“So the Word
became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and
faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and
only Son… From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after
another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and
faithfulness came through Jesus Christ”
(John 1:14,
16-17, NLT)
John the Baptist (not John
the apostle, the writer) acknowledges that Jesus existed long before him when
he proclaimed: “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed
long before me’” (John 1:15).
How can this be? Isn’t John the Baptist was older than Jesus? From Luke 1:26,
we learn that Elizabeth, John’s mother and Mary’s cousin, was six months
pregnant when angel Gabriel made the grand announcement to Mary. So John was
born at least six months before Jesus. But John knew that Jesus was much more
than his blood relative through Mary; Jesus was the eternal Son of God, the
Messiah. Truly Jesus is “far greater”
than John and even Moses and any other Old Testament prophet or king. John the
Baptist submitted himself to Jesus and sent his followers to him, to follow
Jesus.
Because Jesus is God, he is perfect in every way. He
is the perfect example, so we should look to him for an example of how to live. He is the perfect teacher, so we should listen to
him and learn about God, morality, relationships, the meaning of life, and the
future from and through him. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, fulfilling the
requirements of the law, becoming sin (or put our sins upon himself), and dying
in our place, so we should rest in him alone for salvation.
The apostle John (the
writer) affirms this by saying that Jesus was “full
of unfailing love and faithfulness” and that he had given his people
“one gracious blessing after another.”
That is, we will never found Jesus lacking in any way. We are to trust Jesus’s
ability to meet our needs. All believers receive Christ’s blessings, but
nothing can deplete Christ. This is amazing! No matter how much we receive of
him, he keeps on giving. We don’t need to seek any other source of spiritual
power but Christ! Yes! Christ alone!
Think about this: In a
letter to the Hebrews there is a secret to running the race of life. It is
written: “We do this by keeping our eyes on
Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus is the initiator and the perfecter of
our faith. Jesus is all we need. Maybe the question for us now is – What helps
you keep your eyes focused on Christ?
THINK BIG. START
SMALL. GO DEEP.
Reference: Life Application Study Bible Devotional:
Daily Wisdom from the Life of Jesus (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2011)
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