Sunday School, June 26, 2011
A ‘ministry’ is an act of service that one performs for the benefit of another. Therefore, to speak of the ‘ministry’ of God the Son is to recognize that that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, though He is God, has revealed Himself as a servant, a servant of God the Father and a servant on behalf of His own people. We study the ministry of the God the Son as meek and thankful disciples, desiring to follow the example of our Lord who serves us. The ministry of Jesus in traditional Christian theology since the Reformation is comprised of three offices: Prophet, Priest, and King. More recently, however, Millard Erickson (Christian Theology) has suggested that it is more helpful to consider the ministry of Jesus according to the functions of these three offices: Christ as Revealer, Reconciler, and Ruler. Keeping these functions in mind, we will look briefly at the ministry of the Second Person of the Godhead in the Old Testament, the Gospels, the Church, and the Eschaton.