JESUS' LOCATION - PART 3

SATURDAY 04 FEBRUARY 2023

Our love for the knowledge of Christ's location can melt our spirit, and cause us to bow in willing, joy-filled reverence for His supremacy. More below!

Reference: John 1:10 New International Version (NIV) "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him."

The next item in the versified verity above, following the sequenced account of briefly detailed narration of Christ's visit, is "the world did not recognize Him" (Recognition). Beloved, Jesus visited the world of human beings, but they did not recognize Him. More so, He came to His own people, and they even rejected Him (see John 1:11 NLT). Bear in mind that this narrative is according to John's witness because he was there in Jesus' day.

Did you remember the account of creation? Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us..." (NLT). Who did God refer to, when He said, "let 'us' make man?" The fullness of the Godhead! You can now understand how Christ felt, when part of His artistry rejected Him. Why did man do so?

Mankind prefers that which is vain and deceitful; and while it pleases their fancies, it hinders their faith and blindfolds their minds and the eyes of their spirit. So man couldn't recognise Christ because they were utterly faithless. Got it? Beloved, of a truth, it is impossible to please God without faith, let alone recognise His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 11:6 NLT). The world of natural man sees anything from above as speculations, and as a result, Christ was of no concern to them. Of course they were worldly oriented, and therefore, we understand that the minds of those who walk in the way of the world are turned from recognising and following Christ. Zero wonder 2 Corinthians 4:4 reads, "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God" (NLT).

Now that you grasp why the world did not recognize Christ, you can connect it with the same reason God once regretted making man. Genesis 6:5-6 reads, "The LORD observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart" (NLT). Beloved, this truth in itself, contains nothing but truth; and for this reason, Jesus came with a mission in mind. What is the mission? To die for the sake of humankind! John 1:11-12 (AMP) reads, "He came to that which was His own [that which belonged to Him—His world, His creation, His possession], and those who were His own [people—the Jewish nation] did not receive and welcome Him. But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name..."

Having died for mankind, God made another creation out of humanity. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (1 Corinthians 5:17 KJV). What is this new creature created for? Ephesians 2:10 (AMP) reads, "For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]." Gracefully, we are the new work of art, created for good works.

Now all of us who are a new creation in Christ are a kind of firstfruits of His creatures and we are openly functioning in Him, as born again Christians. In line with this truth, James 1:18 says, "He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession" (NLT). Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Matthew 14:35; Luke 24:16; Acts 4:13; Luke 24:31; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 John 4:2.

Guided Prayer: Thank you Father in heaven because I am a kind of firstfruits of your creatures. As a new creature in Christ, I have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, and I walk by absolute faith in Christ, not by sensory observation and approach, thereby hoping and exercising my trust in the finished work of Christ, in Jesus' Name, Amen!