Jesus Christ
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December 29, 2013 |
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 "Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
Christmas Day is a blessed day when we celebrate God the Father giving us a precious gift. The gift was Jesus who became the way of salvation for us. God sent His Son Jesus to this earth allowing for Him to be a sacrifice for us. By doing so, He opened the way of salvation for us who were sinners.
We received such a precious gift of such great value and it is now time for us to give a gift in return. The most precious gift we can present to God is to accomplish the heart of Jesus Christ, to be changed and to become true children of God. So, in three aspects, let's look into this Lord Jesus who came to this earth for us.
1. He was lovely
He had no rough characters and He was not a difficult person. Everything concerning Jesus was beautiful, including His heart, behavior, and the words He spoke. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah described Jesus. In Matthew 12:19 the quote from Isaiah says: "He will not quarrel, nor cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets."
His words were wise and very powerful. He also performed amazing works. The blind, the deaf, and other seriously sick people were healed just by the laying on of His hands. Others just touched the edge of His robe and were healed. The wind and the sea even obeyed the command of Jesus and became calm. Thus a great number of people gathered wherever the Lord Jesus went.
But He did not raise His voice at all. He never wanted to be acknowledged or praised. But instead He walked quietly not to reveal Himself. He never spoke with a loud voice. Moreover, even though He had such great power and authority, He could never imagine trying to get undue gains by extorting or exploiting other people.
Even when He talked to a little boy, He treated him with the manner of a servant and not with an overbearing manner. With love He accepted even people like the Pharisees and the priests who opposed Jesus and continually tried to set traps for Him and catch Him if they had the chance. Of course at times He rebuked them, but did not argue with them and He had no intention to make them submit to Him by force. Instead He allowed them the opportunity to understand the truth and turn back to God.
Matthew 12:20 says, "A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory." As written, He loved even those people who seemed helpless.
Jesus had such a beautiful heart, and would He or could He have ever spoken or acted harshly to anybody? 1 Peter 2:22 says, "[He] committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth." As said, He was perfect and holy in all His words and deeds.
2. He sacrificed Himself completely
Jesus gave His everything to the souls from the day of His birth until He breathed His last breath on earth. He was born in a stable to redeem mankind who was no better than animals. He was laid in a manger to become the bread of life to such people.
To redeem mankind from the curse of poverty, He lived a poor life though all riches belong to Him. His body was scourged to cleanse and heal us of all diseases and infirmities. Finally, He died on the cross in place of sinners, taking the burden of sin upon Himself. He laid aside His right to enjoy abundance and to live a free life.
His life was filled with only God the Father and the souls. He had no 'self' in Him at all. Philippians 2:8 says, "He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
This sacrifice was not made out of a sense of duty. Also, it was not a sacrifice made to lift Himself up and rule over people thinking, "The people now have to obey My word because I made this sacrifice for them."
Jesus' sacrifice was one made out of pure and innocent love. Jesus came down to this lowly earth for us, setting aside all His heavenly glory. He also gave us the most precious thing, which is His life. God says, "You sinned, but I love you until death. I want you to come back to Me." Jesus wanted to deliver to us the deep and great love of God the Father through His sacrifice.
His sacrifice was also an action of love with which He wanted to open the way of salvation for us. Jesus appealed to God to give mankind salvation and the heavenly kingdom through the sacrifice of His precious body. As explained, the heart of God the Father and the Lord is completely filled with love for the souls.
This sacrifice of love finally resulted in the opening of the way of salvation and the heavenly kingdom (Hebrews 10:20). Anyone who believes Jesus Christ can be saved and enter the kingdom of heaven.
3. He prayed without ceasing
Jesus resembled God completely so He really had no need to pray for sanctification or love. His power was not lacking in any aspect. And yet, He never ceased to pray, even though He was spending very busy days. He humbled Himself and asked of God in everything that had to be done.
He prayed that He might be able to fulfill the duty as the Savior completely, that the souls would come to enlightenment and for God to uphold the disciples. It's because He knew very well the law of the spiritual realm that says the answer is given to those who ask, seek, and knock. Jesus always prayed and He prayed because He loved God deeply. He earnestly wanted to understand the will of God more deeply and fulfill it more completely.
Prayer is a behavior that you would perform naturally if you love God. We pray earnestly for the shepherd with love because we love God. If people love God they cannot but desire to pray voluntarily with their whole hearts. They neither feel coerced to pray nor pray due to other external reasons. They pray just because they have love for God the Father.
On this meaningful Christmas day, you are probably thinking, "Father God, thank You. Thank You for saving me, changing me, and letting me hope for New Jerusalem that I could not even have dreamt about. I want to become God's true child and live for the kingdom of God and for the souls." This is the will of the Father, the Lord, and our shepherd.
But no matter how earnest your desire is, you cannot bear any fruit in your life without praying. Therefore, please do not forget that you should always be on the alert and pray for your sanctification and fulfillment of your duties.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope that you will pray all the time with love for God and become God's true children who achieve goodness and love of the Lord by believing Jesus Christ on this Christmas Day.
By doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become the pillars of New Jerusalem, the most beautiful place in Heaven as written in Revelation 3:12, "'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name."
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