Dear Readers: Thank you for all your support this year. I believe the content in this current series is indispensible regarding the coming Great Awakening in America. We must all grow closer to the Lord Jesus. He must be exalted in this nation. His real identity must be known. Christian persecution will continue rising in America in 2016 and we must all be prepared. Please help make this current series reach as many believers as possible. Be blessed!

         “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM…” [John 8:28 NAB]

         Everything that happens in this world can be judged by what happened to the Lord Jesus.

         The Scriptures prove with absolutely no doubt that the Lord Jesus is exactly who He said He was. When collected together, the many Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming Messiah were fulfilled to the exact letter by Him. There is no possible way any of it happened by chance. The odds were impossible that He was not the Messiah.

         Therefore, the people who discount the Lord Jesus, His historical reality as vouched for in other historical writings of the time, and the many prophecies which He fulfilled, only proves their lack of knowledge and prejudice against Him.

THE GREATEST WINNER OF ALL TIME

         When one adds up everything He achieved, the fact that He never did anything wrong, that He never committed a single sin, that He kept all the commandments, that He possessed great miraculous power doing things no one ever did, that He defeated death, hell, and the grave, and most of all, that He consistently showed a pure heart of love for all by giving His perfect life as a sacrifice for His friends, one would think He would be treated with the honor He deserves.

         But they killed Him.

         That fact right there tells a person all they need to know about this world. This fallen planet, therefore, must be judged by how God Himself was treated when He came here, because that’s exactly who the Lord Jesus is. He is God Himself.

THE MOST HUMBLE MAN WHO EVER LIVED

         He was the most humble Man who ever lived. Most people with a mere miniscule fraction of His resume would be spouting off about their own personal greatness and would use whatever talent they were given toward full self-promotion.

         Before we go further, it must be noted that the Lord is obviously not against His people doing well, but only that whatever promotion and blessing we receive must come through Him and not be of ourselves:

         “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” [Matthew 12:12]

         GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. [1Peter 5:5-7]

         This is why the Lord Jesus did not appear to be God. He didn’t look the part. It is especially why He was rejected by the religion boys and “spiritual leaders.” They didn’t think He was anywhere near as good as them (and regardless of how highly they thought of themselves, they were actually complete hell-bound idiots like so many Christian Pharisees of today).

         The Lord’s goal and actual destiny was to eventually be first in all things, but the only way He could achieve that was to first be LAST in all things. Remember that when you think about blessing and promotion. He said whoever would be the greatest must first be the greatest servant.

         He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. [Colossians 1:17-18]

         Now, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HAVING A DESIRE TO ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS. Paul said we must run the race well and finish first. Winning and achieving, in fact, is exactly what the Lord has called His people to do:

         “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” [John 14:12]

         We were made to achieve great things. It is a joy to be productive. But our achieving must be in line with the Lord’s will. We must always remember that, for the real disciple, anything done is done in partnership with the Lord Jesus.

         This is why He set the humble and obedient example He lived out. He said the only things He did were what the Father had for Him to do. His life was a life of service, obedience, and humility.

         But after His resurrection He gained ALL power and authority:

         “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” [Matthew 28:18] [1]

         In other words, YHWH successively added all of His power and authority to within the realm of humanity after it had been removed since the time of Adam’s sin. God Himself reestablished His power and authority within humanity after it had been lost by becoming a human being and living a sinless life.

         The only way to do this was by taking the humble road. Why? To illustrate how unregenerate human nature is focused on self-exaltation and personal pride, He showed us the proper example and taught us that—

         Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. [Proverbs 16:18 NKJ]

         Therefore, rather than simply eliminate the desire to do great things, we must keep the desire but put it under the Lord’s authority and His leading so as not to go off on personal me-first tangents which always result in some form of destruction.

         One may argue that the Lord’s attitude got Him killed. But this is incorrect. His excellent and proper attitude revealed the evil attitudes of His enemies. If a Christian blends in with the world the world will not have a problem with such a Christian. But to be friends with the world is to be the enemy of God. There were many people, however, who loved the Lord and had no evil intent toward Him. Because He was so humble, approachable, gentle, and kind, such people were able to be His friends.

         How else could mere human beings relate to the great and mighty God of the Universe? He had to become one of us.

         It was an extremely humble and loving gesture on His part. It was also the only possible way to defeat sin and set us free.

         © 2015 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued.]

[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.