A Perfect Season?

They are daring to think beyond winning and even the coveted Super Bowl ring. The buzz in New England, and now around the rest of the National Football League, is perfection. It does seem a bit premature to some when considering that the schedule is only 7 games in and considering that the last flawless season was way back in 1972 when the Miami Dolphins became the first and only NFL team to finish a championship season undefeated. They went on to beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.

But the Patriots are simply dominating their opponents in a way that makes a flawless season more than a mere dream. One only needs to see the amazing 433 points of total offense, an average of nearly 40 points per game, to comprehend all the hype. Last year’s Indianapolis Colts also had a shot at NFL perfection until Christian Coach Tony Dungy made a hard decision to rest some crucial starters in preparation for the playoffs and to have a better chance of getting to the Super Bowl. It is hard to say whether the ensuing single loss would have come either way, but the team’s victory in the NFL’s big classic was the priority and the convincing result.

Wikipedia says this concerning perfection. "Things that are complete - which contain all the requisite parts; things that are so good that nothing of the kind could be better, and things that have attained their purpose. The genealogy of the concept of ‘perfection’ reaches back beyond Latin, to Greek. The Greek equivalent of the Latin ‘perfectus’ was ‘teleos.’"

Few things can claim true perfection in a badly blemished world. And even this year’s mighty Patriots could be as close to an imperfect season as a few key and untimely injuries. But there is an area of life where absolute perfection was demanded and fortunately achieved. The Bible uses the Greek word "teleos" in John 19 when speaking of the sacrificial death on the cross by God’s Son for humanity. Verse 30 begins, "After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, 'I thirst!' Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit."

When the price of sin was fully paid for, and God’s wrath fully appeased, Jesus cried out using that term "teleos". His agonizing, but victorious, cry signified that His death meant that sin’s payment was fully finished, completed, and could not be improved upon in anyway or by anyone. As the perfect God, and also fully man, He alone could offer forgiveness of human sin.

Christ’s unique qualification is offered in the book of Hebrews in Chapter 4 in verses 15-16. "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." And earlier in chapter two we read more of Christ’s special position in God’s redemptive plan. "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

Salvation in Christ is perfect. It perfectly repairs man’s broken relationship with his Creator. And it fully and perfectly prepares believers for a glorious and heavenly future. But it also allows something crucial in this present time. Hebrews 4:16 teaches that those "in Christ", through personal faith, can be prepared for living a victorious and joy-filled life now even in a very difficult and imperfect world. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

God’ redemptive game plan for this life, and the next, is simply staggering in that it is fully perfect in it’s effectiveness in that it delivers exactly what God’s Word has promised. It simply does not, and cannot, get any better than that.

Bill Breckenridge