Topic: Discover Jesus [Tuesday, May 9th]
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).*_
Man doesn’t know reality until he finds Jesus, the Son of the living God. But who exactly is Jesus, the man of Galilee?
First, He’s the Word-incarnate. This is an amazing truth. Think about it: Your word is the expression of who you are. It’s the expression of your views, opinions, thoughts, emotions, and ideas. In the same way, the Word of God is the totality of God’s thoughts, ideas, opinions, will, and emotions. John 1:14 tells us that God’s Word was personified, and the result was the man, Jesus: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us….”
He’s the expression of the thoughts, will, and emotions of God. His laughter was God laughing; His smiles were the smiles of God. When He stretched out His hand, that was God stretching out His hand. When He loved, that was God’s love manifested. Everything He did was the expression of God.
Secondly, He’s the expression of God’s person. This means He’s the character and essence of God. The Bible tells us something beautiful about Him in Hebrews 1:3: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person….” He’s the perfect personification of the abstract idealism of God. In the world, the term, “God” doesn’t convey a person; it conveys an idea. God doesn’t make sense to the human mind, because they can’t find or define Him. The Bible, however, presents Jesus as God’s perfect imprint, the icon of the unseen God.
Thirdly, Jesus Christ is the glory of the Father. He’s the outshining of the Father’s glory. What does this mean? Imagine the filament of a light bulb. When electric current passes through, it glows. The filament is like the Father: He’s the power, but the outshining is Jesus; He’s the radiance or light that comes from the Father.
The world doesn’t understand why we can be so passionate about the man, Jesus. Until you know Jesus, God will only be an idea to you. Your search, stops when you meet this awesome, glorious, Lord of heaven and earth. That’s why we tell people, “Discover Jesus!” When you discover Him, you discover reality; you discover life.
CONFESSION
As Jesus is, so am I; I’m one with Him! In Him I live, and move and have my being. I have His righteousness, life, and nature in me. I’m the effulgence of His glory and the express image of His person. Therefore, I think, act, and live as His perfect representation. Hallelujah!
Further Study: || Colossians 1:15-19 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell; ||
|| Hebrews 1:1-4 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. ||
Daily Scripture Reading
1-Year Bible Reading Plan: John 4:27-54,
1 Kings 2-3
2-Year Bible Reading Plan: Mark 9:2-13,
Numbers 12