2000-10-16 - The Person of Christ

Part 3 - I Received a Person (Colossians 2:6)

Philippians 2:6,7 Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

John 20:27-29 records the account of doubting Thomas' encounter with Jesus after the resurrection. Remember his exclamation when he realized Jesus was in fact risen "My Lord and my God," was what he cried out.

It was a startling claim. But what is interesting is that the devils also know that Christ is God, but He is not their Lord, or their God. (James 2:19) In fact, their knowledge that Christ is God is only a source of terror to them.

Thomas could believe in and receive a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Such an option is not available to demons and devils. Habakkuk 3:18 focuses on the personal nature of salvation and the personalness of Christ when it says, "I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."

So also in Luke 1:47, "My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior." Christ is a person, and a personal savior for all that come to Him, and receive Him, Revelation 3:20.

The personal nature of our Savior is something that concerns us greatly. Galatians 2:20 is a great comfort to us. "He loved me, and gave Himself for me."

It is not enough to know that there is a personal God who saves, but rather, we must know this personal God for ourselves in particular. We must apply the promises of salvation to our own hearts. This personalness can again be seen in Ephesians 1:13, "In whom you trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." "In whom you trusted" applies the work of salvation to a person. That person is Jesus Christ.

Salvation is personal because of the person of Christ. Jeremiah 30:21, "Who is he that engages his heart to draw near to God?". This is what we must do. Engage our hearts to draw near to God, saying with Thomas, "My Lord and my God." We speak of salvation personally, as in Lamentations 3:24, "The Lord is my portion, says my soul." It is because we received a person, in salvation, that we not only have a God and a Lord, but also, our God, and our Lord.

"Have your heart right with Christ, and he will visit you often, and so turn weekdays into Sundays, meals into sacraments, homes into temples, and Earth into heaven." Charles Spurgeon

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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