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.)
Jesus’ foundational statement about our dual citizenship (on earth and in heaven) is found in Mark 12:17: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” Do we need government? The Founding Fathers of the United States understood that government is a sad necessity, pointing to Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” This seminal verse reveals man’s sin nature and became the basis for separation of powers in American government, for powerful people also possess sin natures. The whole concept of limited government informs the United States Constitution, which specifically assures citizens of their God-given rights and emphasizes detailed restrictions on government. Our early leaders had seen the evil might of tyranny personally and did not desire to establish a similar system. They recognized the need for an external check on man’s sin nature, and they also recognized that this check had to extend to the consolidated sin natures within government. Without this external restraint, our nation would be much like Israel in the years of declension following the death of godly Joshua: “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25b).