The birth of Jesus is prophesied about in the Old Testament, which we can read in Isaiah
7:14. We later read in the New Testament where the prophecy was fulfilled (Matthew 1:18-25).
Jesus gave us the ultimate gift of a home in Heaven by sacrificing Himself, a gift that no human
deserves. Let’s briefly examine a few characteristics of Jesus and what He gives us.
Joy
Everlasting
Servant
Unity
Sacrifice
JOY. Jesus brings joy to our lives, and we should be rejoicing in Him. There are many
passages in the book of Psalms that express joy in the Lord. Psalm 5:11-12; 9:1-2; 32:11; 35:9
are a few verses that give us a glimpse of joy. The word “joy” is found 155 times in the Bible. The word “rejoice” occurs 183 times in the Bible. If we follow the Lord, we can have
true joy. No doubt, we will face hard times in this earthly life, but during those times, we can
turn to God for comfort. As Christians, we can be looking forward to the joy that is found in
Heaven, so long as we faithfully serve God.
EVERLASTING. Jesus did live a physical life here on earth, but we also know that He is
Deity and reigns eternally with God. After Christ’s resurrection, He spoke to the eleven apostles,
found in Mark 16:15-16. When He had finished speaking to them, He ascended to Heaven
(Mark 16:19). We can also see in Luke 22:69 that the Son of man shall sit on the right hand of
the Power of God. Exodus 15:18 reads, “The Lord shall reign forever and ever.” When Jesus was living here on earth, He experienced some of the same emotions and pain that we do today. During these hard times, we can turn to God and find everlasting strength in Christ (Isaiah 26:4).
SERVANT. Jesus is the best example of a servant. A familiar account of an act of
service He did is when He washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17). Reading this, we can see
that Jesus knew He was going to be betrayed. Although He is Deity, that did not stop Him from
being a humble servant. He had an excellent and admirable attitude of service. If we as humans
knew that someone was going to betray us, our first instinct would most likely not be to do
something as humbling as washing their feet. Jesus never complained about serving others, we
should strive to have this kind of attitude as well.
UNITY. The Church is the ONE Church (Ephesians 4:1-6). All of the different
denominations that are in the world today are not in unity with God and what the Bible says. As
Christians, we should be united through Christ. We have the same goal in mind, striving for our
home in Heaven. During the heat of Covid, many different opinions caused divisions between
brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all entitled to our own opinions on things of this earth, as
long as it does not contradict God’s Word, but as Christians, we must be united in Christ (1
Corinthians 1:10).
SACRIFICE. We can read of the crucifixion of Christ in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23
and John 19. Jesus never sinned, but He gave Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins so
that those who follow God and keep His commandments can have salvation and a hope of
eternal life in Heaven. Christ is the only sacrifice that makes salvation attainable (Hebrews 10:9-
27). We must follow the steps that God has laid out for us to obtain salvation.
Hear: Romans 10:17
Believe: Romans 10:13-14
Repent: Luke 13:3,5
Confess: Romans 10:9-10
Baptism: Acts 2:38
Live Faithfully: Revelation 2:10
These things are just a small glimpse of Jesus. John 21:25 says there are many other
things that Jesus did that aren’t written, but that if everything was written, the world itself
couldn’t contain the books. I pray everyone finds joy in Jesus, is united in Christ and gets to
Heaven one day!
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