The Finisher of Our Faith
“Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)
Let us ever look away to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Finisher of our faith. The word here translated “finisher” seems to have been coined by Paul himself. It is found nowhere else. Christ is the Object of faith. Christ gives faith. Christ sustains faith. And Christ consummates, completes, and finishes faith. Paul explains what he means by the word “finisher,” or consummator, in the rest of the verse.
The Joy Before Him
The Lord Jesus has finished faith, that is to say he has finished that whole work that makes him the Object of faith, has finished that for which faith looks to him, and has finished his own life and example of faith, because he is that One “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
With those words, the Holy Spirit here tells us how Christ finished faith. The word “for” could be properly translated in two ways. Both translations are accurate. The word could be translated “instead of.” And it could be translated “because of.” An accurate explanation of this text requires that we interpret the word both ways. This is how the Lord Jesus Christ finished that great work of redemption by which he has become both the Object of our faith and the Example of it.
Instead of the joy set before him, our blessed Savior endured the cross. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:9).
And because of the joy set before him, the Lord Jesus Christ endured the cross. “The joy set before him,” the joy that sustained him in all his soul’s trouble, sorrow, and agony was the joy of saving his people (Isa. 53:10-11), magnifying the law of God and making it honorable (Isa. 42:21), glorifying his Father (John 12:28), and the joy of attaining the glory he had with the Father as our Mediator and Surety from eternity (Ps. 2:8; John 17:5; Heb. 10:10-14; Ps. 21:1-6).
In order to save us the Son of God, the Lord of Glory, the Darling of Heaven, voluntarily “endured the cross, despising the shame.”
“O what shall I do my Savior to praise, so faithful and true, so plenteous in grace;
So strong to deliver, so good to redeem, the weakest believer that hangs upon Him?”
With what words can such a Savior be praised? He who endured the ignominy of the cross, despising the shame, because of his heart’s love for and his soul’s determination to ransom our souls deserves infinitely greater praise than we can give him to all eternity! Because of his great love for us, the Lord Jesus Christ endured the cross. He would not go back. He would not give up. He would not quit until he had poured out his life’s blood unto death for us! Yes, he endured all the wrath and justice of God and endured to the end.
The Shame Despised
Because he loved us, the Lord Jesus despised the shame of the cross. What can be more difficult for a man to bear than shame? Yet, as Moses despised the riches of Egypt, counting them nothing, so the Lord Jesus despised the shame of the cross, that he might have us freed from sin and forever glorified with him. He counted all the shame of the cross to be nothing: ―all the shame heaped upon him by men ―all the shame of all of our sin being made to be his ―all the shame of our guilt imputed to him ―all the shame of being made a curse for us ―all the shame of One abandoned by God. Our Savior despised it all, counted it all as nothing, for the joy of having his elect with him in glory forever!
Let us therefore encourage
our hearts, ever looking away to Christ as the Goal of our faith. As he
overcame and has been seated in his Father’s throne, so too, as we follow him,
persevering to the end, enduring whatever trial he sends us, despising whatever
shame he has ordained, we shall soon be seated with Christ in his throne. Soon
our work will be finished. Our rest will begin. Our glory will be full. Our
souls will be satisfied!