Three Other Phrases
Three Other Phrases
I more quickly mention three other phrases in addition to these two. The third is “rejection by.” Jesus suffered rejection by mankind because of His holiness. On the cross He suffered rejection by God the Father because He was ladened with our sins. He was vicariously sinful. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In that sense, Jesus suffered a twofold rejection. He was too holy to be received by sinful men. And in that awful moment of His sacrifice He was too sinful to be received by a holy God. So He hung between heaven and earth, rejected by both until He cried, “It is finished…. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (John 19:30; Luke 23:46). Then He was received by the Father.
But while He was bearing my sins—and yours—He was rejected by the Father. While He moved among men He was rejected by them because His holy life was a constant rebuke to them.
The fourth phrase is “identification with.” Surely Jesus was identified with us. Everything He did was for us; He acted in our stead. He took our guilt. He gave us His righteousness. In all that Jesus did on earth, He acted for us because by His incarnation He identified Himself with the human race. In His death and resurrection He identified Himself with the redeemed human race.
As a blessed result, whatever He is we are. Where He is, potentially His people are. What He is, potentially His people are—only His deity excepted.
Finally, consider His “acceptance at.” Jesus Christ, our Lord, has acceptance at the throne of God. Although once “rejected by,” He is now “accepted at”! The bitter rejection has turned into joyous acceptance. And the same is true for His people. Through Him we died. Identified with Him, we live. And in our identification with Him we are accepted at the right hand of God the Father.
The Lord’s table, the Communion, is more than a picture on a wall, more than a set of beads reminding us of Jesus Christ and His death. It is a celebration of His person—a celebration in which we gladly join because we do remember Him. By it we testify to each other and to the world of Jesus’ sacrificial, conquering death—until He comes!