Getting to know Jesus

It is Christmas Eve. The best time of the year!!! A time filled with happiness and rejoicing. Even the air we breathe feels good during this time. Family dinners, Carol singing, gifts, brownies, cookies, Christmas Crib, Christmas tree, Santa Claus and decorations are few things that comes to mind when we think about Christmas. But the actual reason for this season is JESUS CHRIST. Even though God, He chose to leave the comfort of heaven and be born as a human to endure the cross, out of pure love for His creation – the human kind, including you and me. There is no other time better than this to get to know him, if you do not know him already.

Let us open the treasure book to find “JESUS”.

OPENING THE TREASURE BOOK

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. 

John 1:1‭-‬2

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Colossians 1:15‭-‬17

Jesus was in the beginning with God. He is the Word of God, the image of God and first born over all creation. All things in heaven and earth were created by Him, through Him and for Him. He is Son of God, the Word of God and God himself.

The divine birth

In God’s appointed time, He sent His son to be born as a human to fulfil the eternal plan of salvation. First time in the history of man kind, a child was born to a virgin. The birth of this child – Jesus, even divided the timeline of the world into two eras – BC and AD. The devil tried to kill baby Jesus by the hand of Herod. But God gave visions to His parents and sustained them. Jesus grew in wisdom, favor and stature with God and with men.

The ministry

When Jesus was about 30 years, He got baptized by John the Baptist and the Holy Spirit descended on Him. From that time on, He started preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. Love and Compassion are two main characteristics we see all through His life. He was also impartial and was friends with specially those who were outcast – the sinners and the tax collectors. He taught the people, preached the kingdom, healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out evil spirits and did many wonders and miracles.

The suffering and death

In the olden days, once a year Israelites sacrificed an animal for the atonement of sins of all their people. Jesus became this lamb who was sacrificed for the Sin of the world. He was beaten brutally, mocked, cursed, ridiculed and crucified with thieves – all for no crime of His, but for doing the good He did. He died once and for all – a perfect lamb sacrificed for the sins of the whole of humankind. His blood bought us pardon from the punishment we deserve because of the multitude of sins we commit. He gave His life as a ransom for our sins and redeemed us from the clutches of sin. He took our punishments and in exchange gave us eternal life.

The resurrection

The people who crucified Him made sure His grave was sealed so well that no one would be able to remove the covering stone. They also kept guards to watch over. Little did they know that these weren’t strong enough to hold back Jesus. The grave cloths could not hold on to Him, the grave could not contain Him and Death could not detain Him. He rose back to life on the third day as He promised. Jesus ascended to heaven in the presence of His disciples. He is still alive and is the same Yesterday, today and forever.

Most people know these facts about Jesus. This doesn’t mean you know Him on a personal level.

To get to know someone on a personal level and to share an intimate relationship him / her, we need to spend more time with that person. This will help us to understand their likes and dislikes, behavioral traits and so on. So to get to know Jesus intimately, we need to spend more time with Him. We learned that He is the Word of God. Spending time meditating the scriptures will help us to get to know Him better – to know His likes, dislikes and other behavioral traits. Spend time talking to Him in prayer and hearing from Him.

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.

I John 2:3‭-‬5

If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

John 14:7

The scripture gives us a test to check if we really know Him well. If we know Him intimately, we will Keep His commandments and walk in His ways. If we are not doing so, it means what we do not know Him so well as we think.

If we should keep His commands, we should know them first. We get to know it from the scriptures. So read the scriptures regularly to get to know His commands and meditate on it to get to know Him, to walk in His ways and to do His will. Also if we know Jesus, it means we also know the Father.

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Mathew 7: 23

But on the other hand, if you do not walk in His ways doing His will, then the entry to the Kingdom of God will be denied. Our Code of Conduct is to imitate God and walk in His ways.

Treasures uncovered

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for the divine plan of salvation. Thank you Jesus for enduring the cross for our sake. We want to know you on a personal level. We long for an intimate relation with you. Father, reveal the treasures of scripture to us. Help us to keep your commands and walk in your ways. In Jesus name, Amen.

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