JESUS: LORD AND SAVIOR – A SUMMARY

SUMMARY OF JACK COTTRELL’S “COLLECTED WRITINGS” SERIES:
VOLUME SEVEN: JESUS: LORD AND SAVIOR, by Jack Cottrell

INTRODUCTION

All of volume 7 in my Collected Writings series is devoted to Christology—the study of what the Bible says about Jesus. The title is Jesus: Lord and Savior. Christians have studied this aspect of God’s revelation as much as—if not more than—any other subject, so there is not much new that can be said about it. Thus most of what appears in the thirty lessons included here has no doubt been discussed before.

Still, a lot of what has already been said, unfortunately, falls into the category of false doctrine. Yes, false doctrine about Jesus! What can be more sad, and more problematic, than this? A few of my lessons address of some of these false ideas. For example, “The Christological Fallacy” (pp. 13ff.) exposes the common false idea that the red-letter teachings of Jesus are more authoritative than the rest of the Bible. Another example is the lesson, “Did Jesus Go to Hell for us?” (pp. 141ff.).

Also, I dare to say that a couple of these lessons actually may present some new thinking about Jesus, or at least some ideas that are not very well known. E.g., see especially Part Two of the first lesson, “Jesus and the Biblical World View” (pp. 8ff.), about whether or not Jesus is central to Bible doctrine. The conclusion may surprise you. Also, see the essay on “Faith, History, and the Resurrection Body of Jesus” (pp. 181ff.), where I show that Jesus did not receive His glorified resurrection body when He came out of the tomb.

What follows is a brief summary of a few of these lessons, and a listing of the rest.

PART ONE: JESUS AND THEOLOGY

A. “Jesus and the Biblical World View,” (pp. 3-11). The issue here is how Christology fits into Biblical theology as a whole, or how Jesus relates to the Biblical world view. I believe it is a serious error to try to make Jesus the center of everything, the hub around which everything else rotates.

Here I am affirming two things. First, Christianity is a world view. It is not just about Jesus and salvation; it is about everything. Second, this Biblical world view rests upon the specific foundation of Genesis 1:1, i.e., the fact that Yahweh God is the ex nihilo CREATOR of all things. The fact of creation is where our world view begins; it is the framework into which all else fits and from which everything else finds its meaning. Creation explains redemption, not vice versa. God is Creator before He is Redeemer.

What, then, is the second layer of reality in our Christian world view? Is it Jesus? NO! It is SIN, as it originated with the Fall in Genesis 3. This explains the fallen nature of our present universe, and of the human race in general; and thus it establishes the NEED for redemption.

Only now does God’s redemptive activity, centering around Jesus, come into the picture of the Biblical world view. Redemption through Jesus Christ is the Creator’s response to the problems caused by sin, and the means by which He is pursuing His original purpose for creation.

Here is how I have summed it up in terms of what is central in our lives and in our way of thinking. I.e., I distinguish three kinds of centrality. First, GOD THE CREATOR is essentially central, since His mighty act of creation explains the very existence and essence of all things. Second, the BIBLE – God’s inerrant and authoritative Word – is epistemologically central, i.e., it is the foundational and normative source for all truth. Finally, Jesus Christ is existentially (or experientially) central in our lives, since our everyday lives revolve around Him. I.e., our strongest felt relationship with God is the relationship we have with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

A word to preachers: you have not done you duty if you preach ONLY “the gospel.” You must preach the WHOLE Christian world view.

B. “The Christological Fallacy” (pp. 13-20). This is the fallacy that the record of Jesus’s life and teachings in the Gospels is the source and norm for all doctrine. The error lies in making Jesus primarily a source of revelation and knowledge, rather than the source of our redemption. This is contrary to the fact that the Bible, the WHOLE Bible, is our authoritative source of truth and doctrine.

I give ten examples of Christian leaders, many from the Restoration Movement, who have affirmed this fallacy. E.g.: Jesus came to earth “to show us how to live a good life.” “I know Paul said we should do that, but Jesus didn’t; therefore we don’t have to do that.” “Instead of seeking the advice of Scripture, we should actually see the life of Christ.” “Jesus remains the center and norm of all our theological thinking.” FALLACY!

PART TWO: THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST

A. “Jesus: Fully God, Fully Man” (pp. 23-26).

B. “The Virgin Birth of Jesus” (pp. 27-30).

C. “Jesus: Firstborn and Begotten” (pp. 31-34).

D. “Incarnation and Original Sin” (pp. 35-36).

PART THREE: THE DEITY OF CHRIST

A. “Is Jesus God?” (pp. 39-44).

B. “Must One Believe Jesus Is God in order To Be Saved?” (pp. 45-48).

C. “Jehovah’s Witnesses and Jesus’s Deity” (pp. 49-51).

D. “The Identity of ‘The True God’ in 1 John 5:20” (pp. 53-54).

E. “In What Sense Is Jesus Eternal?” (pp. 55-59).

F. “Was Jesus Omniscient?” (pp. 61-65).

G. “Did Jesus Know He Was the Divine Messiah?” (pp. 67-71).

PART FOUR: THE MIGHTY WORKS OF JESUS

I prepared and preached these four sermons for an “Easter revival” at the Pleasant Ridge Church of Christ in Dearborn County, IN, in spring 2015. I am happy to include Christ’s ascension and enthronement in this title!

A. “The Crucifixion” (pp. 75-87). What makes the cross a necessary means of saving us from our sins? Wherein lies the problem that ONLY the cross can resolve?

1. Some say the problem lies with the sinner. I.e., we are so stubborn and sinful that we need a really strong means of persuading us that God is serious about wanting and being willing to save us. This view is called the “moral influence” theory of the cross, and is held mostly by liberals. It is in no way the correct answer to our question.

2. Others say the problem that requires the cross is with the devil. Some early Christians (third-fifth centuries) held the view called the “ransom theory” of the cross. Their idea was that Satan gains a legitimate claim to sinners, and holds us ransom until God offers to trade Jesus for the rest of us. It was a trick, though, since Satan did not know Jesus would rise from the dead and escape his clutches! This view has no Biblical basis, though.

3. The real reason the cross is necessary is that the very nature of God requires it. I.e., how can God forgive sins and satisfy His LOVING nature, and at the same time punish sins and satisfy His HOLY nature? Answer: by punishing Himself as a SUBSTITUTE in our place! Thus God put Jesus forth as a PROPITIATION through faith in His blood (Rom. 3:25), and so is able to forgive sins without violating His own nature.

B. “The Resurrection” (pp. 87-98). Christ’s resurrection is truly a mighty work, not just because of the power required to perform it, but especially because of the power that flows from it (Phil. 3:10)! What power?

1. The power to raise sinners from spiritual death, when we are “raised up with Him” in Christian baptism (Col. 2:12). This is our regeneration, or new birth – a spiritual resurrection from spiritual death.

2. The power to raise believers from physical death, which will happen at Christ’s second coming when He gives us a new material body just like His own glorified body (Phil. 3:20-21).

3. The power to turn cultures upside down, which happens through the preaching of the gospel. See Acts 17:1-9, where the preaching of Christ’s resurrection (v. 3) literally “turned the world upside down” (v. 6) in Thessalonica. (Actually, it was turning the unnatural sinful world rightside up!)

C. “The Ascension” (pp. 99-111). See especially Acts 1:9-11. Here we can answer some questions about what happened when the risen Jesus “ascended.”

1. Where did Jesus go when He ascended? Not into “outer space,” but into the heavenly angelic throne room where God has a permanent theophany and where our spirits go temporarily when we die. See Daniel 7:13-14, Rev. 4-5. He will stay there until the second coming.

2. How did He get there? By levitating into the cloud of God’s presence, at which moment His old body was transformed into His glorified “resurrection” body, which then left this physical dimension and was transferred into the spiritual dimension just described, in a real “triumphal entry” (Psalms 24:7-10)!

3. Why did Jesus go UP (rather than just walk away)? Two reasons: (1) Height symbolizes majesty. (2) So His followers would not keep looking for Him somewhere on the earth.

4. Why did He leave at all? One, to complete the work of atonement. Two, so He could fill the earth with His spiritual presence. (See the next point also.)

D. “The Enthronement” (pp. 113-126). What is the significance of Christ’s being seated at the right hand of God the Father?

1. On the heavenly throne Jesus reigns as KING.

2. On the heavenly throne Jesus intercedes for us as our HIGH PRIEST.

3. On the heavenly throne Jesus draws our attention to what really matters, i.e., “the things above, not … the things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2).

PART FIVE: THE DEATH OF JESUS

A. “Why the Cross?” (pp. 129-135). This is a sermon I preached in the mid-1960s.

B. “The Nature of Jesus’s Suffering in Our Place” (pp. 137-140). He suffered the equivalent of eternity in hell for the whole human race.

C. “Did Jesus Go to Hell for Us?” (pp. 141-143). NO – He just suffered its equivalent.

D. “Jesus: The Lamb of God” (pp. 145-147). A Christmas Eve communion meditation.

E. “The Atonement and Physical Healing” (pp. 149-152). The atonement brings physical healing, BUT not in this lifetime. Only our spirits are redeemed in our baptism; these sin-wracked bodies are replaced with redeemed ones only at the second coming (see Romans 8:17ff., esp. v. 23).

F. “Reconciliation” (pp. 153-166). This is one of my presentations for the West Lectures at Harding University Graduate School of Religion in February 2004. “Reconciliation” is one way to describe the work of Christ. Here I explain the NEED for reconciliation, the BARRIERS to reconciliation, the MEANS of reconciliation, and the STAGES of reconciliation.

PART SIX: THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS

A. “Faith, History, and the Resurrection Body of Jesus” (pp. 181-199). Many if not most believe that Jesus came out of the tomb in His glorified “resurrection” body—as I did until one day I noticed 1 John 3:2, where the Apostle John—who had see the risen Christ many times—said, “What we will be has not yet been made known.” I.e., none of those who had seen Jesus after His resurrection had seen the kind of resurrection body all believers will one day possess. Thus He must not have received it until after He left the earth—most likely, at His ascension.

This realization resolves quite a few problems raised by what seem to be some conflicts between the theological significance of Christ’s resurrection and its necessary role in Christian apologetics. Much of this essay explains how my thesis resolves these problems.

Also explained is how the new understanding of Jesus’s post-resurrection retention of His original body does NOT contradict some miraculous events that occurred during the forty days between His resurrection and His ascension, e.g., His sudden appearances out of nowhere, and the failure of certain disciples to recognize Him. Such miraculous powers did not require a new kind of body.

B. The Rest of Part Six.

1. “The Cross and the Resurrection” (pp. 169-172).
2. “Christ Has Risen!” (pp. 173-179). Resurrection FAITH, Resurrection HOPE, Resurrection POWER!
3. “The Two Bodies of Jesus” (pp. 201-204).

PART SEVEN: MISCELLANEOUS STUDIES

A. “Did Jesus Fulfill the Law?” (pp. 207-210). Answer: YES. He fulfilled its prophetic elements, its commandments, its purpose—AND its penalties, on behalf of the human race.

B. “Was It Possible for Jesus To Sin?” (pp. 211-213). Answer: NO.

C. “The Compassionate Christ” (pp. 215-220). An early sermon, from the early 1960s.