THE NAMES THAT JESUS GAVE HIMSELF
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
It is in the NAMES OF JESUS that I speak with you today because Jesus used several names to describe Himself for various reasons. One of His favorite names was THE SON OF MAN because it emphasized His humanity, but at the same time, it was a claim to His Divinity. We can find this reference in Luke 6:27 and He used it while dealing with many in His early ministry of healing and miracles so that people would listen to His message.
Another term He used in the same chapter Luke 6:35 was THE BREAD OF LIFE. This refers to His life-giving role and that He is the only source of eternal life. Just like today, people were so caught up in what Jesus could do for them in the ways of miracles that they seemed to never really listen to the importance of what that term really means. Jesus also said that we were to be as He is in this next term that He used for Himself THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Luke 8:12 because He also said that our job was to continue to reflect the light that He had brought to this world. You see Light is a symbol of Spiritual truth, and we should know by now that Jesus is the only source of Spiritual truth from our own experience with Him. The question I have often asked people is DO WE?
Luke 10:7 finds Jesus using the term GATE FOR THE SHEEP which is again His way of saying that He is the only way that any of us will ever enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. I have not known very many men who want to be known as God's sheep, and I think it is because we have such a hard time humbling ourselves before Him. The fact of the matter is that whenever I compare myself to God I am already humbled. Luke 10:11 uses the term GOOD SHEPARD which is another accepted term for those of us who try hard not to think of Him as Lord of all creation, but want Him to be friendly and cuddly to them. Luke 11:25 sees Jesus using the term THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE which shows that not only does Christ have the power over life, but also the power over death. From the time of our creation as mankind, we have been dealing with death which has been brought about by sin. As Jesus went into His final stages of ministry here for us He began to get very specific about why He was here and what He had come to provide for us, and yet still just like sheep we could not see His intent of heart. Finally, within a short time of His crucifixion, Jesus spelled it out for us in Luke 14:6 by saying " I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE"
It was at this time that the leadership of the Synagogues could no longer abide the kind of pressure that He was putting upon them or the sin that He was exposing within them. Jesus had one other term to use with us that even today holds so true...that is in Luke 15:1 where He calls Himself THE VINE.
Without being grafted into Him as the life-giving source of our claim to forgiveness we still stand in front of God forever guilty. Take a moment to think about these names that Christ used for Himself in relationship to us, and then meditate on the blessings that He has already given you. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
It is in the NAMES OF JESUS that I speak with you today because Jesus used several names to describe Himself for various reasons. One of His favorite names was THE SON OF MAN because it emphasized His humanity, but at the same time, it was a claim to His Divinity. We can find this reference in Luke 6:27 and He used it while dealing with many in His early ministry of healing and miracles so that people would listen to His message.
Another term He used in the same chapter Luke 6:35 was THE BREAD OF LIFE. This refers to His life-giving role and that He is the only source of eternal life. Just like today, people were so caught up in what Jesus could do for them in the ways of miracles that they seemed to never really listen to the importance of what that term really means. Jesus also said that we were to be as He is in this next term that He used for Himself THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Luke 8:12 because He also said that our job was to continue to reflect the light that He had brought to this world. You see Light is a symbol of Spiritual truth, and we should know by now that Jesus is the only source of Spiritual truth from our own experience with Him. The question I have often asked people is DO WE?
Luke 10:7 finds Jesus using the term GATE FOR THE SHEEP which is again His way of saying that He is the only way that any of us will ever enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. I have not known very many men who want to be known as God's sheep, and I think it is because we have such a hard time humbling ourselves before Him. The fact of the matter is that whenever I compare myself to God I am already humbled. Luke 10:11 uses the term GOOD SHEPARD which is another accepted term for those of us who try hard not to think of Him as Lord of all creation, but want Him to be friendly and cuddly to them. Luke 11:25 sees Jesus using the term THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE which shows that not only does Christ have the power over life, but also the power over death. From the time of our creation as mankind, we have been dealing with death which has been brought about by sin. As Jesus went into His final stages of ministry here for us He began to get very specific about why He was here and what He had come to provide for us, and yet still just like sheep we could not see His intent of heart. Finally, within a short time of His crucifixion, Jesus spelled it out for us in Luke 14:6 by saying " I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE"
It was at this time that the leadership of the Synagogues could no longer abide the kind of pressure that He was putting upon them or the sin that He was exposing within them. Jesus had one other term to use with us that even today holds so true...that is in Luke 15:1 where He calls Himself THE VINE.Without being grafted into Him as the life-giving source of our claim to forgiveness we still stand in front of God forever guilty. Take a moment to think about these names that Christ used for Himself in relationship to us, and then meditate on the blessings that He has already given you. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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