Follow the Leader

Jesus said “Follow me” directly thirteen times and indirectly at least nine times.  Those two words were enough to make Peter, Andrew, James, John and the other eight disciples drop what they were doing immediately to go with Him.  No pleading or coercion necessary.  Intuitively they sensed He was the long-awaited Messiah. Therefore everything else became secondary to following Him.  We all should do likewise.

Scriptures repeatedly confirm nobody’s a “free agent.”  Everyone’s either the property of Jesus or Satan.  The devil promises a wonderful time if they’ll let him remain their owner but he’s a liar.  A.W. Pink wrote, “Sin deceives.  Its deluded victims imagine they enjoy liberty while indulging their lusts of the flesh; but when they realize they’d better change their ways, they discover they’re bound by habits they can’t break.”

That’s why Christ’s command, “Come to me” (Matthew 11:28), is the greatest invitation anyone can ever hear.  It’s an appeal to those sick of being chained to their sinful nature and to those who’ve striven to be righteous but have become disheartened by their inability to consistently live up to the high standards holiness requires.

Jesus taught letting Him lead us is easier and the load we’ll carry when we do is much lighter than the one the devil gleefully weighs us down with.  It’s because our Savior’s instructions stem from His infinite, love-saturated wisdom.  They’re directives designed for the good of those who trust Him exclusively as their leader.  Conversely, Satan’s a cruel, narcissistic tyrant who seeks to gain power at any cost.

Unrepentant folks will claim following Christ is foolishness.  Being “gentle and lowly” is the last thing they aspire to be.  It chafes against the grain of their carnal instincts.  But for those who’ve surrendered their life to the Lord, imitating Jesus is an unmatched honor.  Depending on Him daily to be renewed by His grace, learning from Him the blessing of becoming meek and considerate, and relishing deepening their relationship with Him confirms His ways are, indeed, “pleasant” and “peaceful” (Proverbs 3:17).

How sad that many who profess to follow Christ complain obeying Him’s a burden!  One must assume they don’t really know their leader as well as they should.  Devoting oneself to doing His will is never a hardship.  Does that imply believers won’t suffer in this world?  Of course not.  “Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).  The devil hates losing one of his prisoners and he’ll do all he can to place obstacles in their path to sanctification.

Yet the worst enemy of the person whose heart’s been regenerated by the Holy Spirit isn’t Satan.  It’s the corrupt “old man” or “old woman” who still dwells inside them, unchanged.  Take it from someone all too familiar with fighting the inevitable, ongoing internal war that ensues.  “The flesh has desires opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want” (Galatians 5:17).

It’s a source of personal anguish that too often I fail to resist temptation, give in and indulge the selfish desires of my flesh.  Like Paul, I frequently cry out, “Wretched man that I am!  Who’ll rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25).  Why express gratitude?  Because without God’s love, mercy, patience and forgiveness I’d have no hope.

But, due to the glorious leader I follow, I’m not hopeless.  Pink wrote, “If the Christian uses diligently the means of God’s appointing, he’ll possess a peace which passes all understanding, and experience joys the worldling knows nothing about.  The world may frown and the devil rage against him, but an approving conscience, the smile of God, the communion with fellow believers, and the assurance of eternity with his Beloved, are ample compensation.”

I can only imagine the horrible nightmare I’d still be trapped inside if it wasn’t for my Savior who leads me ever forward despite my transgressions against Him.  He encourages me to do better and take life one day at a time. It’s His inexplicable acceptance of me that makes me want to please Him.  What a friend we have in Jesus!

Skeptics ask, “If Christ’s yoke’s easy to bear and His load light why do you still have a guilty conscience?”  Simple.  It’s because I love Him for what He’s already done for me and it hurts profoundly to let Him down in any way, shape or form.  Plus, I know without His strength I’d have no defense whatsoever against my sinful nature.  I realize that, sans Jesus, I “…can do nothing” (John 15:5).

I’ll do, to the best of my ability, whatever my courageous leader assigns me to accomplish.  I have faith He’ll provide what’s necessary for the task.  “We have such confidence in God through Christ.  Not that we’re adequate in ourselves to consider anything as if it were coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God…” (2 Corinthians 3:4-5).

Our amazing leader generously honors our devotion by granting us rest for our weary souls.  If we follow the leadings of the devil we’ll reap only misery and discontentment.  But when we deny the urges of our flesh and glorify Christ He gives us supernatural peace and joy.  Jesus doesn’t hold back blessings from those who belong to Him.  Rather, He generously guarantees them a “…rich reward” (Psalm 19:11).

How forgiving is our leader?  Dane Ortlund wrote, “If you’re in Christ – and only a soul in Christ would be troubled at offending Him – your waywardness doesn’t threaten your place in the love of God…  The hardest part’s been accomplished.  God’s already executed everything needed to secure your eternal happiness, and He did that while you were an orphan.  Nothing can now un-child you.  Not even you.”  A true Christian never follows any leader but Jesus.

The Yoke

Since it’s not a commonly-used word these days a definition’s appropriate.  A yoke’s a wooden crosspiece fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow/cart they’re to pull.  Whether we acknowledge it or not, in our fallen state we all wear a yoke.  (In Celebrate Recovery we identify it as a particular hurt, habit or hang-up.)

Jesus said “Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I’m gentle and lowly in heart, and you’ll find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load’s light” (Matthew 11:19-30).  A yoke’s a perfect illustration because oxen will aimlessly wander off in every direction unless they’re harnessed and controlled by their owner.

Truth is you’re owned either by Satan or Christ.  If it’s the devil he’ll get you believing you’re free to do as you please while he covertly saddles you with your sin’s heavy yoke.  The Bible says the natural man or woman is “like a wild ass’s colt” (Job 11:12) in that they’re totally unmanageable and stubbornly determined to assert their egotistic will in every situation.

Taking on Jesus’ yoke isn’t a suggestion.  It’s a requirement for obtaining the “rest” He promised to those who’ll believe in Him (see my last two blogs for clarification).  We Christians gladly swap our yoke for Jesus’ after we realize what a forgiving, merciful and loving Master He is.  We understand we “…are not our own”, that we “were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20) and thereby graciously saved from eternal separation from God.

This doesn’t mean one’s life becomes a trouble-free stroll in the park.  On the contrary, He warned “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).  Wearing Christ’s “yoke” means obeying His commandments and bravely enduring the persecution that inevitably comes along with doing so.

He “unhitches” us from the world’s yoke.  Jesus told His disciples, “If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own.  However, because you don’t belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you” (John 15:19).  Hardship and ostracization is coming fast for believers.  Already I’m hearing the derogatory phrase “Christian privilege” more and more often. Get prepared.

But Christians are never alone.  A yoke isn’t an individual harness.  Jesus unites its wearer with other believers.  “Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor” (Ecclesiastes 4:9).  In fact, a believer is forever “yoked” to the entire body of Christ – His church.  Therefore the assignment Jesus has given its members, to spread the Good News of the Gospel to all the ends of the earth, isn’t meant to be accomplished solo.

In His statement our Savior also tells us to “learn” from Him.  A.W. Pink wrote, “What is it we most need to be taught of Him?  How to do what’ll make us objects of admiration in the religious world?  How to obtain such wisdom we’ll be able to solve all mysteries?  How to accomplish such great things we’ll be given preeminence among our brethren?  No, ‘For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight’ (Luke 16:15).”

What we’re to imitate is Jesus’ gentleness and lowliness.  We’re to learn how to be numbered among the “meek” who’ll one day “inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).  Alas, no lesson’s harder to learn and live out because it’s the opposite of our inherent selfishness that demands we always be treated fairly; that we never get “the short end of the stick.”  However, Christ doesn’t intend for us to be silent doormats.  We’re to stand up for and testify about what we believe – that Jesus is our Lord who died for sinners like ourselves.

Is the “yoke” concept confusing?  At times.  Pink wrote, “It may sound much like a paradox – to bid those who labor and are heavy laden, who come to Christ for ‘rest,’ to take a ‘yoke’ upon them.”  Thus it’s important we comprehend the ‘rest’ in question is for one’s soul, not for one’s physical body.  We still have to work.

Dane Ortlund opined, “All Christian toil flows from fellowship with a living Christ whose transcending, defining reality is: gentle and lowly.  He astounds and sustains us with His endless kindness.  Only as we walk ever deeper into this tender kindness can we live the Christian life as the New Testament calls us to.  Only as we drink down the kindness of the heart of Christ will we leave in our wake, everywhere we go, the aroma of heaven, and die one day having startled the world with glimpses of a divine kindness too great to be boxed in by what we deserve.”

Who of sane mind would resist taking on a “yoke of kindness”?  Would a person drowning refuse to put on a life preserver because they consider it too much of an additional burden?  Yet many folks view Christianity that way.  And, until the Holy Spirit regenerates their heart, they’ll continue to flounder.  We can only keep tossing them the only authentic “life preserver” in existence – saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Humility is key.  Pink wrote, “We most need to learn of Jesus not how to become great or self-important, but how to deny self, to become tractable and gentle, to be servants – not only His servants, but also the servants of our neighbors.”  We’re not born humble creatures.  Our first cry outside the womb is for attention.  That’s why we need to emulate Christ, our ultimate role model.

Jesus announced, “The Son of Man didn’t come to be served but to serve” (Matthew 20:28) and “I’m among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).  Therefore, to be “yoked” by Christ is to willingly submit to a life of joyful, rewarding servitude.

Jesus Beckons

A billboard near my home reads, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I’ll give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).  I have no problem with broadcasting that hope-filled verse but I wish it included the rest of Jesus’ statement: “Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I’m gentle and lowly in heart, and you’ll find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my load is light” (v.29-30).

Still, it’d be incomplete.  For, as with all of Christ’s spoken words, a quick glance is insufficient for capturing the deeper meaning they most definitely convey.  Reading them’s one thing.  Studying them quite another.  That applies to the entire Bible because there’s no other authentic “Word of God” in existence.

Few passages are quoted more often than this one, however, so it’s vital to spend the time necessary to fully understand what it teaches us.  Sadly, our culture is plagued by spiritual laziness and an aversion to anything mentally challenging.  Thus short, billboard-friendly verses like this one can be completely misinterpreted if its all-important context isn’t closely examined.

For example, too often Jesus’ opening words, “Come to me,” get overlooked.  That’s tragic because the “rest” He promises is conditional; indicating we must also accept His relatively lighter “yoke” and “learn” from Him.  Plus, the rest He speaks of is spiritual, not physical.  Note also it’s not just something He “will give” but a blessing we “will find.”  Finding always involves actively seeking.  A.W. Pink wrote, “The ‘rest’ is freely given, yet only to those who comply with the revealed requirements of its Bestower.”

I hope you’ll read Matthew 11 for yourself but, in the meantime, here’s a quick summary:  John the Baptist is rotting in prison.  He inquires of Jesus if He’s the promised Messiah.  Our Lord assures him He is and then proclaims publicly, “No one has arisen greater than John the Baptist” (v.11).  Christ then reprimands those who’d heard John preach and not only rejected his message but claimed he was demon-possessed and then alleged that He (Jesus) was a drunken sot.

Jesus continued to vent, harshly criticizing many of the citizens of the towns He’d preached in for not repenting of their sins.  He drives home the point nothing’s more damning in the eyes of God than an impenitent person and that those who’ve witnessed His miraculous healings have no excuse.  He chastises Chorazin and Bethsaida but singles out Capernaum in particular, predicting “It’ll be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgement than for you!” (v.24).  Ouch.

Obviously, Jesus is warning His listeners there’s a “reckoning” looming for every soul.  Divine justice will be served, ready or not. “God will evaluate every deed, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:9).

Realizing His words are not “getting through” and that the folks gathered don’t intend to repent, what Christ says next reveals much about His trust in God’s master plan. “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children” (v.25).

This doesn’t mean He was some kind of stoic fatalist.  Not at all.  Pink opined, “It seems plain then, that those who are indifferent about the event of the Gospel, who satisfy themselves with the thought that the elect will be saved and feel no concern for un-awakened sinners, make a wrong inference from a true doctrine and know not what spirit they are of.  Jesus wept for those who perished in their sins.”

Christ was teaching us how to deal with the heartache that inevitably comes when our friends and/or family members refuse to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Matthew Henry wrote, “We may take great encouragement in looking upward to God when round about us we see nothing but discouragement.  It’s comforting to know the wise and faithful God will, however, effectually secure the interests of His own glory.”

In verse 25 Christ affirmed God’s providential rule three ways.  First, He acknowledged His Father as being “Lord of heaven and earth.”  (Satan’s a tyrannical “prince” but he’s no king.)  Second, Jesus confirmed His omniscient Father had concealed the truth from the “wise and intelligent.”  (Those who foolishly think their smarts and “common sense” deem them heaven-worthy.)  Third, by avowing His Father reveals the truth to “little children”, He reiterates the relevance of the Beatitudes. (“Blessed are the meek, for they’ll inherit the earth.”)

Perhaps what’s most striking about Matthew 11 shows up in verses 28-30 (cited earlier).  Dane Ortlund has written an extraordinary book entitled, Gentle and Lowly; The heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers, in which he comments, “When Jesus tells us what animates him most deeply, what is most true of Him – when He exposes the innermost recesses of His being – what we find there is: gentle and lowly.  Who could ever have thought up such a Savior?”

I find it interesting the Greek term translated as “gentle” is found only three times in the New Testament.  It’s the same word interpreted as “meek” in the Beatitude quoted above; the same applies to “humble” in Matthew 21:5 (The Messiah “is coming to you, humble, mounted on a donkey.”); and lastly when Peter urges Christian wives to nurture “the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4).

Matthew 11 is undoubtedly a highly-significant chapter.  Jesus isn’t timid about warning folks that continuing to freely indulge in their sinful behaviors will separate them from God’s amazing grace forevermore.  At the same time we see His love-sated concern for them.  His language isn’t brutal or uber-accusatory.  He’s simply telling them the truth because He cares.

As Ortlund commented, “He’s the most understanding person in the universe.”

Our Divine Friend

My mother’s favorite hymn contained these timeless lyrics: “What a friend we have in Jesus/All our sins and griefs to bear/What a privilege to carry/everything to God in prayer.”  Christ’s friendship comforted her throughout her life, as it should every Christian.  Sadly, I rarely hear a sermon emphasizing that important aspect of our Lord and Savior.

Recently a pastor I admire pointed out that the entire Bible is about Jesus.  Front to back.  The Old Testament tells us of God’s pre-determined plan that led up to His incarnation. The New Testament teaches what Christ accomplished while He was here and the blessings resulting from His selfless sacrifice on our behalf.  In fact, there’s scarcely a Scriptural passage that isn’t related in some way to Jesus.

“A person who has friends may be harmed by them, but there’s a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).  That friend is Christ.  “This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem” (Song of Songs 5:16).  There we see yet another reference to our divine friend.  Mercifully, Jesus is “a friend of publicans and sinners” (Luke 7:34).  Thus, anyone who believes can be a close friend of God.

To Christians our wonderful Redeemer is many things.  He’s our God, Lord, Savior, prophet, high priest, King and merciful intercessor.  But most of all He’s our greatest friend whom we can always count on to be with us whether we’re drowning in the depths of despair or triumphantly standing atop a mountain we’ve just climbed.

The verse cited above from Proverbs says volumes about Christ.  He’s not some distant deity “way out there somewhere” but one who remains close by and loves us more than a sibling.  And His love never wavers.  Even when His grotesque crucifixion was at hand it’s said of Him, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He now loved them to the very end” (John 13:1).

Jesus has always been a friend to His own. “Through all they suffered, He suffered too.  …In His love and mercy He protected them; He lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times” (Isaiah 63:9).  It was Christ who vowed, “I’ll make a lasting covenant with them that I will never stop doing good to them” (Jeremiah 32:40).  Only a committed friend would make such a promise.

Bear in mind our Lord was our friend even when we were stubbornly rejecting Him.  He didn’t wait for us to “come around.”  “…While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).  A.W. Pink wrote, “In the midst of our sinning and sporting with death, He arrested us by His grace, and by His love overcame our enmity and won our hearts.”

His friendship can be depended on when “fair-weather friends” abandon us.  He’s the one who “loves us at all times” (Proverbs 17:17).  He stands beside when we need Him most.  He’s “a  very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).  He never gives up on us.  Even when we trespass against Him.  “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One” (1 John 2:1).

Therefore it can be said Jesus is ever faithful, despite our character defects.  Now, that doesn’t imply His graciousness comes at the expense of His righteousness or that His mercy negates His pristine holiness.  But, being like our good Father, He gently corrects and/or disciplines us when we’ve strayed.

As a real friend does, it’s Christ who sometimes says to us, for our own good, “I have a few things against you…” (Revelation 2:14).  His Word, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, penetrates our conscience and makes us acutely aware of our shortcomings.  Why?  “He does so for our benefit, that we may share His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).

Perhaps you think you don’t deserve having such a loyal friend as Jesus.  Truth is, none of us do.  Thomas Merton wrote, “God is asking me, the unworthy, to forget my unworthiness and that of my brothers, and dare to advance in the love which has redeemed and renewed us all in God’s likeness.  And to laugh, after all, at the preposterous ideas of ‘worthiness.’”

Also, there’s no more powerful friend to have.  He never shies away from bolstering our faith when temptation beckons.  Earthly friends and family might scatter when we need encouragement but never our Savior.  We must never forget that Jesus is our omnipotent God.  Satan, strong as he seems, will run like a rabbit when confronted by the power wielded by those who belong to Christ.  The Bible says Christians merely need to “rebuke the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Last but not least, Jesus is our everlasting friend.  He’s with us through thick and thin now and will remain there for all eternity, come what may.  David wrote of Him, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).  And even when we take our last breath on earth and become “absent from the body” we’ll instantly be “at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

A best friend is someone you never have to fear will turn their back on you.  Someone you can share your most private thoughts with, disgusting as they may be, and know for certain they’ll never betray your confidence.  That’s who Christ is for all who put their trust in Him.

Dane Ortlund wrote of Jesus, “This is a companion whose embrace of us doesn’t strengthen or weaken depending on how clean or unclean, how attractive or revolting, how faithful or fickle, we presently are.  The friendliness of His heart subjectively is as fixed and stable as is the declaration of His justification of us objectively.”

You’ll never find a better friend than Jesus.  Come to Him – as you are.  He’ll heal you, then use your testimony. As Brennan Manning wrote, “We give glory to God simply by being ourselves.”

The Divine Servant

Have you ever heard of a king, emperor or president stooping to wash the filthy, bare feet of his underlings?  No, because they’d fear by performing such an act they’d lose all respect/esteem for doing what only a slave would do.  Yet the King of kings, Jesus the Son of God, did just that.

Those who study Scripture aren’t shocked by the event documented in John 13.  Centuries earlier, through his prophet, God had announced concerning Christ, “Behold, my servant will deal prudently, He’ll be raised and lifted up and highly exalted” (Isaiah 52:13).  There’s a lot to unpack in that verse.

Whenever we come across the word “behold” in the Bible it intends to not only grab our strictest attention but to express awe and wonderment at what we’re about to be told.  In this instance we’re informed that the promised Messiah won’t be a man of war.  Quite the opposite.  As Paul wrote of Jesus:

“…Being in very nature God, didn’t consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8).

The Jewish religious leaders rejected Jesus, who claimed to be God, mainly because He dared say things like “I’m gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).  They didn’t desire a gentle and lowly Messiah.  They wanted a Goliath.  So, when He began preaching, they responded with snarky taunts like:  “’Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son…?’  And they took offense at Him” (Mark 6:3).

Isaiah’s prophecy also indicated Christ would be prudent.  By the world’s standards “dealing prudently” means being tactful.  Yet tactful diplomacy usually implies a compromise of principles.  When it came to upholding God’s will Jesus was most definitely imprudent.  His famous explosion of outrage over His Father’s house being turned into a “…den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13) was anything but a concession.

Thus, there’s another aspect of “dealing prudently” to consider.  A.W. Pink wrote, “From the spiritual viewpoint, from the angle of ever having the Father’s glory in view, from the side of seeking the eternal good of His own, Christ ever ‘dealt prudently.’”

Prudent testifying is always recommended for believers.  If a Christian witnesses to others with over-the-top enthusiasm or spouting in-your-face condemnations they’ll surely turn folks off.  A calm-but-firm approach works best.  Still, if they’re faithful to biblical doctrines and refuse to “…love the world or the things in the world” (1 John 2:15) they’ll inevitably incur the hatred of the ungodly.  Don’t misunderstand.  Jesus’ prudence simply means He was wise.

Then there’s the “He’ll be raised and lifted up and highly exalted” part.  We’re told Christ, because of His willingness to become a humble “servant” of His Father, has been richly rewarded.  To continue with what Paul wrote:

“Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that’s above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

Even though Jewish culture deemed it the ultimate repulsive act, our Redeemer washed the feet of His disciples.  He was “walking the walk,” as they say.  He said to them, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I’ve given you an example – you should do just as I’ve done for you” (John 13:14-15).

Now, Jesus wasn’t establishing some kind of holy ritual.  He was effectively putting the Apostles’ inflated egos in their proper place.  He continued: “I tell you the solemn truth, the slave isn’t greater than his master, nor is the one who’s sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you understand these things, you’ll be blessed if you do them” (John 13:16-17).

Will adopting a “servant mindset” lead to ridicule and even persecution?  You betcha.  Reinhold Niebuhr wrote, “Men may indeed emulate the powerless goodness of Christ; and some of His followers ought indeed to do so.  But they ought to know what they’re doing. They’re not able by this strategy to guarantee a victory for any historical cause, however comparatively virtuous.  They can only set up a sign and symbol of the Kingdom of God, of a Kingdom of perfect righteousness and peace which transcends all the struggles of history.”

Having said all the above, it’s vital to note Jesus didn’t let anybody run all over Him.  He stood up to wrongdoing.  Dane Ortlund commented, “Christ got angry and still gets angry, for He’s the perfect human, who loves too much to remain indifferent.  And this righteous anger reflects His heart, His tender compassion.”  Certainly Jesus could’ve done the first time what He’s promised to do when He comes again.  But He didn’t.  Christ came to serve.

Martin Luther wrote, “In order to exhort us to submission by His example, He shows that when as God He might’ve displayed to the world the brightness of His glory, He gave up His right, and voluntarily emptied Himself; that He assumed the form of a servant, and, contented with that humble condition, suffered His divinity to be concealed under a veil of flesh.”

Why would God do that?  Thomas Watson gave an answer: “If Christ be God-man in one person, then look unto Jesus alone for salvation.  There must be something of the Godhead to fasten our hope upon; in Christ there is Godhead and manhood hypostatically united.  …Admire the love of Christ our Mediator; that He should humble Himself, and take our flesh, that He might redeem us.”

Our Lord’s boundless love for His own exceeds our ability to conceptualize.  I like what Ortlund opined: “God made the world so His Son’s heart had an outlet.”

The Most Interesting Man in the World

For years a popular beer commercial featured a fictional character identified as “the most interesting man in the world.”  I never was sure what qualified him as such but I guess it was a successful ad campaign because various editions of it aired for over a decade.  It was certainly a clever gimmick.

Truth is, the most interesting person who ever walked on land (and water) was Jesus.  Hands down He’s the most intriguingly unique individual of all creation.  How come?  Because He alone has experienced being 100% God and 100% creature simultaneously.

Christ’s miraculous incarnation on earth was part of the plan all along.  “Therefore He had to be made like His brothers and sisters in every respect, so that He could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).

Pascal said that Jesus “…is by His glory all that’s great, being God, and is by His mortal life all that’s stunted and abject.  He assumed His wretched condition in order that He might be in all people and serve as a model for all conditions of men.”

I doubt any of us will ever fully comprehend what occurred 20 centuries ago.  A.W. Pink commented, “It was truly remarkable when man was made in the image of God.  But bow in wonderment and worship at the amazing condescension of God being made in the image of man!”

For Christians nothing’s more important than devoting ourselves to knowing Jesus the person better.  I say “better” because knowing Him “fully” is impossible.  Jesus said, “No one knows the Son except the Father…” (Matthew 11:27).  Nevertheless, we’re instructed to “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

If obeying that command was drudgery it’d be something I’d avoid.  But I’ve found learning more about Jesus a fascinating obsession that never gets old.  The conundrum of Christ’s two distinct natures being united in one perfect person challenges my intellect.  Those natures weren’t somehow fused together.  Jesus was, in every aspect, human and God Almighty.  Thus, when I say He’s unique it’s no exaggeration.

It’s not all that strange when we ponder our own reality.  Each of us has two separate facets of existence – our body and our soul.  We constantly possess both but they’re clearly not the same thing.

Jesus’ Divine nature has nothing in common with our nature.  His isn’t finite.  His isn’t derived from nor dependent upon anything.  However, His human side was identical to ours except He never sinned.  As a flesh-and-blood man He had a beginning.  Like most of us, He grew in knowledge and wisdom, felt happiness and pain, experienced excitement and disappointment, etc.

His being both God and man was a necessity.  Hermann Witsius wrote, “None but God could restore us to true liberty.  If any creature could redeem us we should be the particular property of that creature: but it’s a manifest contradiction to be free and yet at the same time be the servant of any creature.  So too none but God could give us eternal life: hence the two are joined together – ‘The true God, and eternal life’ (1 John 5:20).”

Pink wrote, “How can two consciousnesses, two understandings, two memories, two wills, constitute one person?  No one can explain it.  Nor are we called upon to do so.”  That right there’s a genuine blessing.  Believers aren’t asked to comprehend the incarnation any more than how God created something out of nothing.  Or the Triune Godhead, for that matter.

What we’re to accept on faith is that Jesus the person has never been anything less than God, eternal and divine.  His humanity merely complimented His magnificence.  Yet, because He lived as one of us, we’re privileged to freely cultivate an authentic relationship with God.  Why’s that important?  Every theologian worth their salt has tried to provide an adequate answer.  The late, great J.I. Packer’s is outstanding:

“First, we’re ignorant of Him and need instruction – for no satisfying relationship is possible with a person about whom you know little or nothing.  Second, we’re estranged from Him and need reconciliation – otherwise we’ll end up unaccepted, unforgiven, and unblessed, strangers to His Fatherly love and exiles from the inheritance which is in store for those who are His children.

Third, we’re weak, blind and foolish when it comes to the business of living for God, and we need someone to guide, protect, and strengthen us – which is how the regal role was understood in Old Testament Israel.  Now in the person and ministry of the one man, Jesus Christ, this threefold need is completely and perfectly met!  Hallelujah!”

What I’ve discovered in studying the Bible is Jesus’ tender, approachable personality.  How can I not adore and worship a God who says I’m His friend?  Christ told His followers, “I no longer call you slaves because the slave doesn’t understand what his master is doing.  But I’ve called you friends, because I’ve revealed to you everything I heard from my Father” (John 15:15).

Is it weird I find it astounding that the God who created the cosmos not only loves me but likes me, too?  Dane Ortlund wrote, “In Jesus Christ we’re given a friend who’ll always enjoy rather than refuse our presence.  This is a companion whose embrace of us doesn’t strengthen or weaken depending on how clean or unclean, how attractive or revolting, how faithful or fickle, we presently are.”

So who’s truly the most interesting man in history?  Jesus Christ.  Norman Geisler wrote of Him, “No other world teacher has claimed to be God.  No other religious leader offered salvation by faith, apart from works, based on acting to take away the guilt for human sin.  No religious or philosophical leader has displayed the love for people that Jesus did in dying for the sins of the world.  Christ is absolutely unique among all human beings who ever lived.”

Christ’s Condescension

These days the word “condescension” is a demeaning term connoting a snarky, patronizing attitude.  But another definition is “a voluntary descent from one’s rank or dignity in relations with an inferior.”  That’s precisely what Christ did 2,000 years ago.

Paul wrote of Jesus, “…who though He existed in the form of God didn’t regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature.  He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross!  As a result God exalted Him and gave Him the name that’s above every name…” (Philippians 2:6-9).

No passage in the Bible surpasses this one in documenting the journey of our Savior from His loftiest position in the cosmos to the most profound humiliation imaginable, followed by His triumphant return to His rightful seat on the universal throne.  Only a compassionate, gracious God would go to such lengths to demonstrate how much He loves His children.

Much confusion has resulted from early translations that read Jesus “…thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”  A.W. Pink explained, “The Son didn’t reckon equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit an act of usurping.  This is only a negative way to say Christ considered equality with God as what justly and essentially belonged to Him.  It was His by indisputable right.”

Christ’s condescension is an act of unfathomable diffidence.  He “emptied Himself.”  He took on the “form of a slave.”  He looked “like other men.”  And, most astonishing of all, He willingly subjected Himself to suffer an ignominious “death on a cross!”  Yet He never ceased being God Almighty for a nanosecond.  John Owen wrote, “He who is God, can no more not be God, than he who isn’t God, can be God.”

But what was the purpose for Christ’s condescension?  Why was it necessary?  The answer is a divine Mediator was and is an essential component of God’s master plan.  John Calvin wrote, “God cannot without the Mediator be propitious toward the human race.”

The Bible confirms it: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at His appointed time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).  Paul Wells commented, “Mediation has a triple finality: reconciliation, Christ for us; union with Christ, Christ in us; and the promise of a new creation, Christ with us eternally.”

Truth is, ever since Eden there has existed a gulf between mankind and God.  Francois Wendel stated, “No theology is Christian and in conformity with the Scriptures but in the degree to which it respects the infinite distance separating God from His creature and gives up all confusion, all ‘mixing’ that might tend to efface the radical distinction between the Divine and the human.”

It was that gulf Jesus willingly stepped into for the sake of, as He announced, “…those the Father has given me” (John 6:37).  And, being the ultimate Mediator, Christ negotiated a settlement between the two estranged parties.  He was qualified because, in a certain legal sense, He represented both God and fallen man in the incarnation.

It’s important to recognize that Jesus, our advocate, embodies the messianic functions of prophet, priest and king.  As prophet He assumed the role of sovereign messenger/ambassador of the Heavenly Father, making God’s unchanging will clear to everybody and bringing to an end all prophesies and revelations.  In other words, Christ taught us all we need to know.

Jesus is the anointed One who prophesized in the Old Testament passage, “The spirit of the sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has chosen me” (Isaiah 61:1).  Skeptics might ask, ‘Chosen to be what?’  Why, none other than“…the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).  That’s what.

Secondly, Jesus presented Himself before His Father as our priest to obtain grace and forgiveness, to appease the wrath our sins had aroused by offering an acceptable sacrifice.  Only a pure, sinless Mediator could reconcile us to a God who cannot tolerate unholiness.  No one else could’ve accomplished what Jesus did on our behalf.  Wells opined, “As priest… Christ had to enter the sanctuary with a sacrifice, and this He did with His own blood.”

How blessed we are!  “For we don’t have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who’s been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.  Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help” (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Thirdly, Jesus’ kingship is spiritual, consisting in the Word and Spirit of God that imputes to believers His righteousness and life.  Of course, there was no “moment” when Christ began to reign over creation because He is the kingdom.  Philippians 2:9 implies He was “inaugurated” as king upon His ascension.  But that was a mere technicality.

Believing in Christ and His soul-rescuing condescension is the only cure for humankind’s multifarious ills.  Calvin wrote, “Outside Christ there’s nothing worth knowing.”  He didn’t mean nothing’s worth knowing at all.  He meant all the knowledge a person can accumulate pales in comparison with knowing Jesus and His unmatched glory.

The ongoing miracle of Jesus is that He’ll never stop loving His own.  Dane Ortlund wrote, “When you sin, do a thorough job of repenting.  Re-hate sin all over again…  Reject the devil’s whisper that God’s tender heart for you has grown a little colder, a little stiffer.  He’s not flustered by your sinfulness.  His deepest disappointment is with your tepid thoughts of His heart.”

Ortlund added, “Those in Christ are eternally imprisoned within the tender heart of God.  We’ll be less sinful in the next life than we are now, but we’ll not be any more secure than we are now.  If you’re united to Christ, you’re as good as in heaven already.”

Divine Radiance

I recently watched the film about Marie Curie, Radioactivity.  She and her husband discovered radium in 1898 and it changed history.  Excellent movie.  I must admit I didn’t know much about her so it was educational, too.  I also noticed some spiritual parallels.

Marie was a determined, independent and headstrong physicist/chemist.  But women in that era didn’t earn respect easily.  She doggedly persisted in her experiments, finally gaining the recognition, fame and the Nobel Prize she thought would make her life complete.  Radium become so important to her she kept a vial of the phosphorescent element with her constantly.  She even slept with it.

The tragedy is she couldn’t see the destruction her treasure was slowly but steadily wreaking.  It was a major factor in her beloved husband’s death and ended up doing her in, as well.  Radium’s lethal poison is invisible so she wasn’t aware of the danger it posed.

That’s much the way sin infects our hearts and minds.  The worldly substances that make us feel good, validate us and nurture our insatiable egos eventually devour our soul.

It might be drugs, alcohol or pornography.  It might be adulation, our looks or social standing.  It might be money, food or just hoarding “stuff.”  Whatever it is we’re convinced can fill the God-shaped hole in us, other than Jesus Christ, will not only let us down but will eventually bring about our ruin.  Sin is spiritual radioactivity.  It’s deadly.

However, God’s radiation has the opposite effect.  It’s the best thing a person can be exposed to.  The Israelites were the first to see it.  “Now when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand…  Moses didn’t know the skin of his face shone while he talked with them” (Exodus 34:29).

Centuries later three of the apostles were privileged to witness a similar event.  “…Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John… and led them privately up a high mountain.  And He was transfigured before them.  His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light” (Matthew 17:1-2).

The difference was the glory Moses beamed was a reflected radiance, whereas Christ’s was inherent.  A.W. Pink wrote, “The shining of Moses’ face was the consequence of his being brought into the immediate presence of the glory of Jehovah; the transfiguration of Christ was the outshining of His own personal glory.”  Moses’ brilliant glow was confined to his face, but Jesus’ enveloped even his tunic.

What Moses’ experience teaches us is nobody can engage in authentic fellowship with God and not be permanently altered by it.  Certainly we become less self-obsessed.  Moses wasn’t even aware of the “shining” he was projecting.  His close encounter with God had changed him forever.  However, while he couldn’t see it, everyone else could.

In fact, it freaked his peeps out so badly they insisted he wear a veil.  Why?  Because the radiance they beheld in Moses’ face exposed their own sinful nature to the revealing searchlight of God.  Ed Dennett commented, “The glory they beheld on Moses’ face was the expression of the holiness of God… They were therefore afraid because they knew in their inmost souls they couldn’t stand before Him from whose presence Moses had come.”

In the same way, Christ’s overwhelming love, tenderness and unselfish generosity humbles us and causes us to recognize how much we need His influence.  Christians don’t flee in fear of our redeemer’s warm radiance.  Rather, “…We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory” (Romans 5:1-2).  Because the Holy Spirit resides within us, there’s no need for a veil.

The apostle Paul contrasted the two “radiances.”  Moses’ was connected to the old covenant of impossible-to-obey moral and ceremonial laws whereas Jesus’ transfiguration marked the advent of the new covenant consisting of salvation by faith alone. “And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

That’s a remarkable statement.  First, note the words “we all.”  Moses alone felt the glory of God.  Now every believer can feel it radiating from Jesus.  Second, it says “with unveiled faces.”  The Israelites were spooked out of their sandals by Moses’ lit-up mug.  But Christians can look upon Christ with confidence because “…where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Thirdly, it says we’re “being transformed into the same image.”  Let that sink in for a second.  The Mosaic laws couldn’t save anyone, much less purify them, because nobody could perfectly keep them.  But the power of the Gospel wielded by the Holy Spirit is in the process of transforming us into individuals that more resemble the King of kings every day!  If you belong to God it’s because He chose you before time began.  “…Those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…” (Romans 8:29).  Unfathomable.  I believe it, nonetheless.

I’ve never seen a Christian literally “glow.”  But I often see them “radiate” the unconditional love Jesus had for everyone.  The Pharisees didn’t approve of the lowlifes He mingled with, but Christ wasn’t ashamed.  He admitted, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’  But wisdom is vindicated by her deeds” (Matthew 11:19).

Dane Ortlund wrote, “Though the crowds call Him the friend of sinners as an indictment, the label is one of unspeakable comfort for those who know themselves to be sinners.  That Jesus is friend to sinners is only contemptible to those who feel themselves not to be in that category.”

I’m a sinner.  Yet the promise I’m hanging onto is that one day I’ll be more like Christ than who and what I am now.  There’s no better prognosis.

The Glory of Christ

Many books by many great theologians bear this title.  Considering Christ is the Son of God who walked among us and now sits at the right hand of the Heavenly Father it’s no wonder His glory overshadows all His other attributes.  Nevertheless, in the weeks ahead I’ll be accentuating those characteristics that add up to His being the most glorious person of all.

One thing making it a relatively easy task is the fact that overexaggerating the wonderfulness of Jesus is impossible.  What’s difficult is describing Him using only words.  The Holy Spirit always comes closest, inspiring Paul to write, “For God, who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

When we know Jesus we know God.  “No one’s ever seen God.  The only one, Himself God, who’s in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known” (John 1:18).  If it was simply a matter of employing logic to convey this profound truth, so as to convert unbelievers, everybody would be on board.  But this life-altering truth is a spiritual discernment only the Holy Spirit can “shine into our hearts.”

Even after witnessing inexplicable miracles (like raising dead-for-four-days Lazarus from his tomb) some of the apostles still didn’t savvy they were literally in the presence of God.  “Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and we’ll be content.”  To which Jesus, a bit exasperated with him, emphatically replied, “The person who’s seen me has seen the Father!” (John 14:8,9).

The Bible often associates the noun “fullness” with Christ.  He’s the eternal, incarnate Word in whom “…all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).  Human beings can’t ascend to God.  Therefore He descended to live, minister and suffer death among the lowly human beings He created.  Only a gracious, loving God would do such a thing.

No matter how hard we study or contemplate the glory of Christ, we must admit we can only mentally approach the “…outer fringes of His ways” (Job 26:14).  A.W. Pink wrote, “His glory is incomprehensible, His praises unutterable.  Some things a divinely illuminated mind can conceive of, but what we express, in comparison to what the glory is in itself, is less than nothing.”

However, what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us in the Scriptures is more than sufficient.  As Paul confessed, “I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ as my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).  There’s no better way to spend our time on earth than learning about Christ because doing so gradually transforms us into His likeness.

So many people worldwide wear themselves out looking for God in all the wrong places.  Truth is, we’re all born with a spiritual emptiness that can only be filled by Jesus, who beckons: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

The mystery of the Incarnation will remain a mystery.  By faith Christians accept that, miraculously, the Infinite One became finite, the Eternal One became temporal and the Immortal One became mortal.  Yet never for a moment did He cease to be the universe’s fully infinite, eternal and immortal God.

Those who have yet to be “quickened” by the Holy Spirit have no desire to know Jesus.  To them He may or may not be an authentic, historical person and, if He was, He was no more than a wise, moral philosopher.  But we who’ve “…tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:3) can’t get enough of Him.  To us He’s everything and, despite hardships, our trust in Him is unshakable.

Paul wrote, “We’re experiencing trouble on every side, but aren’t crushed; we’re perplexed, but not driven to despair; we’re persecuted, but not abandoned; we’re knocked down, but not destroyed…  But even if our physical body’s wearing away, our inner person’s being renewed day by day.  For our momentary, light suffering’s producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison because we’re not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen.  For what’s seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-18).

We who’ve, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, been given glimpses of what and whom can’t be seen clearly from our vantage point but can only detect “…in a mirror indirectly”, know in our hearts one day we’ll “…see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12).  Of that we’re sure.

We relate to what we read in Psalm 73:25, “Whom do I have in heaven but You?  I desire no one but You on earth.”  When Christians speak of the “fullness” of Christ we refer to how “our cup runneth over” (Psalm 23:5) with His constant, indescribable love.  His promises keep us from becoming overwrought by the greed-and-power-driven travesties we see happening all around us daily.  Because of Jesus we have an imperishable hope.

Our Good Shepherd will never leave any of His flock behind.  Dane Ortlund wrote, “We’re talking about something deeper than the doctrine of eternal security, or ‘once saved, always saved’ – a glorious doctrine, a true doctrine – sometimes called the perseverance of the saints.  We’ve come, more deeply, to the doctrine of the perseverance of the heart of Christ.  For those united with Him, the heart of Jesus isn’t a rental; it’s your new permanent residence.”

Secularists scoff, “What’s there to do in heaven?  It sounds boring.”  J.I. Packer answered that question with “Not lounge around! – but worship, work, think, and communicate, enjoying activity, beauty, people, and God.  First and foremost, however, we’ll see and love Jesus, our Savior, Master and Friend.”

Packer added, “Christians inherit in fact, the destiny which fairy tales envisage in fancy: we (yes, you and I, the silly saved sinners) live, and live happily, and by God’s endless mercy will live happily ever after.”

Blessings of God’s Sovereignty

Previously, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wrote of benefits Christians receive from knowing we serve a God who’s sovereign.  It deepens respect for Him, provides a firm foundation for our faith, lessens our insistence on earning salvation, humbles our pride and grants us the security of assurance.  That should be enough but our loving Creator gives us even more.

His sovereignty comforts believers in times of sorrow, doubt and depression.  Knowing nothing that happens in the cosmos surprises God is a constant source of peace.  Especially when the secular world tries to steal our joy.  Jesus, our good shepherd, said of us, “…no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:29).

David wrote, “Where can I flee to escape Your presence?  If I were to ascend to heaven, You’d be there.  If I were to sprawl out in Sheol, there You’d be.  If I were to say, ‘Certainly the darkness will cover me, and the light will turn to night all around me,’ even the darkness is not too dark for You to see, and the night’s as bright as day” (Psalm 139:7-8,11-12).

What a blessing it is knowing God’s will for your life is never other than good; that His love for you is limitless.  Dane Ortlund wrote, “Have you considered what’s true of you if you’re in Christ?  In order for you to fall short of loving embrace into the heart of Christ both now and into eternity, Christ Himself would have to be pulled down out of heaven and put back in the grave!”

God’s sovereignty instills in us uncoerced resignation.  i.e., We gratefully accept God’s will is our will.  This doesn’t mean we become pawn-minded fatalists.  On the contrary, we experience total emancipation from the unnecessary, self-imposed pressure to perform for God.  We are who He made us to be.  Larry Crabb wrote, “Spirit-given confidence that God’s there and worthy of absolute trust breeds the freedom to release what’s most alive within you.”

Letting go and letting God’s plan for our life play out without resistance fosters heartfelt praise for Him.  How can we not praise Him when He’s graciously chosen us as one of His beloved children!  For the life of me I can’t fathom why He saved a filthy sinner like me.  But before I took my first breath, He did.  The least I can do is adore and worship Him.

I’ve been a professional musician and singer/songwriter for over half a century.  When this disgustingly sinful prodigal crawled home to God almost a dozen years ago I discovered Christian music had greatly improved while I was away.  The talent in that genre is second to none and many of its artists’ well-crafted songs bring me to tears.  I can’t think of a better way to honor God than by lifting our voices to exalt Him.

Jonathan Edwards wrote, “The best, most beautiful, and most perfect way we have of expressing a sweet concord of mind to each other is by music.  When I form in my mind an idea of a society in the highest degree happy, I think of them as expressing their love, joy and inward concord and harmony and spiritual beauty of their souls by sweetly singing to each other.”

God’s unchallenged sovereignty guarantees every last smidgen of evil in this universe will one day be eliminated through the powerful enforcement of His holy justice.  When I witness the Bible being slandered and besmirched by those who detest God’s commandments, when I hear of Christians being tortured and/or murdered for their faith in parts of the world and when I see unconscionable hatred being directed at those who try to imitate Jesus in my own country, God’s promise of “peace on earth” is the only hope I can count on.

A.W. Pink wrote, “Though God’s governing hand is invisible to the eye of sense, it’s real to faith, that faith which rests with sure confidence upon His Word, and therefore is assured He cannot fail.”  “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a human being, that He should change His mind.  Has He said, and will He not do it?  Or has He spoken, and will He not make it happen?” (Numbers 23:19).

And lastly, God’s sovereignty provides a serene place where our hearts can find rest.  Nobody and nothing can bar us from entering that sacred sanctuary whenever we want.  Who made it possible?  Jesus Christ – our high priest who stooped in lowly love to suffer the punishment we, His sinful creatures, deserved.  What’s even more amazing is we’re now privileged to brazenly announce that “Good News” to everyone.

“In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and He’s given us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore we’re ambassadors for Christ, as though God was making His plea through us.  We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God!’” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).

The indwelling Holy Spirit is our private roadside “rest stop.”  He’s the Divine present Jesus implants in every believer’s heart.  Thus, we don’t cringe in fear before the Supreme Sovereign’s throne.  Rather, we feel honored to bow in veneration, giving Him all respect and glory while singing with the angels, “Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise!” (Revelation 5:12).

What’s the basis for trusting our sovereign God?  “God is love…” (1 John 4:8).  How can God be love?  Because God is a Trinity.  What difference does that make?

Michael Reeves explained, “Single-person gods, having spent eternity alone, are inevitably self-centered beings, so it becomes hard to see why they’d ever cause anything to exist.  Wouldn’t the existence of a universe be an irritating distraction for a god whose greatest pleasure is looking in a mirror?”

All creation’s blessed to have been created by a loving, triune God whose greatest pleasure is to share His love.