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.)
A blessed part of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8) is His absolute holiness: “For our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). We saw yesterday, His righteousness is imputed to us (Romans 3:24, 5:17). We are thus secure in Him. However, we must not take this security casually, for, as I sometimes say, we should not think that we can sashay into the presence of God! “Holy, holy, holy” – this threefold ascription of praise (consistent with Trinitarianism) is found in both Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8. In the immediate context of these passages, the response of believers is worship. Isaiah said, “Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). The prophet correctly understood that no person is holy. However, he was quickly assured that he had been cleansed and could serve God. In the Revelation passage, the believers in heaven “fall down before Him [Who] sat on the throne, and worship Him” (Revelation 4:10). Even though these saints no longer possess a sin nature (as Isaiah did), they still approach the Lord with genuine reverence. Because the holiness of God is one of the perfections found in “the unsearchable riches of Christ,” we must cherish it and respond to Him with appropriate thanksgiving and praise.