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.)
Yesterday, we began thinking about the fact that Jesus offers to bring us into His everlasting family. From Matthew 3:16-17 and John 10:30, we focused on the family imagery inherent in the Biblical designations Father and Son. How does God the Holy Spirit, specifically mentioned in Matthew 3:16, help us to better understand this family love of God? II Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” This verse tells us explicitly that the Holy Spirit is fully God. It also confirms that the Spirit sets us free to live in the family of God forever. The presence of the Spirit within the Trinity is logically necessary for a dipersonal God (Father and Son) could have an exclusive relationship with no room for you and me. The multiple interactions within the Trinity assure us otherwise, for this is not a closed relationship. Rather, through faith in Jesus, we are welcomed into the eternal “liberty” that is found in the family of God.