THE SAVIOR’S DEPARTURE
“Nevertheless
I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if
I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart,
I will send Him unto you” [JOHN
16:7].
One of the definitions of “depart” given by Strong’s
Concordance is “to pursue the journey on which one has entered;
to continue on one’s journey.” In the everlasting covenant of
grace, our Lord Jesus Christ commenced a journey which He willingly
pursued, one which would lead Him to the cross of death and then to
the throne of universal sovereignty. Nothing could hinder Him from
embarking upon and triumphantly finishing that journey. Messiah
declared that He set His face “like a flint” [ISAIAH
50:7],
an indication of His unwavering resolve to complete the work assigned
Him by the Father in the eternal covenant.
Nothing
could deter or prevent Him from successfully finishing His journey.
The Savior was completely committed to the fulfillment of His
covenant promise and therefore said, “I delight to do Thy
will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart” [PSALM
40:8].
He was the Surety to whom the safety and salvation of the elect had
been entrusted by the Father. This was a work which He was delighted
to pursue and accomplish. In order for God to be “a just God
and a Savior” [ISAIAH
45:21],
the eternal Son had to take upon Himself “the form of a
servant” and “be made in the likeness of men” and
“be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”
[PHILIPPIANS
2:7-8].
He had to “depart” to satisfy the demands of God’s
law which required death as the wages of sin. His journey led Him to
Calvary where, in order to wash our sins away and bring in
everlasting righteousness, He “poured out His soul unto
death” [ISAIAH
53:12].
By
His departure, Christ satisfied every requirement of divine justice
and redeemed and reconciled to God those given Him in the council of
peace. Upon the basis of the finished work of Christ, “the
Comforter” has been sent to make the gospel effectual to
the hearts of dead sinners. Using the preached Word, He gives
spiritual life and grants repentance toward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Thank God for the Savior’s departure.
-Gospel report by preacher Jim Byrd
Thirteenth
Street Baptist church of Ashland, Kentucky USA
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