" ... God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory" (1 Timothy 3:16)
For mankind, the earth has become a symbol of death and mortality, but in the very face of this, the Christian still knows for certain that God has not forgotten him. Man who was made in the image of God has not been forsaken - God promised a plan to restore that which had been made in His image.
Only that creature to whom He called "man" did God make in His own image and likeness. So, when man failed and sinned and fell, God said, "I will go down now."
God came down to visit us in the form of a man, for in Christ Jesus we have the incarnation, "God manifest in the flesh." God Himself came down to this earthly island of man's grief and assumed our loss and took upon Himself our demerits, and in so doing, redeemed us back unto Himself. Jesus Christ, the King of glory, the everlasting Son of the Father, in His victory over sin and death opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
Beyond His death and resurrection and ascension, the present work of Jesus Christ is twofold. It is to be an advocate above - a risen Saviour with high priestly office at the throne of God; and the ministry of preparing a place for His people in the house of His Father and our Father, as well.
That is what the Bible teaches. That is what the Christian church believes. It is the essence of the doctrine of the Christian church relating to atonement and salvation!
~A. W. Tozer~
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