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The Obedient One

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“Though being a Son, did learn by the things which he suffered—the obedience.” 
Hebrews 5:8 Young’s Literal Translation

  

The LORD looked down upon the children of men and could not find even one,[1] “And I was appalled.” [2] In this condition, in this state of affairs, the grace of God was displayed in that He sent His arm,[3] the one Yahweh called, “my servant.”[4]

The Apostle Paul’s theology of the two Adams,[5] against whom all men are to be judged upon the consummation of redemptive history, is centered on the one man who was disobedient to God and the other who was obedient.[6]

From the scriptures, we understand the first Adam failed to obey the word of God. The second Adam would and did succeed in obedience to all that God set before him. It was in this necessity that Jesus of Nazareth came into the world as the last Adam in Paul’s theology, and “learned the obedience[7] by the things which he suffered.”[8]

 

Through his suffering of the obedience,[9] Jesus has, in effect, opened the way to the Father.[10] The way had not yet been revealed for those of faith—that is, to the saints[11] who lived in the past and are now asleep in death.[12] Their faith and hope rested on the promise of God, in the eventual resurrection of the just, [13]and in the kingdom of God.[14] How and when these promises were to be brought about was the mystery, hidden from the beginning and for long ages,[15] but has since been revealed through God’s Christ.[16]

The coming of the Just (Righteous) One is key to understanding the promises of God and the realized hope of the saints.[17] . [18] And before the Just One could be recognized he had to be found worthy.[19] The worthiness of the Just One was founded upon the demonstration of his love for[20] and obedience to God.[21]  

Jesus was a real man, made of woman,[22] who lived in real time and space.[23] His obedience to the Father was real, requiring the real suffering and sacrifice of laying aside his own will for that of the Father's.[24] His overcoming of the world was real, in that it was a true test between the desires of the flesh and His obedience to the Word of God.[25] The afflictions Jesus suffered both by the hand of God[26] and at the hands of men, were real, in that they were directly experienced by the man who was sent of God who stated that he was His servant.[27] As the afflicted servant of Yahweh, Jesus became for us the man of sorrows by whose stripes his people have been healed.[28] All that the righteous servant did was out of his love and obedience to His God.[29] All that the Obedient One did resulted in the justification and the securing of righteousness[30] for those whom God had given to him.[31]

The purpose of God in sending Jesus was to provide the man[32] who became the Lamb, who through his obedience to the will of God “justified the many.”[33] The Apostle Paul wrote, “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”[34]

The obedience of Jesus to God the Father was, in effect, to return what the first Adam tried to grasp for himself, the Glory which belongs to God alone and is His to give as a reward[35] to those whom He wills and chooses.[36]

Jesus of Nazareth is the only man in the history of mankind who fully demonstrated both the necessity and the substance of what it means to put aside one's will for the Will of God.[37] His love for Righteousness[38] sent him to the cross of Calvary, where he became God’s sacrifice for the sin of the world.[39]

As Jesus hung upon the cross, dying the slow death it imposed upon its victims, those who hated him the most stood nearby and cried out in mockery, “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if He desires him. For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" [40] Jesus did trust in God, as he demonstrated his entire life, and God did deliver him, not from the pains of his humiliation and death, but in the promise of God that he would not experience the corruption of the grave.

Jesus knew he must die, but he also believed, based upon his trust in God, as explained by the Psalmist, “I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”[41]

On the third day, when Jesus awoke from the sleep of death, the words of the Psalmist were fulfilled, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with your likeness.”[42] When God raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead, Jesus was made a life-giving spirit.[43] As a reward for his obedience, God exalted the name of Jesus above all others.[44] Jesus has been made King of Kings and Lord of Lords.[45] He now sits at the right hand of power upon the throne of God, until the time when all the enemies of God are subdued under His feet.[46] The return of Jesus to this earth is imminent, for the day has been promised when Jesus will come again, a second time,[47] with the expectation of the inheritance of the nations.[48]

The obedience of Jesus was absolutely necessary for the redemption and the justification of those people God has chosen[49] as the inheritance for Himself.[50] In turn, it is to these same people that Yahweh has given the obedient son[51] as his inheritance.[52]  Jesus speaking to the disciples in the upper room on that last evening, revealed the reality of the inheritance when he prayed to the Father. “All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.”[53]

 

The requirement of God is to believe[54] that Jesus is the Christ of God.[55] There, in God’s wisdom and in His pleasure, through the gift of faith[56] is revealed the man ordained by God.[57] God foreordained His chosen servant for the purpose of displaying the glory of God in the face[58] of Jesus, who is the Christ.[59] 

As his people, we truly have a kinsmen redeemer made like us in every way, and who was tempted like us in every way.[60] The suffering of Jesus was acute, because He fathomed more than any other man what it meant to be under the affliction of God.[61] Jesus came to us with the full understanding, as the man of sorrows, [62] what the Father expected of him.[63]

Jesus was a man of the scriptures, who believed and trusted in the Word of LORD, knowing the law and the prophets and the Psalms.[64] He knew it was the scriptures which testified to his coming.[65] Because of this knowledge of the scriptures and the blessing and duty inherent in being anointed with the Spirit of God,[66] Jesus went to His death willingly at the hands of sinful men.[67]  

What God did for Jesus is the demonstration of His promise to His people, and is the source of our comfort. That comfort is the promise that God's people, His faithful, will be raised in the newness of life,[68] eternal life, and made the life-giving spirit Jesus has become.[69] As our Kinsmen Redeemer,[70] his joy,[71] his life,[72] his nature,[73] his place, [74] ...is our hope.[75]

Jesus is the faithful[76] and Obedient One in whom redemptive history finds its fulfillment. Jesus’ obedience to his (my) God[77] made it possible for those who believe and trust in God to stand on the day of resurrection in the presence of God.[78] To stand in the presence of God is the hope[79] to awaken in His likeness.[80] This would not have been possible if not for the obedience of the one man, Christ Jesus, who has become the validation of the hope.

But there is even more for the believer who has placed his or her trust in God, found in “his precious and very great promises.”[81] For the chosen of God,[82] those called the sons and daughters,[83] is the promise of the pure heart, enabling His children to see God.[84] It is the Glory the children of God seek,[85] to be conformed to the image of Christ,[86] who is the image of God.[87] It is the precious hope to be realized in the age to come,[88] to be made a partaker of the divine nature.[89] It is the hope to be fellow heirs with Christ.[90]

 

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In conclusion, the promises of God are rooted in God’s desire and decree to make man in His image and likeness. The decree of God has been realized in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Obedient One, the One who has been declared the Righteous One, and the One whom God raised from the dead and now sits at the Right Hand of God as the express image of God.[91] In Jesus of Nazareth is the revealing of the Glory of God, man standing in the presence of God.[92] It is this glory, having been revealed through the resurrection of Jesus, Whom the children of God seek.[93] It is nothing less than the goal of redemptive history.

Upon the resurrection, when corruption takes on incorruption,[94] when that which is mortal takes on immortality, then that which is written will come to pass, "Death is swallowed up in victory."[95] “Then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, [for the purpose] that God may be all in all.”[96]

 

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[1] Isaiah 59:16, 51:18, 41:28

[2] Isaiah 63:5

[3] Isaiah 59:16b, "on my arm shall they trust" – Isaiah 51:5, 9 52:10, 53:1

[4] Isaiah 42:1-6 See also Psalm 89:24-28 Isaiah 52:13- through chapter 53

[5] 1Corinthians 15:45-49

[6] "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." Romans 5:19

[7] The definite article in is the Greek Text - Hebrews 5:8

[8] Isaiah 53:3-5 Philippians 2:8

[9] "through being a Son, did learn by the things which he suffered -- the obedience..." Hebrews 5:8 YLT

[10] "I am the way…no one comes to the Father except through me" John 14:6

[11] The saints are believers from times past. Psalm 50:5 Daniel 7:18-27  see also Hebrews chapter 11

[12] 1Thessalonians 4:13-15 1Corthinians 15:18 Mark 5:39

[13] Daniel 12:2-3 John 11:24 Isaiah 26:19 Job 19:25-26

[14] "I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven," Matthew 8:11
         also, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

[15] "…the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:2-3

[16] Romans 16:25 2Timothy 1:9, 10 Titus 1:2, 3a

[17] Hebrews 11 "The hall of faith, the saints of the past" – "have not received the promise" 11:39-40

[18] Acts 3:14, 7:52, *22:14

[19] Revelations 5:2-12 "Worthy is the Lamb…"

[20] "…you have loved righteousness…" Psalm 45:7, cited in Hebrews 1:9

[21] Psalm 91:14 Hebrews 5:8 Philippians 2:8

[22] “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law” Galatians 4:4 l KJV 

[23] "But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law…" Galatians 4:4 KJV

[24] Psalm 40:8-17 Hebrews 5:7 (the cup=God's will)

[25] The temptation experience of Jesus. Matthew 4:1-10 Luke 4:1-13 see also Psalm 119:10-14 (the entire Psalm has God's anointed one in view)

[26] "Surely he has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted." Isaiah 53:4 ESV

[27] Matthew 20:28 Mark 10:45 Isaiah 53:11 "My righteous servant"

[28] Isaiah 53:3-5

[29] Psalm 40:8-11, 17

[30] Isaiah 53:11 Acts 13:39 Romans 5:18, 19 We were made righteous through his obedience.

[31] John 6:30, 10:28-29, 17:7:11

[32] "To you a son is given." Isaiah 9:6. John 1:45

[33] Isaiah 53:11 Roman 5:18,19

[34] Romans 5:19 See also 5:14-18

[35] "He (God) will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life" Romans 2:6-7 ESV

[36] "As it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For He said to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.' Romans 9:13-16 See also Psalm 89:3 Isaiah 42:1, 43:10 Matthew 12:18

[37] "…not my will, but Yours, be done." Luke 22:42

[38] "…you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions." Psalm 45:7 ESV

[39] John 1:29

[40] Matthew 27:43

[41] Psalms 16:10-11, cited in Acts 2:31-34

[42] Psalm 17:15

[43] 1Peter 3:18 1Corinthians 15:45

[44] Acts 4:10-12

[45] "They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful." Revelation 17:14 ESV Also Revelation 19:6

[46] Psalm 110:1 Luke 20:42 Acts 2:34 Hebrews 1:13

[47] "…so Christ…will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." Hebrews 9:28

[48] Psalm 2:7

[49] Luke 9:34 Psalm 89:3 Isaiah 65:22

[50] Exodus 6:7 Psalm 78:1 "My people…The LORD's inheritance" *Psalm 28:9 Deuteronomy 9:29, 32:9 Exodus 19:5

[51] Psalm 2:7 Acts 13:33-35 Romans 1:4

[52] Psalm 2:8, 21:2, 87:5-6 John 6:37-39, 10:27-29

[53] John 17:10 The inheritance of both the Father (God) and Jesus His Son is discovered in that reality where the people of God are to be one with the Father and the Son.  John 17:11, 22,

[54] 1John 5:10-13

[55] “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.”
              1John 5:1 ESV See also 1John 2:22 Acts 9:22 Paul's mission in life. The disciples'  teaching Acts 5:42

[56] Ephesians 2:8

[57] Acts 10:42, 17:31 *See also 1 Peter 1:20-21

[58] 2Corinthians 4:6b Hebrews 1:3a

[59] Acts 19:4 Paul, far more than any other of the NT writers, some fifty-plus times, uses the phrase in his epistles to the Churches.

[60] Hebrews 4:15, 5:1-10

[61] Psalm 89:38-48 This passage is an accounting of God's dealing upon His anointed one! In the case of Job, it is God who is on trial, as Job bears the afflictions poured upon him. Job's complaint was that he did not understand why he was suffering so, and maintained his innocence, until he realized the purpose of God in his sufferings. Jesus did understand, right from the beginning, what was happening to him, and the necessity of what he must do to accomplish the Father's will, even if it meant the suffering the rejection of those to whom he was sent, and dying upon a Roman cross. Both were men who were tested to the limits of human endurance, both were righteous, giving the credit and glory to God, and both trusted that God does all things well.

[62] Isaiah 53:3 Hebrews 4:15

[63] Isaiah 50:4-5 Psalm 40:4-10 *Isaiah 53:3-11 Jesus would have been fully aware of this passage, just as well the Isaiah passage that he read from in the synagogue. See Luke 4:16-20 Isaiah 61:1-2a

[64] Luke 24:44

[65] John 5:39 Luke 24:27

[66] Isaiah 61:1 Luke 4:18

[67] Isaiah 50:6-7

[68] Romans 6:4 2Corinthians 5:17

[69] 1Corinthians 15:45 Romans 8:2, 10 John 5:21, *6:57

[70] Psalm 22:22 Job 19:25 Mark 3:33 Matthew 25:40

[71] John 15:11

[72] John 4:14, 10:28

[73] 2Peter 1:4

[74] Revelation 3:21

[75] 1Timothy 1:1 Colossians 1:7

[76] Revelation 19:11

[77] His God, "My God" John 20:17 Matthew 27:46 Ephesians 1:17, * Revelation 3:2 ESV, NAS ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ μου—"before (the) my God" Many translations have left out the personal pronoun μου (my)

[78] Matthew 5:8 Revelation 22:4

[79] Acts 23:6, 24:14-14, 26:6-8, 28:20

[80] *1John 3:2 Psalm 17:15 Philippians 3:21 Romans 8:29

[81] 2Peter 1:4

[82] Isaiah 45:4, 49:7, 65:9, 22 Matthew 12:18, 22:14 Luke 23:35 1Peter 2:9 *1Thess. 1:4

[83] 2Corinthians 6:18 Revelation 21:7

[84] Matthew 5:8 Psalm 73:1

[85] Romans 2:7, 5:2 Colossians 1:27 1Peter 1:21

[86] Romans 8:29

[87] 2Corinthians 4:4 Colossians 1:15

[88] Hebrews 2:5, 6:5

[89] 2Peter 1:4

[90] Romans 8:17 Galatians 3:29 Ephesians 3:6

[91] 2Corinthians 4:4 Colossians 1:15 Hebrews 1:3

[92] Acts 7:55

[93] Romans 2:7, 10 1Peter 1:7

[94] 1Corinthians 15:51-54

[95] 1Corinthians 15:54

[96] 1Corinthians 15:28