The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Eternal Theme"
Early in my Christian life, our Heavenly Father graciously led me to fellow believers who strongly emphasized the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the heart of God's purposes. I also read authors who devoted themselves to the glorious theme. Most importantly, I found the writers of Scripture sought to point all attention to the Lord Jesus, directly in the New Testament, and in prophecy, history, and type of the Old Testament. I discovered that the Holy Spirit works to exalt and reveal the Lord Jesus in all things (John 16:14; 15:26). Moreover, He personally works in all things in our hearts and lives for this sublime purpose.
"He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).
"Then answered Jesus and said unto them, 'Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me' " (John 5:19; 39).
Nearly a half century later, I find myself keenly aware that the journey into this truth of all truths has barely just begun. How worthy of serving as the first and most important subject of God's intentions is His beloved Son and our beloved Savior? The Apostle Paul's affirmation of "the unsearchable riches of Christ" tells us that He is more worthy than we will ever fully know (Ephesians 3:8). Regardless of how far we venture along the immeasurable span of such glory, the Holy Spirit beckons us to come further unto the glory of the Lord Jesus. Four questions guide us in this light of Christ's centrality :
Who is He?
What has He done?
What is He doing?
What will He do forevermore as the theme of God's truth and actions to glorify and reveal His Son?
The answers to these questions serve as the first light of all things. We do well to keep this inquires in heart and mind as we read the Scriptures. We also do well to interpret God's doings in the world and in our lives with regard to Christ's singular significance. This raises mores vital inquiries regarding His preeminence in all things:
How does Christ begin - and forever continue - our understanding of love? Of creation? Of salvation? Of life? Of prayer? Of faith and obedience? Of grace and mercy? Of righteousness and holiness? Of provision and protection? Of peace and joy? Of election and freedom? Of God's presence and power? Of wrath and judgment? Of provision and protection? Of hope and expectation? And, of what He is doing in our lives? The list could go on and on - and it will - regarding the Lord Jesus as the center and circumference of our Heavenly Father's heart, the Holy Spirit's working, the Bible's truth, and our privileged responsibility to serve as moons that absorb and reflect the light of the sun - Son. "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord" (I Corinthians 10:31). Until we see how the person and work of Christ establishes and perpetuates every truth, we have not adequately viewed the light of God. "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9). Yes, the living Word, the Lord Jesus, illuminates the written Word, the Bible. And the Bible ever glimmers with the illumination of the person and work of Christ.
"I am... the truth" declared the Savior (John 14:6). Every page of the Bible and every path of our lives flows with the current of "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:19). I find this truth both thrilling and convicting. I could have been so much further down the path of righteousness in discovering and communicating the glory of the Lord Jesus. Thank God for His longsuffering patience. However, I also recognize with grateful awe that regardless of how far we venture into the wonder of our Lord, the road that glimmers with His glory beckons us to come ever further. Nothing should more fill and fulfill our hearts as an immeasurable, inexhaustible, indescribable Christ assures us of a journey we may have begun long ago in time, but which will forever seem to have just begun in the light of the Lord Jesus as the eternal theme of the purpose of God.
There is no end to the quest we know,
forever beckons on.
We soar in skies so bright and blue,
above all clouds and storm.
Yes, we fly into the heart of God,
as in His Son we trust,
and earth will soon be nothing more
than long forgotten dust.
So spread your wings and catch the wind,
o journeyman of hope,
and race toward horizons blessed
with those who also know
That the quest of hearts is Jesus,
He is our shining sun,
it matters not how far we've come...
the Journey's just begun.
"I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 3:13-14)
Weekly Memory Verse
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
(Romans 8:13)
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