Question 20: Who is the Redeemer?

Answer 20: The only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, in whom God became man and bore the penalty of sin himself. 

Who is the Redeemer… this is the most important question. Jesus asked his disciples “who do the people say that I am?” They responded, "One of the prophets." 

Then Jesus directed the question at them and asked "Who do you say that I am?" Peter’s answer was spot on! “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus affirmed his answer was right on: "Blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.”

Then what followed was Christ's classic statement on his commitment to build his church on a rock, and the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. The confession of the Person and work of Christ is the rock upon which the church is built. Peter is not the rock. Rather the truth he confessed is the rock. Our understanding of who Christ is, who the Redeemer is. The truth of it that we confess is the rock upon which the church is built. So who is our Redeemer? 

The ONLY Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." He is the only Redeemer. 

Then two important things are brought together in terms of the identity of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He is God and man. The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God in whom God became man. Jesus, the eternal Son did not cease to be God when he took on human flesh. Philippians 2 says that he emptied himself, not by becoming less than God, but by taking human form and being born in the likeness of men. The Council of Chalcedon (AD 451) affirmed the truth that in the one Person of Christ, there are two natures - divine and human. Christ is fully God and fully human. 

And he bore the penalty for sin himself. God undertook to deal with the penalty of sin. In a very real sense, salvation is being saved from God - being saved from God's righteous penalty for sin. People struggle to hear that. But if we are saved from the consequences of our sin, who have we sinned against? God. And whose consequences? God’s. We have sinned against God and his law. Our answer is so helpful though… God himself bore the penalty. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God (eternally God) became man to bear the penalty of sin. We need a Savior is who both God and man, we need a Redeemer who can mediate between God and man, who can work perfect reconciliation. We have such a Redeemer in Christ.

1 Timothy 2:5 - For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.