Jesus Alone

In Isaiah 61 we find the words Jesus declared He Himself to fulfill later in the Gospels. Isaiah has forever been a highly revered writing among followers of God - and even before the Advent of Christ, the Jewish people perused Isaiah with great interest. It must have been awesome for those who followed Jesus to hear words they were quite familiar with proclaimed by Jesus as 'fulfilled' in their very sight! I imagine their minds raced as they began to piece together the prophecies and the life of Jesus lived before them.

For me, it is important that Jesus Himself referred to Isaiah as prophetic to His coming. Not that all the theologians saying so doesn't matter, but it further convinces my own heart to know Jesus confirmed it. And, for the all the misunderstanding I have of Isaiah, I realize that Jesus is indeed the Promised One. So, for all my study and understanding of this scripture, it is quite safe to do so in light of the cross of Christ! We may all conclude that Jesus 'assembled the frame of the puzzle' so that all our putting together of pieces would be within the framework laid out by Christ.

As I read Philippians today, I recognized a different Paul. I recognized a more mature Paul. I recognized a man more comfortable with grace - more convinced of it. I recognized a man not so compelled to recite law, but to encourage love. So much did this impress me that I read ahead in the Pauline epistles several days and found this to be progressively consistent (I only read up to 1 Thes.).

I see Paul (in Philippians 2) presenting a much stronger argument for right living than obeying the law. It is the way of Christ. Verse 3-5: "Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had..." Go read the rest of chapter 2 again; it is absolutely awe inspiring.

Jesus knew that beating sinful people up for their sins accomplished no redemption for them. But dying for them; now there is a real solution! This puts a whole new swing on how we should view sinful people (if indeed we are to imitate Christ). This truly puts our love to the test of all tests!

But this kind of love requires faith. Will I be found faithful?

Lord, I want more than anything to be found faithful. More than anything I want to be found trusting entirely in Jesus Christ. My record is already far too full of evidence against me to ever even think I could rectify it myself by doing right. I trust in Jesus. Jesus alone.