February 18 I Friday

Leviticus 23-24

Mark 1:1-22

 

 

“Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” —John 17:3

 

When we gather together, our goal should be for all people to experience Christ. Beyond coming together to sing some good worship songs, admire the stage design or even to gather around the Scriptures being taught, our whole desire should be that people have a living experience of Jesus Christ. The primary call of Scripture is not to a set of rules, to a religious ceremony, to an ideology or a philosophy. The primary call of Scripture is to a relationship—to a person, Jesus Christ. 

      Paul helps us understand why Jesus is so important. He explains, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17). Paul declares that Jesus is supreme, all things holding together in Him. He is the preeminent One, unlike any other human being—inwardly and outwardly—God in human form.

      There is syncretism in our society today, where we want to take all the spiritual beliefs, philosophies or ideologies in our day and age, and simply make them all fit together. But Scripture does not permit that. If we study Buddhism, holding to the teachings of Buddha and seeking enlightenment, there are certain things that people are drawn to, but Buddha himself is not the image of the invisible God. Jesus is the enlightenment people are seeking. Similarly, Islam would claim that Mohammed was a prophet of God, but he is not the Creator of all things. 

      Jesus is above the universe, yet He stepped into created order to redeem and reconcile the creation to Himself. Colossians 1:19-20 reveals, “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.” Although we were at enmity with God, Jesus stepped into the gap. He lived the perfect life that none of us could live, and then, He died the death that all of us deserve in order to present us holy in His sight, without blemish.  

      We want all people to experience the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ because He is the only hope for this world and its brokenness. He is the only One who can come into our lives, save us, redeem us and restore us.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for stepping down from heaven and dying the death I deserve so that I can be reconciled to God. You alone are worthy of worship. 


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