Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Psalm of praise: 18:1, 20
Prayer
Psalm 9:7, 9
Scripture reading: Song of
Solomon 1
Scripture
text:
Song of Solomon 1:3; Catechism Lord’s Day 12
The odor of your ointments is fragrant; your name is like perfume
poured out. Therefore do the maidens love you. (Song of Solomon 1:3 AB)
Within the framework of God’s kingdom, there is a marked
resemblance between a woman and her husband in marriage, on the one
hand, and the Lord Jesus Christ and his church on the other hand.
- Like a bride longing for her husband, the church – that is
all the faithful – should be longing for the Lord Jesus
Christ with all their heart and all their strength.
- And like a woman accepts the name and dwelling place of her husband
when she marries him, the church acquires the Name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and a dwelling place in God’s kingdom – on
the new earth.
Ephesians 5 from verse 22 describes the relationship between a wife and
her husband.
- This passage tells how the wife should be subject to her husband, for
the husband is head of the wife as the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of
the church.
- The husband is told frankly to love his wife, for God loves the church.
The husband has no choice – he should do what God does.
- Marriage is therefore the symbol of the relationship between God and
his church.
The letter to the Ephesians compares the sanctity in marriage with what
is featured by the sacrament of the holy baptism (verse 26).
- The baptism is symbol of the perfection of the relationship between the
church and the Lord because the Lord Jesus Christ washed away all the
sins of the church.
Then the Bible says:
This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning Christ and the
church. (Ephesians 5:32 AB)
Hence it happens in the exact way described in the Song of Solomon:
The odor of your ointments is fragrant; your name is like perfume
poured out. (Song of Solomon 1:3 AB)
The Name of the Lord Jesus Christ is literally poured out over us so
that we actually bear his Name: Christians.
The Lord Jesus Christ was anointed to be Prophet, Priest and King.
- He teaches, redeems and comforts and He adopts us as his servants.
- The congregation should believe and confess this: Christ of God was
anointed to be Prophet, Priest and King.
Modern man would immediately ask: What can the Lord Jesus Christ do for
me in this threefold office?
The answer is: Everything we need to be saved!
- As the Prophet He enlightens our hearts and minds.
- He gives
the Word of God to us. He makes us eager to read and understand the
Bible.
- Jesus
Christ the Prophet has fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will
of God concerning our redemption: He revealed that it was
God’s plan that He would save us and reconcile God with us
through his death.
- The Lord Jesus Christ, the Priest, is our Saviour.
- In the
first place because He died on the cross for us.
- Through
his redemptive ministry He saved us from the punishment and taint of
our sins, because this was exactly what He died for.
- The
Priest is also the Counsellor who gives us God’s peace. He
grants us inner peace so that we would know that we are the chosen ones
who belong to God forever and would live eternally through his
redemptive sacrifice.
God the Holy Spirit also works at this level, because He grants us
faith and the knowledge that we are saved. God the Holy Spirit works in
and through all three these offices of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- He works
insight in our minds when we listen to the ministry of God’s
Word (prophetic).
- He grants
comfort and conviction that the Highest Priest of God reconciled God
with us through his redemptive sacrifice.
- The Holy
Spirit makes us understand that the death on the cross affects me
personally! I am personally involved, because it effected and ensured
my salvation!
- The Lord Jesus our eternal King sanctifies us so that we can be
citizens of his kingdom.
Because we know these things – they have been revealed to us
– we should bear the name Christian honourably and with
dignity. This brings up our responsibilities:
- We should have good knowledge of what has been revealed to us. We must
continually increase our knowledge of the Bible.
- Because our God the Holy Spirit is our Guide, we must never complain
that it is too difficult to understand the Bible.
- The
Spirit of God leads us – He does not do our work for us,
because He is not our slave!
- He guides
us to know that we must spend labour upon our faith!
Achievements regarding our faith do not just happen. We have to
exercise – as we do to become physically fit.
- We must learn to live through the power of the Lord Jesus.
- We must become more and more acquainted with Him through studying his
Word every day – guided by God the Holy Spirit.
Don’t we often forget that our achievements through faith
could also strengthen our fellow believers?
- The question is specifically addressed to those who always complain.
- Faith is not a matter solely between me/you and the Lord. The faithful
are also strengthened by one another’s piety.
Then we should also realise that we are vested with the three offices
of the Lord Jesus Christ – because we are Christians.
- Every one of us is priest who should perform acts of love and
compassion.
- We must
all pray.
- We must
all devote our entire life as a thanks-offering to God.
- Likewise every one of us is also prophet.
- We must
testify about the Lord Jesus.
- We need
not preach from a pulpit like a minister during public worship in order
to testify about the Lord Jesus and his redemptive ministry.
- Our
entire life – through what we say and do – should
bear testimony of the honour of God. We must talk about religion and
what the Scriptures say.
- Also, every one of us is a king of the Lord.
- With very
good reason He told Adam to tend and guard and keep the earth.
- In
whatever we do and wherever we go we must display God’s
kingship in his Name.
- NB The
Lord never committed his authority to us. He only revealed his will to
us so that we could act according to his authority.
- Hence we
must also be kings in the Name of the Lord and fight against sin and
the works of Satan.
After all, he who does not display the image of God can hardly expect
to be accommodated by God in the hereafter.
Let’s see what is written about this in our articles of faith
– in the Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 12.
31. Q. Why is He called Christ, that is, Anointed?
A. Because He has been ordained by God the Father, and anointed with
the Holy Spirit,[1] to be our chief Prophet and Teacher,[2] who has
fully revealed to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our
redemption;[3] our only High Priest,[4] who by the one sacrifice of His
body has redeemed us,[5] and who continually intercedes for us before
the Father;[6] and our eternal King,[7] who governs us by His Word and
Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the redemption obtained for
us.[8]
[1] Ps. 45:7 (Heb. 1:9); Is. 61:1 (Luke 4:18; Luke 3:21, 22. [2] Deut.
18:15 (Acts 3:22). [3] John 1:18; 15:15. [4] Ps. 110:4 (Heb. 7:17). [5]
Heb. 9:12; 10:11-14. [6] Rom. 8:34; Heb. 9:24; I John 2:1.
[7] Zach. 9:9 (Matt. 21:5); Luke 1:33. [8] Matt. 28:18-20; John 10:28;
Rev. 12:10, 11.
32. Q. Why are you called a Christian?
A. Because I am a member of Christ by faith[1] and thus share in His
anointing,[2] so that I may as prophet confess His Name,[3] as priest
present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him,[4] and as
king fight with a free and good conscience against sin and the devil in
this life,[5] and hereafter reign with Him eternally over all
creatures.[6]
[1] I Cor. 12:12-27. [2] Joel 2:28 (Acts 2:17); I John 2:27. [3] Matt.
10:32; Rom 10:9, 10; Heb. 13:15.
[4] Rom. 12:1; I Pet. 2:5, 9. [5] Gal. 5:16, 17; Eph. 6:11; I Tim.
1:18, 19. [6] Matt. 25:34; II Tim. 2:12.
Amen.
Closing prayer
Closing hymn: Psalm 2:1
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.
Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
Date: 2 April
2006 (evening)