One and Only

 

“Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6

Yesterday’s name may have been a bit ambiguous and left us with questions on what exactly Jesus meant, but the opposite is true today. Jesus’ statement in John 14:6 is quite direct and leaves very little room for misinterpretation. In earlier verses, Jesus is talking about His coming death and going to be with the Father where He will prepare a place for His followers to one day join Him. Thomas is confused about how they can join Jesus when they don’t know where He is going. To which, Jesus responds in verse 6.

Jesus is the Way- the one and only Way to the Father. He is why we can approach the throne of grace with confidence now (Hebrews 4:14-16) and He is the only way by which we will be able to share in eternity with God the Father.

Jesus is also the Truth. He isn’t just truthful; He is Truth. Truth is found in Him and Him alone. Everything He did and everything He said are truth, including all that He claimed concerning Himself and the Father. Jesus is the embodiment of the Truth of and concerning God. There is no truth outside or beyond Him.

And finally, Jesus is the Life. Life is found in Him. As our creator, He gave us the very life we have here on earth, but He offers us even more. Jesus died on the cross so that we might have life- a life more abundant and free both here and now as well as life eternal with God the Father.

These names are pretty straight-forward in their explanation but that doesn’t mean they don’t present their challenges. As absolute statements about Jesus, they leave no room for negotiation, and that doesn’t always sit easily for us. These names have proven to be a stumbling block for many who don’t like the idea of anyone being lost to an eternal death. What we must remember is that Jesus feels the same way. “The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 He not only feels that way but also did something about it. Jesus’ death and resurrection was not exclusive to just a few. He sacrificed Himself as an atonement for each and every person who has or will yet live. He knew that there was only one way and so He made certain that way was available to all.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and He made certain all three were made available to all of humanity out of His great love for you and for me. What more should we want than to dwell in His presence now and for all eternity?

Additional Verses to Consider:
Matthew 7:13-14, 1 John 1:6, John 8:31-32, 1 John 5:20, John 1:4, John 10:10, 1 John 5:11-12, Colossians 3:4, Genesis 18:16-33

 

Lord,
I know these names of Yours are not always easy to accept. In fact, they can sometimes even cause us pain when we consider others who we care about deeply. But I thank you for being clear about these truths. You have not left us with questions or uncertainty when it comes to what matters most. We can trust what You say and do for You are Truth and therefore we know we can have Life eternal with the Father because You are the Way and the Life. And I thank you for your endless love and patience with all humanity and Your willingness to do what was needed to ensure that the Way was open to all.

Son of Man

 

“’Today salvation has come to this house,’ Jesus told him, ‘because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.’” Luke 19:9-10

Son of Man is the name Jesus uses for Himself the most in the gospels, but interestingly enough, it is a name for which there are a lot of questions and uncertainty about its ultimate meaning. Some have even posited that Jesus intentionally used the title Son of Man because it was more ambiguous. If the people He was speaking to did not have a strong preconceived idea about this name and who they thought should carry the title, Jesus had more freedom to reveal Himself to the people through this name. So what do we learn from Jesus’ use of the name Son of Man?

First, there was once a historical view that the name Son of Man was merely meant to acknowledge the complete humanity of Christ- in the same way the name is used for Ezekiel in the book named for him. However, in almost every situation where Jesus uses the name for Himself, He is also discussing, teaching or acting upon the divine authority He holds. He calls Himself Son of Man as He performs the miracle of healing and offers forgiveness of sins (Luke 5:17-26). He calls Himself Son of Man when He declares Himself Lord of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:8) He calls Himself Son of Man when He discusses His role in the salvation of mankind. (John 3:11-18, Luke 9:22, Mark 14:41, Matthew 12:40, Matthew 20:28) He calls Himself Son of Man as he teaches that our response to Him will be reflected in how heaven responds to us, (Luke 12:8-12) and He refers to Himself thus when He describes His eventual exaltation. (Mark 14:62). Because of this, the name Son of Man must carry as much weight regarding His divinity as it does His humanity. Thus, “The Son of Man is the bond between earth and heaven, belongs in an equal degree to both; He is the medium through which God reaches man and man reaches God.” (The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, J.D. Pentecost)  

Second, Jesus does not refer to Himself as the son of a man. No, He is The Son of Man. To be a son held great significance in regards to one’s lineage, inheritance, representation and more for the Jewish people. For Jesus to say He is the Son of Man, He is uniquely identifying Himself with not just His own humanity but with all of humanity. Jesus is claiming to be the representative for all humanity- past, present and future- regardless of their human lineage.

Finally, the most significant Old Testament reference to the name Son of Man is found in the book of Daniel chapter 7. “On the basis of verse 18 (“The holy people of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever”), many scholars have interpreted this vision as a prophecy of the collective future and glory of Israel. But verses 13–14 seem to suggest more than this—that Israel will be led by a representative who is described as a heavenly figure worthy of universal worship.” (Jesus and the Gospels: an Introduction and Survey, C.L. Blomberg) Verses 13 & 14 read, “and I saw One like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him. He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.” Such language takes on a more messianic theme while also suggesting that Jesus is the ultimate representative of the people of Israel and the fulfillment of this kingdom prophecy.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ll ever read Son of Man so casually again. It is a name rich in context and worthy of much time and consideration. Dwell with the Son of Man today and stand in awe of all that He is.

 

Lord,
Son of Man- what a powerful reminder of how all-encompassing You are. You meet us where we are but remain perfect in power and righteousness. You fulfill the prophecies to the nation of Israel and offer to be our perfect representative. And above all else, You will be defined by none other than Yourself. May we never lose sight of that and may we always worship You for who You have revealed Yourself to be, not who we want You to be.

Lead

 

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. … I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father. I lay down My life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.” John 10:11, 14-16

I grew up on a farm in northern Illinois, but I think I should make one thing very clear here…. I am not much of a farm girl. My father would agree. I loved the country life.  I loved the space and most of the animals. I loved the green of the fields and the slower lifestyle, but I generally kept a good distance between me and the real farm work, when possible. The closest claim I have to being a farm girl was that I did show pigs at our county 4-H fair for two years. However, I probably shouldn’t boast too much on that adventure, seeing that one of those times I ended up riding my pig in the arena. Not exactly how you are supposed to show a pig. So, as I said before, I’m not much of a farm girl and I’m definitely not well versed in the care of sheep.

I have done a bit of research on the responsibilities of a shepherd and why those tasks were necessary. There are many. A shepherd must provide for his flock, making certain they have good pastureland and clean, fresh water. He must be vigilant to watch for any approaching predators and must be willing to fight to protect his flock. He must be mindful of the sheep at all times and watch for any signs of disease or illness. He must tend to the cleanliness and hygiene of the flock to help reduce the chance of infection. He must be willing to seek out those that wander away and become lost.

However there seems to be one duty that encompasses all of the above. A shepherd must lead his flock. Sheep are fairly helpless creatures. They need a shepherd who will safely and wisely lead them. This leadership will allow the shepherd to move the sheep to better pastures, guide them to good water, and help them find a safer location to rest. A shepherd’s leadership decides when to shear and when oil is needed to repel the flies. A shepherd’s leadership keeps a watchful eye out for those who would prey upon his flock and recognizes when one is going astray or has wandered off.

Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He quite literally laid down His life for His sheep and He continues to care for all who recognize His call. He tends to our deepest needs and offers limitless protection. He pursues us and celebrates when one who was lost is brought into the flock. He trims and molds us as needed, so that we might be better able to face what lies ahead. Jesus is our Good Shepherd who “restores our soul and leads up on paths of righteousness.” (Psalm 23:3)

 Being a shepherd is a full-time job that has often been viewed as lowly and thankless. Take time today to thank God that we have a Good Shepherd who was not afraid of the lowly or the dirty, who came not for honor and acclaim but for the good of His sheep.

More verses to consider:
1 Samuel 17:34-36, Isaiah 40:11, Revelation 7:17, 1 Peter 2:24-25, Matthew 9:36, Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34

Lord,
There is none like You. A shepherd cares and tends, leads and defends, guides and protects. What a beautiful description for you! Thank you for guiding us along the narrow and dangerous paths and leading us to still waters. Thank you for giving Your all- absolutely everything- for us. We don’t deserve it; we never could.

Lord of All

 

“Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.
Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—
of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11

Amen!

We have already seen that Jesus has always existed;
He has no beginning and no end.
He was not created but has always been with God and is in fact God.
Jesus is the Word, the creator of all that we see.
He is the Light of the World and the Bread of Life.
He is our Alpha and Omega, the One who was, and is, and is to come—our Great I AM.
Jesus is supreme. He has no equal.
He is the Almighty One, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
He is our Great High Priest, our Advocate, our Mediator and the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, and as such He fulfilled all of the law that came before and offers a more perfect and complete promise to those who will believe in Him.

Jesus is all of these and more! Yet here we see that He did not allow pride in who He is to stop Him from being obedient and fulfilling the plan and will of God. Instead, He humbled Himself. Oh! How He humbled Himself, taking on the form of His creation—wrapped in weak and frail flesh. Jesus became one of us, but it doesn’t end there, for He would humble Himself even more. He would face one of the greatest forms of humiliation- death on a cross- along with the excruciating pain from both the crucifixion and the denial of those He loved.

But that humiliation and pain was not the end for Jesus. No, three days later He would rise victorious, and God would see Him exalted and restored- at the right hand of the throne of God. And one day… one day everyone-- no matter how big or small, whether they were for or against Him up until that point, whether alive or buried centuries before— one day, EVERYONE will acknowledge Him for who He is and will give Him the praise and honor He deserves. For all will see and know that Jesus is Lord of ALL!

Hallelujah! Praise His Holy Name!

I encourage you to take time today to worship the Lord of All. Below are a few additional verses to consider:
1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 66:4, Acts 10:36, Romans 10:12, Hebrews 1:6, Revelation 4:8-11, Revelations 5:9-14, Revelation 7:9-12

I stand in awe of who You are, Lord. I stand in awe that You would chose to pursue us after all the ways- time after time- that we have turned from You and followed our own foolish ways. You are amazing and awesome and worthy of so much praise. Not because of what You've done for us, but solely because of who You are. May we never lose sight of that.

Reconcile

 

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, Himself human, who gave Himself—a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6

Jesus is our Mediator, the one and only who can help bring about a reconciliation between us and God. But why is reconciliation even needed? If we are God’s creation and He is all-knowing and all-powerful, why can He not just choose to overlook our sins? Why was sacrifice needed? There are two sides to this question, and we must look at both: who God is and the reality of our sin.

God is all-knowing and He is all-powerful. He is love and He is truth. He is also holy, righteous and just. Sin puts humanity into open rebellion against God and His authority, and no person- past, present or future- is exempt from this reality for all choose at some point to defy the authority of God. This reality is made worse by the fact that in our fallen state, there is nothing we can do by ourselves to rectify this situation. Our sin is too overwhelming and the effects too great.

Because God is holy and just, there must be a reckoning, a payment made to cancel the debt created by our sin. He cannot simply ignore our willful disobedience. It would go against His very nature. Yet out of His great love for us, God wants to be reconciled to His creation, and so a way had to be made that would cover our debt and make peace between God and man possible.

God first created the system of sacrifices and offerings that we see in the Old Testament. This system was a foretaste of what was needed. Through the law and the old covenant, the condemnation of our sin was made evidently clear to us, and the sacrifices offered a way to receive temporary atonement for the sins of the people. However, it was only ever meant to be a temporary solution. It was never designed to offer complete and lasting reconciliation, for “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin.” (Hebrews 10:4) “Animal sacrifices did not offer true atonement, but they were the means God appointed that allowed Him to pass over the sins of Israel out of gracious forbearance, knowing that those sins would one day be dealt with by the atonement and mediation of Christ.” (Ligonier.org, Christ our Mediator) Only One who was without sin or blame could truly clear our debt.

Jesus, who walked this earth both as a human and the very Son of God, was uniquely and solely qualified to do this. He alone can fully represent the best interest of both parties, and He alone was able to offer a perfect, unblemished sacrifice.  In Him, we find the only one who can completely and perfectly serve as a link between God and man.

So we see once again that Jesus came to offer a perfect, complete, lasting answer, and because of Him, we can know peace with God no matter what we may have done.

1 Samuel 15:22, Micah 6:6-8, Hosea 6:6, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 12:23-24

 

Lord,
We have certainly made of mess of Your beautiful creation and we find ourselves in a desperate state because of our own actions. What hope have we but in You? Thank you for making a way, from the very beginning, for us to approach Your throne of grace and mercy. Thank you for Your Son and His willingness to do what only He could do.

Defend

 

“My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1

Merriam-Webster states that an advocate is “one who pleads the cause of another, specifically: one who leads the cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court.” One day we each will have to face judgment for our earthly deeds and actions. (2 Corinthians 5:10) Can anyone of us ever hope to be found innocent on our own? Certainly not! Our sin condemns us even now- imagine how much more it would do so when presented to a holy, righteous Lord.

But we have been given an Advocate- One who will take up our case and plead for mercy on our behalf- Jesus Christ. His defense cannot depend upon our earthly actions, for as we’ve said already because of our sins, we have already been found guilty. No amount of good deeds can change that. There is only one argument Jesus can make on our behalf, and it is the argument of His righteousness, poured out on our behalf on the cross. “We are guilty of sin and unable to meet the Lord’s demands, but the perfect righteousness of Jesus, imputed to us in our justification, sets us right with God. Matthew Henry writes: ‘The clients are guilty; their innocence and legal righteousness cannot be pleaded. It is the advocate’s own righteousness that he must plead for the criminals.’” (Our Righteous Advocate, Ligonier.org)

Jesus is not only our Advocate, but He is our very Testimony. For those who have believed in Him and accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, His defense for us will be His very sacrifice- His death on the cross. In such a case, the debt has already been paid and therefore, no charge against us will remain.

That is the radical, all-consuming, eternal love that the Lord has for me, for you, for us all, and that is the Advocate who invites us to come to Him and lay our burdens down.

Extra Reading:
Isaiah 43:25, Romans 8:1-2, Romans 8:34, John 3:16-18

 

Lord,
I don’t deserve the forgiveness You have offered me. I know my thoughts, actions and words leave me guilty on all accounts. Nothing I can say or do will change that. Praise be to God- You didn’t leave me in that state but have offered us each a way out from under the impossible debt we each owe.

Foundation

 

“Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right had of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:1-2

The Source and Perfecter of our Faith sounds a bit like the beginning and the end, doesn’t it? However this name isn’t talking about Jesus’ eternality or His creative ability, so there’s definitely something here to be considered. The King James Version translates the Greek word archēgos ("source") to author. The English Standard Version says founder. All of these words are appropriate translations and together they do help us have a clearer picture of how we understand this name. Our faith- the communal Christian faith (Acts 6:7, Galatians 1:23)- is founded or based in and on Jesus Christ. There is no other person/no prophet or priest or church leader upon which we should build our faith. He is the rock and the sure foundation, tested and true for whom “the one who believes will be unshakeable.” (Isaiah 28:16)

The other half of this name strikes a chord with me- Perfecter. I don’t know about you, but I love the sound of that. I spent most of my teen years and well into my adult years struggling with perfectionism. However I have been given ample opportunities to realize that I am not and will never be perfect. At first that was a hard pill to swallow, but with time, I am finding more and more peace in that statement. I’m not perfect and no one really expects me to be. Ahhh, feels good. But it feels even better when I realize, God is perfect, and not just according to some human standard-- He is perfect in all ways. Not only that, but when Jesus walked on this earth, He was without sin. He lived a perfect life. He’s the only one who has ever done that- the only one who ever could- and in so doing, He left us an example of how we too should live. The Greek word teleiōtēs ("perfecter") can also be translated “one who completes” or finisher- as in one who finishes a race. Jesus ran the race marked out before Him and completed the faith with His death, His burial and His triumphant resurrection.

The whole time I’ve been writing, I’ve had a children’s song running through my head.

“The wise man built his house upon the Rock.
The wise man built his house upon the Rock.
The wise man built his house upon the Rock and the rains came tumbling down.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up, but the house on the Rock stood firm!”

The storms of this world will come and I pray that when they do, your life is rooted in the Author and Perfecter of the faith.

Further Reading:
Colossians 2:6-7, 1 Peter 2:4-6, Ephesians 2:19-22, John 19:28-30

 

Lord,
What an incredible gift You have provided us through Your Son and the faith He made possible. What a comfort to know that You understand and can sympathize with all that we fear and face. Not only that, but You overcame, You conquered, You finished triumphantly.