Christ the Servant of the Promise
…“of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). So too God has received us in Christ (Romans 15:7). For he spoke the truth who said that the world was so loved by God the Father that the Son Himself was given for us (John 3:16). For He was given as the price exchanged for the life of us all, and by death we have obtained reconciliation, and we have been redeemed from death and sin.
And Paul makes clear the aim of the economy when he says that Christ became a servant of the circumcision for the sake of the truth, and the rest (Romans 15:8). For since God had promised beforehand to the fathers of the Jews that He would bless the offspring that was to come from them, and that it would be “like the stars of heaven in number” (Genesis 22:17), for this reason the Word, being God, appeared in the flesh and became man. He is the very one who holds all creation together in being and, as God, grants well-being to all that exists. He came into this world with flesh, yet, as He Himself says, not to be served, “but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
Yet He plainly confessed that He had come to fulfil the promise to Israel, for He said, “I was sent only to the lost…” (Matthew 15:24)
Greek
πνεύματος ἐν τῷ συνδέσμῳ τῆς εἰρήνης." οὕτως ἡμᾶς προσελάβετο καὶ ὁ Θεὸς ἐν Χριστῷ· καὶ γάρ ἐστιν ἀληθὴς οὕτως ἠγαπῆσθαι τὸν κόσμον εἰπὼν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, ὥστε καὶ αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν δεδόσθαι τὸν Υἱόν· δέδοται γὰρ τῆς ἁπάντων ἡμῶν ζωῆς ἀντάλλαγμα, καὶ θανάτου τὴν καταλλαγὴν ἐσχήκαμεν, καὶ θανάτου καὶ ἁμαρτίας ἐκλελυτρώμεθα. καὶ τόν γε τῆς οἰκονομίας σκοπὸν διαλευκαίνει λέγων Χριστὸν γεγενῆσθαι διάκονον περιτομῆς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῖς Ἰουδαίων πατράσι προεπήγγελται Θεὸς, ὅτι καὶ εὐλογήσει τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐσόμενον σπέρμα καὶ ὡσεὶ "τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ "πλήθει," ταύτῃτοι πέφηνεν ἐν σαρκὶ καὶ γέγονεν ἄνθρωπος, Θεὸς ὑπάρχων ὁ Λόγος, αὐτὸς ὢν ὁ πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν καὶ εἰς τὸ εἶναι συνέχων, καὶ τὸ εὖ εἶναι τοῖς οὖσιν ἀπονέμων ὡς Θεός· ἦλθε δὲ εἰς τόνδε τὸν κόσμον μετὰ σαρκὸς, πλὴν οὐ διακονηθῆναι μᾶλλον καθά φησιν αὐτὸς, "ἀλλὰ δια"κονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀντίλυτρον ὑπὲρ 248 "πολλῶν." ὡμολόγει γεμὴν ἀφῖχθαι σαφῶς, ἵνα πληρώσῃ τῷ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν· ἔφασκε γάρ "Οὐκ ἀπεστάλην "εἰ μὴ εἰς τὰ ἀπολωλότα