Jesus is perfect. As believers that statement might not be too surprising. Most Christians would say “Amen” to it, and agree with the statement without thinking twice. Yet in practice there are some areas where we don’t take into account just how very deep His perfection runs. For example, let me ask you a simple question: If you could obey the Law of Moses perfectly, would you be righteous?
Most of the Christians that I have discussions with, would answer “yes”, and indeed many are trying to do exactly that… they are trying to continually improve their behavior to align to what they call the “moral law” (even though the Law of Moses really has no divisions or separate categories).
Additionally, many of the Christians that I speak with, believe that this is all that Jesus did; they believe that the reason Jesus was the perfect sacrifice was because He simply kept the Law of Moses perfectly.
And what I want to share with you today, is the fact that Jesus’ perfection is so much deeper than that! I want to expand your vision and broaden your horizon to see much more of His perfection than what is generally seen. And as you see the perfection of Jesus today, you will be able to more fully appreciate what He has accomplished for you.
Let’s begin today with Hebrews 10:9-13:
“Then said he, See, I come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
We study this verse a lot, and in truth I never really get tired of reading it, however these words won’t carry their full weight if we don’t see how very perfect Jesus really is.
From these verses, we can see that it is the very will of God to usher us into the New Covenant, to remove sins forever and to sanctify us completely through the offering of His own body.
But what exactly made His body so special? Have you ever stopped to truly ask that question? I’ll be up-front and honest and say that for many years, I didn’t. I just assumed that it was because He managed to live perfectly and kept the Law of Moses without making a single mistake – just like those I talked with also assumed. However, take a look at verse 1 of this same chapter of Hebrews 10:
“For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”
So this makes it clear that the sacrifices offered in the Old Covenant could never make anyone perfect. In contrast Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself, did do that, as verse 10 says…
However, those Old Covenant sacrifices were for sin… what about if we were were theoretically able to keep the Old Covenant Law perfectly from birth and never commit one single violation until we die… then surely we would be righteous, correct?
And therein lies the deception. Because in admitting that all we must do is keep the Law to be justified and made righteous before God, then what we are actually saying is that we believe there is another way to righteousness other than Christ. And when the lie is exposed in this manner, we should immediately recognize it for what it is… because we know that as Romans 3:20 says, by the works of the Law, no flesh is justified in His sight.
And additionally Galatians 2:21 says that If righteousness comes by the Law then Christ died in vain.
So this brings us to the main point of our study today, that the perfection of Jesus Christ goes far beyond simple obedience to the Old Covenant Law. And as you see this, I sincerely wish that it blesses you as much as it has me.
You see, there is a three-fold witness of Jesus’ perfection in the scriptures. Most of us are familiar only with 2nd Peter 2:22, which states that Jesus did no sin. But there are also two other scriptures which reveal the absolute perfection of Jesus! I want to share these with you today. They are 2nd Corinthians 5:21, and 1st John 3:5.
2nd Corinthians 5:21 says that Jesus knew no sin. And the Greek word for knew, there means to be in union with, through effort or work. So not only did Jesus not commit any sinful acts, but none of His works were even in union with sin at all!
The third scripture is 1st John 3:5, and this is in my opinion, the most amazing and eye-opening one of all… and it’s also a very important one for truly understanding what Jesus really accomplished on the cross for us. 1st John 3:5 says that in Him is no sin.
Do you see how very amazing this is? In Jesus is no sin at all! His very nature is without sin! He has no assertion of sin, no impulse of sin, no mark or stain of sinful identity. And this is what sets Him apart, more than anything else… and this why He is so very perfect on every level.
You see my friend, we were all born with a sinful identity. We were “sinners” long before we ever committed our first sinful action. (Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:3, Romans 5:12). We were not sinners because we committed sinful actions; rather we committed sinful actions because we were sinners from the beginning!
This, my friend, is precisely why the verses that we read earlier are true… that even if we were to keep the Old Covenant Law absolutely perfectly, it still would not make us righteous, because it wouldn’t remove the innate stain of sin and corrupted identity that was our old nature.
This is why Jesus would go around telling people that they must be “born again” (John 3:7), and also why He told the Pharisees and religious leaders that they appeared clean on the outside, but were still utterly dead on the inside (Matthew 23:27).
The beauty of all of this is that because of the absolute perfection of Christ – including His absolutely perfect nature – He could accomplish for us, precisely what He knew we needed… total rebirth. An absolute changing of nature, from the inside-out. Take a look at 2nd Corinthians 5:17:
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
The moment that you are in Christ, your old nature is gone. That old mark and stain of sin… that is all gone. Behold, all things are new! You are a new creature! You are not the old creature striving and sweating to become new! No! Jesus Himself has made you a new creature, and that is what you are right now!
The perfect standard for the righteousness of God is to “be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). And that is exactly what Jesus has given to us… His very own righteousness! (Romans 3:21-22)
So today, as you see the absolute perfection of Jesus, you can have total confidence and rest in what He has accomplished for you, and know that today, His perfect identity is your identity. In the sight of God the Father, you are the very righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!
Be blessed.