I want to tell you a bit of what Jesus has meant to me. My hope is that these words would give you fresh lenses for seeing all that Jesus is, and has been, and will be, in your life.
He is my INVENTOR. He thought me up. He came up with the original idea for me.
And He knows everything – He knew what my life would cost Him. He knew that by making me, He would bring great sorrow and grief to other people and to even His own heart.
He knew I would betray Him. He knew I would respond to my fellow man with selfishness and apathy.
He knew there would be pain and sorrow and death if He created my life.
And even though He KNEW all of this – He knew it would cost Him His own Son to make me, He still wanted and delighted to create me!
He is the INVENTOR and ARCHITECT of my very existence! I exist because He thought me up, and despite the pain and difficulty He knew my life would cause both Him and others – in His infinite wisdom – He still decided it would be a good idea to carry out His creative plans.
And like a MASTER CRAFTSMAN, He wove me together – all of the intricate and detailed fabric of my body:
- bones & skin & joints & muscle tissue & ligaments &
- the tiny bones in my inner ear that would vibrate together in perfect synchronization to transmit audio waves to my brain &
- the meticulous inter-workings of the lenses & corneas & retinas in my eyes so that my brain could decipher and make sense of light & shapes & colors & depth & motion &
- a perfectly engineered nervous system that could carry messages of heat, cold, pain, pressure, softness – every type of sensation to my brain
- lungs to breathe in His breathe of life
- a heart to pump oxygen & nutrients throughout my body to keep it healthy & energized.
Like a SKILLED CARPENTER, He did ALL of that with His own hands inside my mother’s womb!
And not only did He weave together the intricate make-up of my physical body, but He also created my ETERNAL SOUL, which He would draw to His own heart –
- a little bit more –
- and little bit more –
- lovingly –
- gracefully –
- with every passing moment of my life.
Jesus is my JUDGE. He sits in judgment over me. And while the idea of judgment usually stirs up feelings of fear and condemnation, God has made a new judgment of me, because of Jesus. A perfect judgment that casts out all fear. A judgment in which there is now NO condemnation, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.
As my Judge, He has delivered His verdict. And it is indelibly written – written with His own blood as the ink. His judgment is immutable and can never be erased by anything!
And this is His judgment of me: He has judged me WORTHY TO BE LOVED. His verdict is pardon for sin and enduring, abundant life in His glorious & loving Presence, forever!
Furthermore, His judgment upon me is SONSHIP – ADOPTION!
Jesus is the DEFINER of my identity as a greatly beloved creation of God – as an adopted child in God’s household and family – chosen by God to receive His grace & favor.
He doesn’t just “have to love me” because I’m His natural or biological son. I was His enemy! My sin hung Him on the cross! But He CHOSE me. He adopted me. He doesn’t HAVE to love me – He chooses to love me.
Like the prodigal son, I would’ve been fortunate just to be a slave working on my heavenly Father’s property. But He left His front porch and came running down the road to welcome me right into His very household – even into His own family!
He made me His child. And as a child, He has promised me a share in the same inheritance as His only begotten Son: eternal life, in the wonder-filled house of Almighty God, forever!
Jesus is my Redemption.
Jesus is my Security against Fear.
He is my Source of Joy & Peace.
He is my Deliverer from the bondage of Lust.
He is my Freedom from Frustration & Anger.
He is my Provider of Unquenchable Joy.
Jesus is my EVERYTHING.
Jesus is not merely my “top priority” – He is the page on which all of my other priorities are written. He is not just the most important part of my life – He IS my very life itself!
In Jesus, all things – including me – all things live & move & have their being in Him. Christ is my LIFE. Jesus is my EVERYTHING!
And because of all these things, I have trusted Jesus as my Lord.
- He lights my path.
- He directs my steps.
- He moves my spirit.
- He protects my heart.
- He renews my mind.
- He forgives my failures.
- He matures my soul.
Jesus is my Lord. And because He is my Lord, He is my REWARD.
- He is my PRIZE.
- He is my goal.
- HE is my inheritance.
- He is the destiny of my life and my reward for eternity.
Jesus is my King! And even though I fail Him every day – even though I am unloyal to Him, unfaithful to His Lordship – even though I betray Him with my thoughts & words & actions & intentions – His kind love towards me is new every morning.
And because of all of this, I will adore Him!
I will ADORE Him! I will lavish upon Him praise! I will extol Him! I will exalt His Name! I will point to Him and say “Look at how beautiful He is!”
I will ADORE You, Jesus. I will spend the moments of my life – how ever many You give to me – drawing attention to Your beauty. Your glory. Your graciousness. Your kind love. Your relentless loyalty to me.
Oh come, let us ADORE Him. Let us ADORE Jesus together.
Take a quiet moment now to focus on His nature – on His character.
Not what He does, but Who He is.
Not His actions, but His being.
His personhood.
See, the truth is, if all Jesus had ever done for us was save us – if the one and only thing He ever did was give us physical life, then rescue us from our sin – if He never gave us help or encouragement or blessings or provision – if He never gave us comfort or His words, or prayer, or fellow believers, teachers, mentors. If all He did was just create us, save us, and then ignore us for the rest of our lives, He would still be worth 1000 eternities worth of adoration and praise and service!
What He does is amazing. Don’t get me wrong. What He does for us should fill us to overflowing with gratitude and thankfulness.
But Who He is… Who He is – apart from any THING He does FOR us or gives TO us – it is Who He is that makes Him worthy of ADORATION.
Who is Jesus to you? What about Him fills you with ADORATION?
Like Trees Planted 