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 missionary statement of Jesus is both simple and profound: “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). His life provides the exemplary example to us of what service must be. Paramount to any ministry is the Gospel message. Many well-meaning folks miss this point. Without the good news of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, we fail “to minister.” The Church can serve people in many ways in addition to the presentation of the Gospel, but this service must be secondary to the primary purpose of each individual church, which is to help people see that they need the eternal life that Jesus offers. I have heard skilled Biblical sermons that unfortunately do not take the final and necessary step of offering an invitation to salvation. These messages are instructive but lack the full force of God’s free and forever forgiveness. Pastors should want to preach this message, and congregations should expect them to present this truth (even if everyone in the gathering is saved). Furthermore, most people are saved through the efforts of family and friends; as a practical matter, we are more likely to listen to people that we know well. Thus, each one of us must “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (I Peter 3:15b).