Looking To Jesus

A big lump of something -- a stone supposedly -- lay for centuries in a shallow, limpid brook in North Carolina. People passing that way saw only a ugly lump, and passed on. A poor man passing one day saw a heavy lump --- a good thing to hold his door ajar --- and he took it home. A geologist who stopped at the poor man's door saw a lump of gold --- the biggest lump of gold ever found east of the Rockies.

Many people looked upon Jesus. Some saw only a Galilean peasant, and turned away. Some saw a prophet, and stopped to listen. Some saw the Messiah, and worshipped. Some saw the Lamb of God, and looked to Him to save them from their sins.

There are people today who see in Jesus simply a perfect man, and they get nothing more from Him than the example of His perfect life. Others looking upon Him see the Lamb of God --- the divinely chosen sacrifice and Savior; and realizing that their greatest need is to be saved from their sins they go to Him for cleansing. When you look at Jesus what do you see?

Consider these words from the inspired Scriptures: "... let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eye on Jesus the author and perfecter of faith ..." (Hebrews 12:1-1).

AUTHOR AND PERFECTER
Jesus is both the source of our faith and the one who makes possible the attainment of the desired goal. When we appreciate Him and fix our eyes upon Him, we find sin less attractive and we cast its encumbering weight aside. We make a persistent effort.

ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
We do well to look to Jesus because no one else is qualified as He is. The phrase, "only begotten Son of God" (John 3:16) means He is unique, the only one of His kind, sent by the Father that we might have eternal life.

WORD
Jesus was the divine incarnation of God's message: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1, 14).

REVEALED GOD
By looking to Jesus we know more about God: "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him" (John 1:18).

GOD'S SPOKESMAN
The words of Jesus are authoritative. The decrees of men in councils, synods, conferences, or conventions are not to be heeded! God speaks today through His Son (Hebrews 1:2).
EXAMPLE
We should look to Him for the perfect example of how to live, in thought, attitude and deed. We can walk in His steps because He left an example for us (1 Peter 2:21).

The attitude of humility seen in Jesus is unsurpassed and serves as a continual reminder of the willingness of Jesus to humble Himself on our behalf. We will put others before ourselves if we have the attitude in us which was in Christ when He left His place with God. "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross" (Philippians 2:8).

GAVE HIMSELF
Because Jesus died on our behalf, we look to Him while living lives of faith: "... The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me." (The apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20).

HIGH PRIEST
As high priest Jesus is unlike any other because the sacrifice He offered was a perfect sacrifice. He offered Himself and God raised Him to serve as high priest in heaven (Hebrews 7:26-8:2).

MEDIATOR
Jesus mediated between God and man by making atonement for sin. Consequently, He qualified as the one mediator of a new covenant (The New Testament --- Hebrews 9:13-28).

LOVE CONTROLS
The love of Christ causes us to want to live for Him. "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose on their behalf" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).

IF WE LOVE
If we love Jesus, we will obey Him. He said, "... If anyone love Me, he will keep My word ..." (John 14:23). His instructions for us include: learning about Him (Matthew 11:28-30), repentance (Turning from sin to follow God's Word --- Luke 15:7), confession (Romans 10:10), belief and baptism (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38), and faithfulness unto death (Revelation 2:10). May we each fix our eyes upon Him.

THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST
"In infancy He startled a king; in boyhood He puzzled the doctors; in manhood He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine, and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet not all the libraries of the country could hold the books that could have been written about Him. He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has. Great men have come and gone, yet He lives on. Death could not destroy Him, the grave could not hold Him." - Forman Linicome

Please contact me, Dennis Crawford, at BibleTruthsToU@gmail.com, or 253-396-0290 (cell) for comments or further Bible information, or for the location of a congregation belonging to Jesus Christ near you.