Daily Devotion - [Devotion] New Testament Challenge – Day 58
"Today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths
and lying in a manger."-Luke 2:11, 12
"At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left...The chief priests, with the scribes and elders were mocking Him and saying, 'He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"Matthew 27:38, 41, 43
...passage where it says that the resurrection authenticated His message:
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away...And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people'...And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb."-Revelation 21:1, 3, 23
As we have been reading through the New Testament during the past 63 days, we have been challenged by a variety of principles and truths through the 27 books that comprise this portion of our Scriptures. When all of our study is done, the bottom-line goal is that each of us have become more aware of the character and nature of our Savior, Jesus, and that we have also grasped what He is prompting us to allow Him to change in our lives because of what we have learned.
The entire book of The Revelation is so precious because it is truly a revelation of the fullness of the person of Jesus as Lord and the plans that God has for us as we head into eternity. Throughout this New Testament Challenge we have been able to see aspects of the nature of Christ in many ways.
In Luke and the other accounts of Jesus' life we can see the utter simplicity of how God chose to enter our world in order to save us from our sin. He did not come in comfort or affluence in a way that was impressive, but in the common experience of the masses of people that needed Him so badly. How thankful I am that I have a God Who knows how to relate to me (normal, flawed & unimpressive in so many ways)
It is plain also in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' death that He chose to allow Himself to be sacrificed in a way that demanded great humility...both for the emotional abuse he received along with the extreme pain of the method of execution that was used in His days on earth.
The resurrection undeniably proved the authenticity of the truth of Who Jesus is. It has always interested me that even in His return to life, He chose to do it in a way that would have the greatest impact on those who had been trusting in Him already. They were going to face great tests of persecution in the years ahead and it mattered to Him that they clearly understand that He truly knew lived and could meet their needs.
The last and vital truth I have learned in our study of the New Testament is that of realizing His all-encompassing authority. The very real truth is that His authority has been settled since eternity past, however, we will finally be able to see it expressed fully at the end of all when we see Him face-to-face.
Our great hope now, even as it was for John when he wrote down his vision, is to remember that while we increasingly see the character and nature of our Savior, we will join with John in saying, "Come quickly, Lord Jesus." Or to mimic what Princess Leia spoke in Star Wars as she hid the message in R2D2, "Help me Obi Wan Kenobi. You're our only hope."
Today's Reading: Revelation 20-22
* This devotion was written by Carol Short. Her husband is Ed short who is one of the teaching Pastors. She is leading a New Testament Challenge Growth Group this semester.
** For additional devotions, reading plans, MP3's and other materials to assist you with the New Testament Challenge (NTC), visit <http://www.journeymetro.com/ntc>