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.)
Our Lord is holy: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, [Who] was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8). This heavenly rejoicing reveals that He is trustworthy, transparent, and true (He “cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man” – James 1:13). Furthermore, almost unbelievably, this holiness is transferable to us. Romans 3:10 delivers us bad news – the worst news possible: “there is none righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:23 adds, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” On our own, then, we can do nothing about our unholiness. However, Romans 5:19 gives us good news, the greatest good news possible: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” This is eternal good news! The holiness of Jesus has been placed on our account (what theologians call imputed righteousness). This transfer of holiness does not make us perfect now (read Romans 7 about the conflict between our sin nature and our new nature), but it does mean that when the time for final justice comes, God the Father will see not our sins but instead the holiness and righteousness of God the Son, Jesus Christ. Only God our Savior could accomplish this holy transaction.