“Provoking Christian Insights” series

Part 21

After Jesus came

Most cults will tell you that Jesus was a great man, a prophet, but they deny that He was King of King’s and Lord of Lords. In fact most of the man made religions will quickly try to deny the deity of Christ.

Our Sunday School teacher has been sorting out the different religions and religious faiths and is quick to point out that the ones that come knocking at your door have tampered with the Bible and use their book in preference to the Bible to deny that Jesus is the Christ.

I think that if there is any one thing that I want to leave you with in this column is that Jesus is the Christ and in Him we have our faith and our way to forever. Generally speaking, if we keep to the Bible, we will have no problem in following Jesus as the Christ.

The Bible starts early on saying Christ “The Word” was the second agent of the process of creation, and the third was the Spirit of God “Holy Spirit” overseeing this unordered creation. God said: By the power of His spoken word, God willed creation into existence (Ps 33:6-9, Hebrews 11:3). Christ the Word, the 2^nd person of the Trinity, was the agent of this creative process (see John 1:11-3; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16) Called to have the right of naming something expresses owner and Lordship, Genesis vv. 8 and 10. NKJV.

Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth unto Me the one that is to be Ruler in Israel, whose going forth are from old, from ever lasting.” NKJV.

Equipped for fellowship with their Creator

Man and woman are the crowning achievements of God’s creative work (Psalm 8:5). As free moral beings whom bear the image of God, they were assigned dominion over the natural world (Genesis 1:27,28). They alone among the living creatures of the world are equipped for fellowship with their Creator.

Thus, we, as men and women, created by God, in His image, are created in an orderly fashion as part of God’s plan.

Jesus is the High Priest

Man had fallen into sin. God cannot look upon sin. God’s plan of redemption is Jesus. “Born to you this day, in the city of David, is Jesus who is Christ the Lord.”

Pastor Ray La Salle, in a recent sermon noted that from the time that David’s birth was recorded in the Bible until the birth of Jesus, no other name of anyone else being born in the Bible, was born in Bethlehem.

After Jesus was born, there is no mention of the town of Bethlehem anywhere else in Scripture again.

La Salle continues, “ Did you know that shepherds as an occupation and as individuals, and as a group are not mentioned anymore after the occurrence in Bethlehem. No other names in the Bible are born and recorded in the Bible after (the Birth of Jesus) in Bethlehem. No other priest is mentioned after Jesus was born.

A lot of things changed after Jesus came

We all know the story of Jesus visiting the Temple when he was 12 years old and how the priests were astonished at how much he knew. Little is recorded until Jesus started His ministry at the age of 30 but we do know that the Priests of the Temple ultimately were out to discredit Him. Little did they know that He was, when dedicated, in truth, the new high priest.

Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist came preaching, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repeating the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.”

Jesus told John that he needed to be baptized by him to “fulfill all righteousness.” When Jesus came up from the water the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove a alighting upon him (Isaiah 11:2; 42:1). And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” (John 12:28, Psalm 2:7).

Jesus drew great strength from His heavenly Father through prayer. Through the work of Jesus and his little band of disciples the way the world worshipped was turned upside down forgetting an “eye for an eye” doing more than the law requires, and giving to him who asks with interest free loans. Jesus asked His followers not to p0ut material gain above human need.

Jesus’ long discourse known as The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is summarized in Matthew 5:48, “You shall be perfect just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The word perfect does not refer to sinless or moral perfection. It indicates completeness, wholeness, and maturity, being all that God wants a person to be.

The goal

This goal, although we never attain it in this life, should continually challenge us to greater service for the Lord.

As we enter the year 2008, the time set as from Christ’s birth, we need to think about Jesus and what He wants us to be. He hears our prayers and answers our call. Do you have a plan that includes Christ for the  year ahead?

INSPIRATION: “Therefore, let us not sleep as other do, but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6.

Write: croneis@embarqmail.com