Complete in Thee: Jesus Is... (Part 1)

Friday, October 3, 2008

Jesus Is... (Part 1)

Hello, Blog World! I am thinking about starting a little series on the character of Jesus Christ, and how He is revealed in the Scriptures. Sometimes we need to just quiet our hearts, still our minds, and just praise Him for WHO HE IS. Jim Berg (Bob Jones University) says, when you read the Scriptures, ask yourself, "What does this passage reveal about Jesus Christ?" So this is what I am trying to do, and I hope it will be as encouraging to you as it is to me. Try looking for descriptions on the character of Jesus as you read the Bible, and maybe you can keep track of your own findings about the character of Jesus in a journal or notebook. You'll be amazed how encouraging it is!!

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"In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually" (Jeremiah 33:15-18).

I read this passage in Jeremiah this morning and was very encouraged and blessed by what I found. Here are some thoughts I had on the passage above.

Jesus is our Righteous Judge. "He shall execute judgment [justice] and righteousness in the land." Jesus governs righteously. He judges sin and blesses righteousness. He calls people to holiness.
Jesus is our Savior. "In those days shall Judah be saved." This could be talking about the earthly salvation of Israel eventually; it also could mean that He is the Savior of our hearts. He saves us not only from the consequences of our sin (death and hell), but, more importantly, He saves us from the power of sin. He unshackles us from sin's power and gives us freedom to live in the Spirit.
Jesus is our Security. "Jerusalem shall dwell safely." In Christ we need fear nothing-- whether it be external or internal foes. He delivers us from evil and will keep in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on Him. He will not lose us and will cannot lose Him; we are safe in His arms.
Jesus is our Righteousness. "The Lord our Righteousness." Jesus takes our sin upon Himself and clothes us with the robes of righteousness. It is through Him that we stand before the Father clean and whole and righteous.
Jesus is our King. "David shall never want [lack] a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel." Jesus was in the line of David, and He is the eternal King. He reigns now in our hearts; one day He will rule the world. We live according to His laws, we walk according to His statutes, we look to Him to guide us and to lead us into battle against the enemy, we serve Him wholeheartedly as humble servants.
Jesus is our High Priest. "Neither shall the priests the Levites want [lack] a man bfeore me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually." The priests' job was to make atonement for the people. Jesus has done this by offering up Himself-- the spotless Lamb, the final sacrifice-- and He daily stands before the Father making intercession for us.

What a wonderful, glorious God we serve!! He truly is worthy of our praise and devotion!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: A series on what the Bible says about Jesus is a good idea, Melanie!; October 4, 2008 at 2:53 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."