Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Devotion: To Become Like Jesus


Paul had an assignment to inform others of the mystery of the gospel.  He had to make clear without fear the good news of this gospel (Ephesians 6:19).  Paul asked those at Ephesus to pray for him that God may give him the right words so he could explain clearly to others what the mystery of the gospel was.  Although he was in prison in Rome at the time he wrote to the saints in Ephesus and the faithful in Jesus Christ, he asked that he might continue to open his mouth and speak boldly.  He had an assignment to make known the mystery; a hidden truth kept secret since the beginning of time but now revealed the apostles and prophets.

“As I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:3-4).  “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:  that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak” (Colossians 4:3-4).

We see that the primary focus of these passages is “the mystery of Christ.”  Paul asked those at Colossae to pray that God would open for them a door of understanding for them by which they could tell the truth concerning the mysteries, the hidden truths, surrounding Christ.  Paul wanted the reader to clearly understand his knowledge in “the mystery of Christ” was by revelation from God, who gave Paul the wonderful privilege of telling everyone about his plan, endowing Paul with his power and special abilities to get the job done.  The task before Paul was to inform, to proclaim fully, and to make clear the truth concerning Jesus the Christ through the revelation of the mysteries, which were kept secret since the world began.  Since Paul was charged with making clear the truth concerning Jesus the Christ, then there must have been some untruths circulating in that day.  And the one thing that is so amazing is the fact that those same untruths continue to circulate today, nearly two thousand years after Paul made known the truth about Christ.

We visited other denominations in search of the facts, as they understood them that surrounded the Christ that they claimed to know.  We would like to share some of the interesting Bible-backed facts about Jesus Christ that some of those denominations shared with us.  Some believe him to be God himself, some believe him to be part of the three-in-one trilogy called the Trinity, and some believe him to be only a man.  Some believe him to be some combination of God and man, both one-hundred percent God and one-hundred percent man; or fifty percent God and fifty percent man; or some in between combination.  Some say he was just a myth, that he never existed, some say he has no beginning because he always existed, and others say he has always existed because he created the universe and all that we see, while some say he helped the Father with creation.

Some say he has a beginning but he was, at some point created before the universe.  Some say he had a beginning but not until he was brought forth, created in the womb of Mary.  Others say he existed from the beginning, asked God the Father to create him a body so he could come to earth, while some say he created himself a body so he could come to earth.  Some say God placed him in Mary’s womb.  Some claimed that God had spiritual sex with Mary to bring forth his son, and others make the claim that God raped Mary to bring forth his son.  Some say he is the only begotten son of God.  Some say he is the only son of God, while some say he, being the son, is the one true God.  Some say he was the king of the Jews, while others say he was no king at all.  Some say he was poor while others say he was rich.  Some say he was white, some say he was black, while others claim some other variation.  Some say he performed all kinds of miracles.  Some say he healed many people.  Some say he walked on the water, others claim he did not.  Some say he raised the dead.  Some say he raised himself from the dead.  Some say he died on the cross.  Some say he did not die on the cross.  Some say that he survived the cross, married, and fathered many children.

Many follow him as if he was some type of rock star.  Others do all within their power to avoid mentioning his name.  Many try to prove his existence by any means necessary while others do everything in their power to refute him.  There are books after books written about Jesus.  There are movies and documentaries made about Jesus.  There are websites created to support Jesus and sites created to invalidate him.  So much information that it is hard to decipher it to get to the truth about Jesus.  Many have their own ideas about him.  Some are on the far left, some on the far right with many somewhere in between.  And then there we those who were not even on the chart, so we could not begin to tell you where they were.  However, the most interesting thing we discovered on all of this was the fact that each group truly believed they had the truth and they had scriptures to back up their position.  With all of this, which one have you identified with?  Is the one that you have identified with, the true Christ?  Is the one that that you have identified with based on scriptural facts or theological fiction?  Are you sure?

May today’s inspirational message abundantly bless you and greatly inform you.  We pray that you will be the better for having read them both.  If blessed by today’s message, please share so that others may be blessed as well.  Amen.

Enjoy your blessings - KW

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