Jesus Was Made To Be Like Us

 

He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

—Hebrews 2:17

The birth of Jesus, the Son of God, marks the end of the church year with a celebration of glad tidings and great joy. Sadly, more and more this event has become so secularized that it is very possible for us to move through this season and never think, even once, about the miracle of thr Incarnation: “God with us.”

For many people, the story of Jesus is viewed as a fable. Unfortunately, they don’t think of Him as a real person—someone who needed to eat and drink and function in every way as you and I do each day. But, Jesus was fully human, while, at the same time, He was fully God. That is the genuine miracle of the Incarnation.

The writer to Jews who had embraced the gospel, in the years immediately following Jesus’ death, expressed it this way in Hebrews 2:17:

He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

Had Jesus not been both fully human and fully God, He could not have been the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty, make atonement, provide the propitiation for our sins.

As we begin a new day during the Season of Advent, let’s ponder the wonder of this great miracle. We celebrate the birth of our Savior and we celebrate our expectant hope of His soon return. This God-man Jesus is our Savior, Lord, and King. But, He is also our brother, our companion, and our friend.

 

_{Copyright © 2024 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

God Loved Us First

 

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. The poor will see and be glad—you who seek God, may your hearts live!

—Psalm 69:30-32

One of the reasons why we go out into the world as ambassadors of the Great King Jesus is to share with those who do not know Him the glories of our relationship with Him. In so doing, we recognize that we do not deserve this relationship with God. We had no choice in the matter. Rather, before the foundation of the earth, He chose us to belong to Himself. In due season, He sent the Holy Spirit to speak to our needy hearts and draw us irresistibly into His mercy, grace, and unfathomable love.

We can surely talk about the uniqueness of a relationship with God, where our Lover (Jesus) loves us before we even knew about Him, or had a personal relationship with Him. The Apostle Paul, writing in Romans 5:8, explains it this way:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So, we have every reason to share joyfully with others what God means to us and what He has done for us. In this way, we give glory to Him and also represent Him well to others. King David expressed it this way in Psalm 69:30-32:

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. The poor will see and be glad—you who seek God, may your hearts live!

When God sends the Holy Spirit to one He already loves, in order to reveal what He has done for him or her, a longing is placed in that individual’s heart. That longing causes the one God has sought to seek God in return. We know that God is “seek-able” or, as Isaiah puts it in Isaiah 55:6-7:

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

So, as we begin this new day, let’s not hesitate to glorify God, knowing that such glory will be used by God to make the hearts of those He seeks to live with a newness of life, and to seek Him in return.

 

_{Copyright © 2024 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Sin Is No Longer Our Master

 

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

—Romans 6:11

As believers in the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ, what is our relationship to sin? We know that we were cursed by the sin of our parents, which they inherited from their parents all the way back to Adam. Therefore, we were born already sinful—already condemned by our sin. We also know that as we have progressed through our lives, because the enticement to sin is built into our human nature, we have sinned over and over and over again. We are twice guilty: first because of our inherited sin and, secondly, because of the sin we have willfully committed on our own.

God has redeemed us—paid the penalty for our sin—through the birth, life, suffering, death, burial, and resurrection of His precious Son, Jesus. And, through the Holy Spirit’s power of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, we have been given a guaranteed place in heaven for all eternity. This prompts me to ask again, as believers in the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ, what is our relationship to sin

To answer this, we can turn to a very instructive passage of Scripture from the pen of the Apostle Paul. In writing to the Christians gathered in the newly formed church in Rome, Paul writes these words, found in Romans 6:1-14:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Therefore, sin is no longer our master. As long as we live on earth in these frail and sin-scarred human bodies, we will sin. But, we can make a determined effort to choose to set aside as many besetting sins as possible. We can choose to not purposely sin. Will we still sin? Of course! We simply can’t help ourselves. But, we can sin less and less the more we give our selfish human will over to God through the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

At the beginning of this new day, let’s determine to follow Paul’s instruction. Let’s choose to set aside those sins that we can conquer through the power of the Holy Spirit and through God’s love and grace. Let’s also recognize what a tight grip many of these sins have on us.

Once we begin to devote ourselves to following Jesus with sincerity and determination, we will find that we can overcome a long list of besetting sins. Effort to do so will bring us a great sense of peace and joy. And, most importantly of all, it will please God that we love Him enough to make this effort.

 

_{Copyright © 2024 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

God is the Lord

 

I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

—Ezekiel 38:23

God shows Himself to us in many ways each day. Most of the time, because the focus of our attention is elsewhere, we hardly notice His divine Presence.

My dear friends, Dr. David and Karen Mains at Mainstay Ministries, have long ago developed a very well-thought-through reminder of God’s daily interaction with His children. They call it the “God Hunt.”

I’ve written about the “God Hunt” in this blog several times in the past. But, in looking at the Scripture for today, I am reminded of how powerful a tool the daily “God Hunt” can become in the lives of believers. Basically, the “God Hunt” prompts us to look for God’s hand on our lives in the following specific ways:

• Any obvious answer to prayer, or …
  
  
• Any special evidence of God’s care, or …
  
  
• Any help to do God’s work in the world, or …
  
  
• Any unusual linkage or timing
  
  

In each of these four elements, if we watch the circumstances of our lives unfold each day, we will become aware of those times when God answered our prayers, showed He cares for us in some special way, gives us help to do His work in the world, or provides some unusual linkage or timing that obviously comes from Him. We can’t really consider what happens to us in the course of our daily lives as mere coincidence. No, the evidence of God’s hand is there for us to see, if we simply sharpen our eyes and look for it.

The Prophet Ezekiel records a direct instruction from God in the Bible book that bears the Prophet’s name. This is one of the end-times passages that ties in so very well with the Book of Revelation at the end of the New Testament. Basically, God is speaking through the pen of Ezekiel to remind His people that, at the end of the age, He will conquer all evil and will rule over the nations. This particular passage is found in Ezekiel 38:23:

I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

When this age comes to an end, God will reveal His Presence to all people in all nations. No one will be able to doubt that God is the Lord. He alone will be worshipped. He alone will be praised. His children, Israel, and all those of us Gentiles, whom He has grafted in to the line of His chosen people, will receive vindication for our faithful devotion to Him.

But, as we continue in the here and now to walk daily in the Presence of the Great King, Jesus, through the in-dwelling power of the Holy Spirit, it’s important for us to sharpen our eyes, tune our ears, and focus our minds on becoming more and more aware of His daily Presence with us. Therefore, let’s determine to go on that daily “God Hunt” and look for those times when we can clearly see God at work in our lives. If we do this simple task, we will be rewarded with a strong sense of God’s Presence and a great joy will overtake us when we realize that we truly belong to Him and live under His watchful and loving care.

 

_{Copyright © 2024 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Trembling Before God

 

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

—Psalm 96:9

The magnificence of God’s holiness is so overwhelming that all who enter His Presence find themselves bowing before Him and even hiding their faces from Him. Yet, part of the wonder of belonging to Jesus is that, as God’s one and only Son, we can stand in His Presence and experience the reality of God. In Christ, we meet God face to face. Our only reasonable response is to worship Him. The Psalmist writes these words in Psalm 96:9:

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

At the beginning of this new day, let’s remain conscious of the fact that—in all that we say and all that we do—we worship the God who loves us and gave His Son as the sacrifice for our sins. Let’s revere His Name, serve Him with devoted hearts, and lovingly and tenderly share what He has done in our behalf to a world who needs to hear this critically important message.

 

_{Copyright © 2024 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Fire That Consumes Everything

 

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.

—Hebrews 12:28-29

Have you ever felt jealous? Or, has anyone ever felt jealous about you? Human jealousy is an interesting emotion. It derives from the sin of covetousness. One person wants something, or someone, that another person possess, or that they fear another person might take away from them.

In a modern junior high school, now known generally as middle school, some of the most violent fights occur between two females who want to be the girlfriend of the same male. Of course, the guys love this. Most teenage males revel in this kind of attention, strutting around school like peacocks. The very idea that two females might want them nearly creates a hormone overload. And, it should be noted that the jealous war between two teenage females has a gut-wrenching violence to it that stuns we older folks.

We think of jealousy as a generally bad emotion. Yet, there is something to be said for the positive side of jealousy. There are circumatances where a strong bond of love promotes an exclusivity in a relationship that sets up an impenetrable boundary around each person in that relationship. A husband may feel justifiably jealous, if his wife seems to dote on, or flirts with, some other male. Likewise, a wife may feel justifiably jealous, if her husband seems to have an “office wife” with whom he communicates far too often—even when he’s not at work. This positive kind of jealousy should promote a time for the love-bonded parties to sit down and have a calm, rational discussion about their marriage vows and their responsibility to each other.

One of the beautiful passages in the traditional marriage vows is the phrase:

“Will you love her (him), comfort her (him), honor, and keep her (him) in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her (him), so long as you both shall live?”

The whole idea in marriage of keeping yourself only unto your spouse is of paramount importance in this mysterious love-bond that the Apostle Paul indicates mirrors the relationship between Christ and His Church.

The Ten Commandments given to the children of Israel in Exodus 20, clearly state that God expects His children to have no other god in front of Him, or in place of Him. That’s the kind of love-bonded covenantal responsibility that we have toward this God who first loved us. The writer to the Hebrews emphasizes this covenant in the words found in Hebrews 12:28-29:

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

In verse 29, the last phrase in the Scripture passage above, the writer of Hebrews quotes Deuteronomy 4:24. In fact, Moses, speaking to the children of Israel that he has led out of captivity in Egypt, declares in Deuteronomy 4:21-24:

The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

The holiness of God does not tolerate the worship of any other substitute god. For whether that substitute god consists of one’s political ideology, one’s reputation, one’s work, one’s leisure activities, one’s house, car, or boat, or even one’s family or friends, nothing must substitute for the worship of the one and only true God.

As we begin a new day, let’s make certain that we only worship the God who loves us with His eternal love—the God who forgave our sins, because of His Son’s sacrifice on the cross in our behalf. That God, and He alone, is worthy of our worship, our devotion, our commitment, and our love. Let us not put anyone, or anything, in front of Him.

 

_{Copyright © 2024 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

An Admonition: Rejoice Always

 

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

—1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Quite frequently, in these unusually stressful days, when I hear one person make a suggestion to another person, I also often hear the second person respond:

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

Sometimes that phrase is said in jest. More often than not, it is said with a tinge of frustration, anger, and rejection. People just don’t like to be told what to do.

Many years ago, I read a study published in the Journal of Psychological Research on why people in the United States, second-generation or greater, seem to so strongly resist the wisdom of others. The researcher posited that this somewhat rebellious spirit stems from the origin of our great nation. Because we rebelled against the authority of England, that sense of rejecting the guidance of others has become deeply rooted in our culture and in our society. Please let me expand on this observation:

I encountered this societal enigma years ago when I served on an international code-making panel regarding the provision for and installation of fire alarm systems. The subject of installing a lock on the door of a fire alarm control unit came up in the discussion of possible regulations. The representatives from Japan were puzzled as to why it would be necessary to lock the door of the fire alarm control unit. They explained that, in Japan, no one would dare touch something for which they were not directly responsible. Thus, the fire alarm control units in Japan did not have locks on the doors.

We American members of this international code-making committee were aghast at such an idea. We explained to our Japanese counterparts that here in the U.S., without a lock on the door, people would constantly open the door, look at, and possibly mess with the fire alarm control panel, rendering it inoperative.

Do you doubt this line of thinking? How many people in the U.S. strictly obey the speed limit? How many people obey almost any of the rules and regulations without at least grumbling a bit? Here in the United States, we just don’t want anyone to tell us what to do.

Sometimes, admonitions are very good for us. We need to heed such words. An example comes from the writings of the Apostle Paul. In sharing particular admonitions with the Christians in Thessalonica, Paul wrote these words found in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

We should hope that, when we read Paul’s words, we respond much more positively than:

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

Rather, we should take to heart these encouraging words and apply them to our lives, as we begin another new day:

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.”

Certainly, if we do these three things, we will reap a significant benefit. There is great value in heeding such admonitions.

 

_{Copyright © 2024 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}