Shiloh Baptist Church

What do we know about Jesus Christ?  Here’s what we know. People didn’t think there was anything special or impressive about the way Jesus looked.  Jesus would have never made the cover of Gentlemen’s Quarterly or GQ.  There was nothing about Jesus that people could see that would make people like Him.  Jesus would have never qualified for the American Idol show because the on-stage judges and TV viewers would have never voted for Him.  People treated Jesus like someone of no importance.  Jesus was treated badly (Isaiah 53:7).  People treated Jesus like someone people would not even look at but turn away from in disgust.  People made fun of Jesus, and even His friends left Him (Isaiah 53:2-3, Luke 22:54-62, & Matthew 26:69-75).  In mockery, people put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown of thorny branches and put it on His head and then bowed down on their knees pretending to honor Jesus as a king.  Ironically, Jesus even reiterated what the Prophet Isaiah said, which was in the heart of the hypocrites who claimed they loved God and physically displayed by those who mocked Him, “These people come to honor me with their words but I am not really important to them. Their worship is worthless” (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8-9, & Mark 7:6).  People hit Jesus with their fists and slapped Jesus with their open hands (Matthew 26:67). Others hit Jesus on the head with a stick and spit on Him (Mark 15:19).  People lied on Jesus and unlike people today who are quick to confront liars in more ways than one, Jesus said nothing (Mark 14:55-61). 

There was no man that ever walked on earth like Jesus.  There’s no man that has ever lived who had all God-given power in his hands and restrained that power to allow wicked, wretched, filthy people to slap, spit, lie and hit Him.  Jesus said, “Don’t you know that I could ask my Father, and he will instantly provide more than a dozen armies of angels to help me?” (Matthew 26:53 CJB).  Why did so many people treat Jesus Christ so badly and why, even today, people are still treating Jesus Christ badly? The people in the Book of Malachi treated God badly and had the nerve to ask the Lord, “What did we steal from you?” (Malachi 3:8).  We treat the Lord badly and then ask the question how? Honestly, we don’t really act like we know who Jesus really is.  Even the demons knew who Jesus was, “What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24).  If we knew who Jesus really was then it’s possible that we would think twice about the things we do and say.  Jesus Christ is God manifested in human flesh and if anyone says that is not true then that person has a spirit who refuses to say that God came to earth in human form.  That spirit is not from God and that spirit is an enemy of God (1 John 4:3).  God manifest Himself in three persons – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Those three persons are called the Godhead and all of God lives in Jesus Christ fully, even in His life on earth (Colossians 2:8-10). 

That’s who Jesus is but who are we?  What do we know about ourselves? The Prophet Isaiah says that we are dirty and everything that we do is no better than filthy rags or like a polluted garment (Isaiah 64:6).  The Apostle Paul wrote that we are wretched (Romans 7:24).  Wretched is defined as worthless, mean, despicable, miserable and pitiful.  King David said that God looked down from heaven to see if there was anyone who understood and sought God but God discovered that none of us was righteous or sought-after God, no not one (Psalm 14:2-3, Romans 3:10-18).   So, on one side there is a pure, holy and righteous God and on the other side is us who are filthy, despicable, worthless, etc.  We are everything that God is not and without God there would never be a relationship between Him and us.  But. There is a but and if we look up the word but, in our dictionaries, we will find synonyms like on the contrary, yet, except that, without the circumstance that and save.  God decided to have a relationship with us and it was His decision alone to save us from total destruction.  Why would a pure, holy and righteous God want to save a mean, filthy and wretched people like us?  1 John 4:8 says that ‘God is love’.  Jesus Christ was the personification of that love, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV).  If you’ve ever truly experienced real love in your life then you would know that love is unconditional and love is forever.  When we really love someone, we love them free from restrictions, limits or dependencies like how a Father loves his son or how God has commanded us to love our spouses and our children. Love doesn’t set requirements to be demonstrated.  God demonstrated love to us without people having any say about it.  God’s love to us is a gift from Him.  The question is how do our children receive our love?  They can accept our love or reject our love.  If as a child, I had rejected the love of my parents it would have been impossible for me to be where I am today with my own wife and children.  When the Lord says train up a child in the way that he should go then that training will last a lifetime and be passed on down to the next generation (Proverbs 22:6). 

When the Lord says, “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children” in Proverbs 13:22, that inheritance for us is Jesus Christ.  We give the gift that God gave to us to our own children.  There is no better inheritance than that but love like this comes with a price.  A price had to be paid for us to receive this gift from God. 

We all know the Resurrection story and how Jesus died on the cross for our sins but there is a dynamic that most people may not know about the story.  As we approach the time of year where we remember the sacrifice that Jesus gave for us to have eternal life with Him and the Father in glory, there’s another part to the story along with the thorns on his head and the nails in his hands and feet.  King David cried out to God, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).  King David was asking God why had He left him and why did He seem too far away to save David and too far to hear David’s cries for help?   God loved David but David’s sin broke their relationship.  The Lord asked King David, ‘Why did you do what I say is wrong?’ (1 Samuel 12:9).  The one who God said was a man after His own heart had broken the relationship between him and his God.  As a result, a price had to be paid.  God loved David and the Prophet Nathan told David that he wouldn’t die but he would definitely suffer (1 Samuel 12:13).  King David’s story was a picture of what was to come.  Jesus Christ cried out to his Father while he was on the cross, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34).  In order to save us, in order to restore us back to where we were before Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden of Eden and in order to restore the broken relationship that man had with God, the Godhead had to be separated.  For the first time and only time in eternity God turned His back on Himself. The veil in the temple was torn (Matthew 27:51, Ephesians 2:13-16).  God cut Himself.  God bruised Himself for us.  God the Father turned away from God the Son in order to save the ones that He loved.  It never happened before and it will never happen again because when it was all said and done, Jesus’ last words on the cross were, “It is finished” (John 19:30).  The ones who were once filthy and wretched can now be accepted by God as good without looking at what we have done.  When we accept God’s gift of salvation by confessing our disobedience and believing in Jesus Christ then we will have a restored relationship with our Father without doing anything else to deserve His blessings.  That’s love.  As a result of what Jesus has done for us our names have been written in the Lamb’s Book of Eternal life and on judgement when God examines the record, He will see nothing but the blood of Jesus on our lives.  It is a great blessing when God says that we are not guilty when we don’t try to hide our disobedience and accept the Lord’s forgiveness for our sins (Psalm 32:2 KJV).  Jesus Christ has given us a blessing that allows God to accept us without looking at what we have done and instead look at what Jesus has done for us (Romans 4:6).

Jesus’ Resurrection has Led to our Restoration.

Hallelujah & Praise God!

Submitted By Trustee Stan Ridley