God is eternal. If Jesus wasn’t human, He couldn’t die.
If Jesus didn’t die, He couldn’t pay the penalty of our sin, which required the shedding of blood, and death.
Jesus had to be human so he could experience death in the place of every man. He substituted Himself for us.
Jesus become human so that He would be a brother to man, to experience death as man does.
His suffering made Him the captain (the head or chief officer) of our salvation. He became a Saviour.
Jesus, as a flesh and blood man, destroyed Satan’s power over death when He rose from the dead.
Because Jesus conquered death, He broke the bondage death held over humans.
Jesus became a man so that He could suffer just like man suffers.
Jesus can be a faithful Priest to us, reconciling us to God the Father by the forgiveness of our sins.
Because Jesus knows suffering and temptation as a man, He can be merciful and faithful to us when we are suffering and tempted.
No earthly man can do all that Jesus did. No priest, no animal sacrifice, no penance and no good deeds can purge our sin.
Only the God Who became a man can do that. Only Jesus!
You cannot be reconciled to God, except through the salvation that our Captain Jesus won for us by His death on Calvary.
Have you accepted His substitution for you? Have you received His salvation?
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Philippians 2:14-16 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Murmuring – uttering complaints in a low voice; gloomily angry manner; grumbling. Disputing – contending by arguments; altercation.
I used to think in order to be a light to the world, I had to be perfect. Let’s be honest – only Jesus could live a perfect life.
The above verses tell us that if we want to be blameless and harmless, the first way to do that is to guard our attitude and mouth.
Don’t be grumpy, irritated, grumbling under our breath about everything that doesn’t go our way. Don’t use words to argue, fuss, and try to get our way. Don’t cause controversy or arguments.
Now that is something I can work on! I can take everything to my Heavenly Father and let Him do the changing of my heart or my circumstances, whatever He chooses.
And the second way to be a light in this dark world is to hold forth the Word of life.
Forth – forward in place; beyond the boundary of a place; out in public view.
Offer people the Bible: Give them a Gospel tract, an encouraging verse, invite them to church, send a card with verses of wisdom. There are many ways to hold forth the Word.
Last Sunday I overheard a lady asked one of the ushers if there was an old Bible laying around, as hers was very old and falling apart. He told her to take one of the pew Bibles home. She argued that she didn’t want to remove something that was needed. He assured her that the Bibles were there to be used. People took them home all the time. He literally held forth the Word of life to her!
Every light matters to those who are in the dark, trying to find their way home.
Your light matters! Don’t hide it under a bushel basket of murmuring and disputing. Let Jesus clean up our attitudes, control our mouths and SHINE from our lives.
You may never know who sees your light and finds their way to the Saviour.
But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
The sea star has 16,000 to 20,000 species. They are found in every type of oceanic habitat. Most have 5 arms, but some have as many as 50! They have no brain or blood, but their average life span is 35 years.
If our lives are to be held by someone, I’m glad they are held in the hand of our Creator God. His creation is magnificent, beautiful, varied and provided for.
No matter what problem is worrying you today, or whatever situation has you scheming and stewing and supposing, you can trust your Lord God with that. You can submit the problem to His hands and let Him work it out for your good and His glory.
If He cares enough to make a beautifully detailed creature like the sea star, we can trust Him with the details of our life too!
II Corinthians 3:5
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any things as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
Do you know how an anchor works? It’s not just the weight and size of the anchor that holds the ship steady. An anchor is meant to be dragged horizontally across the ocean floor. It gathers sand, mud and clay to create resistance through friction and suction to keep the boat safe.
The above Scripture tells us that Christians have a Soul Anchor. But this Anchor doesn’t just drag along after us, collecting spiritual debris that slows us down and keeps us stuck.
Hebrews 6:19 says that our Soul Anchor is sure and steadfast. It isn’t moving around looking for purchase. It is established and resolute.
Verse 19 also tells us that our Anchor “entereth into that within the veil”. What veil is that? It’s the veil of the temple that separated everyone from the Holiest of all, where the mercy seat resided. It’s the same veil that tore from the top to the bottom – from Heaven to man – when Jesus died, to open our way to fellowship with our God.
That’s where our Anchor is set – within the Holiest of All, where after His death on Calvary, Jesus’ blood was poured on the Mercy Seat in Heaven. Hebrews 10:19 “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus”.
So, the verses above say that when we flee for refuge and lay hold on the Hope of Salvation in Jesus, that Hope is the Anchor that holds our soul. Our Anchor is set in the Solid Rock. (I Corinthians 10:4)
Jesus was the Rock that was broken for us on the cross. That body still bears the wounds of His death and we are anchored there, in Him, for all eternity.
So when we feel like our life is being tossed with tempest, in a contrary wind, with the waves covering our ship, we need to remember where our Soul Anchor is set.
We are not adrift in life, aimlessly wandering, hoping to somehow please God. We are not at the whims of satanic pressures or worldly forces.
We are anchored sure and steadfast in our Redeemer, the Hope of our Salvation, the Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is seated on the right hand of the throne of Heaven, where He ever lives to make intercession for us. (Hebrew 7:25)
