The Work of Christ by Robert Letham is truly a profound compilation of writings based on what Christ has done for us on the cross. He doesn’t only touch on what He did, but also on different viewpoints and arguments others make towards His work and whether it is truly biblical or not.
This helps us get a greater understanding of where others get their viewpoint of when they believe something that is not biblical, yet claim it to be. We start off by looking at His plan for salvation, and the ideas being presented behind it.
We must come to understand that the centre of the Christian faith should focus on who Christ is and what He’s done for us. One cannot separate Christ from His work as this is the heart of the Christian message.
Then, Letham brings up the topic about the kingdom of God also known as the kingdom of heaven. As many try to understand what this means and if there is any difference between the two, we see in scripture that they are both used interchangeably. “ What then, is the kingdom of God? It is nothing less than the reign of God in human affairs. It is inaugurated with the coming of Jesus.” (Letham 66).
We see that it is actually quite simple. It is not only spiritual within ourselves, although that is where it all starts, but it is also physical and plays out in each believer in every sphere of influence they live and work in.
The next question is whether it is something for the ‘here and now’ or rather a future time. The answer is both. Most certainly Jesus declared that the kingdom of God is at hand, letting us know that God is among us and everywhere His spirit goes His kingdom is being enlarged. At the same time, Jesus also speaks about the coming of the kingdom in which we will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for a feast. This is also what so many of the prophets spoke about. So rather than partitioning the two ideas apart, we believe them to be one as the kingdom is here and now, but will be fully consummated and revealed in the return of Jesus.
When it comes to being with Him, as believers in Jesus, we will indeed be united with Him when He returns. However, it is also true that when we have put our hope and trust in Him, we take part in His death and resurrection by dying to our own sinful desires and letting the Spirit resurrect us so we can live in unity with Him while on this earth. This is the joy we carry!
Now while many people called Jesus a prophet, was that really His role? One could say He indeed took on the role of a prophet as part of who He is, yet, it was about Him that all the prophets spoke of through the Spirit. So when Jesus spoke, He was speaking life to others about Himself.
He was what the Jews were all waiting for whom they heard about for so long. The Bible is Spirit-breathed and is all about Jesus. So there is nothing He says that will contradict scripture. He came to fulfill the law, that we may live through Him who lived perfectly under the law.
Another attribute we see about Him is High Priest, yet he never stated that He Himself was a priest. He wasn’t from the bloodline of the Levites. Now in the Aaronic priestly line, a priest typically took on the role of presenting people before God. We don’t see very much in scripture about the priest operating far outside of these boundaries other than the mention of Melchizedek.
He was someone Abram tithed to. He was known as a priest and king of the city we now call, Jerusalem. It’s interesting then to note that in the book of Hebrews in the Bible, it talks about Jesus coming in the line of Melchizedek. This promotes the reality that he came to present us before God, while also being a king. So while He presented us in this way, He didn’t do it with a lamb, goat, or any other blood sacrifice that would not be enough to pay for all the sins of the people. He did it with Himself. He held the role of a priest, a king, and the sacrificial lamb all at once here. We can wonder why He would then give Himself up as a sacrifice if He was a king and a priest? Did He owe us, or even as some have argued the devil, a payment to get us back? We can conclude that He is God, descending from heaven, whom through the cosmos were formed, having the absolute power and authority to take His life and raise it back up by His own free will out of a pure love for the ones created in His image. He owed us nothing. But because of His love and ultimate sacrifice, we now owe Him everything.
He is indeed Creator and Sustainer of all things. In this context, let’s now think about His creation. How could a believer in Jesus Christ, knowing that He is the Creator, not care about maintaining the earth around us to the best of our abilities? Let’s look at an example. If someone created and owns a park, then invited friends into it, would anyone see it as respectful to leave trash laying around? I think we know the answer to this one. As Christians, it is then clear we are to steward what we’ve been given with utmost respect, looking at our Creator with a holy awe.
This stewardship goes far beyond the car, job, family, and friends He’s blessed us with. It covers the world we live in.
When it comes to his role as kingship over the church, we again see division in thought processes here, especially between Roman Catholicism and Evangelicalism. On the former side, we see the belief that the first and utmost importance of living eternally is entering into the Church through the sacraments as the only way enter heaven when passing from our mortal bodies.
On the latter side in the Evangelical world, we see Christ being the most important while labelling the church as a second possibility to maybe connect with down the road when we have time at a church that fits our needs and wants. Clearly, these both are deep ditches to be in. Our goal is that we stay out of either one. We don’t ever place the Church as the most important part of our lives since Jesus Christ is the one who gave his life for us.
He is the centre of all our worship and creation. However, you cannot truly have Christ if you deny the church. The Church is owned by Christ and is the nurturing mother who encourages and raises each other up into new life by pointing everyone to Christ. Without a mother, a child is left depleted, not getting the nourishment they need.
This is the same perspective we need as believers. While I touch on this book in brief the main topics that were discovered, there is so much more depth through theological arguments and viewpoints stated in each section. However, the meaning of the book is clear, to come to an understanding of who Christ is, what He has done for us, and how we can view His kingdom appropriately.
This book has definitely touched my heart and driven me to new perspectives of the faith realizing why so many people and churches have been divided. May you and I be reminded that if we focus on topics of lesser importance than the Centre of all creation and what He did for us on the cross as our driving force to life, we will indeed end up a divisive person. My hope is that you and I never take these minor topics as holding higher value. May we begin every day with the most wonderful topic on our mind,
Christ and Him crucified.
