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 Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) ends with this benediction: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (22:21). Perhaps “grace” – God’s unmerited favor – is not the key word that many would expect to find at the close of this apocalyptic book. Clearly, though, our Savior is a Giver. He begins by giving Himself. God the Son came to us and became like us – fully human – but without sin, for He retained His full deity: “And 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” (John 1:14). Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”; within twenty-four hours of this statement, He did exactly that on the Cross. “He said, ‘It is finished’: and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost [His spirit, His life]” (John 19:30b-c). His giving of Himself in this way confirms that “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” is indeed “with you all” – available to all and the reality of all who trust in Him for eternal salvation.