The Exaltation of Christ
.... Before He was born in Bethlehem -- before time itself began -- our Lord Jesus enjoyed a natural glory that He shared with our heavenly Father (John 17:5). Yet He willingly surrendered this equality, took the form of a servant as He came into this world, and making Himself of no reputation; Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh that He might live among us as one of us, and ransom sinful man by dying in our place (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 2:9). .... Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and that every tongue should confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).
.... After His resurrection and ascension, Jesus regained the glory He had with the Father before time began. So this raises a question. If His glory at first and His glory as the end were the same, what did He gain through His death and resurrection, and all of that suffering?.... "Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles."
(Isaiah 42:1)
.... In the end, what He gained was us..... So this brings us to the question of His motive. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus is the One "who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood." (Revelation 1:5). His motive in suffering so greatly was His everlasting love for us all; and when we hear the gospel proclaimed, God is asking for our faith in response:
.... It is not that we first loved God, but that He loved us; and if, while we were enemies because of our sin, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (1 John 4:19; Romans 5:10). It is all about the relationship that forms through believing in God's Son Jesus who loves us so much, and by learning to cling to Him in return by our abiding in Him, that God might be glorified in us..... "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
(John 3:16)
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Daily Bible Reading: Matthew 15 .
posted by loren at 2:21 AM
2 Comments:
John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Please look at this passage carefully. It does not say, ‘for we were so loveable’, but rather, that ‘God so loved.’
God’s love for us is not based on whether we are good or bad. It has nothing to do with how smart or pretty or wonderful we are. In fact, it has nothing to do with us at all, except as the object of His love.
God’s love is based solely on His own ability to love another person, whether they are worthy or not, or even whether they happen to like it or not. So His love is just as steady and solid a rock as He Himself, and does not depend on our performance. Sins are another issue, but they do not affect His love for us, And in a fallen world full of struggles, that is a comforting thought.
By
loren, at 5/06/2005 2:29 AM
Because God loves each of us so greatly, it would be a dishonor to Him if we did not love each other, also. His love for us assigns significance and worth to us all, and this makes us worthy of the love of other Christians:
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.” (I John 5:1-2)
By
loren, at 5/06/2005 2:30 AM
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