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.)
Revelation 17:14 rejoices in the governance of Jesus even during the Tribulation: “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” What happens when we as individuals try to govern ourselves? We have the example of Paul in Romans to instruct us. Before he became a Christian, Paul tried in his own strength to keep the Law of the Old Testament. Clearly, as a vicious persecutor of innocent Christians, he failed to govern his baser instincts – what we call the sin nature. Even as a Christian, though, Paul struggled mightily: “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I … For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (verses 15, 19). Paul found the answer to this dilemma in the governance of his Savior: “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (verses 24-25a). The application is clear: we need to embrace the governance of Jesus rather than continue in our stubborn and stiff-necked self-centeredness.