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.)
The account of the birth of Jesus Christ is filled with powerful sentiment. His parents were poor and away from home. We know that “there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7), and, as I like to say, we know that Jesus was born in a barn. Doctrinally, the Virgin Birth of Jesus is an absolute theological necessity: denial of this essential teaching is heresy. It is important to note that Jesus’ Virgin Birth (Luke 1:34) declares the image of God in each person. Genesis 1:26-27 says of mankind’s creation, “And God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.’ So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” This statement affirms that we are created in God’s image, with the capacity to love, to enter into positive relationships (think of the relationships within the Trinity – note the use of “Our”), to create, to act justly. The Virgin Birth of Jesus reaffirms this great truth, for God the Son Himself came in human form – fully human – to save humans. Philippians 2:5-11 is a powerful passage regarding Jesus’ full humanity. He could have come to us in the fullness of His glory (one day, He will), but He came as that which He had created in His image. Any society that ignores this fact is doomed to hatred and violence. As the Russian poet Joseph Brodsky wrote, “One who spits at God will first have splattered you and me.” We who know the truth must live differently.