Worthy of Our Trust

If we can comprehend Jesus’ personal history and understand who he was before the Creation of the World, we will feel immense consolation. He is in charge of our salvation and he has always acted the same. From the highest levels of exaltation, to the lowest levels of humiliation, Jesus has always been the same: Faithful and True. He was, is, and always will be faithful to God and true to God’s cause. That’s why God has given Jesus the title of Faithful and True. He is the rider on the white horse with a robe dipped in blood.

I saw Heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True… He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God (Revelation 19:11, 13).

God trusts in Jesus to get the job done, and so should we. How Jesus has behaved in the ancient past (as the Word) proves that he is worthy of our deepest confidence today. His name is still the Word of God, and we can trust him with our salvation!

Jesus’ faithfulness to God in the past assures us that he will continue to be faithful in the future. Can you trust Jesus with your eternal salvation? Can you count on him to get you into the Kingdom, and to save you from Hell? His history demonstrates that he is worthy of our trust.

Faithful Then, Faithful Now

The gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John testify to Jesus’ faithfulness to God, demonstrating that Jesus was faithful to do exactly what God wanted and to say exactly what God said even while he was in the flesh. Now, that’s the hardest time for anyone to be faithful to God, but Jesus did God’s will then, so he’ll do it now.

Look at how Jesus lived his life while he was in the flesh—that is, while he had the human nature of sin. He did everything for God. If that’s the case, then how much more faithful will Jesus be today, having received from God a spiritual body? 

So will it be with the Resurrection of the Dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit’ (1 Corinthians 15:42-45).

Jesus can’t even be tempted now, so it’s impossible that he would sin. When he was in the flesh, he didn’t succumb to temptation, so how less likely is it for him to succumb to temptation now? There’s a zero percent chance that he’ll disobey God.

Jesus came in the flesh. He had a mortal natural body, just like you do today. He became like you and me in every way, with the same weaknesses and inclinations towards sin that we have now, but he did not succumb to them. He did not sin.

… we do not have a High Priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin (Hebrews 4:15).

Those who depend on Jesus to free them from sin, find more than an example. They find something greater than a model life. They get an Intercessor, a Mediator. We call on God through Jesus for forgiveness. We get to God through our High Priest Jesus to experience salvation from sin. There is no other name given unto man by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). He is the way. No one comes to the Father but by him (John 14:6).

In other words, Jesus intercedes for us before God in Heaven. He does that when we come to God in prayer. That’s what it means to pray in Jesus’ name.

But, what makes Jesus so effective? It’s that he sympathizes with us. Jesus’ experience in the flesh assures our victory over sin. We have a powerful Advocate in Heaven who sympathizes with us, procures the help we need, and effectively frees us from the power of sin. Jesus has the position of influence with God to get us God’s grace when we need it.

… since the children [us] share in blood and flesh, he also in like manner shared in these same things… he was obligated to be made like his brothers in all respects, in order that he could become a merciful and faithful High Priest in the things relating to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people. For in that which he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:14-18; LEB).

God’s Most Highly-Trusted Servant

When Jesus came to us in the human nature he was a baby, but he was no novice to testing. He was no newcomer to faithfulness. It wasn’t the first time God had put the Lord to the test. He had earned a reputation in Heaven. Jesus was already God’s most highly-trusted Servant. But that’s not to say that obedience was natural to Christ. It was not.

Jesus had the same weaknesses of the human nature, the flesh of sin (Romans 8:3), that you and I have. As a human being, from childhood Jesus had to learn obedience through what he suffered. That’s right, he had to learn to obey. It didn’t come naturally to him.

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Hebrews 5:8-9).

Jesus subjected himself to the process of childhood development. He had to develop a good conscience in order to become a righteous person. He grew morally to the point where he knew how to reject what was wrong and to choose what is right.

… the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste (Isaiah 7:14-16).

Jesus learned obedience. It wasn’t automatic. He got discipline from his parents and teachers when he did what was wrong. He got physical punishment with rods and switches, just like parents and teachers have used with children for millennia.

I will be his Father, and he will be my Son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him (2 Samuel 7:14-15).

Getting back to the point that this was not the first time our Lord’s obedience was tested. When God chose Jesus to be the Savior of mankind, God chose the One he could trust more than any other. Saving the World was no menial task, so God entrusted it to the best Servant he had—the Word.

Since Jesus has proven so thoroughly that he is worthy of God’s trust, do you and I have any reason to doubt him? Of course not. God trusts him, and so should we. You can bet on Jesus! You can put all your confidence in him.

Fully Human in Every Way

Surely we will trust in Jesus more today if we understand what Jesus gave up in order to save us: He gave up his divine nature. Jesus was ‘in very nature God,’ but then he took on the nature of man. He assumed the human nature of sin.

… being in very nature God, [Jesus] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped; but he emptied himself by taking the very nature of a servant… (Philippians 2:6-7)

Truly, if you can comprehend how much Jesus left behind to become like us, you’ll appreciate the Cross so much more. Jesus was a man subject to temptation. Jesus was a man with a human nature through and through. He had nothing of the divine nature he had previously. The divine nature he had when he was the Word with God in Heaven, he left behind. Having emptied himself of the divine nature, he became exactly as we are.

… he [Jesus] had to be made like them [human beings], fully human in every way (Hebrews 2:17).

Be clear that empty means 0% and that fully means 100%. Jesus had all of the human nature when he came to us and none of the divine nature, zero.

Unto Death

If his death were just a simple bullet in the head, it wouldn’t have been difficult for our Lord to face death; but Jesus died the most disgraceful and painful death available to his generation. He died by crucifixion. What he did was difficult.

Jesus was pegged a blasphemer by the Jews, his compatriots. Then he was unjustly condemned to death by the Romans. Jesus sacrificed his reputation, dignity, friends, and comforts. He shed the blood that ran through his veins. He didn’t just die. Jesus gave his life out of obedience to God, humbling himself out of his love for God.

… he [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross (Philippians 2:6-7)!

Jesus went to this extreme, a disgraceful death, to obey God. He went to this extreme to save us! He has proven his love to God with a faithfulness that has no equal in World history. Based upon what he has done in the past, will you trust Jesus with your future? You can. You definitely can.