The Church is a miracle, a living organism brought into existence on the day of Pentecost. By the power of the Holy Spirit united to Jesus Christ in his flesh, Jesus became one of us. He became a human being so that heaven and earth could be joined in a human being. Jesus was the Anointed One—the One filled with the Holy Spirit. There have been a lot of good prophets and teachers in history, but only Jesus is the Savior of the world. Humanity doesn’t just need more knowledge, information, or power. It doesn’t need nice feelings. It needs new life—and no one on earth can access new life with their own power. 

We all have biological life given to us, and we all know it’s a ticking clock. We all know we are going to die. The Gospel is very clear that the death problem begins with the sin problem, and the sin problem is separation from God—who alone is the ground of all being and life itself. In Him, we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). God didn’t send Jesus to earth just to add a few chapters into the Bible and say, “Hey, make sure you’re following all the rules just right so you can get to heaven.” 

No. Jesus became one of us so heaven and earth could be united in a person. Jesus is the Messiah. He is Jesus Christ, the Lord, and the Savior. He’s the Anointed One. With what is He anointed? He’s anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not just some vague voice. The Holy Spirit is a part of the Triune God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is actually a person.

Jesus is anointed with the Spirit—which means He has all power and authority over heaven and earth. He took on human flesh. He manifested the kingdom of God and revealed the love of the Father. He preached the Gospel to us and then went to the cross, where He bled and died to destroy the powers holding us in bondage to darkness and sin. The Bible is beautifully clear on this; Jesus’ blood broke the back of Satan’s kingdom and dominion. 

There’s no forgiveness of sins without the pure sacrifice of Jesus Christ. One drop of his blood could save the whole world. Jesus disarmed all the principalities and powers of darkness by dying on the cross for us. His obedience to the Father is a message for us forever. 

When Jesus was in the Upper Room with his disciples, He said, “I won’t be with you much longer because the devil is coming after me. But the devil has no hold on me” (Jn 14:30). 

Essentially, Jesus is saying, “What’s going to happen to me over the next few days is what the Father wants. I want the whole world to know that my Father is good, and I am going to demonstrate his goodness through obedience. My Father is trustworthy, and the greatest and most important thing humans can ever do is love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.” 

The love language of heaven is obeying God’s commands, which means trusting the Father. This means more than simply being under rules. It means surrendering to God’s light and commandments and following Him. Jesus fulfilled the First Commandment on the cross. He loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He told his best friends, “I’m going to do this because I want the whole world to know that I love the Father” (Jn 14:31).  

This is the meaning of human life. 

Jesus came to show us the meaning of life, because we’re lost and wayward, afraid, under the dominion of darkness, and distracted by “figuring out” who we are. We have a bad day, and we question, “Does God even exist?” Jesus, at the cross, expressed to us what He called the first and the greatest thing that a human being can ever do: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. That’s love on his terms, not on our terms.  

Everyone talks about love constantly. But Jesus is the truth about what love is, and He revealed it to us on the cross. Love is surrendering your life in trust to your Creator. 

Because of that act of love by which we were saved, God highly exalted Jesus and gave Him the name above every other name (Phil 2:9). Therefore, the destiny of human history is this: “At the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:10-11). 

Through his love of the Father and obedience on the cross, Jesus gave us the one thing that no one else could give us: eternal life. Jesus said, “I am the life, and I want to give it to you, but you can’t grab it. You can’t do it on your own terms. You must do it on my terms.” Jesus didn’t just tell us what to do; He showed us what to do. He didn’t just wag his finger at us and say, “Get this done. You’d better improve yourself.'” No, Jesus said, “Do you see what I did? You come and do that with Me. You follow Me in obedience, and when I come into glory at the right hand of my Father, We will give you glory and life that will never die, and you will become part of our family.”

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This article is condensed from Peter’s talk at Renewal Ministries’ 2022 Gathering. His talk begins at 10:40:26.

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