Discipleship

The answer given is, “Christ’s exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day; in ascending into heaven; in sitting at the right hand of God the Father; and in coming to judge the world at the last day.”

We can also be encouraged by the thought that through his death on our behalf, Jesus also secured the ultimate defeat of our enemy. He will one day return to complete the victory over evil and make everything right.

Question 25 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, How does Christ fill the office of a priest?

Question 24 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, How does Christ fill the office of a prophet? The answer given is, Christ fills the office of a prophet in revealing to us by his Word and Spirit the will of God for our complete salvation. The purpose of a prophet is to speak the words … Read more

Jesus is the only one who has demonstrated the ability and the authority to fulfill all three of these offices in combination in one person.

The first observation that I need to make is that there is mystery here. We must acknowledge that complete understanding of this is beyond our reach as humans.

In the last few months, I have been reading about the first Ecumenical Councils of the church in the 4th and 5th Centuries. It was at these councils that the nature of Jesus was clearly defined for all of Christendom. Many of the misunderstandings about Jesus that survive today were addressed by these councils.

We like to think of ourselves as free moral agents with the ability to control our own destinies. We don’t want to have anyone tell us what we can or can’t do. We are taught that such freedom is our birthright and no-one should be able to take this away from us.