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.)
An impressive part of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8) is His setting apart of us to Himself. Positional, experiential or progressive, future or ultimate – God’s gift of sanctification is blessedly thorough. Thus, it even precedes our salvation and includes what I call preliminary or preparatory sanctification. As we saw yesterday, this is more than common grace (which, as a gift from God, should be appreciated as uncommon!). Mark 5:45b tells us that “He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” This goodness of God to all is, of course, consistent with His sterling character, but such so-called common grace does not save. Our God is not passive, simply setting up a system and letting it run mechanically. No, He is directly and personally involved in our lives. In John 5:17b, Jesus said, “My Father worketh hither to, and I work.” This labor is for our benefit, and part of it is God’s preparation of us to receive His gift of salvation. Jesus said in John 6:44, “No man can come to Me, except the Father [Who] hath sent Me draw him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” The last part of this verse is a promise of our future sanctification; the first section tells us that God has priority, that He always comes first, that our understanding of Him is dependent on His revelation of Himself. Only through God’s continued drawing of us can we begin to understand Him and His salvation.