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 19:5 is a call for all to praise our Savior God: “And a voice came out of the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great.’” Believers saved throughout the ages, believers saved during the Tribulation, the holy angels – all are grouped together in the term “servants.” On earth, man’s sin nature leads to social, economic, and racial distinctions. (As an aside, race is a human construct, not a Biblical one. People who focus on race cannot even agree on the number of races. I will stick with God’s view: we are all part of the human race, created in His image.) Unfortunately, an emphasis on social class or financial status is not limited to the world. James, writing to fellow Christians, excoriates them for their “respect of persons” (2:1) – that is, their partiality. He then uses the example of the different treatment accorded to a wealthy man and a poor man within the church (2:2-3).The conclusion is absolute: “If ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin” (2:9a). Since such partiality will not exist in heaven, let us get started now on eradicating it from our lives and our churches. May we remember that we are all “servants” of Jesus Christ. May we never fall into the trap of thinking that we are better or more important than others, that we are the beautiful people. No, we are “servants” of the beautiful Savior.