificial Work of Christ Prefigured in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament sacrifices had spiritual aand typical significance.
They were prophetical and prefigured the sacrifice of Christ. The paschal lamb is regarded as a type of Christ. There is a distant reference to it in John 1:29. Moreover, Christ is called "our passover" in 1 Cor. 5:7. There are clear indications and even express statements
to the effect that the Old Testament sacrifices prefigured Christ and His work, Col. 2:17; Heb. 9:23, 24; 10:1; 13:11, 12. Besides, there are several passages which teach that Christ accomplished for sinners exactly what the Old Testament sacrifices were said to effect for those who brought them, and that He accomplished it in a similar manner, 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13; 1 John 1:7. c. Scripture Proof for the Sacrificial Work of Christ. The priestly work of Christ is most clearly represented in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the Mediator is described as our only real, eternal, and perfect
High Priest, appointed by God, who takes our place vicariously, and by His self-sacrifice obtains a real and perfect redemption, Heb. 5:1–
10; 7:1–28; 9:11–15, 24–28; 10:11–14, 19–22; 12:24. While this is the only Epistle in which Christ is called priest, His priestly work is also clearly represented in the Epistles of Paul, Rom. 3:24, 25; 5:6–8; 1
Cor. 5:7; 5:3; Eph. 5:2. The same representation is found in the writings of John, John 1:29; 3:14, 15; 1 John 2:2; 4:10, and in the First Epistle of Peter, 2:24; 3:18.
3. THE INTERCESSORY WORK OF CHRIST. The priestly work of Christ is not limited to the bringing of a sacrifice; He is also the intercessor of His people. He is called our "parakletos" by implication in John 14:16 and explicitly in 1 John 2:2. The term means one who is called in to help, an advocate, one who pleads the cause of another. Christ as the believer's advocate pleads His cause with the Father against Satan, Zech. 3:1; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1; Rev.
12:10. a. The Nature of Christ's Intercessory Work. The intercessory work of Christ is based on His atoning sacrifice, is but a continuation of His priestly work, and carries this to completion. The nature of the work is indicated by Scripture in Rom. 8:24; Heb. 7:25; 9:24. It is not
limited to intercessory prayer, as is often mistakenly thought, but includes much more. As intercessor Christ continuously presents His sacrifice to God as the ground of all necessary blessings for His people, persistently claims these blessings for them according to their need, answers all accusations preferred against them by Satan, by the law, and by conscience, secures forgiveness for everything that is justly charged against them, and presents to God their worship and service, rendering it acceptable through His own righteousness. b. The Extent and Efficacy of His Intercession. Christ intercedes for all those for whom He has made atonement and for those only. This may be inferred from the limited character of the atonement and from such passages as Rom. 8:29, cf. vss. 33, 34, and Heb. 7:25.
Moreover, it is explicitly stated in John 17:9. It should be carefully noted, however, that Christ does not intercede for believers only, but for all the elect, whether they be already believers, or are still unbelievers, John 17:20. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that He stands before God as an authorized intercessor, and therefore as one who can present legal claims. What He asks of the Father He asks as a matter of right, and therefore His prayers on behalf of His people never fail. They are based on His atoning work, and He has merited all that He asks.
C. The Kingly Office. Christ as the Son of God naturally shares in the dominion of God over all His creatures. This kingship is rooted in His divine nature and is His by original right. In this connection, however, we are concerned with a kingship with which He as Mediator was invested. We distinguish a twofold Mediatorial kingship of Christ, His spiritual kingship over the Church, and His kingship over the universe.
1. THE SPIRITUAL KINGSHIP OF CHRIST. The Bible speaks of this kingship in many places, Ps. 2:6; 45:6, 7 (cf. Heb. 1:8, 9); 132:11; Isa.
9:6, 7; Micah 5:2; Zech. 6:13; Luke 1:33; 19:27, 38; John 18:36, 37; Acts 2:30–36. a. The Nature of This Kingship. The spiritual kingship of Christ is His royal rule over His people, or over the Church. It is called spiritual, because it relates to a spiritual realm, is established in the hearts and lives of believers, bears directly and immediately on a spiritual end, the salvation of sinners, and is administered, not by external, but by spiritual means, the Word and the Spirit. This kingship is exercised in the gathering, the government, the protection, and the perfection of the Church. The term "head" is sometimes applied to Christ as the king of the Church, 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:20–22; 5:23. It is just because
Christ is the head of the Church that He can rule it in an organic and spiritual way. b. The Realm Over Which it Extends. The spiritual kingdom of Christ is identical with what the New Testament calls the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom is first of all the kingship of God in Christ established and acknowledged in the hearts of man by the work of regeneration. In the second place it is also the realm over which the rule of God in Christ extends, a realm created by the Spirit of God and composed exclusively of those who share in the life of the Spirit. And, finally, it is also a new condition of things which results from the application of the principles of the kingdom of God and which often extends beyond the sphere of the kingdom in the strictest sense of the word. The citizenship of the kingdom is coextensive with the membership of the invisible Church. Its field of operation, however, is wider than that of the Church and aims at the control of life in all its manifestations. The visible Church is the most important and the only divinely instituted external organization of
the kingdom. The term "kingdom of God" is sometimes used in a sense which makes the kingdom practically equivalent to the visible
Church, Matt. 8:12; 13:24–30, 47–50.
The spiritual kingdom of Christ is both present and future. It is on the one hand a present, ever-developing spiritual reality in the hearts and lives of men, and as such exercises influence in a constantly widening sphere, Matt. 12:28; Luke 17:21; Col. 1:13. But on the other hand it is also a future hope, which will not be realized until the return of Jesus Christ. This future aspect of it is the more prominent of the two in Scripture, Matt. 7:21; 19:23; Luke 22:29; 1 Cor. 6:9;
15:50; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5; 2 Tim. 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:11. In essence the future kingdom will consist, like that of the present, simply in the rule of God established and acknowledged in the hearts of men. But at the glorious coming of Jesus Christ this establishment and acknowledgment will be perfected, the hidden forces of the kingdom will stand revealed, and the spiritual rule of Christ will find its consummation in a visible and majestic reign. c. The Duration of Christ's Spiritual Kingship. Socinians claim that Christ did not become king until the time of His ascension, and Premillenarians, that He will not be seated upon the throne as Mediator until He establishes the millennium at the second advent.
As a matter of fact, however, He was appointed as king from eternity, Prov. 8:23; Ps. 2:6, and began to function as such immediately after the fall. Yet He did not formally and publicly assume His throne until the time of His ascension and elevation to the right hand of God.
Some opine that this kingship will cease at the return of Christ, but Scripture would seem to teach explicitly that it will endure forever,
Ps. 45:6; 72:17; 89:36, 37; Isa. 9:7; Dan. 2:44; 2 Sam. 7:13, 16; Luke 1:33; 2 Pet. 1:11.
2. THE KINGSHIP OF CHRIST OVER THE UNIVERSE. Before His ascension Christ said to His disciples: "All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth," Matt. 28:18. The same truth is also taught in Eph. 1:20–22; 1 Cor. 15:27. a. The Nature of This Kingship. This kingship should not be confused with the original kingship of Christ as the Son of God, though it extends to the same realm. It is the kingship of the universe entrusted to Christ as Mediator in behalf of His Church. As King of the universe He now guides the destinies of individuals, of social groups, and of nations, so as to promote the growth, the gradual purification, and the final perfection of the people which He has redeemed by His blood. Moreover, this kingship enables Him to protect His own against the dangers to which they are exposed in the world, and to vindicate His righteousness by the subjection and destruction of all His enemies. b. The Duration of This Kingship. Christ was formally invested with this kingship over the universe when He was exalted at the right hand of God. It was a promised reward of His labours, Ps. 2:8, 9;
Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20–22; Phil. 2:9–11. This investiture did not give Him any power or authority which He did not already possess as the Son of God; neither did it increase His territory. It simply gave this authority to Christ as the God-man, so that His human nature was now made to share in the glory of this royal dominion. The government of the world was made subservient to the interests of the Church of Jesus Christ. This kingship will last until the victory over the enemies of the kingdom is complete, 1 Cor. 15:24–28. When the end is accomplished, it will be returned to the Father.
Questions for Review:
Why has Christ a threefold office? What Scripture proof is there for