Tuesday, January 8, 2019
John 2:11 . . . And his disciples believed in him.
BELIEVE IN HIM
There once was a king who put on beggars clothing and went out among his people to see how things really were for them. As you might imagine, things looked somewhat different from that point of view than they did from the window of the royal carriage as it passed between rows of cheering subjects. When the king, however, came upon a certain injustice and tried to correct it, he found that no one would obey him, or even listen to him, since they did not recognize him as the king.
In a far greater way, when our Savior laid aside the full use of His divine glory and was born in Bethlehem, He came, not just to observe, but to live and die in our place. In our name He lived the perfect life that we should have lived, and in our name He suffered the punishment for all our sins, so that we might receive the status of God's own children. And yet, we can throw all this away in unbelief, if we do not recognize that the child of Bethlehem was not only the son of Mary, but also the Son of God. For who, on judgment day, would rest their hopes for standing with God on the life and death of just another person, who had his own troubles to answer for. "Truly no man can ransom another" (Ps. 49:7).
But Jesus clearly showed that He is more than just our earthly brother. He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. His life is worth any number of human lives, and when He put His life in the balance for us, it means our acceptance with God, forgiveness, peace, and eternal life.
