Weekly Devotional 1-16-17
We Must Step Out of The Box and Think Differently
Concerning Jesus much of humanity think in terms of time. Because of natural man’s inability to think in terms of eternity, it is difficult for natural man to think of Jesus as ever existing. It is the inclination of natural man to look upon Him as they would all other human beings, that His conception was His beginning. The Gospels of Matthew (Matthew 1:18-25) and Luke (Luke 1:26-35) do speak of His conception and birth. They also inform us that said conception was not of the normal processes. His mother Mary conceived her firstborn not by man, but by the power of God. It was declared of the Lord Jesus Christ by the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:5), that a physical body had been prepared for Him. This is difficult to understand unless we consider it in connection with John 1:1-2 and 14. “1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God . . . 14And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
Yes, the man Jesus, who is the Son of God, did corporally have a beginning, but God the Son has ever lived, having no beginning, therefore being deity. Do I understand this? No. I am limited in my understanding as are all other persons. We are not asked to understand, only to believe and accept. But, are we to believe abstractly? No, there is ample proof that aids us in our acceptance of His eternal being and deity. The ample proof is partially found in the supernatural acts He did while He walked humanly among us. For a testimony of these acts we turn to Jesus’ answer to John the Baptist’s question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” This question and its answer are found in the Gospel of Matthew. Consider; “1Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. 2And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3and said to Him, ‘Are you the coming One, or do we look for another?’ 4Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.’” (Matthew 11:1-5; NKJV).
Jesus gave sight to the blind, He caused the lame to walk again, He cleansed lepers, He restored hearing to the deaf, and He restored life to some who had died. He did these things not secretly but openly; proving the actuality of these things.
So, yes. When we think about the humanity of Jesus, we must begin by thinking of Him differently than we think of all other human beings. The body that was prepared for Him did have a beginning, in time, but that body only encased His eternal being.
Why would God, the preincarnate Son, take upon Himself human flesh? Why would God, the creator of all that is, become a created being? Why would He who is eternal become subject to time? As God the Son He could not die, but as the Son of God He could, and did. Turning to the Gospel of John, we read; “16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17 NKJV). He did this for you and for me.
We Must Step Out of the Box and Think Differently. In your considerations, remember we are not called to understand how a virgin could become great with child only accept that by the power of God that she was. We are not called to understand how eternal God could become subject to time, but we are called to accept that He did. Again, we are not called to understand, because we are in part unable. We are called to believe and accept.
Turning to John’s gospel once again we read; “18He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:16-17 NKJV).
If you are one who does not believe because of not understanding the difference between time and eternity, please consider carefully your reasoning; for your place in eternity depends that consider-ation.
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