Loving Jesus Christ

Unseen winds refresh our planet daily. Similarly, the grace of God is invisible to our eyes. Yet, we see evidences of wind all around us: clouds move across the sky, leaves rustle on trees, and waves of wheat in fields yield to its mighty force. So, too, we can see the evidence of God’s grace all around us.

Today, grace and law are viewed widely as mutually exclusive. It is fallaciously assumed that the God of the Old Testament was the God of Law, and that the God of the New Testament is the God of grace. Terms like “the age of grace” reflect the mistaken assumption that before the cross there was no grace.

In 1893, when Chisholm was twenty-seven years old, a spiritual revival swept through his hometown and county in Kentucky. A visiting preacher named Henry Clay Morrison, the man who later became famous as the president of Asbury College, preached a series of revival meetings. Chisholm responded, repenting of his sins and trusting in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.

We can be grateful that Biblical Christianity is the one and only thing that is steadfast forever. This phrase describing the God of the Bible as “stedfast for ever” came not from the lips of an Israelite prophet or a priest but was part of a royal proclamation by a Persian ruler named Darius!

The incarnation of the Lord Jesus is the central event of human history. When we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating far more than a babe born in Bethlehem. We are rejoicing in the fact that God came down to earth as our Emmanuel. Jesus is “God with us.” The Apostle Paul celebrates this fact in one of the most unusual verses in his epistles.

In this Messianic prophecy, God the Father is speaking of “my servant,” the One Whom He also calls “mine elect.” In this same prophecy, the coming Messiah is proclaimed as the One “in whom my soul delighteth.” The direct fulfillment of this very passage was at the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. At that moment, God the Father announced, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

The Bible shines a spotlight on a royal wedding in Psalm 45. It is thought that perhaps this psalm was written as a celebration of the wedding of King Solomon. But the psalm rises far above any earthly wedding. The Messianic implications of this psalm are not merely the suppositions of Bible scholars. The Word of God, in Hebrews 1:8, verifies that this royal wedding psalm was written concerning the Son of God.

In many cultures, a shepherd drives his sheep in front of him. But in ancient Israel and still today among the Bedouin communities of the Middle East, a shepherd leads his sheep, going before them. He never asks them to go anywhere that he himself has not gone before them. What does this mean for you? Our Lord Jesus will never drive you into the unknown. Everywhere He leads you, He goes before you! The place where He is leading you may certainly be a place that is unknown to you, but it is not unknown to Him. He leads from the front. He knows what lies beyond the valley. You can follow His voice without question or hesitation.

No longer under any of the limitations He had placed Himself under while on earth, Jesus is able to be with all believers simultaneously. He is the omnipresent Lord! Wherever you are in the world, when you assemble with like-minded believers, Jesus will be there to fulfill His gracious promise: “There am I in the midst of them.” And whenever you are alone, remember His promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

To some extent though, while Jesus walked on earth, He chose to limit the independent use of His divine attributes and relied on the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer to His Heavenly Father to perform miracles. Throughout the Gospel record, we see time and time again that Jesus knew and did things that only God could know and do. This truth should bring great peace and assurance to our hearts; we can rest in the fact that Jesus knows and cares about every circumstance of our lives. He is the ever-present Friend Who supports us with His grace in every hour of need.

One astonishing fact about God’s knowledge is its totality: He not only knows all things that are; He also knows all things that would be if something else happened! He knows the end of every choice and the result of every action. God knew that if Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, his action would bring death upon all mankind. Similarly, the Lord in His omniscience knows the consequences of our sin and gives us warnings by His Word and Holy Spirit.

Psalms 22–24 are all strongly Messianic in theme and show an exquisite, complete picture of the coming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“STANDARDS? That’s just legalistic.” Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard that before! But before emotions get engaged and you pull out your sword to defend your side, let’s define our terms!

It was a cold winter morning. Outside, the snow was falling steadily. A fifteen-year-old boy slowly made his way through the streets of Colchester in the southeastern part of England. Being Sunday, all the shops were closed. Here and there, the lad saw small groups of men and women struggling through the snowdrifts to attend the various church services in town. Such a blizzard had not been seen by the city in a long time!

Have you ever experienced such pain and sorrow that you felt that God abandoned you? Has God’s love ever seemed distant, far away? Such feelings of abandonment are common to God’s people, especially in times of grief and tragedy. In such times, it is important to remember the fact that, regardless of our feelings and our perceptions, the love of God is an inherent part of His eternal nature. His love is described in Scripture as “an everlasting love.

As human beings, we tend to love what is lovely. Conditional in nature, our natural love is based upon the worth of the object of our love. But God’s love is unconditional. It is eternal. It is unmerited. Thus, God is able to love the unlovely, the despised, the vile, the outcast, and every single one of us who are sinners.

We’ve all heard the storybook tales of the prince and the maiden who married and lived “happily ever after.” When we look around our world today, it would be easy to become cynical about the possibility of a “happily ever after” marriage. Is it really possible, or are those stories just for children’s books, romance movies, and young girls’ dreams?

“In the beginning was the Word . . . .” This simple but profound statement is the opening of the Gospel of John. Looking at the other three Gospels, Mark began his record with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. Matthew and Luke began their Gospels with the wonder of the Incarnation and the miracle of the virgin birth of the Lord. But John’s Gospel commences with a statement of the eternality of the Lord Jesus Christ, reminding us that the life of Jesus existed eternally before He took on human flesh and dwelt among us.

Could it be that faithful believers who are serving the Lord, doing good works, boldly proclaiming the truth, and standing firmly against error and compromise are actually neglecting their chief priority? Is it possible that in loving our churches, our families, and our communities, we may be neglecting to cultivate a love for the Lord Himself?

What is your focus: enjoying temporal pleasures here in this world or laying up treasures in Heaven? Is the Kingdom of God your pursuit over every other pursuit? Obedience from the heart is not legalism. True obedience is love in action.