v30 – “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,”

  • It is because of
    • The electing work of the Father
      • Before the ages began – before even time was set into motion, God chose those of his creation whom would be part of his elect. He did this before any of us would commit any acts at all so that God would be the one to get the glory for our salvation. Not our own works to redeem ourselves, nor our own ability to seek God and try to clean ourselves up – doing that which the world sees as sanctified acts.
        • The world approaches sanctification through public repentance, but God seeks repentance that comes from the heart (Ps 51)
        • The world seeks sanctification that is outward (public changes and public use of rehabilitation facilities), whereas God seeks sanctification that starts in the mind and is revealed in the outward interactions from a changed heart, a modified mind, and a new set of ideals that command our lives. Not merely a changed attitude, but an all-encompassing, whole life recreation – we are new beings with new desires. The old has cone away, behold, the new has come.
    • The work of the Son on our behalf
      • His perfect obedience to the word and the will of God the Father
      • His willingness to endure the suffering that he knew would take place
        • Suffering physically
        • The public condemnation
        • The public mock-trial
        • The public beatings (whipping, punching, sticks, beard torn out)
        • The public rejection by even those in his closest circles
        • The public humiliation (spitting on him, hurling insults upon him, stripping him naked)
        • The public destruction of his body on the cross
      • Suffering spiritually
        • Knowing that he, as the creator and sustainer of all, maintains the world and all that is in it, it is this world which has turned against him
        • God the Father, whose very holiness and purity precludes him from even looking upon sin, had to turn his face away from God the Son as he embodied the sinfulness of mankind. It was necessary that he take it upon himself, but God’s very nature keeps him from enduring it in his presence, lest he utterly destroy it out of existence. Therefore God the Son must embody this sin, and God the Father must turn his face away. This is the first time that there has been any break in the unity of the Godhead – bound in eternity in perfect one-ness, perfect communion – now separated and broken for the sake or God’s elect, and so that God would receive the glory for the salvation of mankind.
        • God has no obligation to save anyone. God is wholly correct and righteously so, if he were to, with a word, wipe out mankind from existence – literally burn it to nothing. All of creation was made so that God’s communicable attributes (list) would be manifested (revealed). His perfect revealing of his character and nature is crowned by the eternal destruction of those who refuse to bend the knee to his authority and power over their lives, and in his justification of the unjust through him taking the punishment that they deserve in their place – as no one can endure it except for him, and he is the one who can declare them now justified before him.
    • The work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts:
      • Opening the eyes of our heart to see God as he truly is and not according to our own desires or views of him to be
      • Enlightening our minds to understand the statements of God in scripture
      • Turning our thoughts to the things of God so that we consider God’s stance on our lives, our thoughts, and our decisions
  • All of these, working together, bound us tightly to Jesus the Christ – the chosen, elevated, and righteous king of creation. Jesus became, in our place, our:
    • Wisdom from God:
      • He is our righteousness
      • We cannot be righteous before God. We are wholly broken and unable to meet God’s standard of perfection (Ex 20). Therefore, God has to be our righteousness on our behalf.
    • He is our sanctification
      • God is the one who sanctifies us – who, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, transforms us minute by minute, day by day, month by month, and year by year in to the image of Christ our Savior. Our King. We are changed in heart and mind in to a new person – into one who reflects the character and nature (name) of the one who saved us from ourselves, to himself, to his glory, and our ultimate good.
    • He is our redemption
      • Redemption implies that something has been paid back – taken care of. Jesus is the ransom that bought us our freedom – freedom from our sins and their control over our lives, and freedom to serve the God and King of our lives who bought us with his own blood to serve him forever.

v31 – “so that, as it is written ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’.”

  • All of this has been performed so that it is God who gets the glory.
  • Throughout the history of the world, God has created the whole universe specifically to reveal his glory, but man has tried time and again to turn us to serve ourselves. Modern humanism is merely the latest plan for this. Even Anton LaVey – founder of the Church of Satan – said that Satanism is really just, at its core, humanism – the worship of mankind. It is less about abandoning God, but the glorification of self. We see this in the long list of idols and demons worshipped throughout history – each one promises a myriad of wonderful things if you, as Satan said to Jesus, only fall down and worship him – in rejection of the God and King to whom your worship really belongs. From good crop yields, to financial freedom, to even your on planet where your wife pops out SpiritBabies(tm) and you become your own god. All of these are meant to take your worship and turn it away from the God who is, the the god who is in YOU. This is against all of scripture which continually points us to the God and King who died in our place. (verse list)
  • Therefore, it is God alone who deserves the glory for the work performed in our lives.
    • If it is God who does the work, we cannot take the glory.
      • Not for choosing to follow God
      • Not for turning to God in an hour of need
      • Not for trusting in the promises of God
      • Not for saying a prayer or walking an aisle
      • Not for seeking to save us from our own shipwrecked lives – it is GOD ALONE who is responsible for the whole process and God alone who deserves the glory for all this work performed in our lives.
  • Rom 8:29-39