Sunday, December 20, 2009

Surrender All - Live By His Will

Joh 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.


Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was


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Jesus spoke those words- 'I can of mine own self do nothing.' He'd taken on humanity and left His divinity in the process. He made Him self human which is lower than that angels. He made Himself subject unto death- something an un-glorified divine being cannot do - die. Sounds awful doesn't it? Yet, Jesus was a man and purposely became a man. He was born of the Spirit yet born a human baby in human flesh. He was born a Jew and as the custom was He was circumcised. His divine flesh was cut, it bled. Outwardly He looked no different than any other human baby, human child, human man. He could live among humans and pass for a human because He gave up the divinity and became human to allow Himself to be tempted in all ways- JUST AS WE ARE. He lived connected to the Heavenly Father not through any divine power but through the same power we possess, through the spirit. He prayed to God, He studied the Word of God even though He knew it so well because He was and is the Word. He used the power of the scriptures and admonished us to do the same.


IF Jesus hadn't become human just like you and I, able to be tempted just like you and I in all our weakness, His death would be pointless because all it would reveal to us is that it takes being a God to overcome sin- something we are not. What it takes is being connected to God spiritually, not being a God ourselves. And Jesus was connected to God fully.


He said- I can of mine own self do nothing - and He wasn't just saying that, He meant it. He continued saying - as I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me.


More proof that He gave up His divinity to become human- He said- And now O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.


Jesus had given up His unique glory- a glory He had before the world was. Why before the world was and not just before He became human? Because before God made the world and made humans He had it all thought out a plan was put in place much like we make contingency plans. Not that the plans have to be put in place, but that they are there just in case they are needed. More often than not contingency plans become obsolete upon a successful endeavor, but they are there to be used in an emergency and the human emergency came about and the contingency plan was enacted, a plan set up before the world was made, before mankind was created. If angels could fall and separate themselves from God through sin it stands to reason that any creature given the power of choice could fall as well. There is no one to save the angels- non-procreating beings, perhaps God knowing that in making man in His image would need to provide a way for them to connect to Him once again if the connection was broken. The angels eventually all made a choice for good or evil and we too make that choice by either believing in Christ or not. Believing that it takes us being connected through Christ to God, that Christ was born and lived, then died to reveal that it was entirely possible for mankind to live sinless and through Him we can live sinless. Through Him we can have our sins washed away. Christ of His own self could do nothing. We of our own selves can do nothing, we must live through the will of the Father by the grace of Jesus Christ.


It's not easy trying to believe fully in Christ. It's easy to superficially say we do, but to LIVE our lives as we believe, that's not easy at all. Surrendering our will to God's- it's more that just words to say, it a way of life.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we surrender all to God and live by His will.


Amen.

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