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  Question 43. How does Christ execute the office of a prophet? Answer. Christ executes the office of a prophet in manifold ways, manifesting the perfect will of God in all things pertaining to salvation, by revealing it to the church of all ages by his Spirit and word. The office of prophet refers mainly to those who worked as messengers of God's word in the Old Testament era, and they are the ones who prophesied the coming of the Messiah. Jesus was born into the world as the Messiah and spoke about the kingdom of God and salvation, but the leaders of Israel did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah and had him die on the cross. What Jesus did as a prophet was to prophesy what would happen after his death on the cross. He prophesied that he would die and be resurrected three days later, and that the temple in Jerusalem would be completely destroyed, leaving not a single stone unturned. This prophecy was fulfilled around A.D. 70. And the resurrected Jesus appeared to the disci...

  Question 42. Why is our Mediator called Christ? Answer. Because our Mediator was called Christ, because in his state of humiliation and exaltation he was anointed with the Holy Spirit beyond measure, and was consecrated and filled with all authority and power, to execute the offices of prophet, priest, and king in his church.   Christ (Messiah) means the anointed one. In the Old Testament, oil was poured when a king, priest, or prophet was appointed. Oil symbolizes the Spirit of God, and when the oil was poured, the Spirit of God descended, and the person was distinguished as a person of God. Therefore, in the Old Testament, the anointed person was distinguished as a person who did God's work. The people of Israel had prophesies from the mouths of the prophets that the Messiah would come as a descendant of David, and Jesus is the Messiah, Christ. The Son of God, the mediator, stands as a mediator between God and sinners, but Christ stands as a mediator who has comple...

  Question 41. Why is our mediator called Jesus? Answer. Because our mediator is called Jesus, because he saved his people from their sins.   The name of Jehovah, who is God, is Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God who was born as a human being in the world. All the sinners in the world can come to God when they rely on Jesus. This is because Jesus died on the cross as a substitute to save sinners. Therefore, when sinners are united with Jesus who died on the cross, they also become those who are in Jesus, and they also become those who die from sin. Jesus becomes the mediator for sinners.  

  Question 40. Why must the mediator be God and man in one person? Answer. The mediator who reconciles God and man must himself be God and man in one person, and this is so that God can accept the special work of awakening the divine and human for us as the work of the whole person, and we can rely on the work of the whole person.   The mediator mediates between God and man and brings about reconciliation. From God's perspective, the mediator becomes the Son of God and persuades God to reconcile sinners with God. That mediation is the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Now, sinners also die with the Son and ask for forgiveness for their sins. The mediator speaks to sinners from the perspective of a human being. If you repent, God will forgive your sins. I died for your sins and was resurrected. If you repent and die with me, God will resurrect you with me and you can go to God. He mediates for sinners. Reconciliation with God is the death of Jesus on the cross as a ...

  Question 39. Why must the Mediator be a man? Answer. The Mediator must be a man so that he may uphold our nature, obey the law, take on our nature, suffer for us, intercede for us, and feel our weaknesses. So that we may receive the right of adoption, be comforted, and come boldly to the throne.   Philippians 2:6-8 Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even the death of the cross. Christ is the Son of Man, representing sinners. He says, “ I will die in your stead, so repent and die with me. ” If you also repent and believe that you are united with me and have died to sin, God will forgive your sins and turn sinners into righteous people. Since the mediator dies in place of sinners, sinners can approach God through the mediator. Je...

  Question 38. Why must the Mediator be God? Answer. The reason why the Mediator must be God is that he may hold human nature in check, and not fall under the infinite wrath of God, and the power of death; that he may give value and efficacy to his sufferings, obedience, and intercession, and so satisfy the justice of God; that he may obtain for himself a peculiar people, and put his Spirit upon them, and subdue all their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation.   The mediator is not God, but the Son of God. The reason the mediator becomes the Son of God is to persuade God that he will be a sacrifice on behalf of sinners. The wrath of God, the righteous God, is appeased by the Son of God on behalf of man. The Son of God dies on the cross on behalf of sinners, appeasing the wrath of God. Therefore, for those who enter into Christ, the wrath of God is appeased by the mediator, and sinners are forgiven. Originally, angels were the sons of God, but some of them wa...

  Question 37. How did Christ, the Son of God, become man? Answer. Christ, the Son of God, became man by taking upon him a true body and a sensible soul. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.   Jesus Christ was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary and born as a human being. And when he was baptized by John the Baptist and came up out of the water, God called him his Son. Matthew 3:16-17 “ And when Jesus had been baptized, he went up immediately from the water. And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, ‘ This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. ’” Therefore, Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Son of Man at the same time. Since Jesus is the Son of God, God gave Jesus the power to forgive the sins of the world, the power to judge, and ...