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.)
Let us spend one more day thinking about the implications of Revelation 18:5b: “God hath remembered her [Babylon’s] iniquities.” As we studied last week, He also remembers to forbear, forgive, and forget (Psalm 103:10-14; Jeremiah 31:34; Isaiah 43:25). Malachi 3:16-17 provides a helpful picture of these truths: “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. ‘And they shall be Mine,’ saith the LORD of hosts, ‘in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.’” Obviously, God does not need a book in order to remember anything. Rather, this passage provides us with the absolute assurance that our Savior will forget our sin but will never forget us. In fact, He remembers us personally – “a book of remembrance” – and considers us to be an extraordinary treasure – His “jewels.” Furthermore, He employs the intimate imagery of a family to describe His relationship with us. All of these images combine to give us complete certainty through Christ Jesus.