THE MAGNIFICENT AND GLORIOUS WORD OF GOD
By Lay Pastor Jusuf Wibisono
Lemah Putro, Sunday, February 9, 2020
Shalom,
We are now studying the Gospel of John about Jesus as the Son of God. We believe that the purpose of the delivery of the Word of God is to set us free from any affliction and fear so that we can freely praise and glorify Him.
Who is the Word? “The Word was with God and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Men are given a chance to accept the Word of God, yet we often do not appreciate Him, even His disciples left Him because they considered His Word (containing advice, corrections, instructions) was harsh (John 6:60, 66).
The word of God that John delivered shows the very person of Jesus, the only begotten of the Father; unfortunately, the world did not know Him and His people even rejected Him (John 1: 1-11). Who were His people? Those who had been redeemed by His precious blood, but unfortunately they did not accept Him.
In the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah 40:1-5 has already prophesied, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
This prophecy in the Old Testament was fulfilled in the New Testament that John (the Baptist) was sent to witness the light (John 1: 6-8). He had to prepare the way for the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said so that the Lord’s glory would be revealed.
Illustration: if we want to get accurate result when we do general check-up, we need to fast before that. Likewise, we will be able to receive God's Word effectively and see the glory revealed by Him if we prepare ourselves (mindfully), being aware that we do need to receive His light to conquer this dark world.
When God punished the Egyptians with the 10th plague, the Israelites’ first-borns were saved from the death because they had the sign of blood on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses (Exodus 12: 7).
Wasn’t the blood of the sacrificial animals shed on the Altar of Burnt Offering for the offering of salvation and atonement for sins? Jesus, the Lamb of God, was "burned", died on the cross and His blood was shed to redeem our sins so that we can turn back to Him to attain eternal salvation.
The Altar of Burnt Offering speaks of repentance. Let us "close" the hole of anger, revenge, envy, etc. by not bringing up old issues and leveling them with God's love that is able to cover up everything.
We often cannot reveal the glory of God because sin still remains in our hearts nor do we honor Jesus' sacrifice. Example: Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a Jewish religious leader, could not see the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven even though he was an intelligent person. For this reason, Jesus told him to be born again through water and Spirit (John 3: 1-5). Jesus Himself was baptized by John to fulfill all God's will.
When Jesus came out of the water, John saw the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God like a dove descending upon Him, and he also heard a voice from Heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3: 13-17). Although John was a great prophet, he was still willing to do the truth of God's Word; and as a result, he could see and hear the Heavenly things.
How can we honor His sacrifice? It’s by seeing, hearing and touching the living Word. It’s only by the grace of God that Jesus' disciples were able to hear and see Jesus’ Word; because many prophets and kings wanted to see and hear what the disciples saw and heard but they could not (Luke 10: 21- 24).
Why did John have to cry out to prepare the way for Jesus? Because mankind is like grass and everything is as lovely as flowers in the field. The grass dries up, the flowers wither but the Word of God remains forever (Isaiah 40: 6-8).
He further said that God came like a shepherd who shepherds His flocks and gathers them with His hands. He takes the lambs on His lap and guides them carefully (v. 11).
It’s so clear that God's Word directs us to repent and it makes straight/fixes all of our wrongs. Therefore, we really need His magnificent and glorious Word because we are just like grass and our glory is like the flower of the field.
When we accept God's everlasting Word, our eyes are opened to see the glory of the Father in His only begotten Son, full of grace and truth. From childhood we should know the Holy Scriptures and be obedient to the voice of the Shepherd that teaches, rebukes, corrects our behavior and chastens us in truth. Having it all, we are thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3: 15-16).
We should be grateful to be taught, forged, led, molded by the Word of God that our faith will emerge like pure gold (1 Peter 1: 7) and we become like a vessel ready to be used by its master. Also, we are ready to become "sheep" blessed to be a blessing for others, not living for ourselves/selfish.
What blessings did His sheep share? They gave food, drink, shelter, clothes, visit the sick and the prisoners (Matthew 25: 34-36).
Besides being blessed, the "sheep" should also be ready to be sanctified by the Great Shepherd with club and stick, guided to calm water, laid in green pastures and even provided a meal in front of the enemy (Psalm 23: 1-5), and to fear no evil. Jesus Christ is the Word that became flesh and His blood guarantees us to be His beneficial sheep and blessings to others.
Introspection: have we cared about those around us who are in economic difficulties/deprivation, sick/weak spiritually, and having difficulty to free from shackles/addictions to bad habits?
To be a blessing, we first need the great Word of God to renew our lives so that we are no longer shackled by the dark and full-of-hatred world, and we will be able to see the light of His glory.
Having heard, seen and touched the living Word, we are to share it with others so that they too can have fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1-4).
Our senses should function well in responding to the magnificent, glorious and living Word of God. This way, our life will be renewed – signed with blood (the Lamb of God), water (baptism) and the (infilling of the) Holy Spirit.
After being blessed with renewed life, let’s live selflessly by sharing the blessings with others who need the salvation in Jesus Christ so that we can create beautiful fellowship and joy in one Body of Christ because we have all believed and confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God; and by faith we have received life in His name (John 20:31). Amen.