Day 2: The Lord Our Righteousness

Have you been thinking of yesterday’s heart test? The fact that Jesus not only died for us but also lived for us is a startling concept. 

Today we begin to flesh it out by looking at a name the prophet Jeremiah gave him. Talking about the coming Savior he said

“this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”

Jeremiah 23:6

Take a moment to think about this. Righteousness is another term for perfection. It was represented in the hearts test by the plus signs.

Here Scripture identifies Jesus as “our righteousness”! This is the reason why, as Scripture also says, he was born under law (Galatians 4:4). He placed himself under the commandments, “to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:5).

Imagine someone getting a college degree for you. Or somebody going to work for you every day for years, so you get a paycheck. Such things are unheard of. But the fact is that, for 33 years, Jesus kept every single commandment perfectly for us—something which is much greater than those examples. Jesus dedicated his entire life to redeeming us—not by showing us what we need to do, but by doing it for us.

He is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

This means that when Jesus loved his enemies, we can get the credit for it. Or when he prayed all night. Or when he helped countless people. All this and much more can be credited to our account.

Why would Jesus do this? Why would God even accept his righteousness in our place?  It doesn’t seem fair! Shouldn’t we have to do something?

We will tackle those questions tomorrow. In the meantime, if you haven’t yet taken yesterday’s heart test, I encourage you to do so now.