Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…If you’re an early reader, it’s possible that you may be reading this as I am undergoing surgery for a full knee replacement The arthroscopic procedure from three months ago has proven itself to be totally useless, so in my quest to be restored to earlier health (so I can play pickleball when we move to Florida), I’m at it again. I figure if I get the old racquetball parts replaced now, I’ll be ready to tackle the senior version of that previous passion when we arrive in the land of sand and palm trees. 😊
As we approach this magnificent Christmas season to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, there is an unanswered question that still looms in the minds of too many people. That question was asked of me a few years ago when I was teaching a men’s spirituality class at St. Patrick Center in downtown St. Louis. In the midst of my presentation of the true reason for the Christmas season, one young man raised his hand and boldly asked, “Just who is this Jesus? What makes Him such a big deal?” The sad truth about that question is this: many more people than you might think harbor that same question or doubt. While almost all have heard of Him, fewer know about Him, even fewer claim a relationship with Him, and even fewer understand who He really IS, and why He IS the big deal!
The straightforward, simple answer to that question is this Truth: He IS the answer to the affliction of Mankind. But the next obvious question to follow that answer is, “What affliction are you talking about? I don’t have any affliction!” The answer to that question could also be the raw Truth, but it would be like a pitchfork piercing one’s skull: “You were born into this world a sinner, so you are living under a death sentence and will be condemned to Hell!” I have to admit, that’s a bit heavy handed and has a ring of judgment and condemnation, so I suspect a different presentation of the Truth is in order here. Instead of death, judgement and condemnation, let’s frame this answer in love.
Our Creator is a loving God who, more than anything else, wants a relationship with us. And not just a here-and-now relationship, but an eternal relationship with Him in Paradise. But there is an obstacle that keeps us separated from Him, and that obstacle reared its ugly head in the Garden of Eden and continues until this very day. That obstacle is SIN, and sin, by its very definition, means living independent of God. Sin is being our own god. Sin is living for our own glory rather than for the glory of God. Sin is pride and disobedience!
Our God Jehovah is defined in 1John 4:7: “God is LOVE!” (my emphasis) 1John 1:5 also tells us: “In Him there is NO darkness.” (my emphasis again) This love is perfectly displayed in Ephesians 1:4-5,10: “Long ago, even before He created the world (and Man), God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and this gave Him great pleasure. And this is His plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.” What I want you to see in this Scripture is not only the love and hope, but also the omniscience of God. Even before He created us, He could look into the future and see that we were going to be problem children, but He created us anyhow. (Wow! Meditate on that for a while).
What an incredible display of love. But this also shows that His plan was always to provide a Redeemer to do for us what we would prove ourselves incapable of doing. Romans 5:6 addresses this situation: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” (Notice that Apostle Paul included himself in that statement) And what was “just the right time” for Christ to come to be our Redeemer (or Savior)? When we proved ourselves to be utterly helpless to overcome the issue of SIN through our own effort! Again, this shows His unconditional love for us; He didn’t wait until we cleaned-up our act! No indeed! He died for us while we were still sinners…His enemies. (Ref. Romans 5:10)
So back to the original question. “Just who is this Jesus?” He is God Himself. Jesus and God are One. (Ref. John 10:30) When Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for OUR sins, God was also there bearing His piercings. Jesus is the God-man; 100 percent God and 100 percent man. He has the divinity of God, yet he appeared as man, possessing the same mind and emotions. John 1:14 expresses it this way: “So the Word (God’s revelation of Himself) became flesh (human) and lived among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we (John, James and Peter at Jesus’ Transfiguration) have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.” There has never been, nor will there ever be, another like Him! He was crucified, dead, and buried, just as the Scriptures professed, but on the third day he arose to eternal life! He was seen for another forty days by hundreds of people, then He ascended to heaven where He now sits at the right hand of His Father until He returns.
Jesus came to be the sacrificial lamb to die in our place…to pay the penalty for our sins. Under the sacrificial system found in the Old Testament, blood was always required (as proof of a sacrifice) to cover man’s sins. (Ref. Hebrews 9:22, which refers back to Leviticus 4:35.) Under the New Covenant, Jesus fulfilled that requirement for all time by shedding His blood as the perfect sacrifice. Jesus lived a sin-free life during His time on this earth, therefore His blood was not stained with sin. When we accept His payment for our sins (meaning when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior), we inherit His pure and perfect sacrifice as our sin-ransom. Therefore, we are declared SIN FREE in the eyes of God because we are covered with the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Now that you know who Jesus IS, and why He had to come, this is why He is not only a big deal, but the biggest deal in the history of the world!! He came to save the world. Without Him, the whole world would be condemned to Hell because none of us can become sin-free through our own best effort. Leviticus 20:26 reveals God’s standard: “You must be holy because I am holy.” In other words, if we are stained with sin, we can’t come into His presence. “And why is that?” you might ask, and I would answer, “because sin contaminates, spreads, kills and destroys.” That’s a serious issue since God created us for an eternal relationship with Him in Paradise. And remember, from creation until the coming of Jesus, we proved ourselves “utterly helpless” to overcome the dilemma of SIN!
The logical question now should be: How do I overcome this dilemma? And the answer would be: “Accept His Gift of Grace, Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. That is the only answer to this dilemma, the affliction of Mankind. Jesus Christ stated it clearly and succinctly: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Revelation 21:27, when talking about the New Jerusalem, reinforces that Truth: “nothing evil will be allowed to enter…only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” That’s good news for those of us in Christ; we know our names are in that Book. That’s bad news for everyone else. Roman’s 6:23 was very clear on this subject: “For the wages of sin is death (eternal, spiritual death), but the free gift from God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
God’s Word (the Holy Bible) tells us that Jesus will not return until the Gospel has been proclaimed throughout the world. Matthew 24:14 addresses this matter: “And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it. Then the end will come.” Today the Gospel is being preached throughout the world, but sadly, not everyone wants to hear it. To some listeners it is threatening; to others it is too narrow and confining. Happily, to others it shows the love of God and the very power of God. Because God created us for a relationship, He gave us free-will, and this very choice seals our eternal destiny. John 3:16, the most well know verse in the Bible, should be the final exclamation point for this subject: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life.”
That, my Friends, is who Jesus IS and why He’s the BIG DEAL!
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May God Bless You abundantly during this magnificent Christmas season…
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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