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 searching out of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8) includes learning about the doctrine of sanctification, God’s setting apart of us for His divine and eternal purposes. We have spent several days (profitably, I hope) in considering what I call preliminary or preparatory sanctification, for it is clear from the Bible that God drew us to Himself (John 6:44; 12:32; 16:13). He may use family members, as we contemplated on Saturday (II Timothy 1:5). He certainly will use His Word. In John 1, we find John and Andrew serving as disciples of John the Baptist, the promised forerunner of the Savior. However, they followed Jesus (verse 37) as soon as they heard John the Baptist say in verse 36, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” All of us needed someone to teach us from God’s Word; all of us required specific instruction from Scripture to understand that Jesus is the Savior. Even the first disciples needed to be drawn to Jesus through the Word, especially through His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Matthew 5:17-18). I am grateful for Pastor Stuart for many reasons, including his faithful presentation of the Gospel message. I am thankful for Sunday school teachers such as Bev, Billy, and Mary who week after week taught the truth. I appreciate Pauline, our youth group leader, who joyously instructed us in God’s way. Each one of us has had help in coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus: this help is part of the way that our Savior prepares us to be saved.