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.)
The repeated refusal of people to repent during the Tribulation (Revelation (9:20-21) is most distressing. Reluctance to repent hardens the heart. Hebrews 10:22 tells us that our “conscience” can be “evil”; Titus 1:15 tells us that it can be further “defiled.” I Timothy 4:2 brings us to the unenviable condition of “having their conscience seared with a hot iron” – that is, it is no longer operable. Finding excuses to delay repentance is unwise; even worse, it is spiritually deadly. Philippians 2:9-11 points out that one day all of us will acknowledge that Jesus has been right all along: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Repentance is the only reasonable response to a just God; repentance is our moral obligation. Each of us thus must turn from our rebellion to Jesus’ salvation.