|
There
is no vocabulary expressive enough to say what needs to be
said about Jesus. It is astounding to me that the gospel
records give only small details about his life, that they
speak in such matter-of-fact language, and without any glowing
reports of either His demeanor or His work. If men, unguided
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had written records of
His life and living, there would be literally volumes, and
they would be filled with words extolling Him and citing how
wonderfully astonishing were His works and how beautiful His
life, and in words innumerable and expressions too
multitudinous to count.
But
in spite of our inability to contain ourselves when we speak
of Him, there is the ever-present need to say things about Him
so that we may emulate His life in ours. Let me try.
Jesus
Christ was “in the beginning.” “In the beginning was the
Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”
There’s power in that. If He was in the beginning and He was
God, and He came to the earth, it says that the mission He
came to accomplish must have been terribly important. And it
was.
Jesus
Christ was the agent of creation. “All things were made by
Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
How amazing that He who was the means by which all things were
made, came and became a part of what He made. What humility!
What love!
Jesus
Christ was the witness to men of God Himself. “That was the
true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world.” What an enterprise is that one which caused God
Almighty to send His Son into this world to enlighten the
world with a true picture of the Creator. Does it not seem
astonishing that One so great would literally bend down to us
through His Son? Can you get hold of that? Can you fathom such
love, such devotion?
Jesus
Christ was “made flesh and dwelt among us.” It is
impossible to over-estimate the value of that simple
statement. Hear that again, please: He was “made flesh,”
who was the agent of creation, the illumination of the Father,
the Word of Heaven; yet He relegated Himself willingly to a
fleshly body, one subject to all the temptations of mankind.
He was made flesh and dwelt among us. God came to be a man,
left heaven to become flesh? Why? Why would He do that? Why
would He? Love, that’s why–a love like has never before
nor since been seen. Oh, what a Savior!
Jesus
Christ brought grace and truth to mankind. “For the law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
Now, that’s something to think about, something to arrest
and maintain our attention. Grace, the predicate on which all
forgiveness rests, could never have been but by the Savior.
Man could not save himself. Hear it: man could not save
himself. Never. Without grace, this marvelous attribute of
Deity made evident in Jesus Christ, there would be no good
future for any man–no, not one. And this grace,
sequentially, brought to man the truth of the gospel, the
“mystery” revealed in Him to take away the sins which
separated man from his Creator. Grace and truth, the necessary
parts of salvation, are brilliantly illustrated in the cross
He bore. And all for us, that grace and truth might come
together in man’s redemption. Thank God for our Lord Jesus
Christ!
And
Jesus Christ died for us. “God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God’s love
is the basis for our reconciliation, the motive for the
Savior, the means for our propitiation. He went to the cross
for you and me. He hung there for you and me. Do you hear? He
hung there for you and me.
And
you’re going to tell me that it makes no difference to you?
If you walk away from Him, if you merely ignore the salvation
He purchased for you, you say, in essence, “none of that
makes any difference to me.” How can you do that?
Come
to Jesus. He will save you.
Dee Bowman
|
