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.)
I do hope that this upcoming year will be a happy and healthy one for each of you. We can have hope, for Romans 5:5a says, “Hope maketh not ashamed” – that is, hope in Jesus Christ does not disappoint. Thus, this may be the year that His salvation is received by unbelievers that we have been praying for and speaking to. For example, no one could have predicted that Paul, a murdering persecutor of Christians, would himself become a Christian on the Damascus Road when he was on that road to Damascus for the very purpose of arresting God’s people. This may also be a year of other unexpected blessings, for God “giveth us richly all things to enjoy” (I Timothy 6:17b). One abiding blessing is the Bible: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16a). Of course, this may also be the year of an unparalleled event, the return of Jesus: “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin [apart from dealing with sin, which He did in His first coming] unto salvation.” This promised return is the “blessed hope” (Titus 3:13) of the Church. May we join with the Apostle John and fervently affirm, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20c).