"...consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him,..."–Heb. 3:1,2
When Representative Bob Livingston was designated as the Speaker of the House, the media began to publish the benefits that his nomination would have for Louisiana. Such hopes were short-lived as he stood before the house last week and announced that he was resigning because of unfaithfulness to his wife. Immediately, the media in Louisiana began to assess the loss that this would mean, not only for Mr. Livingston personally, but for the people of Louisiana. Politicians are a representation of the people they represent. Good or bad, their actions do affect those they represent.
Consider Adam, the first ever representative of man-kind. The Scripture says, "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned," (Romans 5:12). The reason we are born sinners today is because of our representative, Adam. Does character matter? Absolutely! If any of us hope to stand before God, we must have a righteousness as holy as God Himself, Psalm 15: 1,2. Where is such a righteousness found? Certainly, not in anyone upon this earth. "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not," Ecclesiastes 7:20.
Herein is the blessed hope of the Gospel. God Himself, in order to save a sinful race, elected His own eternal Son to be the Perfect and Just Representative, to come to earth and satisfy all of His righteous demands, that He might be a just God and Savior of His people. In the Lord Jesus Christ, believers have the divinely appointed Substitute who has obeyed perfectly every precept of the Law and paid to the full its penalty with His own life. He was not merely censured, but He so fully paid the penalty that all those He represents were forever reconciled to the Law and given a righteousness with which the Supreme, Holy judge is satisfied.
That is true justice! In a court of law, as a condemned criminal, would you rather have a temporary stay based on your own conniving and cover-up, continuing to live as an outlaw, or, to have the Judge Himself commute your sentence, based upon a Just Representative satisfying the Law for you forever, enabling you to live in the freedom and enjoyment of His grace and blessing?
What a blessed hope for the believer! Because the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied the Just and Holy Father, His people are not only acquitted, but justified before the Father in Him! Glorious Truth!