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) points us to the reign of our Savior over all (11:13), including earth – “this world” (11:15). The Bible is clear that creation is a specific and special act of God: “In the beginning, God created the heaven [space] and the earth [matter]” (Genesis 1:1). “Light [energy]” (Genesis 1:3) and time (Genesis 1:4 – “the first day”) completed the foundations of our universe. Why did Jesus (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16) specifically make our planet? First, He is simply the Creator. He is ever and eternally creative and finds joy in the creative process and in the result of His handiwork (“God saw that it was good” – Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25; verse 31, after the creation of man, says, “It was very good”). Second, He made earth as a place for man (created in His image – Genesis 1:27) to flourish (Genesis 1:28-30). The variety of grandeur and beauty – a sunset, a surging tide, a scenic vista, a showy changing of color in the leaves, a single rose – is intended to frame mankind. The reign of our Lord is thus most solicitous. He is not a distant despot. Rather, His sovereignty is exercised for our present and eternal benefit.