Jesus Christ: The Father's Steadfast Love and Faithfulness for His People


"The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty." - Exodus 34:6-7a

The word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen His glory,  glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth - John 1:14 

 "Jesus Christ is the fullest expression of God's steadfast love and faithfulness to save His people from their sins" - Rev. Brad Lenzner


Being in a state of persistent discouragement during this time has a way of mercilessly taking an emotional toll on you. I am afraid to admit that I currently live under this heaviness. Throughout the past few weeks, I have been meditating on a Lord's Day sermon preached a few weeks ago based on John 1:14 (I will share the link at the end of this post).  There was one particular connection the pastor made between Exodus 34:6-7a and John 1:14 that I have found to be of much comfort and encouragement. He mentioned that John's use of grace and truth (John 1:14) were allusions from the Lord's declaration of His character to Moses, that He is a "God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness". (Exodus 34:6-7). The moment I heard that Jesus is the Father's steadfast love and faithfulness for His people, the tears started flowing. It perhaps made me contemplate all of the ways that Christ is the full embodiment of the faithfulness of our Father in keeping his covenant with a sinful and rebellious people. "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain" Hebrews: 6:19

How is the Lord Jesus Christ the embodiment of the Old Testament descriptions of God's steadfast love and faithfulness? 

By virtue of his incarnation, the Lord Jesus condescended to us by taking on a full human nature. He showed steadfast love and faithfulness to the Father by living in perfect and unending obedience to the law. In His humanity we see that Christ is a merciful High Priest who is not separated from the sorrows and sadness that humans inevitably face in a fallen world. In His obedience we see that we have failed to do, Christ has done in our place. In His death on the cross, we see that "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-for it is written 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree'".(Galatians 3:13). He absorbed and exhausted the full wrath of God in His body so that we may be reconciled to the Father. In His burial, we see that He sanctified the grave. In His resurrection, we see that we too will be raised and that our justification is sure. In His Ascension, we see that He has gone before us and is surely preparing a place for us. In His intercession, we see that even now He applies the benefits of the cross to us, over and over and over again. His Second Coming causes us to wait with full expectation and confidence that we will be transformed within a twinkling of an eye, that we will be fully received in Christ, and that we will be vindicated and raised up.  Jesus Christ is indeed full of grace and truth, our steadfast love and faithfulness. 

It should come as no surprise to us that as we navigate life, what the Heidelberg Catechism calls a "veil of tears", that we will endure some dark and heavy days as believers. However, amidst the darkness we have a sure light, which is Christ. From the moment sin entered into the world through Adam, we were promised a Second Adam (Genesis 3:15). "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel" Christ is the fulfillment of this promise, and this truth is what clings to me no matter the unknowns that I will continue to face this year. I pray it would be yours to cling to and claim as well. 

"O Death where is your victory? O death where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians: 15:55-57)


Lords Day Sermon: The Glory - Rev. Brad Lenzner




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