"Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus." (Hebrew 3:1)
"....Consider...Christ Jesus...." This is the invitation (command?) of the Bible, of our Heavenly Father, as in, "This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
If you ask most people what Mother Teresa was best known for, they would say something like, "caring for the poor." She did. But that is not what she wanted to be "best known" for. Her last words to then Senator Sam Brownback were, "Remember Senator: It's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus." She wanted the Senator to have no doubts as to her loyalty, the motivation and foundation of her life and work; hence, Mother Teresa's thrice declaration, "It's all about Jesus."
Father and Holy Spirit command us to, "Consider Christ Jesus," and, "Hear Him!" because Jesus is, "The Word of God." We can say that Jesus is the Word of the Blessed Trinity. I assert that only in Jesus Christ do we have what humanity can "discern/understand" of the Living Triune God. If we only talk to people about "God," they can come up with any and every mental concept they have. When we speak of Jesus, we "define" God. Humanity can and will continue to speculate, but Jesus greatly hinders this attempt at self deception and misunderstanding at just Who is God.
I know I have worked this over and over throughout my life time, but I believe that the ever increasing marginalizing of Jesus in modern Christendom is at the center of, as the book title declares, The Great Evangelical Recession. People are not interested in our "moralizing." The "seeker friendly" church does not seem to be working. Jesus tells us that the primary work of the Holy Spirit is, "He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you....He will glorify Me." So too should our songs, our prayers, our evangelism, our missions, our preachings and teachings. Never confuse numbers, great preaching and worship, prayers, missions, anything as "anointed" that from start to finish does not, "Consider Christ Jesus."
The great "mission" of the Church is to call humanity to, "Consider Christ Jesus," or, I can say with absolute certainty, they will "consider" everything other than. "Born again," conversion, salvation only "transpire" when people are called to, "Consider Jesus", of whom Peter tells us, "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree....For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that every moment of every day of my life I, "Consider Christ Jesus." Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
