Kingdom of Christ - Righteousness "of" Christ by Faith "of" Christ

• Righteousness is One of God’s Names and Attributes - When the Bible speaks about God’s righteousness, it is never in vague or abstract terms. Instead, it is really referring to one of God’s names in addition to one of His infinite, perfect characteristics. We also read in 1 John 2:1 that the Lord Jesus Christ, our “advocate with the Father”, is called “Jesus Christ the Righteous”. Heb 1 demonstrates how God the Father has magnified God the Son (and this applies to all members of the Trinity) and acknowledges His righteous rule over the Kingdom of God. Here we also see a fundamental trait of the Godhead – to love righteousness and to hate iniquity. Isa 45 informs us that righteousness is indeed the work of God – in fact, He has created it. Job 29 further explains figuratively how the Lord Jesus is so closely identified with righteousness. Just as God is the very embodiment of righteousness, His blessed Word – the Bible – is likewise intimately associated with His holy righteousness, as Psa 119 teaches.

Jer 23:6 “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel [Judah and Israel typify Elect of God] shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Heb 1:8-9 “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.”

Isa 45:8 “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.”

Job 29:14 “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.”

Psa 119:172 “My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness.”

• The Bible Instructs Us Concerning Righteousness - One of the greatest declarations regarding the purpose and scope of the Bible is found in 2 Tim 3. The Greek word for “instruction” in this phrase gives the connotation of nurturing, or teaching, or correcting on the subject of righteousness. So, who are the “meek”? They are God’s redeemed children. All who have become saved will be “hid” from the Lord’s anger on Judgment Day. Mat 5 describes these individuals as, "Blessed". We must always bear in mind that no man seeks after God, as we read in Rom 3. We know that the Lord Jesus “came to seek and to save that which was lost”.  The same idea is lovingly expressed in the words of Jer 31. And where has God “made known His salvation” or “His righteousness”? Only in the Bible, God’s Holy Word.

2 Tim 3:16  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

Zep 2:3 “Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.”

Mat 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

Mat 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Rom 3:11 “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.”

John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jer 31:3 “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

Psa 98:2 “The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.”

• God’s Righteousness is Everlasting - As God Himself is everlasting, so is His righteousness, or salvation, as we read in Isa 51. God’s righteousness has everything to do with His salvation program pertaining to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, as Dan 9 so forcefully explains. God’s righteousness is always related to eternal life, as we see from Psa 12. Isa 51 announces this wonderful promise. Have you been clothed with the everlasting righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ – the only Savior for sinners?

Isa 51:5 “My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.”

Dan 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

Psa 12:28 “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.”

Isa 51:6 “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”

• Righteousness was accomplished by Christ Alone by becoming a Man - One of the greatest truths in the Bible is the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ – the astounding fact that God took on a human nature – like one of us. How can we even begin to understand this concept of eternal God becoming man? If the nations of this world are a drop of water, how big does that make you and me? Isa 40 gives us some indication of how infinitely great God is, and how infinitesimally microscopic we are, in comparison.

Php 2:6-8 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Isa 40:15; 17-18 “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing… All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”

• Christ Alone Knew no Sin but became Sin to make us Righteous - Even beyond the incarnation of the Lord Jesus is the incomprehensible fact that the Lord Jesus allowed Himself to become sin in order to atone for the sins of His people. In 2 Cor 5 we find these incredible words. It staggers our puny imaginations when we evaluate this statement in light of the biblical principle in Acts 20. John 10 further illustrates the fact that Christ laid down His life voluntarily.

2 Cor 5:21 “for he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Acts 20:35 “It is more blessed to give than to receive…”

John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

Rom 5:6-8 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

John 10:18  “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

• Christ Alone Suffered the Equivalent of Eternal Hell for us - We have seen thus far how Christ became a man, became sin on behalf of each child of God, and now we want to examine the greatest test He still had to face – enduring the equivalent of eternity in Hell. Luke 22 serves to highlight the unspeakable agony that Christ had to undergo in order to accomplish the salvation of His people (the Elect). Psa 75 reveals what that “cup” contained and what was transpiring spiritually. This refers to the “cup” of the eternal wrath of God. Christ’s sufferings commenced in the Garden of Gethsemane, which means “winepress”, where he drank that cup for each Christian (born-again). Isa 63 helps us to gain a deeper appreciation of what this means: I want to leave you with this final thought today: Because God Almighty poured out His eternal vengeance on His own dear Son, whom He loves with an everlasting love, we can know with absolute assurance that each unsaved human being on Judgment Day shall "drink of the wine of the wrath of God" as Rev 14 teaches.

Luke 22:44 “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Mat 26:39 “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

Psa 75:8 “For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.”

Isa 63:1-5 “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.”

Rev 14:10 “… shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb”