“And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. For in one place the Scriptures say, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them, or a son of man that you should care for him? Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them authority over all things.” Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.”
Hebrews 2:5-10 NLT
I think most of us are intrigued by stories of common people finding out that they are actually royalty, or somehow or another, very rich and powerful. The causes of not knowing about their actual position, and the means through which it was found out vary; but the bottom line is—in a moment—they go from commoner to royalty, from rags to riches.
Sadly, many Christians are living as though they have no idea of their actual position made possible through Jesus Christ. Indeed, to hear them talk, you would think that they are the lowliest of all humanity, devoid of power and hope and forsaken by God.
Now, I am in no way castigating Christians finding themselves caught in Satan’s propaganda machine. In fact, I believe that one of the main goals of the enemy of our souls is to keep us ignorant of who God made us to be, ignorant of the authority we have been given through Jesus Christ.
I remember my father singing a song that went: “Oh yes, oh yes, I’m a child of the King; His royal blood now flows in my veins; and I who was wretched and poor now can sing, “Praise God! Praise God! I’m a child of the King!” I remember with what joy he sang those words. He knew that the Lord had snatched him from the jaws of hell and placed him on a high place, a place where he could share in the authority of our Lord!
The psalmist speaks prophetically of the King Who God would place over all things. That King is Jesus.
“For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.” The king proclaims the Lord’s decree: “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’””
Psalms 2:6-9 NLT
Indeed, it was God’s plan that through the work of Jesus Christ, we could be rescued from our bondage and our lowly estate, to be adopted as heirs of God!
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.“
Romans 8:14-17 NKJV
Just imagine: God wants us to share the glory of Jesus Christ!
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”
Romans 8:29-30 NLT
Understand, God did not need to exert or extend His authority; He is already above all things. What He did through Jesus Christ, was for our benefit, that we could become sons of God!
Our opening scripture tells a story: God—through Jesus Christ—is leading us to glory. Indeed, the writer of Hebrews is referencing a prophetic word in Psalm 8.
“what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority— the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.”
Psalms 8:4-8 NLT
Further on in Hebrews 2 we see this stunning proclamation:
“So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.”
Hebrews 2:11 NLT
The Lord calls us His brothers and sisters! The upward call of God through Jesus Christ is that we rule and reign with our Lord forever, sharing in His glory!
The last couple of days we have been discussing the lenses through which we must see Jesus to see Him as He truly is.
Today we have looked through the third lens: We look at Jesus in His glory knowing that He was glorified as a Man so that we can be glorified with Him!
Again, the Lord God did not need to add to His glory; but there was a need for us to be brought into His glory.
For now, we only see glimpses of what we will be when Christ rules and reigns on the earth. But for now, we must recognize who God wants us to be and the price He paid to restore us to the path leading to sharing in His glory.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”
Romans 6:4-6 NLT
Legend has it that Florida was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon as he was searching for the Fountain of Youth. Now, the concept of a fountain of youth (a source of life-extending water) is found in literature going back centuries.
Better than that, references to a source of living water go back to Old Testament times.
In the book of Jeremiah we see references to the true source of living water.
“For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”
Jeremiah 2:13 NLT
“O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who turn away from you will be disgraced. They will be buried in the dust of the earth, for they have abandoned the Lord, the fountain of living water.”
Jeremiah 17:13 NLT
These prophetic scriptures spoke of the life-giving Source that would only be made accessible through the work of Jesus Christ.
As we have recently discussed, the true fountain of youth (living, or life-giving water) was spoken of by Jesus as coming from believing on Him and receiving the Holy Spirit.
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.“
John 7:37-39 NKJV
Jesus, as the perfect Lamb of God, died for our sins. His precious blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness and filthiness of the flesh. With that, His sacrifice made it possible for us to be connected to His never-ending life by way of His Holy Spirit!
“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Romans 8:11 NLT
But, in order to share in His never-ending life, we must believe in Him and come to Him.
Sadly, some will not come; rather, resisting Him, even as some did when Jesus walked among us.
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.“
John 5:39-40 NKJV
Those who do believe in Jesus
and come to Him, don’t have to worry anymore about what will happen to them after exiting this life! The same new life (the Holy Spirit of God) in us now, will afford us a smooth transition from this world of mortality to the never-ending Day of an eternity with God.
But make no mistake, by the Holy Spirit of God, we can live a new life while still in this present world.
Indeed, our opening scripture explains that we can live a new life free from the bondage of sin, NOW!
Yesterday we discussed that in order to truly see the Lord, we must see Him suffering to atone for OUR sins.
Today, we look at Him through the lens of His bodily resurrection. Yes, His resurrection that makes it possible for us to forever live a new life as a new creation.
Child of God, those who are in Christ have been set free from sin and the fear of death that comes with it.
See our resurrected Savior. See that He will raise you to new life now AND raise you up at the Last Day!
“And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.”
Romans 6:8-9
“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:40 NKJV
“And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.”
1 Corinthians 6:14 NLT
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. And as a lamb is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and received no justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?””
Acts 8:32-34 NLT
I was in fourth or fifth grade and we were outside on the playground playing softball. It was my turn at bat. I swung at the ball and hit it! In my excitement I threw the bat, causing it to hit a nearby metal building. The bat then bounced back, hitting one of my best friends in the head. Now, she did not lose consciousness; but she immediately sported a big “egg” sticking out on her forehead.
I can still remember how devastated I felt, knowing that I had done this to her. In fact, I was so beyond consolation that—sadly—she ended up trying to comfort me.
Why was I so bereaved? Because this was MY fault. Had my friend suffered this injury in any other way, I would still have been extremely sorry that she was hurt; but the fact that I had done this, the fact that she was suffering because of me, was almost more than I could bear.
Now, many well-meaning ministers, in describing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, seem to be aiming at provoking sympathy for the Lord. However, a while back the Lord instructed me that He is not looking for sympathy, nor does He want it. In fact, responding to His suffering with sympathy, misses the point of what He did and why He did it.
What the vision of His suffering should provoke in us, is what I experienced having been responsible for hurting my best friend’s head: extreme guilt and remorse (owning His suffering), and ultimately, repentance (sorrow for my sins that put Him there).
“He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:24 AMP
As we shared yesterday, there are three lenses through which we must look to truly see and know Jesus.
The first of these lenses we employ today.
When we see our suffering Lord, we must see that He is suffering for our sin. We are responsible for His suffering. That suffering should have been ours.
No one forced Jesus—the I Am—to suffer and die. No, He chose to suffer in our place and give His life to provide for our salvation, a fact He made clear to His disciples.
“”I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.””
John 10:11, 15, 18 NKJV
Not only did Jesus suffer and die for us, He endured that suffering by thinking of what His suffering would accomplish.
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.“
Hebrews 12:2 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see that the Ethiopian eunuch is asking Philip who was being referenced in the scripture about the lamb to the slaughter. He was reading from Isaiah 53 where the prophet prophetically paints a picture of our Lord and Savior as the Suffering Servant. Indeed, it is this very passage that contains one of our most beloved scriptures:
“He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.“
Isaiah 53:3-5 NKJV
Yes, in order to rightly see our Lord, we must see Him suffering for OUR sins.
Having appeared to His disciples soon after His resurrection, the Lord instructed them to look at His hands and feet.
“And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”“
Luke 24:38-39 NKJV
Here, Jesus was having them look at His hands and feet to recognize that He truly was the One Who had suffered and died, and was now alive.
We also must look at the wounds in the Lord’s hands and feet. We must see that He—in the flesh—suffered for our sins and now carries the sign of that suffering.
Ownership of the Lord’s suffering (in terms of causality) is the first step toward seeing Him clearly. As the Lord expressed to me several years ago, “In order to have a Savior, you must know you need one.”
Yes, we needed someone to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. And that’s what our Savior did in becoming the perfect Sacrifice, the perfect Lamb of God!
Friend, today, if you are suffering in some way, see Him willingly suffering on the cross for your sin. Let His suffering for you eclipse whatever you are feeling; let it lead you to the very relief and deliverance for which He suffered! Do it today!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!