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.)
Jesus has “loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5). “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) is thus an unfolding of divine love that both commends and corrects us. The first-century church at Sardis was struggling: “I know thy works, that thou has a name that thou livest, and art dead” (3:1). Thus church’s reputation did not match reality. A good reputation is not a bad thing; Proverbs 22:1 says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.” However, reputation should be based on character, on who we really are. The Sardis church had only “a few names… [who had] not defiled their garments” (3:4). As a church, they needed to “repent” (3:3); they needed an honest assessment of their spiritual decline. The words of Jesus here are painful but necessary, for eternity was at stake. We should note that the “few” provided the Sardis church with immediate models to follow. Our Savior reaches out to us in many ways, including through the strong and staunch testimony of faithful Christians. Each devout Christian is a reference point for others and is graciously employed by Jesus to draw people to Himself. Lord, help us to be among the faithful “few,” and use us to help many come to a saving knowledge of God the Son, Jesus Christ.