Tuesday, May 17, 2011

But We See Jesus

For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 02:05-09, NKJV).

We do not yet see the world to come or the crown of glory and honor which is our destiny, but we see Jesus.
In John 6, those who heard of the miraculous feeding of the multitudes literally ran the circumference of the Sea of Galilee to seek the One promised from the beginning.

In John 12, the Hellenistic Jews who had come to the Passover Feast implored Andrew and Phillip, "Sirs, we wish to see Jesus!"

So many from the crowds in Jerusalem thronged the streets in order to see the Son of David, the Messiah, as He rode triumphantly into the City. Shortly thereafter, many from the mob did indeed see Him as He hung from the Cross in payment for their sins.

Seeing Jesus is the crucial starting point of our transformation from children of darkness to children of Light. Seeing Jesus is the linchpin to understanding God's boundless love and mercy toward His rebellious creation. It connects the entire Plan of Redemption from the Fall in Eden to the Restoration of All Things.

Jesus Christ is the central figure of human history. He is our model, our forerunner, the anchor of our souls. He is the veil torn in two opening the way into the Presence of God. He is all these things precisely because He was first made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death.

He became a partaker of flesh and blood so that we could identify with Him, and He could die. He, who was the Executor of Creation, the very Word of God, who created the angels, took upon Himself a physical nature lower than the angels so that He could be murdered… and we could live.

This is loving, purposeful and obedient humiliation beyond our comprehension. It is the fulfillment of His role as the Good Shepherd who calls our name and goes before us. All that we were required to do and could not, He voluntarily did in our place.

We are to follow in His footsteps, dying to self and to our sinful nature, being crucified with Him, to be raised in glory and honor. To believe otherwise is to misunderstand the plan of God from before the foundations of the earth.

How does eternal God die? He dies by love.

How does the Sovereign God learn obedience? By the things which He suffered.

I don't think we can begin to comprehend who we are in Christ until we really see Jesus.

All that we can get during the present age is the merest glimpse, but that is sufficient to make us new, to create in us a new heart, to make us into a different and infinitely better creature.

For that to happen, He had to become one of us, in every respect except for sin.

In Him, we are more than we know because He is more than we can possibly understand.

Being human is no small thing. It is no accident. Our human lives were purchased by the most costly thing imaginable - the death of God on the Cross.

In order to see ourselves the way the Father sees us, and then to live our lives accordingly, we must first see Jesus.

Any by His becoming flesh and living among us, He made what was otherwise unthinkable - knowing God - supremely possible.

And by His suffering of death, He made what was utterly impossible - our redemption - a free gift.

And all of this, for all eternity, is just the beginning of seeing Him in all His glory.