Faultless Man
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (Psa. 1:13).
There is but one Man of whom these verses could speak in perfection—Jesus Christ our Lord, the Son of God. He alone walked in perfect righteousness before God. His moral character was perfect, pure holiness. He was not a scorner, for gracious words proceeded from His mouth (Luke 4:2222And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? (Luke 4:22)).
Those sent to arrest Jesus returned in wonder, saying, “Never man spake like this man” (John 7:4646The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. (John 7:46)). Though he had scourged Him, three times Pilate proclaimed that he could find no fault in Jesus (Luke 23:4, 14, 224Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. (Luke 23:4)
14Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: (Luke 23:14)
22And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go. (Luke 23:22)). Standing at the foot of the cross, the centurion glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:4747Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. (Luke 23:47)).
The Apostle John wrote, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:1414And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)). Peter wrote of his Lord and Master, “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not” (1 Peter 2:22-2322Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: (1 Peter 2:22‑23)).
God testified to the perfection of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. From heaven His voice proclaimed for all to hear, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:1717And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)). And again, on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured before His disciples, we hear the voice of God declaring, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him” (Matt. 17:55While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. (Matthew 17:5)).
Fallen Man
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psa. 14:13).
God looks down on fallen man, declaring all are sinners, and the fool defies God by saying, “There is no God!” Yet the evil heart of man is evidence that he is a sinner. Man devises all manner of evil. God holds him accountable, and man hates God.
Over the centuries men have created religions and philosophies that exclude God in order to convince themselves that there is no God: Fatalism (Eccl. 3:1919For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 3:19)), Epicureanism (Eccl. 3:12-1312I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. 13And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 3:12‑13)), Deism (Eccl. 3:14-1714I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him. 15That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. 16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. (Ecclesiastes 3:14‑17)), Evolutionism (Eccl. 3:18-1918I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts. 19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 3:18‑19)) and, finally, Universalism (Eccl. 3:20-2220All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? 22Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him? (Ecclesiastes 3:20‑22)). Thus man does not feel accountable to a God that he does not want to believe exists. There is no God in his thoughts.
But God has not left himself without witness. Creation itself clearly declares His eternal power and Godhead, leaving man without excuse (Rom. 1:2020For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:20)). Man professes himself to be wise, but God says he is a fool. Not wanting to acknowledge God, he turns to his own imaginings. There is no fear of God before his eyes (Rom. 3:1818There is no fear of God before their eyes. (Romans 3:18)).
Forsaken Man
“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring? O My God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. They cried unto Thee, and were delivered: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people” (Psa. 22:1616For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. (Psalm 22:16)).
This psalm refers to the faultless Man who at Calvary became the forsaken Man. In the Gospels we read what He suffered at the hands of man. Isaiah wrote, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not” (Isa. 53:33He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)).
But the cry from Calvary, foretold in this prophetic psalm, came because God forsook the faultless Man. During three awful hours when the sun was forbidden to shine in the middle of the day, God poured out His wrath against sin upon the sinless One—the faultless Man who always did God’s will. Why? We hear the glorious answer from the eternal councils of God. There we discover that the faultless Man gave Himself a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:66Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Timothy 2:6)). Having offered Himself a sacrifice for sins, He is now seated in heaven at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 10:1212But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; (Hebrews 10:12)).
Forgiven Man
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Psa. 32:15).
The faultless Man who became the forsaken Man teaches us the love of God for fallen man. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that anyone who believes in Him receives eternal life and freedom from the eternal consequences of their sins. God, righteous and holy, forsook the faultless man that we, fallen and dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:11And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (Ephesians 2:1)), might be reconciled to God.
A Fool or Forgiven: Which Are You?
We have seen how the faultless Man became the forsaken Man that He might redeem us to God. The choice that now stands before you is this: Will you remain a fool and die a fool’s death, to bear the just judgment for your sins by a righteous, holy God, or will you become a forgiven man by accepting God’s loving and great gift of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ?
A fool . . . or forgiven: Which will it be?
K. Heslop (adapted)