Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
As we have been studying this week, part of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8) is the Trinitarian nature of God. The distinctiveness of the Trinity – One God in Three Persons – is crucial to “the riches of His glory” (Ephesians 3:16), to the totality of His perfect attributes. Four “God is” statements are found in the New Testament, including John 4:24, which we considered yesterday. Another such description is I John 4:8: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” Verse 16 adds, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” Logically, if “God is love,” He must exist in Three Persons – Father, Son, and Spirit. If God were monopersonal, He would not possess love as an intrinsic characteristic, for only self-love (which is really self-centeredness) would exist because He would have no one to love. If He were duopersonal, His love would be exclusive, with no opportunity for that love to extend to us. However, the multiple relationships of love within the Trinity provide the assurance to us that God’s love is available to us. Furthermore, because we are created in His image (Genesis 1:26-27), we are equipped to respond to His love. Certainly being able to love our Savior is essential to “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”