Wisdom Matters

John 3:16 is the most quoted verse in all of the New Testament. The entire message of the gospel is found in the words, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 tells us why God sent Jesus into the world. Jesus came so that everyone could have the opportunity to believe and be saved. 

It is John 3:17 that tells us what God did not send his Son to this world to do. John 3:17 says, “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world.” Jesus wasn’t born into the world to condemn people to an eternity in hell. His purpose wasn’t to bring God’s judgment, it was to bring the assurance of his grace. God sent Jesus to earth so that anyone could be saved through him, if they just believed in him.

If we examine our words, do we spend more time teaching why God sent Jesus into the world, or condemning the world Jesus came to save? Do our words cause people to feel wanted by God, or judged by him? Pick the person who you think of as most outside the Christian faith. Do you think about what they are doing wrong, or how God wants to save their soul and help them live rightly?

If God didn’t send Jesus to condemn, then we aren’t called to condemn either. Jesus has called us to speak the truth. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32). The apostle Paul told the church to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). 

How do we help people know they are loved by God and live for God without speaking words that can sound like condemnation? Every Christian shares this struggle, or it should be our struggle. Jesus befriended the woman at the well before he told her she needed the water of life. He told the parable of the prodigal son, but included the sin of the older brother. He ate with sinners and held righteous anger for those who saw themselves as too holy to do the same. 

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus never told a sinner their sin was allowed or permitted. He did tell them how they could be forgiven and told them to “sin no more.” Jesus lived a perfect sinless life, but didn’t use his perfection to condemn those who were imperfect. In fact, his strongest words condemned the religious leaders who didn’t realize their sin was the most costly to God’s purpose. If Jesus modeled that witness, we must be careful to do the same. We must speak God’s truth, but we shouldn’t say anything until we can speak with his love.

When the disciples looked at Jesus they were looking at the “whole fullness of deity” in human form. When Jesus put his hand on their shoulders, God was touching them. When Jesus listened to them, it was God hearing their words. When Jesus appeared to them after Pentecost, he was the risen deity reminding them that death had no power over their lives.

Paul told the church, “you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” When we received the Holy Spirit, the fullness of deity came to dwell in us. Have we limited ourselves by failing to understand we are capable of doing anything Jesus wants us to do? Do we see ourselves as only human beings, or as human beings who have been “filled” with the holy presence and power of Christ?

Jesus is the “head of all rule and authority.” Jesus can do all things and Christians can do “all things through him who strengthens” us (Philippians 4:13). The name “Christian” actually means “little Christ.”

Our lives are not hindered by a culture that refuses to believe. Our witness is not weakened because people argue with or slander our faith. God is not who people believe him to be; God is who God has revealed himself to be. The same God that created the world is the God who governs the world today. And Christians have been filled and gifted by his Holy Spirit. 

God isn’t limited in our lives unless we choose to limit him. We don’t feel the hand of Jesus like the disciples did, but his hand does touch our lives. We don’t hear the voice of Jesus like those who physically walked with him, but his voice is just as clear in the red letters of our Bibles.

Jesus returned to heaven and then the Holy Spirit came to dwell in us bodily. We have been “filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” What ministry will Jesus accomplish tomorrow through your surrendered, obedient life?

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus is the Holy Spirit who empowers every Christian’s life today, and he tells his disciples, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

There is nothing impure or imperfect in heaven, which is why everyone needs Jesus in order to enter heaven. We will never confess every sin we commit. We will never be fully right with God until we dwell with him in heaven. So the Lord provided a way for us to live on earth with as much freedom from our sins as possible.

The Lord gave us the opportunity to bring our sins to him and lay them at his feet. We don’t have to pay the full price of our sins because only Jesus could do that. Yet John wrote, “if we confess our sins” God will forgive them. Why do we need to confess what God already knows? Why do we need God’s daily forgiveness if we have been made eternally righteous by our salvation?

God didn’t want us to wait for heaven to live a righteous life. God wants us to live as his children now, even as we live on earth. God wants us to understand and help others understand that our sins have consequences to our lives now and to our lives eternal. He wants us to live high and holy lives and help others do the same.

God calls us to “confess our sins” so that he can cleanse us from those sins now. He wants us to live righteous lives and model the character of Christ to those around us. We can’t model the perfection of Christ, but we can model the “perfecting” nature of Christ’s presence in our lives.

We confess our sins so that we acknowledge those things in our life that cause us to be less than godly. Confession isn’t for God’s sake, it is for ours. When we acknowledge our sins we are less likely to repeat them. God wants to clean up our sins so we can live righteous lives now. So, he gave us the ability to confess so he could cleanse our lives and teach us to live rightly.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus never had to model confession because he didn’t sin. Jesus did model the powerful life of a person who is fully right with God. He modeled the best way for us to live as we walk our pathway to heaven. 

We don’t have to walk our pathway carrying the burden of our sins. Spend some time laying your burdens at the feet of Jesus.

We can never fully understand what it was like for Jesus to leave the glory and perfection of heaven to be born as an infant in a small cave in Bethlehem. Had Jesus experienced physical pain before his birth? Were the sounds and smells of earth completely different from those in heaven? How did Jesus step from his throne in heaven to enter into the struggles of earth?

Scripture says, “Jesus emptied himself” not counting “equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Jesus left everything he was in heaven behind, in order to come to earth and serve as our Savior. He took on the likeness of men, with all our frailties, so that one day we could leave this earth as a citizen of heaven.

Paul told the Philippian church, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” Paul had just told them, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4). We don’t need to wonder what it means to live as a servant of God. Jesus modeled what it means when he, though he was God, stepped into our lives to serve as our Savior. The Creator chose to serve those he created.

Jesus served his family as a carpenter. Jesus humbled himself to be baptized. Jesus lived as an itinerant Rabbi, modeling what it means to help others know God. Finally, Jesus knelt to wash the feet of men. Then he waited in the garden for the soldiers to arrive. Finally, he submitted himself to the darkest behaviors of men so that he could carry a cross and die for them.

Paul would say, “the next time you esteem yourself too highly, have this in mind.” The next time you hesitate to serve, remember the life Jesus modeled for you. Jesus became “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” (Philippians 2:8–9).

We cannot understand what it was like for Jesus to leave the glory of heaven, but we can know Jesus wanted us to share the glory of heaven with him. 

We are called to serve others like Jesus served us so that “every tongue” will confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11). 

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. May we model the servant heart of Jesus to others.

Did you love others today as Jesus would have loved them? If we asked ourselves that question at the end of each day, how would our answer change things tomorrow?

Maybe we would: 

- Choose to spend more time with someone and less time with another.

- Notice someone we might otherwise have walked past.

- See a moment as an opportunity instead of an interruption.

- Have the chance to share our faith instead of our opinion or advice.

If we loved people instead of just appreciating them, how deeply would we care about their needs?

If we sacrificed for someone instead of giving what we determined was enough, how would our gift change their situation, now and eternally?

Jesus modeled the love of God everywhere he walked. He helped so many people, although he never helped them all. He gave his time, his attention, and his wisdom to all who would listen, but not everyone did. Jesus angered some people and saddened others, like the rich young ruler. Jesus healed many people, but not everyone. Jesus called everyone to be his disciples and then dedicated much of his time and attention to only a few. The few who followed his example changed the world. 

How can we love others as Jesus does? By loving others as Christ loved us. We can give ourselves in service to others as Jesus gave himself up for us. We can enter a room as an offering to God if we simply enter the room with the goal of leaving his love behind instead of keeping it to ourselves. We won’t be able to help everyone either, but we will help some. We might even help many.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. The only way to model the love of Christ is to allow his love to flood our lives and then overflow to others through the sacrifice and offering of our lives to his higher purpose.

If we commit to “walk in love as Christ loved us,” we will change the way we live tomorrow.

No one wants to feel responsible for the suffering of Christ. Even though we know better, we still choose to think it was the fault of Judas, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees. The Roman soldiers were the ones who beat him and nailed him to a cross, and they were following the commands of their leader. Real people accused, punished, and killed Jesus.

It’s difficult to think about the death of Christ and consider it necessary for our salvation. I used to reconcile the gruesome details of Jesus’ death by thinking that is what it took to cover all sins for all people. But, the truth is, Jesus died a gruesome death for my individual sins. He did the same for your sins.

Jesus carried the weight of our sins to Calvary. That weight is simply illustrated by the cross. When Jesus fell under the weight he carried, we are reminded that our sins cost him so much more than we want to think about.

Jesus modeled the burden of sin with every painful step to Calvary. Jesus provided that model because he wanted us to understand the magnitude of our sins and recognize how much they cost us. Jesus wanted us to “die to sin” and “live to righteousness.” 

Jesus thought you and I were worth saving so he suffered the horrible consequences of the cross. Our eternal confidence is because of Jesus’ condemnation. Our eternal righteousness is because Jesus cleansed us from every wrong. We aren’t saved because we earned it; we are saved because Jesus bled and suffered so he could offer us his salvation.

“By his wounds you have been healed.”

Take a moment to approach the cross of Calvary. Close your eyes and imagine his suffering. Listen to the sounds, sense the pain, and imagine the separation Jesus felt from everything and everyone, especially his Father. Then meet his eyes and see him seeing you. He thought you were worth it that day, and he still does.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. It is the pathway of eternal healing created because of his wounds. Look back at his cross with grateful humility and leave Calvary with full understanding. You are eternally healed because of his wounds.

Our culture defines and categorizes people in many different ways. Christians are defined by Scripture as: “all one in Christ Jesus.” Heaven is impossible to define because we don’t own the needed vocabulary and we don’t have the ability to comprehend eternity. Yet one eternal distinction clearly made in Scripture applies to every human being today.

Everyone you know is either one with Christ Jesus or living separately from him.

When it comes to interpreting Galatians 3:28, debates, laws, and attitudes have changed over the decades. We still tend to define people by their nationality, religion, social status, and gender. Those distinctions are for life on earth but will not exist in heaven. We are all one in Christ Jesus. A Christian will be defined eternally as “a child of God.”

If you are able to read and understand Hebrew, you know that some of the names and descriptions of God are male while others are female. God is Father and Mother because he is uniquely able to fill both human roles. Yet, in truth, God is neither male nor female. He is simply fully God. So is the resurrected Christ and his Holy Spirit.

Jesus walked on earth as a man yet was also fully God. To be one with Christ Jesus is to become God’s child, even though still living in our human form. Jesus is the model for our faith. He grew to be a man but eternally always saw himself as God’s child. We can know God as our Abba Father, just as Jesus did. 

Thinking of ourselves as the world classifies us is normal. But wouldn’t beginning and ending each day with an understanding of how God sees us be more helpful? We are his children. We are not yet perfected, but God already knows us as the people we will be eternally. 

Jesus walked through his earthly life with a sense of eternal purpose and we can too.

Jesus saw himself through his Father’s eyes and we should too.

Jesus was and is the model for our faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. The next time you pass a mirror, step away from just the appearance of things and into the reality of full knowledge. You, Christian, are a child of the Creator God, and you always will be.

Jesus lived a sinless life, the life that God would wish for all of us. Yet, no one but Jesus could model a sinless life completely. Jesus died and was raised from the dead to model for us God’s provision for the redemption of every person. You and I can’t die without sin except through faith in Christ.

When “we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord,” we are stating our belief in his sinless, perfect life sacrificially atoning for our sins. We are saying that we need Jesus to be Lord of our lives because we know we can’t be. Without Jesus, we cannot pay for our sins and be made holy. 

When we believe in our hearts that “God raised him from the dead,” we believe in our hearts that God can do the same for us. We can live with the assurance of heaven because we live with the assurance of Christ’s resurrection. 

Anyone “will be saved” who acknowledges their need for Jesus and chooses him as their Lord and Savior. Salvation is not found in the belief that Jesus died for everyone; it is found by admitting and accepting the fact that Jesus had to die for our own personal sins. We must confess we cannot be the lord of our own lives and remain holy enough to live with God. We need Jesus to be our Lord as well as our Savior. 

Our redemption and our salvation are his gift to us—from his cross. We can’t earn or deserve that gift. We can only open our mouths to confess our need and our desire to receive the blessings Jesus died to give.

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus modeled the death and the resurrection that will belong to everyone who has become “free” from the penalty of sin. 

Have you confessed your personal need for Jesus as your Lord and Savior? 

If so, “you will be saved.”

Jesus modeled wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, but he also modeled suffering. Jesus told his disciples that we would be persecuted in this world just as he was. It isn’t a popular or comforting thought, but it is the truth of God’s word.

Revelation 17 describes the attack on God’s people from the forces of the Evil One. The attacks will take many forms, but all unmistakably belong to the spiritual forces of evil. Satan cannot claim the soul of someone who is saved, so he will do his best to claim a person’s witness. 

Believers, especially those who are dedicated to their faith, experience spiritual attacks from the Evil One. Many things in our culture draw us away from God’s holiness. One of the signs revealed in the book of Revelation is the increase of the persecution that will exist in the last days. The increase of “lawlessness” and hearts that grow cold, or weak, in the faith.

We should never underestimate the power and influence of “the beast” (Revelation 17:13). At the same time, we should always remember the victory that is ours in Christ. Even though the powers of evil “make war on the Lamb,” the “Lamb will conquer them” (Revelation 17:14). We know that Jesus is the “Lord of lords and King of kings.”

The rest of verse 14 speaks to those who have chosen to use Jesus as the model for the way we walk this life. We are “called and chosen and faithful.” We are called to model the way Jesus lived. We are also called to model the way Jesus suffered. 

Are you experiencing persecution for your faith? Have you been tempted by the evil and sinful things in our world? Remember that “you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. Jesus battled evil and suffered persecution in order to live faithfully for God. 

Are we willing to do the same?

“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” —1 Corinthians 1:30

One of the best descriptions of Jesus is to see him as God, in human form. It is difficult to understand how Jesus could be fully God, yet fully man. Jesus is the only One in human history who will ever carry that distinction.

When Jesus spoke, he spoke with the wisdom of God. Jesus lived each day of his life in a righteous or right relationship with God. Jesus led a life of holiness, sanctified by God and set apart to serve him. And Jesus was born to be the Messiah and provide for our redemption. 

Paul described Jesus as the One who became wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. When we received Christ as our Lord and Savior, Jesus became the source of God’s character in us, through his Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the model for our own faith, and the pathway for our relationship with God as our Father.

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” —Isaiah 7:14

The prophet Isaiah spoke of the coming Messiah and assigned him the name Immanuel, meaning the character of God—with us. Jesus lived on earth as God incarnate. He was and is God with us.

Immanuel, God with us, was redefined in the days that followed Pentecost. Forty days after Christ ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit came to indwell those gathered in Jerusalem. Jesus, through his Holy Spirit, is God with us.

God has given us a “sign” of his reality. Anyone who has the Holy Spirit has the continual presence of Jesus in their life. Just as people sought the presence of Jesus when he walked in this world, we should seek his Presence today through the Holy Spirit. God, three-in-one, is with us now and has made certain we could be with him eternally. 

Jesus is the model for our own faith and the pathway for our eternal relationship with God. 

Can you sense the presence of Immanuel right now?