Have you ever stopped to ponder the fact that everything the Lord Jesus did, was for YOU? He left heaven and became man FOR YOU. Just that alone is incomprehensible! In fact, it is cited as the example of humbling oneself (Phil. 2:6-8)! Imagine leaving an infinite Paradise of holiness, love, truth, etc. to come to a dark, lost, cursed world filled with sin, injustice and religious deception, where you would be hated, betrayed and murdered! What a massive change was involved, but the Lord Jesus did it all to get YOU! He came with a most unique message of truth, pointing people to himself. The spiritual leaders of that day HATED what he did and his teachings and CONSPIRED HIS DEATH!
That is how apostate the established leaders were when Jesus walked the earth 2,000 years ago (just like the established leaders of our day). They were his worst enemies and the ones the devil used most to oppose him. But the Lord Jesus knew what he was getting involved with before any of the opposition occurred, yet he left Paradise anyway. He did it all for us, not for himself. He didn’t come to gain victory over the devil, he already had victory over the devil. He came to rescue and redeem us. He came to save us from the HELL we all deserve because of sin. He came to set us free from our sin addictions and give us a real purpose to live.
While he was here, he miraculously healed and raised people from the dead. His miracles were many (John 20:30). He taught unheard of precious truths that were never spoken to mankind before! His words are living. They are also spirit and life (Jn. 6:63). They are the words of eternal life (Jn. 6:68), yet those same words brought division, even among family members (Mt. 10:34-38). In part, the Prince of Peace came to earth to divide families!
The trouble and opposition Jesus faced was beyond our wildest imaginations even at that point, which doesn’t even factor in his greatest act of love – his sacrificial and bloody death on the cross for us all. What immediately preceded the cross was a whole area of incredible rejection and agonizing pain of different degrees – more than we can imagine, based on Isa. 52:14. He went through all of that, and much more, for us! He endured it all and is mentioned as the role model, so we Christians don’t grow weary and lose heart in our own personal spiritual race:
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Heb 12:2,3)
Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross, is the only sin-cleansing agent we all desperately need and must have for salvation, again showing he alone is the Savior of the world. Because Jesus’ blood is so special and vital, we again learn of his uniqueness and the narrow way.
Who Is Jesus Christ
- Jesus has the ONLY NAME which can save (Acts 4:12).
- Jesus has the ONLY BLOOD that can redeem and set us free from our sins (Rev. 1:5)
- Jesus ALONE is THE WAY to the Father (John 14:6). God’s Truth excludes Mary from ANY role in salvation.
The Blood Of God
NOTE: It was the blood of God, which bought the church with his own blood:
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)
Jesus Wants YOU With Him Throughout Eternity
He is the ONE AND ONLY HOPE FOR MANKIND, but he provided all of that for us – not for himself! His sacrifice was beyond our ability to understand it. Jesus is also now praying for us from the throne of God!
Jesus is definitely the HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE, the Lord of Lords (Deut. 10:17). To serve him is the GREATEST purpose to live, with no close second. Serving him is also what we all should be doing anyway:
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Cor 5:15)
Are you doing that, or have you neglected his great love for YOU? You must choose to take Jesus’ yoke to have eternal life. To reject him is to have NO HOPE of escaping eternal hell fire forever, but he gives you that choice:
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
