A Most Holy Confession
A Most Holy Confession
1/19 Reading Portions: Genesis 20; Matthew 19; Nehemiah 9; Acts 19
“Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.” Nehemiah 9:33
CONFESSION
As a Man, the Lord Jesus Christ was so saturated with the Word of God, and He so recognized the holy, substitutionary sacrifice He must be, this was one of the great prophecies He fulfilled when He hung upon the cross. Jesus of Nazareth, the only holy Man who has ever lived, the only sinless and righteous Son who has ever breathed, confessed to His heavenly Father, “We have acted wickedly.”
At the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ identified with sinful mankind in being baptized by John unto repentance— though He had no need to repent. Although Jesus knew nothing but the good pleasure of the heavenly Father, He took upon Himself the burden of mankind’s depravity, all the while reflecting upon the goodness and faithfulness of God (Neh 9:6-31). Jesus was the utmost Servant as a Man, humbling Himself utterly in obedience “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:7-8). It staggers the mind to think that, although He was sinless and holier than even Adam before the fall, Jesus so thoroughly identified with sinful mankind that He could give the most holy and acceptable confession to God on behalf of all men destined for redemption, “We have acted wickedly.”
Since the Man of Sorrows has confessed so perfectly on our behalf, by God’s grace we may also confess with godly sorrow when the Spirit illuminates our sins and transgressions; and because of Christ, God…
…is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
If we want a most holy confession before God like our Lord’s, we must also confess the goodness, the greatness, the mercy and the majesty of the Lord Jesus who has saved us— just as the Levites confessed upon the stairs of the temple (Neh 9:3-31).
You are the Lord, alone You’ve sav’d
Our souls, though we deserve
The pains of hell, yet, Christ, You gave
Your life to praise God’s Word.
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