Weekly Emmaus City Culture Q&As | Part 1, Q&As 19 & 20

Emmaus City Culture Q&As | Part 1: God, Creation and Fall, Law Continued

Each week, we are adapting Redeemer's New City Catechism with modern language, including the questions and answers, along with the commentary and prayer. Our goal is to make these easily accessible for all ages, as well as those with various levels of education in Worcester. 

Since we don't want this to be just information transfer, but life transformation by God's Word and Spirit, we purposely changed the word catechism to culture as we pray for God to help us creatively display and declare the good news of Jesus in our communities. 

Here are the previous weeks' Q&As:

• Q&A 1: What is our only hope in life and in death?
• Q&A 2: Who is God?
• Q&A 3: How many persons are there in God?
• Q&A 4: How and why did God create us?
• Q&A 5: What else did God create?
• Q&A 6: How can we glorify God?
• Q&A 7: What does the law of God require?

• Q&A 8: What is the law of God stated in the Ten Commandments?
• Q&A 9: What does God require in the first, second, and third commandments?
• Q&A 10: What does God require in the fourth and fifth commandments? 
• Q&A 11: What does God require in the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments?
• Q&A 12: What does God require in the ninth and tenth commandments?
• Q&A 13: Can anyone keep the law of God perfectly?
• Q&A 14: Did God create us unable to keep His law?
• Q&A 15: Since no one can keep the law, what is its purpose?
• Q&A 16: What is sin?
• Q&A 17: What is idolatry?
• Q&A 18: Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished?

Cheers to 2014 and many becoming more like Jesus together. For other updates, like and follow Emmaus City on Facebook.

Emmaus City Culture | Part 1, Q&As 19 & 20

Question 19

Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God's favor?

Answer 19

Yes, God reconciles us to Himself by a Redeemer.

Isaiah 53:10-11 
Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the LORD makes His life an offering for sin, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in His hand. After He has suffered, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His knowledge My righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities.

Commentary 
Is there anything which Christians can find in heaven or earth worthy to be the object of their admiration and love, their longing desires, their hope and their passion, as those things that are given to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ? ... The glory and beauty of Jehovah is shown in the most clearest and most passionate manner that can be conceived of, as it appears, shining in all its light, in the face of an incarnate, infinitely loving, meek, compassionate, dying Redeemer. All the virtues of the Lamb of God, His humility, patience, meekness, submission, obedience, love and compassion were all shown in their greatest trial, and so in their most powerful revelation; even when He was experiencing His final sufferings. … He endured and gave His tender love and pity to us. The hateful nature of our sins is shown in this moment as we see the dreadful effects of them in what our Redeemer suffered for them. And at the cross we have the most incredible vision of God's hatred of sin, and His wrath and justice in punishing sin; as we see His justice and His wrath in so punishing our sins, in One, who was infinitely dear to Him and loving to us. So God has given us our redemption, and revealed to us His gospel, as though everything was purposely and powerfully done to reach our hearts deep within and move our affections. What greater reason do we have but to be humbled that we are not more affected!

Adapted from A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards (Philadelphia: James Crissy, 1821), 48–49.

Prayer 

Lord, that You would be so patient as not to send me to hell right now! But, Lord, that You should go farther, and blot out my sins for Your own sake. Lord, what shall I say to this? It is the free grace of my God. What expression can I give beyond that, I don’t know. 

Adapted from the sermon “A Vision of Unchangeable Free Mercy” in The Works of John Owen, edited by Thomas Russell, Volume 15 (London: Richard Baynes, 1826), 37.

Question 20

Who is the Redeemer?

Answer 20

The only Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2:5 
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.

Commentary 

I see a new mystery. ... He Who is above, now for our redemption lives with us below; and we that were low are by divine mercy raised. We don’t ask how: for where God wills the world yields. For He willed; He had the power; He descended; He redeemed; everything happened in obedience to God. For when He was God, He became man … not by any loss of divinity, nor by any gain of humanity; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature remaining unchanged. The Only Begotten, Who is before time, Who cannot be perceived, Who is without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and weak towards corruption. For what reason? The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched now lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infant’s blanket. But He has decreed that … infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation with the greatness of His Goodness. For all of this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His Spirit; and so He gives and I receive, He gives me Life. He takes my flesh; He gives me His Spirit so that He can save me. For the power of death is broken … the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, truth has been brought to us. … Why is this? Because God is now on earth. 

Adapted from the sermon “Christmas Morning” by John Chrysostom in The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, Volume 1 (Swedesboro, NJ: Preservation Press, 1996), 110–115.

Prayer 

May God reveal to us that being born of God, we do not continue in sin. May God reveal to us that the Son of God is keeping an eye on us and is watching over us and is protecting us. May we always know that we can have this assurance that we belong to God our Heavenly Father, to the Lord Jesus Christ, His precious Son and our Savior, and to the Holy Spirit, whom He has given to us to form us into people like Jesus and to prepare us for our home with Him that awaits us. 

Adapted from Life in Christ: Studies in 1 John by David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Wheaton: Crossway, 2002), 690. 

– Sully

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