I shared the following with a family member yesterday morning. I offer it here lightly edited, trusting that the Lord will use it as He chooses.
“It is Him we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we might present every man fully mature in Christ.” – Colossians 1:28
It is not, “Come to my church,” or “Listen to this teaching,” or “What doctrine do you follow?” or “What is your denomination?” Rather, Paul says, “It is Him,” the Lord Jesus Christ, “we proclaim.” It is essential and most noteworthy that his life first proclaimed the living Lord Jesus Christ, and that out of that blessed reality there flowed the very life of Christ. So, it is Him we proclaim.
For much of his youth, Paul sat at the feet of the esteemed teacher, Gamaliel. But after He met our living Lord Jesus Christ, he spent years in seclusion in Arabia. “What did he go out to see?” A Man! The Man Who appeared to him on the Road to Damascus.
“But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;” – Acts 26:16
When the Firstborn came into the world, He did not come with instructions such as, “Go and teach the world a new system of religion,” or “Go and teach the world about Me,” or “Go and abolish the Law.” Instead, we see this beautiful eternal exchange between the Son and the Father, where His will is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
“I have come to do Your will, O God.” – Psalm 40:8; Hebrews 10:7
This He beautifully proclaimed first in eternity and then in reality in complete dependence and loving submission for all 33 years, “having obtained [for us] eternal redemption.”
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in perfect unity, and there is nothing, at any point in time or for all eternity, about which they are in disagreement. In Them is the perfect “Yes and Amen.”
We do not proclaim a Man Who merely died for a good cause, but the Man Christ Jesus, who died for the sins of the whole world and was raised from the dead to give us new life. “God demonstrated His love for us…” “He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” And such we are: the children of God, sons of God (not touching deity, but in moral conformity), heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ!
This is not lofty, abstract thinking, ideology, or a positive mindset! Nor is this merely an objective system of truth called “Christianity.” No. This is Christ Himself, in all of His power, in all of His exaltation, in all of His kingly and beautiful attributes as the very Son of God; the most humble of all.
Paul, the Apostle Paul, said that he was among the Corinthians “in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” And our Lord spoke through Isaiah, “But to this one I will look: to him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.”
O God, may we see You by Your precious Spirit in the depths of our hearts, and in seeing You, may we lovingly and reverently tremble. It is those who tremble before You now, not in fear of judgment but in reverence and awe, who will stand in confidence on that day. Amen.
“There is no fear in love…” – 1 John 4:18
Think of those of old who lovingly bowed in reverence and awe before their king. They weren’t thinking, “Off with my head!” They were thinking, “Long live the king!” Thank God for His mercy and love, though once enemies of God, He made us alive with Him, raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ!
“so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” – Ephesians 2:7
What a glorious day that will be! What a day of honor that will be, when all things are set right and the Son, fully glorified in His saints, is revealed from heaven; we will see Him face to face! He will look at His Bride and see, by the surpassing greatness of “His grace and kindness toward us,” the beautiful and perfect expression of His moral life and nature.
“Come, the Bride has made herself ready.”
Love,
Eric
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 1:3-7