JC Blog

Like the Israelites many people are passionate for and about God but have no regard for the truth of Jesus Christ. We use our religions and doctrines to umbrella God into what we want him to be or what we think he is. But Paul said in yesterday passage that there is laid in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and fall and that stone is Jesus Christ ( Romans 9:33 ). If you remove Jesus from His deity and worship God without regard to him then your worship is in vain and it is not based upon truth or knowledge.

This is an incredible reality to understand. Worship is misguided and meaningless unless it is based upon the truth of God's word. Jesus said the same thing in John chapter 4 when he was speaking with the women at the well. She had been questioning him about an age old argument between the Jews and the Samaritans and Jesus revealed to her an amazing thing. He said, "You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth" ( John 4:22-24 ). He tells her plainly that they do not know the truth. The truth is that true worshippers have to worship God in spirit and truth. This can only happen through Jesus. God is a spirit and to communicate with him on a spiritual level we must be born again. Born not naturally but supernaturally from above.

The world is okay with religion and okay with talking about God, and the world wants you to think that many roads lead to heaven. It is acceptable to talk about Buddha and teach about Allah but at the mention of the name of Jesus the world gets hostile, because there is power in that name. Peter said, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" ( Acts 4:12 ). So as long as we can be deceived looking outside of Jesus for salvation and meaning in life then we are no threat to the world. Just like Paul said in today's passage, "I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge" ( Romans 10:2 ).

Jesus is the vital piece of information that we must have in worshipping God as he desires. Even as Christians we can be well meaning in what we do, but what good is that? Hosea said, "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge" ( Hosea 4:6 ). Unless we understand the truth of God and his word we will destroy ourselves in our well meaning ignorance. God's word is full of the person of Jesus Christ, what he has done, what he has provided in his redemption package and what he will do for you once you come to him. He is the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to God the Father except through him ( John 14:6 ). This is the knowledge that Paul desired the Israelites to have. He knew Jesus was the missing link in their devotion to God.

Jesus said in John, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" ( John 8:31-32 ). The truth is the truth, but to be free, you have to know it. Religion does not want you to be free, that is why it keep you bound up under the power of the law. But it was John who said, "the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" ( John 1:17 ). Today, it is my prayer that you understand the grace and truth found in Jesus alone and fully trust in him as your personal savior. This is the knowledge that Paul desired for the entire world to grasp. Jesus is the rock laid in Zion that many stumble over, however to those who fall upon Him they will never be put to shame ( Romans 9:33 ). Today, be blessed by this truth in Jesus name, amen!

While on this earth Jesus did not seek that of his own interests, instead he was about his Father's business. We see this theme running throughout the gospels dating clear back to when he was twelve and his parents found him in the temple listening and asking questions. When they finally found him after searching intently, they asked why he had treated them in such a manner. He answered, "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" ( Luke 2:49 ). One way to put it was that it was necessary for him to be in His Father's house and occupied with His business. His parents didn't understand this at the time, but thankfully for us Jesus was consumed with the Father's will and accomplishing it on earth.

Today's passage is a reminder that we are to consider Christ, who looked not to his own interest or to pleasing himself, but instead looked to pleasing God. David prophesied about the Christ when he said, "for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me" ( Psalm 69:9 ). Christ faced much opposition in this life but he gave no thought to these things. He was focused and on His mission the entire time. He was intent on doing the redemptive work that the Father gave him. Love and fervor for His house consumed him. This is evident in the things that Jesus said and did. He constantly reminded the disciples that he only said what the Father said and he only did what he saw the Father do ( John 5:19 ). He said that the works he did testified to the fact that he came from the Father. ( John 10:25 ). He was consumed with his mission and showed us the Father by who he was. Hebrews says, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" ( Hebrews 1:3a ). Everything that God is can be seen and understood by knowing Christ; he is the exact representation of the Father for us. This was accomplished because looked not to please himself but to please God and do His will.

As believers we are to follow Christ's example. Romans 15 begins by saying, "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." ( Romans 15:1-3 ). When we are seeking the interests of God and His kingdom we are building up each other in the truth because we are operating as God operates. Not only will we encourage our brothers and sisters in living this way, but we are showing Christ to the world. I John 4:17 says, "In this world we are like him", the King James Bible says it this way, "because as he is, so are we in this world". Just as Christ was the exact representation of God to the world so that we could understand him, we are the exact representation of Christ in this world. This likeness was deposited in our born again spirits so if we live out of this new nature then the world around us will see Christ and know the Father by our actions.

What an amazing truth to know and understand. We should not look to our own interests but we should be looking to God and operating in his will for our lives. We should be consumed with His house and busy about His business. We are to consider Christ as our example and pursue the kingdom in everything we do building up and encouraging the body and showing God's love to the world.