07/21/2017
Have I placed Jesus first and foremost as my teacher? What is the danger in this? Why is it more important that we put Jesus the redeemer before Jesus the teacher?
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3 KJV
I read the devotional message of Oswald Chambers this morning and he was speaking of the futility of trying to live as Jesus did... perfectly... and to attain a Christlike state of purity by merely reading His teaching and then attempting to imitate Him. I thought of how we are often instructed to ask ourselves "what would Jesus do?" Even before we understand the deeper and more enabling question "what DID Jesus do?" Let's read a brief statement by Chambers...
"... when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come to teach only: He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives are based on that disposition." - Oswald Chambers
Hmmmm... can I truly be like Jesus without first receiving His redemption? Am I simply being judged by my actions, or is the more telling judgement being passed by weighing my actions by what is in my heart?
Before all else Jesus loved God. Without this, then all of His perfection was worthless; it was just mechanical repetition; it was another indictment of humanity... more laws. If all we have is imitation then we are like a child's toy that gets wound up and then set on the ground to robotically go through a set of motions.
Even if I could do unto my neighbor as I would have Him do unto me, is that good enough, or should I be doing these things out of love, and a desire to please the Father; to long to do His will with all my heart? Until I receive the true gift of Jesus Christ, then all that is left for me are His teachings, and to do as He did like a wind-up toy. What pleasure is there in this for God... or satisfaction for ourselves?
So before we begin to act as Jesus did we need to understand why, and claim the redemption; we need to understand this pivotal message...
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
John 3:16-17 KJV
The gift of Jesus, the culmination of the grand plan that began with creation, all comes down to the simple message "For God so loved the world." Jesus taught us many things, but the message was much more than "Do This!" It was "Look at this!"
There is an old saying that often holds a great deal of truth; it goes like this...
"Those who can, do, those who can't teach, and those who can do neither administer." - Calvin Calverley
Well in the case of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, they are able to do all three! Jesus did, the Holy Spirit teaches, and God administers. Yet without the ingredient of love, none of this has the importance and meaning that God desired from the moment of creation. We often forget that all of creation was made for man... not the other way around.
Jesus wasn't the harbinger of the end of creation, or sent to deliver another set of laws... although He did both... He was sent to deliver the message of God's love to mankind, and to show, and serve, as our redemption from sin. Jesus is the emissary sent with the peace plan of God... the one that says all is forgiven, and reestablishes tranquility, and then He seals this plan with His own blood.
So yes... I am poor in spirit and have nothing without Jesus. I beg at His feet for the very redemption He brings... and He blesses. Then, once blessed and lifted up, I follow His lessons with my heart properly aligned. Until I receive His redemption I have nothing, and am only a shadow of what God intends us to be. Attempting to imitate Jesus is dangerous because it gives us false hope in our own ability. It isn't until we accept Him as God's gift of love and forgiveness that following Him makes sense. It would be like reading the Declaration of Independence and not grasping the concept of liberty, or living in marriage without understanding love. Jesus is first and foremost the redeemer, and then after that, He teaches us of living the life of the redeemed.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus Christ! Thank you for your love and redemption through His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Thank you Father for the promise of His return, and the lessons He left us with that will sustain us until that day. Your love for us humbles me, and has circumcised my heart... it lays bare the longing I have for you and brings my desire for your presence to new heights through my burgeoning faith. You are my God and in you I find peace and a love that knows no bounds. Our relationship was established from the first word of creation, and your will for us sealed from before the very void and darkness that was upon the face of the deep. You desired for us to know and love you Father, and then you began to teach us how. This is the gift of Jesus. He came to reestablish our relationship with you, and then to teach us once more. Holy is He, and Holy, Holy, Holy, are you... my God Almighty! Have mercy Father, on me who is poor in spirit.
Rich Forbes