Where is Jesus?

Where is Jesus? I have sat through many sermons in a multitude of churches of  varying denominations. Some speak of the wages of sin. Some speak of equity and justice. Some simply sing a few songs, tell a few stories, and ask for money. On blessed occasions I have attended a gathering where hearts and minds are focused  fully to the breadth and depth of the good news of Jesus Christ.

Jesus tells us that He is the Way. But many of us have no idea how to follow The Way. We have the glorious gift of grace, freely given by our Heavenly Father through the perfect willing sacrifice of Jesus. We could not earn it. We, by our own means, as an entire species could not, and cannot live up to the holiness that is our Maker. We are not by the simple nature of being human, loving enough, compassionate enough, or selfless enough. We war with eachother over earthly standards, placing our notions and ideas of who we are and should be above what our Savior has taught us. 

John 3

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 

Who was Nicodemus? He was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He was a man of position and authority. Yet, with his first word, he humbles himself, calling Jesus Rabbi. Jesus was a man of no means. He was not wealthy. He did not hold position among the ruling council. He was a man from Nazareth, which, as we learn from Nathanial (John 1:36) does not have a reputation for producing  anything good, much less a teacher to whom a renown leader of the Sanhedrin would give respect and honor. Nicodemus declares, “You are a teacher who has come from God.” So this man of means, authority, and position, immediately gives Jesus honor and acknowledges that He is from God. Contrast this, if you will, to the mocking, brutality, and scorn of the crucifixion. 

To continue in the Word,

 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

16    For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

Who shall have eternal life? If we believe Jesus, “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal – everlasting life.” This is an all encompassing statement. Nowhere does Jesus use any earthly standard or denominator, not race, social status, personal history, political affiliation, job experience, or life experience. This is the measure in its entirety. This is the spiritual measure, the heavenly measure. 

Jesus then continues,

17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

  Jesus is the light. (John 12:35) It is through His love we are transformed. This is not a worldly thing. This is a miraculous thing. This is not a grocery list of good deeds to be checked off so we might be good enough to be part of the kingdom. This is not being born of any fleshly detail. The worldy labels by which you identify yourself hold no weight. Your race is human. Praise the Almighty Father! He builds His kingdom with humans, men, women, children, of all walks of life, and all experiences. Once we root our entire identity in who we are to the Father, not because of what we have done, but because of what our Savior has done for us that we may be called the Children of God, everything else falls into its proper place. All of your other qualifiers, those little boxes you check when you go to the doctor or apply for a job are put in subjugation to the truth of who you are to God. This truth is what we needs as followers of Jesus, because only through that lens can we hold any hope of being a source of love and light to any who may need it. Once we acknowledge who we are to the Father, we may learn to treat ourselves with proper love and respect, because the Most High, Most Holy Creator of all that is seen and unseen looks upon each one of us, personally, individually, and calls us His. From there, as we are led by the Holy Spirit, we learn to see others as precious to the Father. We connect deeper, because that fellow human isn’t just one more person that sits in a pew, or lives on your street. That, my fellow traveler, is another person that your Savior and King suffered and died for. As He said, Jesus did not come to condemn, but to save. As it was a crucial part of the Father’s plan, so is it a crucial part of our walk.  

When we war with one another, we submit ourselves to the will of the Enemy. Willingly or unwillingly we become his pawns, participating in a war of flesh and blood, red vs blue, man vs woman, rich vs poor, black vs white, me vs you. That is not our war. That is not our way. In his letter to the Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10, Paul writes, 10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Let’s break this down. Put on the whole armor of God, that we may withstand the wiles of the devil. The devil is crafty. Our enemy is not to be underestimated. While we are carrying on our monotonous day to day stuff, there is a spiritual war taking place all around us. We know this because in the next verse, Paul tells us. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the literal powers of darkness. 

He, again, tells us put on the whole armor of God, not so we can annihilate and destroy, not so we can rend and tear, but so we may simply be able to stand. The war is already won. Jesus has already won the war. We are here to stand, to be the light in the world, to reflect the goodness of God and the love of Jesus that those stumbling in the darkness may run to the outpost and find salvation. The best the enemy can hope to do is spiritually destroy every human he can in the take down, and he will not hesitate to use us against eachother if we leave that space for him. We are the Father’s own shield wall. We are charged simply to stand, and by implication, to help our brothers and sisters to do the same. How do we stand? We use these things. We are to be prepared with truth (Jesus Christ the holy perfect and pure Son of God, sacrificed Himself for the atonement of all our sins, rose fully alive from the grave, and ascended into heaven.)  

The second is righteousness. This in no way and by no means implies that we are better or holier than anyone else. This righteousness does not exit because we are so extra good. This is our defense, that we are made righteous by the blood of Jesus. We are claimed, by the blood of Jesus. We are part of the kingdom because we have a Savior who took our part and in Him there was no sin. He was righteous. It is His righteousness that allows us to be called righteous. Third, we are equipped with the Gospel of Peace. This is the good news and the metal from which the entirety of the armor is forged.  Be prepared to share it.

Fourth, Paul says “above all” take the shield of faith. When your being is rooted in what Jesus has done for you, and how much the Father loves you, the slings and arrows of our Enemy, lose their sting.  The helmet of salvation defends against thoughts of, “If God really loved you, He wouldn’t have let this happen,” or “You aren’t good enough to deserve God’s love,” or any other nonsense that threatens to make you turn away from the love of God. When those slings and arrows come at you, from within or without,  the assurance of your Salvation will be the rock upon which you stand firm. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God. This is where we learn who we are. This is where we are given our purpose. I John 4 speaks to us as little children, beloved of the Father. John writes, 

1 Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: for many false Prophets are gone out into the world.

2 Hereby shall ye know the Spirit of God, Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.

3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God: but this is the spirit of Antichrist, of whom ye have heard, how that he should come, and now already he is in this world.

4 Little children, ye are of God, and have overcome them: for greater is he that is in you, than he that is in this world.

5 They are of this world, therefore spake they of this world, and this world heareth them.

6 We are of God, he that knoweth God, heareth us: he that is not of God heareth us not. Hereby know we the Spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

7 Beloved, let us love one another:  for love cometh of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8 He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love.

9 Herein was that love of God made manifest amongst us, because God sent his only begotten Son into this world, that we might live through him.

10 Herein is that love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a reconciliation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfect in us.

13 Hereby know we, that we dwell in him, and he in us: because he hath given us of his Spirit.

14 And we have seen, and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

15 Whosoever confesseth that Jesus is the Son of God, in him dwelleth God, and he in God.

16 And we have known, and believed the love that God hath in us, God is love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.

17 Herein is that love perfect in us, that we should have boldness in the day of judgment: for as he is, even so are we in this world.

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear: for fear hath painfulness: and he that feareth, is not perfect in love.

19 We love him, because he loved us first.

This is a tall order. It is not something we accomplish by the flesh, or by the measures of the world’s standards. It is a battle in which we stand under the banner of pure, compassionate, forgiving love, unsullied by carnal or earthly mandates. It is more complete and perfect than the mind can comprehend or bear. We get a small sample a tiny taste of that love when we have a child. Little snippets when our souls reach out and mourn with one another. But as He who was without sin lowered His estate and lived among us, He has called us to turn our eyes upon Him that we may be changed, reborn, refreshed, invigorated and filled with the perfect love that comes only from the divine. This is what we have been given and this is the cause for which we stand. When anger, confusion, frustrations, threaten our stability, Jesus hears our cries, he hears our spirit call to Him. Get on your knees, praise Him for who He is. Then remember who you are to Him. Remember what He has done for you. We are strongest and most able to stand against the enemy, when we keep our eyes focused on Jesus.

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