Who is Jesus? #155

Beginning this fall my wife, Aleta, will be teaching a ladies class entitled, "Who is Jesus?" She will create a snapshot of each lesson and post them on Tittletangents as a guest blogger. She has mostly agreed  to do this. First snapshot below.

WHO IS JESUS – MESSIAH

Jesus the Messiah, who was to restore Israel or redeem her, did not come to the Earth born in a palace surrounded by luxury and greatness. We know that he did not come to restore physical Israel to their previous glory, but instead he came to restore or redeem God’s people, all of God’s people to himself. We know how royalty typically arrives! However, when God came to earth in the form of Jesus, he came to an animal shelter and was laid in a feed trough.

Do we, like the Jews, have any misconceptions about the coming of the Messiah? When we think about the birth of the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, what do we stress as the most important parts? Do we spend all our efforts arguing whether to remember this day or on all of the errors in the nativity scene? Have we become the ones who strain at gnats and swallow camels? Are we the ones who are now in danger of missing the Messiah because the world doesn’t act as we think it should?

Just what are we sure we know about the Messiah? The Old Testament gives prophecies of the Messiah, and the gospels show us the fulfillment. But what does it mean to me today?

Let’s not forget that God always seeks us out. He made the first move to reconcile us to him by sending his son into the world. Remember I John 4:19 that tells us “We love because he first loved us.” Were it not for God seeking us out and showing us what love is, we would not be able to love.

Let’s not forget that God is with us. Just as real as his presence was to Mary when she was carrying Jesus in her womb, his presence is to be real to us. When we are convinced that God is with us at all times, it will affect everything we do and every word we say. It will affect our attitude toward others and how we treat them. It will affect our tendencies to give in to depression and anxiety.

When we truly see Jesus as God’s Anointed One, we realize there is no other. There is no need for us to look for a further revelation or continue to seek a messiah. Many people have claimed to be the messiah over the years. Great excitement would rise up, the man died, and nothing happened. We have the Messiah who was so long awaited, and we need no one else.

When Jesus came to this Earth and fulfilled his Father’s will, he provided the only way for us to draw near to God. Jesus is the very center of God’s plan to restore man to himself. Many people want the blessings of God but want to ignore his Son. Jesus is God coming face to face with man, and we cannot ignore him.

When God sent the Messiah to be born of Mary, she was faced with a moment of decision, surrender or denial. There was no middle ground for Mary, and there is no middle ground for us today. If we would meet the Messiah, we must surrender our hearts to him and let him fill every part of our lives. We face the same decision to accept or deny Jesus as the Messiah, the Anointed One who wants to rule over our lives. Will we be able to surrender to his will as Mary did and say, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said!”