Jesus was a man of greatness

JESUS WAS A MAN OF GREATNESS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
CHARLES EDWARD JEFFERSON
THE GREATNESSOF JESUS
"His name shaU be calledWonderful."
— Isaiah ix : 6.
What is greatness ? Who is a greatman ? What
is the distinctive element in a man which gives him
this proud distinction? The dictionaries will not
help us. We find it difficult to draw a verbal line
betweenthe greatman and the man who is not
great. And yet the muse of history has no difficulty
in picking out individuals here and there on whose
heads she places crowns. With a bold hand she
inscribes certain names upon the shining list, and
bids coming generations revere these names as those
of the world's immortals. If it is difficult to write a

definition of greatness, there seems to be no diffi-
culty in finding men whom the heart persists in
counting great.
When we scrutinize the faces ofthis immortal
company, we are struck by the variety of gifts and
graces.No two of these men are alike. Homer
is not like Phidias, nor is Phidias like Pericles, nor
is Pericles like Plato. Virgil is diflFerent from Caesar,
who is different from Dante, and Dante is not at all
339
340 CHARACTER OF JESUS
like Scipio or Raphael or Justinian. Goethe is dif-
ferent from Frederick the Great, and the latter is
different from Kant and Hegel, and these two are
not like either MendelssohnorBismarck. Na-
poleon and La Place and Racine and Pasteurare
all different types of men. William the Conqueror

is not like Shakespeare, noris Bishop Butler like
Newton, nor is the Duke of Wellington like Glad-
stone. Franklin is different from Washington, and
Lincoln is different from Longfellow, and Fulton
and Morse are different from all. And yet all these
are enrolled among the mighty dead. In what re-
spectwere they alike? What characteristic is com-
mon to all? In such a heterogeneouscompanyis
it possible to find any mark which makes them
akin? It is possible, and the quality which is com-
mon to all is an extraordinary capacityfor achieve-
ment. These men all did things, enduring things,
so that the world was not the same after they had
gottendone with it. They carved statues or painted
pictures or led armies or ruled states orcomposed
music or framed laws or wrote poems or made dis-
coveries orinventions which enriched the lives and
homes of men. They achieved something worth
while. They made a mark on the mind of the
world. The product of their genius is an imperish-
able possessionof our race.
Was Jesus great? Whatdid he achieve? What

did he ever do? He never chiselleda statue or
painted a picture or wrote a poem or composeda
HIS GREATNESS341
piece of music or constructeda philosophical system
or published a book or led an army or controlleda
senate or framed a law or made a discoveryor con-
trived an invention or did any one of the things
which have made the names of other men illustrious.
He never wore a crownor held a sceptre or threw
round his shoulders a purple robe. He never held
an office either in church or state. He did abso-
lutely nothing in art, literature, science,philosophy,
invention, statesmanshipor war, the sevenking-
doms in which the world's greatmen have won their
crowns. And yet everybody calls Jesus great. No
informed man in any part of the world would to-day
deny him that exalting adjective. Notonly is he
counted great, but in a large part of the world he is
counted greatest — so greatthat no one else canbe

compared with him. Charles Lamb gave expres-
sion to the feeling of us all when he said, "If
Shakespeare wasto come into this room, we should ^^
all rise up to meet him; but if Christ was to come
into it, we should all fall upon our knees." His
greatness is greaterthan that of all others, and it is
also different.
Other men are greatartists or poets or generals
or statesmen, whereas Jesus is a greatman. His
greatness lies in the realm of personality, in the
kingdom of character. His achievementwas not
wrought with paint or with chisel or with swordor
with pen, but by the heavenly magic of a victorious
will. There is nothing of him but his manhood.
He wore none of the spangled robes of earth. We
do not say, " Behold the poet, the orator, the philoso-
pher, the general, the statesman, the sovereign, we

say. Behold the Man!" A man may be a great
generaland still not be a greatman. Alexander
the Greatgothis title from his genius for massing
phalanxes of soldiers and hurling them with irre*
sistible fury againstthe army which opposed him.
As a man he was a weakling. Passionwrecked
him before noon. Napoleonthe Greatwas great
as a leader of armies, but as a man he was petty
and vain and despicable. As a murderer and rob-
ber he was great, but as a man he was a pygmy.
Greatstatesmenhave not always been greatmen.
Sometimes they have been imscrupulous and
cowardly, their whole interior life degradedby ap-
petites and passions which have made them under-
lings and slaves. The greatartists of the world have
not all been kings and queens in the gracesofman-
hood and womanhood. It is one of the saddestof
all surprises to discoveron reading the biographies
of the world's immortal workers how many of them
have been narrow and superstitious, selfishand
envious, sordid in their ambitions and groveling in
their aims, achieving one significant or beautiful
piece of work in the glory of which the shabbiness

of their characterhas been swallowedup. Jesus
was greatin his soul. The dimensions of his mind
and his heart were colossal.His spirit was regal,
august, sublime.
HIS GREATNESS343
How he looms above the heads of his contempo-
raries ! There were men of distinction in Palestine
nineteen centuries ago. Jesus measuredhis strength
with the greatestmenof his land and generation.
But how lacking these men were in insight the
Gospels eversrwheredisclose. Theyfumbled cardi-
nal questions and stumbled at points which were
critical. They lost themselves in the masses of
problems which they could not see through or master.
Jesus had eyes which saw to the core of every prob-
lem and to the centre of every situation. He never
missed the essentialpoint or was misled by a sub-
ordinate issue. He stripped off the accidentalfrom
the soulof the essential, and no matter how tangled

or complicateda matter was he seized the dominant
principle and made all things plain. Compared
with him the Scribes and Pharisees were owls batting
their stupid eyes in the glare of noon. Insight is a
trait of greatness. Onlygreatmen see deep into
things. It was his insight which made him formi-
dable to the men who tried to trip and trap him with
their questions. Again and again they tried it, but
they never succeeded. He always outwitted their
subtlety, and always discomfited them at their favor-
ite game. Whenever they dashedat him with a
question intended to roll him in the dust, he seized
it, turned its point upon the man who askedit, and
went on his way triumphant. Never did they get
the advantage ofhim in a discussionor an argu-
ment. No more clever man ever lived. He beat
his assailants into silence every time they attacked
him. His cleverness was too much for the acutest

intellect which wrestledwith him. He was quick,
dexterous, adroit, and yet' when we think of him
we do not think of his cleverness becausecleverness
is a scintillation of the intellect, and while intel-
lectual brilliancy dazzles us in other men, we are
not impressedby it in Jesus becausehis cleverness
is only one of many talents and endowments which
.combine to add lustre to his princely, transcendent
personality. In ambition and ideal he was in com-
parison with the leaders of his people what Mont
Blanc is to the chalets which farmers have erected
at its base.
His greatnesscomes outin his fellowshipwith his
disciples. They were strong and able men, all of
them, able later on to tiun the world upside
down; but they cut a sorry figure in the presence
of the man they acknowledgeto be their master.
They are pitifully and incorrigibly stupid. They
cannot understand some of the simplest things the
Mastersays. He is so high above them that they
cannot climb to where he is. There is pathos in his
oft-repeatedquestion, "Do you not yet under-

stand?" But it is in their temper and. ambition
that the disciples are at their worst. They were
petty, envious, selfish men. They wrangledamong
themselves as to which one of them should hold the
highest place, and even on the last evening of Jesus'
life they squabbled as to the places they should
HIS GREATNESS345
occupy around the table. No wonder he calls them
"little children," for that was all they were. They
were childish in their temper and ambitions just as
most men are. They wfere as old in years as Jesus;
but in thought and aim, in hope and ideal, they wiere
as compared with Jesus only a company of babies.
When we leave the New Testamentand walk
among the nations of the earth where shall we find
a man with whom we should be willing to compare
Jesus ofNaz^eth? Can you think of an Italian
or a German or a Frenchman or an Englishman or

an American whose name is worthy to be linked with
his? The heart draws back shuddering at the sug-
gestionof such a thought. Greatmen have come
and gone, doing their mi^ty deeds and leaving
behind names which shall not die, but what race or
nation would dare even in its most egotistic andvain-
glorious moments to suggestthat the most illustrious
of all its sons has a right to sit on a throne so high
as the throne of Jesus ? His soulis like a star and
dwells apart. He is unique, imapproached, unap-
proachable. He is the incomparable. His name is
Wonderful.
How greatJesus is canbe told by the length and
width and depth of his achievementGreatness is
measuredby the effect which it produces. Men can-
not be judged by stature or physical characteristics.
You cannot tell whether a man is greator not by
looking at his body. All men are in body sub-
stantially alike. They have the same appetites,

passionsiorgans. If you tickle them they laugh, if
you prick them they bleed. Nor canyou find a
man's greatness always in his words. For all men
use substantially the same nouns and adjectives,
verbs and adverbs. The same sentence spokenby
two men may have totally different results. One
man speaks it, and it produces no impression. It
dies in the moment of its birth. Another speaks it
and it sets hearts blazing and is remembered for
evermore. Greatness does notlie in words but in
souls. Noteven do a man's actions revealcom-
pletely what he is. In their conduct greatmen act
much as do ordinary men. It is for this reasonthat
no man is ever a hero to his valet. The valet hears
his master's words, sees the clothes he wears, the
things he eats, the engagements whichhe keeps, and
knowing these he cannotbelieve that his master is
a hero. A valet's eyes do not see to the ends of
things, nor cana valet's mind weigh effects ortrace
the track of influence. He does not know what his
master is accomplishing in the world, but it is by

the total effectof a man's life that we are to tell
whether or not he is great. Great men are all alike
in this, that they bring things to pass. Things take
place when they are present which do not take place
in their absence. Theychange the currents of men's
thoughts and seta new fashion in the world. Men
gather round them and criticise them, point out where
they fall short, and show how the thing could have
been better done in some other way ; but the critics die
HIS GREATNESS347
and are forgotten and the greatman lives on forever.
How he accomplishes his results he never tells. Why
he exerts such an influence, we never know. The
secretof greatnessis incommunicable. It lies hidden
in the abysmal deeps of personality.
If Jesus is to be judged by the effects which he
produced and still produces, then his name is indeed
Wonderful. Upon the men of his time he exerted

a powerso marvellous that it seemeduncanny,
magical, and some people thought he must be in
league with the mighty powers of the under world.
When he spoke men overflowedwith ideas and feel-
ings — feelings of love or feelings of detestation. No
man ever stoodstolid in his presence. Menwent
wild over him, some in adorationand some in hatred.
Wherever he went he left men seething and bubbling.
There were a few men — his apostles — who came
close to him. Upon these he exerted an influence
which extended to the roots of their being. One
of these men — Thomas — was unusually slow and
cool. He was not made of inflammable stuff. Hei
was not easily carriedaway by emotion, for the tide^
of emotion in him were not strong. But this man
when Jesus one day suggestedgoing to a certauf
place besetwith danger exclaimed, "Let us go and
die with him." It is not easyto die at thirty. No
normal man in his ordinary mood wants to die
before the sun has reachedthe meridian. But this
man Thomas had been so wrought upon by the per-
sonality of Jesus that he was ready to die with him.

And so were all the apostles. Peterin the upper
chamber declaredwith emphasis that he was ready
to go with Jesus to prison and to death. A few
hoiirs later his courage oozedout, but that cowardice
was only temporary, and Peterlater on did the very
thing which he declaredto Jesus he would do. And
what Peterdid all of the aposdes did, John alone
excepted. He has indeed something extraordinary
within him who can so work upon the minds and
hearts of men as to make them glad to give up their
lives for him. There is only one greaterthing than
dying for another and that is living for another,
living a life of obloquy and persecution, suffering all
things for his sake. Here is the climax of power.
Jesus changedmefi. He changedtheir habits and
opinions and ambitions, he changed their tempers
and dispositions and natiures. He changedtheir
hearts. They were never the same after they gave
themselves up to him. Grod and man, the world

and duty, were different to them after they had looked
steadily into his face. Whereverhe went he trans^
formed human lives. He transfigured human faces
by cleansing the foimtains of the heart. This is
greatness indeed.
And what he did in Palestine he has been doing
ever since. Whereverthe story of his life is carried
the climate of thought and feelmg changes. Every
land across whichhis name has been heralded has
been transformed in ideals and institutions. The
forward-looking portion of the world nimibers the
HIS GREATNESS349
yeais from the date of his birth. Richter was not
writing poetry but prose when he declaredthat
Jesus'piercedhands lifted empires off their hinges
and turned the stream of history into a new channeL
You cannot accountfor the difference betweenOcci-
dent and Orient without a considerationof the in-

fluence of this one Man. Fifteen himdred years ago
the civilization of China was what it is to-day. The
socialand industrial orders have through all this
period remained there unchanged, and Chinese so-
ciety is no more highly embellished and the Chinese
characteris not a whit more cultivated than they
. were a millennium and a half ago. Fifteenhundred
years ago northern Europe was a wilderness, and
so also was the island of Britain. In these wilder-
nesses there lived various tribes of barbarous people,
whose pastime was to make waron one another.
Many of them were but little above the rank of
savages. Throughfifteen hundred years northern
Europe and the British Isles have been coming up,
up, up, imtil to-day there are no higher summits
in the world. While China has remained exactly
where she was, westernEurope has been ascending;
and when you endeavorto interpret this wonderful
phenomenon, you cannotlose sight of the fact that
China has been gazing into the face of Confudus
while westernEurope has been gazing into the face
of Jesus. Jesus ofNazarethhas lifted Europe to
the seats ofpower. It is one of the supreme miracles

of the world's history.
Some men are greatin their influence for a genera-
tion, and then their power begins to wane. They sit
on thrones for a seasonand then abdicate. Will it be
so with Jesus ? We only know that through nineteen
hundred years he has been climbing to a supremacy
increasinglyspacious and august. His name has been
rising, swallowing up the glory of other names as the
sun mounting the easternskyswallows up the stars.
To-day his name is above every name. Ours is the
greatestofall the centuries. Never have men been
so impatient to geton as they are to-day, and never
have they been so indifferent to the past. And yet
the most thrilling cry of our day is, " Back to Jesus !"
It is heard all around the world. Men once cried,
"Back to the Reformers!" but the Reformers did
not satisfy, and then the cry was, "Backto the
Fathers !" but the Fathers could not help, and then

the cry was, " Back to the Apostles !" but the Apos-
tles were found to be shining only with a reflected
light, and so now the world is saying:"Back to
Jesus!" "Let us go back to him for the sake of
getting on, in order to get light for oiu: darkened
pathway, and to find principles with which to solve
our complicatedproblems!" More lives of Jesus
have been written within the last fifty years than of
any other historic character. More pages are printed
about him every week than about any hundred of the
world's greatestmen. He exerts a power which is so
phenomenal that many feel he must be more than
man, linked in some way or other with the Eternal.
HIS GREATNESS351
He must be — men say — the Sonof (Jod. In this
land alone men contribute two hundred million
dollars every year to support the institutions which
bear his name. They are not compelledto do this.
They do it voluntarily because they want to do it,

and because he so works upon them that they count
such giving a privilege and pleasure. As Napoleon
Bonaparte once said, ''This man vanished for eighteen -
hundred years still holds the characters ofmen as
in a vice." The little Corsicansatdiunfounded as
he compared his greatness with the greatness ofthe
Man of Galilee. Napoleon's lastbiographerde-
votes two volumes to the rise of his hero and two
volumes to his decline and fall. All the volumes of
the life of Jesus recordthe story of his ascent. He
goes onand on from victory to victory, from glory to
glory, and as men's eyes become cleansedand their
hearts purified they see with increasing certainty
that God has indeed so highly exaltedhim that some
day every knee shall bend to him and every tongue
confess that he is King indeed.
His greatnessis full-orbed. He was complete, and
in his completeness we find an explanation of his
beauty. Men who stoodnearestto him were charmed
and swayedby his loveliness. He was full of grace
and truth. He had a charm about him which wooed
and fascinated. Children liked him, boys sang for

him, publicans hung upon him. He had the heart
of a child, the tenderness of a woman, the strength
of a man. The three dimensions of his life were
complete. He had eyes which lookedalong ex-
tended Imes running into eternity; he had sympathies
wide enough to coverhmnanity to its outermost
edge;he had a purpose which included all lands
and ages, his kingdom is to be imiversal and it shall
have no end. He is at every point complete. His
virtues are all full-statured, his graces are all in
fullest bloom. You can no more add an3rthing to
him than you canadd something to the sky. He
pushed every goodtrait of human characterto its
utmost limit. His forgiveness was unbounded, his
generositywas untiring, his patience was inex-
haustible, his mercy was immeasurable, his courage
was illimitable, his wisdomwas unfathomable, his
kindness was interminable, his faith removed

mountains, his hope had no shadow in it, his love
was infinite. And so it is impossible to go beyond
him. We can never outgrow him. He will be
always aheadof us. We shall always hear him
saying, "Follow me 1" He is the ideal of the heart.
He is the goalof humanity. It is this completeness
of his characterwhich accounts notonly for his
beauty but for his perennial and increasing power.
He is the lily of the valley, the fairest of ten thousand,
the one altogetherlovely. He is the image of God 1
"If Jesus Christis a man,
And only a man, I say,
That of all mankind I cleave to him,
And to him will I deave alway.
HIS GREATATESS353
"If Jesus Christis a God,
And the only God, I swear,
I will follow him through heaven and hell.

The earth, the sea, and the air."
MostRelevantVerses
Luke 1:32
Verse Concepts
"He will be greatand will be calledthe Son of the Most High; and the Lord
God will give Him the throne of His father David;
John 4:12
Verse Concepts
"You are not greaterthan our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well,
and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?"
John 8:53
Verse Concepts
"Surely You are not greaterthan our father Abraham, who died? The
prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?"
Matthew 12:6
"But I say to you that something greaterthan the temple is here.
Matthew 12:42
Verse Concepts

"The Queen of the South will rise up with this generationat the judgment and
will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the
wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greaterthan Solomonis here.
Luke 11:31
Verse Concepts
"The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generationat the
judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to
hear the wisdomof Solomon;and behold, something greaterthan Solomonis
here.
Matthew 12:41
Verse Concepts
"The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generationat the judgment, and
will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;and behold,
something greaterthan Jonah is here.
Luke 11:32
Verse Concepts
"The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generationat the judgment and
condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah;and behold,
something greaterthan Jonah is here.
John 1:15
Verse Concepts
John testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said,
'He who comes afterme has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'"
John 1:30
Verse Concepts
"This is He on behalf of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who has a
higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'

Hebrews 8:6
Verse Concepts
But now He has obtained a more excellentministry, by as much as He is also
the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enactedon better promises.
The Greatness ofJesus Christ
W. Clarkson
Luke 1:31-33
And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and
shall call his name JESUS.
To Mary, as to Elisabeth, it was foretold by the celestialmessengerthat her
Son should be "great." There canbe no doubt that, after all that was then
said, Mary expectedunusually great things of the Child that should be born of
her. But how very far short of the fact her highesthopes have proved to be!
For to whateverexalted point they reached, the Jewishmaiden could not
possibly have attachedto the angel's words such meaning as we know them to
have contained. The greatness ofthat promised Child was threefold; it related
I. HIS DIVINE ORIGIN. He was not only to be her offspring, but he should
"be calledthe Sonof the MostHigh." And there was to come upon her and
overshadow her the Holy Ghost, the Powerof the MostHigh. He was to be not
only a son of God, but the Sonof God, related to the Eternal Fatheras no
other of the children of men had ever been or should ever be. He was to be
One that would in the fullest sense partake of the Divine nature, be one in

thought and in aim and in actionwith the Father(John 5:19, 23; John 8:28;
John 10:30; John 14:10, 11). He was to be "Godmanifest in the flesh."
II. THE WORK HE SHOULD ACCOMPLISH. "Thou shalt callhis name
Jesus;" and he was to be so calledbecause he would "save his people from
their sins" (Matthew 1:25). There have been "saviors ofsociety" from whom
this poor wounded world might well have prayed to be delivered, men who
tried to covertheir ownhideous selfishness under a fair and striking name.
What they have claimed to be, Jesus the Savior was and is. He saves from sin.
And to do that is to render us the very greatestconceivableservice, bothin its
negative and positive aspects.
1. Negativelyconsidered. To destroysin is to take awayevil by the root. For
sin is not only, in itself, the worst and most shameful of all evils by which we
can be afflicted, but it is the one fruitful source ofall other evils - poverty,
estrangement, strife, weariness andaching of heart, death.
2. Positivelyconsidered. Saving from sin means restoring to God; it includes
reinstatement in the condition from which sin removed us. Jesus Christ, in the
very actin which he redeems us from the penalty and powerof sin, restores us
to God - to his Divine favor, his likeness, his service. Accepting and abiding in
the Savior, we dwell in the sunshine of God's everlasting friendship; we grow
up into his perfectimage; we spend our days and our powers under his
direction. It is not only that Jesus Christdelivers us from the darkestcurse;it
is that he raises us to the loftiestheritage, by the salvationwhich he offers to
our hearts.
III. THE DIGNITY AND POWER HE SHOULD ATTAIN. He was to reign
upon a throne, "over the house of Jacobfor ever;" and "of his kingdom there
should be no end." Greatand large as Mary's expectations for her promised

Child may have very justly been, they can have been nothing to the fulfillment
of the angel's words. Forthe kingdom of Christ. (as it is or as it shall be) is one
that surpasses in every way that of the greatestHebrew sovereign. It does so:
1. In its main characteristics.It is spiritual. The only homage which is
acceptable to its King is the homage of the heart, the only tribute the tribute
of affection, the only obedience the obedience oflove. It is beneficent. Every
subject in this realm is sacredlybound to seek his brother's wellbeing rather
than his own. It is righteous. Every citizen, because he is such, is pledged to
depart from all iniquity, to pursue and practice all righteousness.
2. In its extent. It has "no end" in its spacialdimensions. No river bounds it;
no mountain, no sea;it reaches the whole world round.
3. In its duration. He shall reign "for ever;" his rule will go down to remotest
times; it will touch and include the lastgenerationthat shall dwell upon the
earth. Let us rejoice in his greatness;but let us see to it that
(1) we have a part in the heritage of those whom he is blessing, and that
(2) we take our share in the furtherance of his mission of mercy. - C.
The Greatness OfJesus Christ Series
Contributed by Frank Lay on Sep 3, 2004
based on 71 ratings

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Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-3
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: As we look at the first three verses we discoversomething of the
Greatness ofour Lord Jesus Christ. He is certainly greaterthan the greatest
of any of the prophets of the Old Testamentera. Our Lord is indeed, greater
than anything.
THE GREATNESSOF JESUS CHRIST
HEBREWS 1:1-3
Our God is not a silent God. He has always revealedHimself to mankind.
Hebrews 1:1 tells that in times past God spoke to man through the Prophets.
He spoke on numerous occasionsand in different ways. God’s revelation
through the prophets was fragmentary, occasional, and progressive. He spoke
by dreams and visions, by the typical ordinances, by angels, by the law, and
by prophesy. Especiallythrough the Jewishpeople we have the oracles of
God.
In these last days, however, Godhas spokento us by His Son Jesus Christ. In
Jesus we have the final and complete revelation of God. If you want to know
what the Eternaland Almighty God is really like, you must look at the Lord
Jesus Christ. To me the theme of the book of Hebrews lies in the phrase,
"Jesus is better than anything."

As we look at the first three verses we discoversomething of the Greatness of
our Lord Jesus Christ. He is certainly greaterthan the greatestofany of the
prophets of the Old Testament era. Our Lord is indeed, greaterthan
anything.
I. HIS GREATNESS IS SEEN IN HIS RELATIONSHIP TO THE
UNIVERSE
Notice three outstanding characteristicsofChrist as He relates to the
universe.
A. HE IS THE HEIR OF ALL THINGS: Jesus is the unique Son of the living
God. He is the sovereignLord of the universe. The world belongs to Jesus
Christ. He is the rightful heir of all things.
B. HE IS THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS:(Read Col. 1:16) Jesus did not
have His beginning at Bethlehem. He was present in the creationof the world.
In fact He is the Creator. The heavens themselves declare the glory of our
Lord.
C. HE UPHOLDS ALL THINGS: That is, He holds the universe togetherby
the Word of His power. It is in Jesus that we live and move and have our
being.
II. HIS GREATNESS IS SEEN IN HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Just who is Jesus Christ anyway?
A. JESUS IS GOD’S SON:Jesus is unique in that he is the only begottenSon
of the Living God.
B. JESUS IS THE BRIGHTNESSOF GOD’S GLORY: That is, He is the
radiance. Jesus radiates the glory of God. Now and again one encounters a
believer who is so filled with Christ, one can see Jesus in them to a degree.
Moses face shone. He reflectedGod’s glory.
Stephen’s face shone as if it were the face of an angel. He too reflectedthe
Glory of God.

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I saw that glory in the face of my Mother as she died.
Jesus did more than just reflectGod’s Glory. God’s glory radiated through
Him.
C. HE IS THE EXPRESS IMAGE OF HIS PERSON:He was and is God of
very God. Only Jesus couldsay, "He that hath seenme hath seenthe Father."
ILL. A young lady said, "I love Jesus, but I am afraid of God." I shared with
her that to see Jesus is to see God, and that He is a loving Father.
III. THE GREATNESSOF CHRIST IS SEEN IN HIS RELATIONSHIP TO
MAN.
God revealedHimself in His Son and the Son revealedGod to mankind. Jesus
is God’s prophet. He is also the WORD. He is the messageas wellas the
messenger.
He is greatbecause ofwhat He has done for us.
A. HE PURGED OUR SINS: "ByHimself" in His ownperson, by His blood,
by the sacrifice ofHimself on the cross, He purged our sins. He made possible
our salvation, our forgiveness, and our eternal life.
B. HE SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE MAJESTYON HIGH:
"Satdown" speaks ofthe completeness ofHis greatwork on our behalf. The
cross neednever be repeated. His work was once for all. Following his
resurrectionand ascension, Jesus satdownat the right hand of the Majestyon
high.
CONCLUSION:An old preacherwas a member of a church where I served
as pastor. He loved to talk of the greatness ofGod. When I would visit him in

the hospital as he was dying of cancer, he would often say, "Preacher,He’s a
GreatGod." "Yes He is" I would agree with my preacher brother, now in
glory with the Lord he loved so dearly.
My dear friends, our Lord is Great, and greatlyto be praised. He is my Lord
and Savior. I want Him to be your Lord and Savior too. However, Jesus will
not force Himself on you if you don’t want Him. However, He waits with
outstretchedarms for you to receive Him into your life as your Lord and
Master.
The very moment you receive him as your personalSavior, He will come into
your life and change you completely. You’ll never have a greateropportunity
than this moment to receive Christ into your life.
How Do We Find the Truth?
John Lawton
How do we find the truth? The answerto this question is crucialfor us
Christians, because we want to know the will of God to be able to glorify Him.
Other ways to ask basicallythe same question are: How do we find the will of
God? How are we as Christians constrained; what kind of law or rule or way
do we use to keepus in the will of God? How do we know what doctrines to
follow?
Thankfully, God has not left us in the dark concerning this issue. We have a
way in which we can walk (as the Scripture says, “show me thy ways” and
“cause me to know the way wherein I should walk,” Ps. 25:4, and 143:8), by
which we can glorify God. We have a law that works, that brings us into
obedience to God and which causes us to love Him and to love all people. We
have a Word which is sure, which teaches us all that we need to know in terms
of how to obey God, how to find and do His will. This Word is so wonderful,
that absolutelynothing will be lacking in the lives of those who pay careful

attention to this Word. Oh yes, there will not be perfect maturity
instantaneously, but as we feed on this Word daily, and are carefulto abide in
it and do it, we will not be lacking in any goodfruit as we grow up into
maturity. This Word is able to round us out into all that we are supposedto be
in Christ. This Word works. Hallelujah!
Let me tell you what this Word is according to the Bible: “In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Joh
1:1). “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begottenof the Father,) full of grace and truth”
(Joh 1:14). “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name
is called‘The Word of God’ ” (Rev 19:13).
Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christthe Lord is this Word of God that we need,
in order to bring us into obedience to God. Oh, and look at the Scriptures
concerning how wonderful this Word is: “God. . . hath in these lastdays
spokenunto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by
whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, satdown on the right hand of
the Majestyon high” (Heb 1:2-3). God speaks to us now in His Son Jesus. He
is the express image of God’s person. He is an exactrepresentationof what
God is like. He perfectly reveals what God wants His people to be like and to
do. Words before this were in dark shadows, but in Christ Jesus we get
exactness.Hallelujah, the shadows are fading awayand the true light is
shining. Now we can see clearly. Now we canknow exactly.
And it gets better yet: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove
your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you,
exceptye be reprobates?” (2Co 13:5)Praise God, this Word does not come to
us externally, but it is already inside of us. And it gets still better yet: “Now ye
are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” (1Co 12:27). Notonly is
this Word inside of us, but we are the very embodiment of it. In other words,
Jesus is the Word brought down into little human form, and now in His
glorified body humanity has been brought up into the divine nature.
Humanity is IN GOD. Humanity, in Jesus, is IN GOD, and ONE WITH GOD

(see Gal. 3:20-21 and I Cor. 6:17 also). And we are that human body of Jesus.
We are the very body of the one who is THE Word of God. We are that Word
brought into that human form by the Holy Spirit imparting Jesus’glorified
humanity right into our little humanity. This is why Paul can be so bold as to
call the Christians in Corinth, and by implication to call eachof us, an “epistle
of Christ” (II Cor. 3:3).
Praise God, Jesus is the complete Word, and we are epistles in that Word.
What a wonderful privilege. The Word of God has been plugged into our very
being! The Greek word for “Word” is “logos,”whichfundamentally means
“projection.” Our words are what we project outside of us, so that others can
know what we are like, or what we think, or so we canplan things, etc. Jesus
is the projectionof Godto speak and form and do whateverHe wants. That is
why He is also called “The Image of God” (II Cor. 4:4, and Col. 1:15). When
God wants to be known, His being flows forth to speak and reveal – and that
flowing forth of the divine nature is His Word, Jesus. And praise God, He
invites you and me to be partakers of that same image. “But we all, with open
face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changedinto the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Co 3:18). “For
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom 8:29).
In Him, we also are the image of God. Our very being is changedby the
operationof the Holy Spirit as He works the cross of Jesus Christinto us,
causing us to die to what we were and to live in the very nature of Jesus
Christ. This is the goodnews. We used to sin so easily because it was our
nature to do so. It came naturally. So, in the same way, God’s nature woven
into our being in the life of Jesus Christ within us causes us to come up into
our new nature, which sees the Fathercontinuously, and walks in that which
is seenthere.
So, the Word of God is not something external that we “keep” by just doing
what we hear. Rather, we are one with the Word of God. The Word of God
has become our very nature, and we are a part of the Word of God. This is
why the Scripture says, “Butthe righteousness whichis of faith speakethon
this wise, Saynot in thine heart, Who shall ascendinto heaven? (that is, to

bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descendinto the deep? (that is,
to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh
thee, evenin thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we
preach” (Rom. 10:6-8). In others words, Christ has already come down (even
to the point of humiliation and death), and risen from the dead, so to us who
believe this Word is in our hearts (deep inside of our nature) and in our
mouths (comes out in our words and behavior).
Isn’t this so much better than some external word that we “keep” by obeying
it as best we know how?
How Does this Work Practically?
Yes, we must move from the theoreticalto the practical, that is, “whatdo we
actually do?” Yet let us pause for just one moment and think that even if no
one were able to let us know how to make this practical, isn’t this glorious
truth one of the most amazing things you have ever heard? Godpromised a
change of nature, where the very inner moving of our being is a projection
from God of the image of His being and His works. If we would simply believe
this truth with all of our hearts, and hold fast to it, and never let it go, and
pray in accordancewith it, then the truth would work inside of us. God would
come forth inside of us, and teachus how to walk being full of God and His
nature, just because we believe Him to do so, according to His own promise
and faithfulness.
Yet, thankfully, the Scriptures say yet more along a practical line, and the
Spirit of Godhas taught us more along a practical line, so that these truths
can be shared also. We quoted from II Corinthians chapter three briefly
above, but let us take a close look atit now: “But their minds were blinded:
for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken awayin the reading of the
old testament;which vail is done awayin Christ. But even unto this day, when
Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Neverthelesswhenit shall turn to
the Lord, the vail shall be takenaway. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changedinto the same image from glory
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Co 3:18).

This is a very wonderful passageofScripture, giving greatillumination (as the
Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see what it is saying) into the real inner workings
of a healthy Christian. What it is saying is that when the Old Testamentis
read (or really any Scripture), there tends to be a veil, a curtain over the heart
keeping us from seeing the spiritual reality of what it is really meant by what
we read. But when the heart “turns to” the Holy Spirit (this is what Paul
means by “the Lord is that Spirit”), the blinders are removed. The veil is
destroyedin Christ, so that we can see.
In other words, when we turn to God in faith and fellowship with Him, the
heart is anointed by the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. And by the working
of the Holy Spirit, the veil of the flesh is removed so that we cansee spiritual
realities in God. By the Holy Spirit shining the light of God’s being into our
hearts, we see the reality of what the Scriptures are talking about.
Also, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty – freedom from the flesh
and fleshly understandings of the Scriptures and fleshly applications of the
Scriptures – freedom to know and experience God, being free from the flesh
and free from all laws which attempt to govern the flesh. It is in this Holy
Place ofthe Spirit of Godwriting the image of God within us, that we are
changed, eachtime having more and more glory. Glory means God revealed.
And, again, it is written and knit into the very fabric of our being. We grow
up into being more and more like Jesus.
Indeed, when this passage says, “as in a glass,”whichmeans as in a mirror, it
tells us yet more about this whole process. In a mirror, we see an image of
what we really are. So, in the mirror of the Holy Spirit’s unveiling the glory of
the Lord Jesus, whatwe are seeing is who we are in Him. That mirror of truth
shows us what we are like, because we are the body of Christ. We are saints
(meaning “holy ones” – separatedto God, different from the world because
we have the nature of God). We are believers (a people full of faith, even the
faith of our Lord Jesus Christ). And many more attributes of Christ, which
are ours by inheritance, are revealed. When we see the glory of the Lord
Jesus, we are seeing who we are in Him. We are “the fullness of Him” (Eph.
1:23) – we, in our being, are a complete manifestation of Jesus, as He is a
complete manifestation of the Father. Yes, we are little children in that divine

nature, so we have a lot of growing to do, but that wonderful nature of Jesus is
in us as the structure of our spiritual life, just as physical genes and DNA are
the structure of our physical life. His mature life is where we are headed(Eph.
4:13,15).
But it is not like we come to the Scriptures and one by one we read them, then
the Lord shines and we understand them. In other words, we don’t turn to a
passagethat we want to understand and tell the Lord that He needs to make
us understand it. It is not at our will that the Holy Spirit teaches us the
Scriptures; rather, it is at His beckoning and in His timing that He teaches us
the Scriptures. We need to read the Scriptures, and have them in our mind.
And sometimes the Spirit will urge us to read a certainpassage,then right
awayshines His glorious light within us to cause us to understand it. With me,
however, the Scriptures seemto come alive to me most often as I am praying
and communing with God directly. Very often, it is as I am praying in
tongues, or praying some anointed prayer with understanding for someone or
for some situation, that the Holy Spirit brings passagesto mind and causes me
to understand with spiritual understanding. At other times, as I am praying, a
whole bunch of Scripture verses are instantaneously woventogetherwith the
yarn of understanding, so that I see some spiritual reality by the Holy Spirit.
(It often can take hours of study looking up what the King inside has shown in
a moment of time by His spiritual power.) At yet other times, as I am praying,
I can sense some spiritual truth apart from a specific Scripture coming to
mind – the Spirit just makes me know and understand something. When this
happens, He always, either right awayor some time later, confirms that
Word/understanding with an enlightenment of some Scripture. Another way
the Holy Spirit frequently speaks is in an “almostaudible” voice within my
thoughts (which idea canbe seenin Scriptures like Acts 10:19-20).
These are the kinds of things Paul means by “when it [the heart] turns to the
Lord . . . the Spirit.” When our spirits and hearts are in the flow of the moving
of God’s being, then we can see spiritual realities. Otherwise we cannot. Any
other kind of understanding of the scriptures is a carnal(fleshly)
understanding, which we need to shun.

By the way, Paul completes this thought a few verses later when he says that
this light shines in our hearts “in the face of Jesus Christ” (II Cor. 4:6), which
simply means it is in the form of Jesus’humanity that the Holy Spirit imparts
real spiritual knowledge andunderstanding to us. In other words, “in the face
of Jesus Christ” means it is Jesus’glorified humanity impressed into our
humanity that the Holy Spirit imparts to us. By the Holy Spirit, He flows into
us in human thoughts, feelings, understanding, all in our human inner
workings. This is what it means that He is one with us. This is why the Bible
says things like, “we have the mind of Christ,” and “the bowels [inner feelings
and emotions]of Christ,” and the “knowledge ofChrist,” and “the faith of
Christ,” etc.
Jesus is like movie projector film, as the image of God, the revelationof who
God is and what He is like, etc., written into human form. Emanating from
the Fatheris the Holy Spirit, like a light, flowing through the image of God,
Jesus, whichimage impinges upon our hearts to give the knowledge ofGod in
our hearts like the movie upon the projectorscreen. Again, in this analogy,
the Fatheris the light source, Jesus is the film, the Holy Spirit is the flowing of
the light rays through Jesus, and our hearts are the movie screen.
This truth is what Jesus meant when He talkedabout the work of the
Comforter, the Holy Spirit, in John 14:16-17, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7, and 16:13-14.
That very last verse is perhaps the clearestof all, “He will take of mine and
show it to you.” Nothing short of this will do. He takes Jesus’righteous human
nature, which is full of God, and is in line with God, and causes our hearts to
know it.
Without this light coming by the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures are essentiallya
closedbook. Theyare like someone looking atthose old rolls of movie film
directly without the aid of a movie projector;that is, it is as if you tried to
understand the movie by just looking directly at the film – it doesn’t make
much sense. Sure, a few images will be able to be seen, and the personmay
feel that they are getting a little of what the movie is about, but it is really only
as the roll of film is put on the movie projector, and the projectoris turned on
and shined at a screen, and all other light sources are turned off, that the
movie “comes alive” on the screen. Similarly, it is only as the Scriptures are

brought into the inner working of God’s being that the Scriptures “come
alive” into spiritual reality within us.
These ideas, that our understanding of the Bible does not come from our own
effort, study, or interpretation, but rather by the working of the Holy Spirit, is
what Peteris referring to in II Peter1:19-21. In short, he is saying that
Scripture came as men were moved by the Holy Spirit (and not by men’s
wills), so also the light of understanding does not come from our own means
(reasoning, logic, study – which is what the word “private” means there in
King James;it means “of ones own self”), but by the moving of the Holy
Spirit.
Fellowship
It is not only as we pray, or readthe Bible under the direct illumination of the
Spirit, that the Word of God comes in glory to enlighten our hearts. It is also
as we fellowshipwith other believers that this happens. They may teachus.
They may prophesy to us. Their very lives may be of such an “epistle” nature
that we just observe their lives and receive a revelation by the Holy Spirit. Or
we may be the ones anointed to speak the truth, and the very truth that the
Holy Spirit anoints us to share may be new to us too, so that we are also
edified by the things we share. As we fellowship, the life of Jesus which we
mutually share comes forth to build us all up in the faith and knowledge of
Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “On this rock [of the revelation of Christ by a direct operation of
God] I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). The word “build” here is in
Greek the same as the word “edify” in verses like I Thes. 5:11, Ro. 14:19, and
I Cor. 14:4. So, we could translate, “On this rock [of revelationof Christ] I
will edify my church.” As the knowledge ofChrist comes out in our midst as
we fellowship in the Holy Spirit, we are edified, or built up in knowledge, in
spiritual power, in wisdom, and in life.
But, when others share things with us and teachthings to us, we must
spiritually discernif what they are saying is of God. If it is of God, it will taste
like God. It will feel in our spirit and heart like the same one who teaches us
that Jesus is risen from the dead, and that Jesus is Lord, and how greatJesus

is. It will taste like life and like spiritual power. It will not settle on our heart
with a thud of deadness, but will spark our hearts to see the wonders of our
God. The best teachings I have eversat under are ones where I became aware
of how greatJesus is, and how wonderful His working is within us and
through us. These words come with power. That is why Paul said that, when
he came to Corinth that he would “know, not the speechof them which are
puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in
power” (1Co 4:19-20). The working of God within us, bringing us in line with
God by His Kingdom, is in power, not in talk, explanations, and human
reasoning. So, let us come togetherand build one another up by the power
and working of the Holy Spirit.
What Leaders Should Do
Leaders are to feed people with that living Word, that God has filled these
leaders with. This will nourish the saints, and cause them to grow by that very
truth growing within them. They also needto teachand instruct the saints on
crucial, first principle issues, suchas how to getand stay full of the Holy
Spirit, how to be led of the Holy Spirit, and how to receive life-giving Words
from God on their own – first at the milk level, but then growing up to be able
to discern the meat (solid food) of the word (Heb. 5:12-14). All the saints are
to be ministering to one another, and all the more as eachone grows in stature
in Christ.
Leaders who do not lead this way are not true spiritual leaders at all.
Do not follow anyone whose ministry is not full of the powerof life, which
makes us aware ofthe greatness ofJesus. Mere goodideas and good
principles are not enough.
What Do We Do With Difficult Passages?
So far, so good. But, as we begin to look at the idea of “difficult passages,” this
is where we sometimes begin to lose people. Let us take as a paradigm difficult
passageMatthew 5:29-30:“And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and
castit from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should
perish, and not that thy whole body should be castinto hell. And if thy right

hand offend thee, cut it off, and castit from thee: for it is profitable for thee
that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be
castinto hell.”
One idea that some people express on how to handle difficult passages is to
just obey them, and if need be the understanding will follow later. Somehow,
however, people do not tend to do this with this Matthew 5 passage.But with
other passages theydo just do them, as though they were a law. If we all did
“just obey the commandments of Jesus” or“just obey the Scriptures,” then
we would all be without at leastone hand and one eye.
But the answerto “what do we do?” is simple: we wait for the Holy Spirit to
enlighten and lead us. We hunger and thirst after righteousness, asking God
to cause us to understand the Scriptures, asking to know and understand ALL
the will of God, and seeking andknocking – and when the Holy Spirit does
revealand lead, there comes forth the fruits of righteousness in our lives. But
until such a time as the Holy Spirit causes us to understand something by life
and by power, we just wait. If our heart troubles us about it, we pray, and say
things like “cause me to know and do all of your will. But also keepme from
dead religious works.”
We must also keepfrom falling in the trap of thinking that we have to get
everything in our lives lined up with everything we have heard or read that
sounds right. Such a wayof thinking leads to an exhausting, bondage-filled
life. Under the law (the knowledge ofgoodand evil, lived out in our weak
human efforts), if you mess up or are lacking in one thing, you are not
righteous. Yet in the New Covenant, our calling is to be just like God (Matt.
5:48). God, however, has an infinite number of wonderful characteristics.
Even if we did get everything we thought was goodand spiritual correct, there
would always be another aspectGod could revealto us which we had never
heard of or considered.
Paul brings out these kinds of thoughts beautifully in Gal. 3:5-14. Especially
important is the fact that all the works ofthe law are under a curse, for
“cursedis every one that continueth not in ALL things which are written . . .”
(v. 10). We could never get everything right by our own doing. Such a way is a

curse, because we so often “mess up,” and so often become aware ofour
limitations. But Christ became a curse for us (v. 13) by hanging on the cross,
so that instead we can receive the blessing of the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 14)
by the righteousness ofJesus Christ. Now we are one with God (vv. 20-21), so
that His life is what leads us into all maturity. We are not under the law. Not
the law of Moses, northe New TestamentScriptures takenas law. We are not
under the bondage of any man’s interpretation of the Scriptures.
The Scriptures are indeed very important to us, because they came from God,
and God uses them to teachus about Jesus. Butthey are not what we
approachGod through, in the sense that we come to please Godby reading
and doing what we read. This is an Old Covenantconcept. Rather, the
Scriptures are tools in the hand of the Holy Spirit that He uses to teachus and
to direct us, and to leadus into the knowledge ofJesus Christ. The difference
betweenthese two approaches to God is the difference betweenday and night.
One is by faith in God’s working, the other is our working to try to please
God. The first is life, and the secondis death.
But, praise God we have freedom from our dead works, and in their place we
get God’s living works working within and through us. We are not the head,
deciding by our knowledge ofthe Bible how to please God, but rather Jesus is
the head, and He calls the shots by being alive within us, and teaching us
daily.
Remember, Jesus promised that the Spirit of Truth would lead us into all of
the truth (John 16:13, I Jn. 2:27). We need to lean on this promise as we seek
to understand difficult passages.
Also, if we are to understand certain issues, suchas did Jesus reallymean for
us to cut off our hands, we must first understand the core issues of the faith.
We must first understand things like: the factthat our hearts are cleansedby
faith; that we are made righteous by faith; the new life in Christ; the powerof
the Holy Spirit; being lead and taught by the Spirit; being full of the Holy
Spirit; how not to judge with the flesh but with the spirit; that we are not
under law but under grace;liberty; the fact that we are not in the flesh but in
the Spirit; etc. We must understand these things which are the essenceofthe

Christian life before we can possibly understand more difficult or fringe
issues. How often we find the people of God doing and teaching things in such
a way as belies the central core issues ofthe faith. May God grant us spiritual
eyes to see.
As we wait for God to reveal difficult passages, orto reveal what to do when
others make claims that we should be doing this or that (which previously the
Holy Spirit had not directed us into), we need to abide in peace, becausewe
are right with God by faith (faith in God’s right-ness), not by our perfect
understanding and perfectdoing of all things. When true spiritual
understanding does come in God’s time, what peace and joy and fullness of
the Holy Spirit it produces.
And when it comes from God insteadof from the mind and pressure and
reasoning of men, it comes with a power(and a sense of the presence of God)
that builds a true faith within us.
I still remember when God opened up that passage in Matthew 5:29-30 to me,
the one about cutting off your hand and plucking out your eye. I had not been
anxious about it, but I longedto understand what truth and reality of walk
with God that Jesus was getting at. The Holy Spirit gave it to me this way –
this cutting off of the flesh is what Jesus did for us on the cross. This is what
Paul meant by “mortify [put to death] therefore your members which are
upon the earth,” and we “through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body”
(Col. 3:5, Ro. 8:13). Of course – it is a spiritual reality, which we experience
daily as we walk in the Spirit. He was not talking about some ridiculous act of
carnalreligion.
So, brothers and sisters, waitfor the Lord to speak and revealin power. He
will guide all of us who trust Him into the fullness of the mind of Christ, and
of the righteousness ofGod. He promised. You canrest in Him.
The New Testament
We often callthe books from Matthew to Revelation“the New Testament,”
which is just another way to say the New Covenant. Strictly speaking,
however, this is not true. They are the Holy Scriptures indeed written in the

New Testamenttimes, and we deeply appreciate them. The Old Testament
was written on stone and on paper. But Paul makes it clearthat the New is
different; it is written on the hearts with the ink of the Holy Spirit (II Cor.
3:3). God Himself says, in Jeremiah31:31 and following, that the New would
not be like the Old, because the New Covenant would be put inside of us, and
the New Law would be inside of us.
A covenantis an agreementbetweentwo people or two parties, so that the two
can have a relationship (say a business relationship). In such a covenant, there
is a document calledthe covenantdocument that governs how the two parties
are to relate to eachother. Often, the document itself is called “the covenant.”
In the Old Testament, the law of Moses was writtenon stone (the ten
commandments) and paper (the rest of the laws).
But the New Covenant document is our heart, our inner being. God writes
there what He wants us to be and to do in order to have proper relationship
with Him. This writing of Godinside our being is so rich and deep, that mere
human words could never capture the richness of God’s inward writing. The
New Covenantcould not be written on paper. But it canbe alluded to and
talkedabout and referred to on paper. It is just like this paper which you are
reading now. If the Holy Spirit causesyou to see and understand what is being
written, you will see rich depths of the wondrous working of God that goes
way beyond what could be written in any paper. God’s inner working shows
us depths of spiritual reality that words alone are not effective enough to
capture. Also, God’s inner working can cut right to our motives of heart, and
by His light shining within us, bring our heart in line with God’s nature in a
way that a thousand pages of carefulexplanation could never do. God speaks
to us in the realm of spirit, and by that lifts us up into the spiritual life of God.
Hallelujah!
Idolatry
Very often you will hear the following kind of statements from God’s people:
“We follow the Bible.” “We are a Bible believing church.” “Take yourBible
literally. Justread what is says, and do it.” And there are many other ways

these attitudes are expressed. These kinds of statementall sound good, but
they are deceptive.
By the way some people talk, you would think that what God had promised,
during Old Covenant times, was that what would be given in the New
Covenantwas a lot more Scriptures. I do not think you will find any promises
for more Scriptures. One man even went so far as to indicate that what God
meant by “the Comforter” was the New TestamentScriptures. I hope
everyone reading these lines finds that thought an absolute absurdity. The
greatpromise for the New Covenant was the Holy Spirit; indeed, the promise
that God Himself would move into us and become one with us, and lead us by
His own life within us (Gal. 3:14, Luke 11:13, Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5, Is.
32:15, 44:3, Ez. 11:19, 36:26-27). Godwithin is a better teacherthan a
thousand well written books could everbe. Yes, the Scriptures are very
profitable, but it is the Holy Spirit who uses them to teachus the life of Jesus.
It is the Holy Spirit that makes them profitable. He wrote them. He interprets
them.
Any other way of using the Scriptures is an unscriptural way. Also, any other
way of using the Scriptures is to make them into an idol. For some people, the
Bible itself is an idol. For others, pet doctrines of carnal reasoning are idols.
Sometimes even some spiritual truth itself can become an idol, when people let
it drop down out of the realm of spiritual reality into mere human thought
that they love and worship.
People like idols, because they canget their hands around them. They are very
tangible. Carnalreligious people love to say, “we are a Bible believing
people,” and “I don’t know about you, but we are going to follow the Bible.”
It all sounds so religious and good, but if by these words they mean “just read
them and do them” in human understanding, energy and strength, then it is
Old Covenantthinking. It is something we can get our hands around, and do
for God. It makes us feel goodabout ourselves, that we are very religious, very
zealous for God, that we do not compromise the Word of God like all of those
liberals out there. This is pride and arrogance, andstinks of the dead works of
fleshly men.

These kinds of unbiblical attitudes concerning the Bible are actually very
detrimental to true spiritual health. Oh yes, we need to read and study the
Bible, but in the Holy Spirit. We need to learn to be led of the Holy Spirit. We
need to learn to perceive spiritual words and understandings by the Holy
Spirit.
Jesus Himself says, “You searchthe Scriptures, for in them you think you
have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not
willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). In other words,
we do not have life in the Scriptures, but in Jesus, the living Word. The
Scriptures bear witness to who He is. But only by the light of the Holy Spirit
can we really see Jesus, the risen and glorified Savior, in the Scriptures. We
understand them by life. The Scriptures have no inherent life in themselves.
This is what Paul meant by Gal. 3:21 -- if Scriptures (and the truth they speak
of, and the constraints they place on us to keepus in line with God’s will)
could give life, then God would have done it that way. But it can’t work. It
took the death and resurrectionof Jesus, so that we could come into the life of
God.
Significantly, the verse before the ones quoted above says, “Youdo not have
His Word abiding in you” (John 5:38). Jesus, as a righteous man, had God’s
Word living inside of Him, and He saw God (v. 37). And it was this kind of life
that Jesus gave us by death and resurrection – for experiencing today.
Don’t Let Anyone StealYour Inheritance
The main arguments Paul makes in the book of Galatians are not really about
circumcisionat all, but rather about the issue we have at hand in this paper.
Circumcision was just the specific vehicle that brought this whole issue to
light. In chapters 4 and 5, Paul brings out a wonderful allegory. He says, “ye
that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?” (Gal. 4:21). He then
goes onto saythat Hagarcorresponds to fleshly religion, and Sarah
corresponds to the grace ofGod fulfilling the promises of His own work
within His people. He then quotes Sarah, “Castout the bondwoman and her
son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the

freewoman” (Gal. 4:30). In other words, castout the ways of fleshly religion,
or else you will not inherit the wonderful things of Christ as promised by God.
The bondwoman represents being in bondage to the flesh, to sin, and to the
world, including to being in bondage to fleshly religion. And if we come under
the Scriptures as law (something we have to do for God to please Him), then
we are under the bondage of the flesh. The freewomanrepresents being set
free from ourselves and our sin and our ways to serve God in spiritual life and
power. Oh, what freedom. Oh, what liberty. Oh what deliverance from being
in bondage “under the elements” ofwhat you eat or don’t eat, wear or don’t
wear, of specialdays, etc. Oh, what deliverance from the heavy labor of trying
to be goodfor God – we cannotbe good. Rather, God’s goodness fills us,
anoints us, and bears us along in the divine life, to please Godin God’s way,
by God’s life.
If men convince us of any other way, they bring us into bondage, and we no
longerinherit the wonderful nature and powerand wisdom and knowledge
and love of God promised only to those who truly have become the sons of
God. That is why Paul’s next statementin Galatians afterthe allegoryis,
“Stand fasttherefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and
be not entangledagain with the yoke of bondage. . . For I testify to every man
that is circumcised, that . . . Christ is become of NO EFFECT unto you” (Gal
5:1,3,4). In other words, you have lost the privilege of sonship – you no longer
inherit the things of God.
These are sobering words to us. All the Galatians did was add being
circumcisedto their lives, just to be safe because the Scriptures do teachthat.
And, by the way, one could argue that circumcisionwas really given before
the law, so maybe it is an eternal ordinance biggerthan the Law of Moses.No!
The New Covenantis not made of such things. We are cleanby faith. We are
alive in the Spirit. We are not under “carnalcommandments” (laws that
govern the life of people in the flesh, fleshly commandments – Heb. 7:16) –
do’s and don’ts, laws about foods, clothing, specialdays, specialmeeting
places, specialmeeting times, the perfect way to do this or that.

See how different New Covenantteaching is in Col. 3:1-17. Paul did not here
give us a list of do’s and don’ts. Rather, he told us that we are in heaven. And
Christ is our life. And our life is in Him in God. Therefore, we are to pursue
those heavenly, spiritual wonders that are in God. And, instead of do’s and
don’ts, he tells us to “put off” (by the cross)certainthings, and to “put on”
Christ and all of His glorious attributes listed there. It is by the life, and
working, and powerof Christ.
We have a much better law than that of do’s and don’ts, and it is called“the
powerof an endless life” (Heb. 7:12,16). This is “the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus”(Rom. 8:2). It is the law of the Holy Spirit working within us. It
is the law of life growing in us. It is the law of Christ Jesus as the living Word
we experience in the Spirit. This is also the law of faith and the law of love,
working in the heart by Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:27, 13:8-9, I John 3:23). It is
really only one new law (expresseddifferent ways), that of the New Covenant,
within our hearts.
Don’t let anyone stealfrom you the powerof God and love of God and faith of
Christ, which are yours by inheritance (not by works, but by inheriting the
promise of God doing the work, just like Abraham could not work to get
Isaac, but had to believe God to do it). Don’t let anyone bring you down out of
the heavenly plane in the spirit, to the low earthly, carnalreligion realm. Be
one with God, and live the life of God.
Conclusions
The Questionwe openedthis study with is, “How do we find the truth?” The
short version of the answeris, “by faith.” Faith means believing God to do the
works. Jesus promisedthat His sheephear His voice (John 10:27). The point
He is making is quite clear:He is the GoodShepherd, and He knows how to
lead and care for His sheep. He knows how to train the sheep to hear His
voice. He did not say, “Goodsheepknow how to follow my voice (Word).” The
goodness is all His. Our part is to believe how greatthis Shepherd is. The
wonderful thing is, as we believe and setour heart on His greatcapability and
His greatpromises, we start hearing Him clearly. He starts speaking and
revealing within our being. He knows how to make it happen.

Jesus is that living Word which comes inside of us to re-orient our hearts to
love and serve God in divine wisdom. He is so strong that He transforms our
weak natures by writing His wonderful nature into our human frames. Thus
we become the embodiment of His life on the earth. By His own being living
inside of us, He causes us to perceive realities in God with divine
understanding. The divine nature has been written into the human nature in
Jesus Christ, so that we can perceive God Himself with God’s kind of spiritual
perceptions. Then as we bring forth the fruit of His life working in us, we
please and glorify the Father. Thank God for such a wonderful gift as the
divine Word being alive in us, and merging with our inner workings, thus
making us a part of God’s workings!Thus the works of God come forth in our
lives. This is the New Covenant wayof being in relationship to God, and
coming to do the things that please Him.
http://thegreatnessofjesus.com/How_Do_We_Find_the_Truth.html
What is Eternal Life?
John Lawton
Jesus came to give us life. He died and rose againto give us life -- often called
eternal life in the Scriptures. "I have come that they might have life, and
might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). "And this is the witness, that
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son
has the life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (I
John 5:11-12).
What kind of life did Jesus come to give us? Peterputs it this way: "as His
divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge ofHim who called us to glory and virtue, by which
have been given to us exceedinglygreatand precious promises, that through
these you might be partakers ofthe divine nature . . ." (II Peter1:3-4). The

kind of life Jesus gave us is to share with Him His divine nature -- His union
with the Father.
Let's look at some examples from the Scriptures as to what this means. Jesus
said in John 5:19, "The Son cando nothing of Himself, but what He sees the
Father doing." Jesus couldalways see the Father; in spirit, He could see the
moving and working and speaking of God. And He died and rose againso that
we could have this same kind of life -- a spiritual life, that knows and
communes with God continuously. It is a life that sees Godclearly in the Holy
Spirit -- that sees the flow and working and revealing of God. In verse 30 of
the same chapter, Jesus says, "Ican of my own selfdo nothing. As I hear, I
judge." Jesus heard the Father clearly. He gave us a life that hears God
clearly! (By the way, this is why Jesus told us, "Judge not" [Matt. 7:1]. He did
not judge anything by the sight of His eyes, nor by the hearing of His ears [Is.
11:3-4], but He only judged with what He perceivedin the Spirit that God was
judging. He said, "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous
judgment" [John 7:24].)
The truth is that God is a very active being, constantly working, and
performing marvels. He is a tremendously glorious being at every moment
and in every place. The problem is that most people do not have eyes to see
Him with, or ears to hear Him with. But Christians do. Those that have been
born again, and are alive in Christ, have eyes to see with and ears to hear with
-- spiritual capacities with which to perceive and sense whatGod is doing, and
what is really happening around them. People in the flesh only see half of
what is going on around them -- only the physical. But the people of God see
spiritual things too, with spiritual senses.
Some Christians would perhaps say that they don't see Godlike that. Well, in
the physical realm, babies have eyes with which to see, and ears with which to
hear, but they have not yet matured in their new life to be able to understand
what they are seeing and hearing. But with goodfood, the love of parents
(especiallythe parents holding them and talking with them), they will quite
naturally grow to understand that which their eyes are seeing and their ears
are hearing. So it is with the children of God; with goodspiritual food of the

revealed, life-giving Word, and with fellowshipping with God and
experiencing God, they will come to perceive Him better and better.
When Peter, a believer named Ananias who laid hands on Paul, and Paul each
heard God speak to them, as recorded, for example, in Acts 9:10-16, 10:19-20,
and II Cor. 12:9, it was not something unusual or extraordinary. It is the
normal Christian life.
The Scriptures also speak of the other sensesas well, such as tasting the Word
of God, and smelling. Yet, this life is more than just hearing and seeing -- it is
being able to comprehend with the divine mind (I Cor. 1:16, Rom. 8:6), to
have compassionand depth of heart with the divine heart and feelings (Phil.
1:8), to be able to work with the divine hand (Acts 11:21, Luke 11:20, John
14:12), and to walk (conduct ourselves)in the divine Spirit (Gal5:16,18).
Furthermore, this life is a righteous life. It is a life that knows God, loves God,
obeys God. It is a life that knows how to walk with God. It is a life that has the
faith of Christ, the love of God, and the hope of the Holy Spirit. This is the
essenceofwhat is meant by Hebrews 10:9, "Then He said, 'Lo, I came to do
your will, Oh God.' He takes awaythe first, that He may establishthe
second." The "first" thing is the law (verse 8), and the "second" is the doing
of the will of God. Jesus brought in the doing of the will of God by His
sacrifice!
Furthermore, this life is a perfect life. Verse 14 of that same chapter says,
"Forby one offering He has perfected foreverthose who are being
sanctified." This life is perfect in the same way that a human baby's life is
perfect (in the physical sense)-- it is completely human. A healthy baby is not
part human and part animal, and becoming more and more human. He is
rather completely human -- he only needs to grow up into the life that is his.
So it is with us, having been born of the Spirit. We are growing up in that
divine nature. We will end up at "the fullness of Christ," (Eph. 4:13-16)-- just
like Jesus. He will be, because ofthis wonderful life He causedus to be born
into, "the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). And the Spirit of the
Lord says that we should not think of this as some remote and far off thing --
it is exactly what He is NOW working to raise us up into. He has even saidto

me, "this is exactly what I intend to do," the implication being to anticipate
coming up into the fullness before long.
This is why there is no condemnationto those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom.
8:1,2). The one who has a perfect life is condemned neither by God or by his
own conscience. Jesus is our life (Col. 3:4), so we have a perfectlife.
In conclusion, Jesus describedeternallife this way: "This is eternal life, that
they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have
sent" (John 17:3). It is a life that perceives, knows, andexperiences God. Now
that is LIFE! Anything short of this is to be "deadin your trespassesand sins"
(Eph. 2:1). This eternal life moves and operates in the realms of God, which is
why we are said to be in heavennow (Eph. 2:6, Col. 3:1-4, Phil. 3:20). That
verse in Philipians is accuratelytranslatedin King James:"for our
conversationis in heaven." Conversationin archaic King James English
means conduct, way of life, behavior. And this is exactly what the Greek
means: our everyday walking and moving and living is in the heavens!We are
moving in the realms of God, walking in the divine Spirit. Thank you Jesus
for the gift of eternal life!
THE GREATNESSOF JESUS
"When the drama of history is over, Jesus Christwill stand alone upon the
stage. All the greatfigures of history – Pharaoh, Alexander the Great,
Charlemagne, Churchill, Stalin, Johnson, Mao Tse-tung – will realise they
have been bit actors in a drama produced by Another."
Source:Helmut Thielicke
Reflections OnThe Greatness OfOur Lord Jesus Christ
As King, Prophet, Priest, Shepherd And Saviour

Hugo Bouter
New edition - 2004
“He will be great”. - Luke 1:32
“Therefore, considerthe Apostle and High Priestof our confession, Christ
Jesus”. -Hebrews 3:1
Contents
Preface
The GreatKing
The Son of the Highest
And of His Kingdom there will be no end
Greatamong His brethren
The GreatProphet
No man ever spoke like this Man
He spoke the words of God
A Prophet mighty in deed and word
The GreatPriest
High Priestwith regard to our sins
High Priestwith regard to our weaknesses
High Priestwith regard to our worship

Contrasts with the Old Testament
The GreatShepherd
Christ is superior to Moses
From Egypt to Canaan
One flock with one Shepherd
The GreatSaviour
The Saviour of Israeland of the world
The Saviour of ‘the body’
Our God and Saviour
Preface
In order to grow in the grace and knowledge ofour Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, we must follow the apostolic injunction to “considerHim” (Heb. 3:1;
12:3). Therefore the objectof these studies is to meditate on some facets of His
greatness andglory. They deal with five places in the New Testament, where it
is expresslystated that Christ is greator will be great. He is the greatKing,
the greatProphet, the greatPriest, the greatShepherd and the greatSaviour.
In His greatName we find help and strength for our course as Christians.
1. The Great King
Luke 1:32
The Son of the Highest
When the angelGabriel announced the birth of the Saviour to the virgin
Mary, he used the words:“He will be great”. It is always goodfor us to
considerthe greatnessofChrist, because He is absolutely unique. Mary was a
favoured woman, because she was the chosenvesselforthe birth of the
Messiah. Buther Son was greater than she because He was begottenby the
Holy Spirit, and for that reason“that Holy One” who was to be born, would
be called “the Sonof God” (v. 35).

Christ was also greaterthan His forerunner John the Baptist, of whom it is
said in this chapter that he would be greatin the sight of the Lord (v. 15).
John was a greatprophet indeed. The Lord Jesus Himself testified of him that
among those born of women there was not a greaterprophet than John the
Baptist (that is, until the coming of the King and of God’s Kingdom) (Luke
7:28). But, of course, the greatness ofthe forerunner was not comparable to
the glory of the One whose messengerhe was. Johnfrankly admitted this to
his disciples. He said he was just the friend of the Bridegroom, and he rejoiced
to hear His voice. Christ must increase, but he must decrease;for He came
from above and was above all (John 3:28-31).
Now what constitutes this greatness ofour Lord? What is it that makes Him
so unique? Of course, His glory is seenin many aspects, but the angelpoints to
His greatnessas Sonand King in particular: “He will be great, and will be
calledthe Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of
His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacobfor ever, and of
His Kingdom there will be no end” (vv. 32,33). Nobodycanbe compared to
Him because He is “the Son of the Highest”.
Christ’s glory as the Son of the Highesthas to do first of all with His dominion
over all things. God MostHigh is the Creatorof heaven and earth, the
supreme Ruler (Gen. 14:18-20;Deut. 32:8; Dan. 4:2,3,17,34).As the Son of the
Highest, Christ will inherit dominion over all things. His Sonship is related
here to His dominion, His Kingship, as is shown by the secondpart of
Gabriel’s announcement.
The title “the Son of the Highest”, or “the Son of the MostHigh” is found only
in the Gospels. In the Epistles we usually find more intimate titles, such as
“the only begottenSon” (1 John 4:9), “the Son of the Father” (2 John:3), or
“the Son of His love” (Col. 1:13). This corresponds more with the nature of
the full New Testamentrevelation, for Godhas been revealedas Fatherby His
beloved Son. “No one has seenGodat any time. The only begottenSon, who is
in the bosomof the Father, He has declaredHim” (John 1:18).
Apart from the verse now under discussion(Luke 1:32), the expression“Son
of the MostHigh God” is found only in the story of the healing of the demon-

possessedman in Luke 8:28 and Mark 5:7. The demon acknowledgedChrist’s
supreme authority by saying with a loud voice: “Whathave I to do with You,
Jesus, Sonof the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” For He had
commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Even in His
humiliation here on earth Christ had authority over the evil spirits, and this
Scripture shows that they acknowledgedHis authority (cf. Acts 16:16-18).
The term is used only once in the plural (“sons of the Highest”) as a promise
to the disciples:“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing
in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest.
For He is kind to the unthankful and evil” (Luke 6:35). Here emphasis is laid
on the care of the MostHigh God for His creatures, evenif they have turned
awayfrom Him. As sons of God, we should follow Him in this respectand
revealHis nature.
But it goes without saying that Christ’s Sonship is absolutely unique.
Although believers are the many sons who shall be brought to glory, He is the
Son, the Author of their salvation. We are creatures and we partake of flesh
and blood, but He took part in the same (Heb. 2:14 JND). Manhood was not
His natural condition, because He existed in the form of God (Phil. 2:6). The
eternal Word became flesh and “dweltamong us” (John 1:14). The Creator
Himself entered into His creation.
This is the miracle of the incarnation, as described in such a touching and
lovely way in Luke’s Gospel. Godhas found His goodwill, His goodpleasure
in man (Luke 2:14). The clearestproofof God’s love and grace towards man
is the factthat the Son of God became Man Himself. He lived and walked
among us, and in the end He even took our place in the judgment that we had
rightly deserved. The path of Christ led from the manger to the cross. There
we see Him lifted up as the Son of Man, that whoeverbelieves in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.
The mystery of the incarnation is explained by the angel announcing Jesus’
birth to Mary as follows:“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power
of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to
be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Christ is God and Man in

one Person. He was born of Godin a unique way, and therefore He is the Son
of God — even in His manhood. He was begottenby the powerof the Highest,
and so He canbe rightly called the Son of the Highest. How greatHe is! How
near has the MostHigh God come to us! How deep has He bowed down
towards us in His Son, Jesus Christour Lord!
And of His Kingdom there will be no end
As we have seenbefore, Christ’s Sonship is here particularly related to His
Kingship. As the Son of the Highest, He has supreme authority. In this
passagethe period of the coming Kingdom is referred to as follows:“And the
Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign
over the house of Jacobfor ever, and of His Kingdom there will be no end”
(Luke 1:32,33).
This is not the throne where Christ is now seated, atGod’s right hand in
heaven, but the throne that He will establishon earth after His Second
Coming (cf. Rev. 3:21). It is the throne of His glory as Messiahand as the Son
of Man (Matt. 25:31). Jerusalem, the city of the greatKing, will be the centre
of that reign which will extend to the ends of the earth. He will be honoured as
the greatSonof David, His father according to the flesh (Rom. 1:3). He will be
recognizedas the true Prince of Peace,a greater than Solomon(Matt. 12:42),
for the Son of David also proves to be none other than the Son of the Highest!
The prophetic perspective of this verse reminds us of the predictions of the
Old Testament, mainly those of Isaiah and Micah. These prophets both refer
to the divinity of the Messiah, who will sit on the throne of David: “Forunto
us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon
His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”;“Butyou, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come
forth to Me the One to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from
of old, from everlasting” (Isa. 9:6; Mic. 5:2).
Then they both continue to speak about the greatnessofHis government,
which will be marked by justice and peace:“Ofthe increase ofHis
government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and

over His Kingdom”; “Fornow He shall be greatto the ends of the earth; and
this One shall be peace” (Isa. 9:7; Mic. 5:4). So both passages speakaboutthe
greatness ofHis Person, and then about the greatness ofHis government over
the earth. The Messiahis not only a Man, the Man Christ Jesus, but also the
eternally blessedGod. He is the Eternal Son, the wonderful I AM. Therefore it
is appropriate for Him to receive a universal and eternalgovernment; this is
in accordancewith His dignity.
It would seemthat the words of Luke 1:32 (“He will be great”) are quoted
literally from Micah5:4 (“He shall be great to the ends of the earth”). He is
greaterthan David and Solomon, from whom He descendedaccording to the
flesh. He is the true King and Priest, the Branch of righteousness who would
be raised to David (Jer. 23:5; 33:15;Zech. 3:8; 6:12-13). His greatness
surpasses thatof all other kings, for even the greatof the earth will bring
presents and bow down before Him (cf. Ps. 72).
It is wrong to spiritualize this earthly perspective and to confuse the present
dispensationof grace with Christ’s millennial reign. We should bear in mind
that expressions like “the throne of David” and “the house of Jacob” have a
concrete and literal meaning for God’s earthly people. In explaining the
Scriptures they should be relatedto the future restorationof the people of
Israel. Otherwise these terms are rendered powerless,and God’s promises are
not takenseriously. The throne of David is the throne that will be established
in Jerusalem;it is not God’s throne in heaven. And the house of Jacobis the
literal offspring of the patriarch; it is not the Church, which has a heavenly
origin rather than an earthly one as it consists ofall those who are born from
above.
If we love Christ’s appearing, we will also rejoice in this earthly aspectof His
greatness andglory. He who once was rejectedby this world will reign with
power. From His coming will ensue a sabbaticalrestfor Israeland for all the
nations. In fact the whole creationwill be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. The Lord’s reign
will be visible for all men, and the government of Christ will be the
consummation of the theocratic reigns of David and Solomon. According to
First Chronicles 29:23 these kings sat on the throne of the LORD in

Jerusalem. The LORD, who is a great King (Mal. 1:14), will reign in the
Personof His Son. He will be greatindeed!
Greatamong His brethren
While thus considering the greatness ofChrist’s reign, one cannot help
thinking of what is saidabout Mordecaiatthe end of the book of Esther.
There we read of “the greatness ofMordecai, to which the king advanced
him”, and also that he was “greatamong the Jews” (Esther10:2,3).
Just as Mordecairuled over all the world at that time on behalf of king
Ahasuerus, so the Son Himself must reign on behalf of God the Fathertill He
has put all His enemies under His feet. The lastenemy that will be destroyedis
death. Then the eternalstate will begin, and everything will be in harmony
with God, that God may be all in all (cf. 1 Cor. 15:24-28).
Finally, we have to ask ourselves to what extent Christ is great in our hearts
and lives today. Indeed, He will be great, there is no doubt about that. He will
receive the honour that is His due, for the Father will exalt His Son in the
whole creation. But the question that we have to face is whether we are
exalting Him now in our lives. The apostle Paul strived after this continually,
for it was his earnestexpectationand hope that “as always, so now also Christ
will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil. 1:20). Christ
should be formed in us (Gal. 4:19). His life and His charactershould be seen
in us.
This is the practicalapplication of Luke 1:32 to us as Christians. Is the
authority of this greatKing, who will soonfill the world with righteousness, a
reality in our lives today? Do we enjoy His peace? The Prince of Peace,who
will soonproclaim His peace onearth, is able to let it rule it even now in our
hearts and lives by the power of His Spirit.
2. The Great Prophet
Luke 7:16
No man ever spoke like this Man

During the time of Christ’s service as the Servant-Prophethere on earth, as
He is depicted by Mark in particular, opinions on His Personvaried widely.
Some people rejectedHim as a prophet. The Pharisees did not acceptHim, for
in their view no prophet had arisen out of Galilee (John 7:52). Simon the
Pharisee saidto himself that He simply could not be a prophet, for in that case
He would never have alloweda sinner womanto touch Him (Luke 7:39).
Others, however, were more favourable in their judgment and did regard
Him as a prophet. The Samaritanwoman admitted: “Sir, I perceive that You
are a prophet” (John 4:19). Even large multitudes acknowledgedHim as such.
They consideredHim to be a prophet, as there had been so many in Old
Testamenttimes (Matt. 16:14;Mark 6:15; Luke 9:8).
But Christ was more than one of the old prophets. He was a very special
prophet. Many people acknowledgedthis and spoke aboutHim as the
Prophet, the One whom Moseshad already announcedin Deuteronomy
18:15ff. So they recognizedHim as the long-anticipated Prophet, and said:
“This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14; 7:40).
John the Baptistwas absolutely right in not claiming this honour for himself
when people askedhim: “Are you the Prophet?” (John 1:21). He was honest
and told them that he was not. Then John told them of the One who was to
come after him but was preferred before him. John himself was just the
forerunner, the herald who prepared the way for Him. Christ was superior to
him, and John effacedhimself and said: “He must increase, but I must
decrease” (John3:30).
Indeed, Christ was the Prophet. He surpassedall other prophets, for “He who
comes from above is above all” (John 3:31). He had descendedfrom heaven
and told them heavenly things, the things that He Himself had seenand heard
with the Father(John 3:12,13,32).
Christ was also superiorto Moses, who announcedHis coming as the Prophet:
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your
midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear” (Deut. 18:15). This verse
refers to Christ’s manhood: He was to be raisedup from among the people.
He took part in flesh and blood, for in all things He had to be made like His

brethren, yet without sin. Although He came from above, He became truly
Man, and in this humble form He addressedHimself to the people, speaking
the words that God gave Him to speak.
As a Prophet He was unique, for He was the Word incarnate, the
personificationof God’s messageto mankind. Previously Godhad spokenby
the prophets, but now He has in these lastdays spokento us by His Son, or
literally “in [His] Son” (Heb. 1:1). This means that God Himself has spokento
us as a divine Person, and that Personis the Son!
He spoke the words of God
Therefore Christ is an unequalled prophet. He is the Son Himself, the Creator
of all things and moreover, the Redeemerwho is now seatedat the right hand
of the Majestyon high (Heb. 1:2,3). He is exalted above the angels, those
mighty ministers of our God. He is superior to Moses, the man of God by
whom the law was given to Israel(John 1:17).
So it is goodfor us to considerHim, the Apostle and High Priestof our
confession(Heb. 3:1). By faith we see Him at the right hand of God, crowned
with glory and honour. His voice is no longerheard on earth as it was at the
time of His sojourn here. He has now spokenfrom heaven (cf. Heb. 12:25).
The Lord has done so by the Spirit of truth, who has led a number of apostles
and prophets to write the various books ofthe New Testament.
Whenever we pick up our Bible, we are sure that we have the complete Word
of God before us. God’s Word was fulfilled, or completed by divine revelation
to the apostles and prophets of the presentdispensation of grace (cf. Eph.
2:20; Col. 1:25). In the Gospels we have the words which Christ spoke to His
disciples here on earth, and which were brought to their remembrance by the
Holy Spirit (John 14:26). The Acts and the Epistles present us with the
ongoing testimony of the Spirit, the teaching of “all [the] truth” (John 16:13a),
or “the whole counselof God” (Acts 20:27).
As John told us in his Gospel, the Holy Spirit did not speak on His own
authority or initiative. The Spirit declaredand disclosedthe things that He
heard from the exalted Christ (John 16:13-15). The Spirit, who descendedon

earth after Christ was receivedup in glory, disclosedthese heavenly things to
the instruments which He used for the completion of the Word of God. In this
way He told them even “[the] things to come” (John 16:13b).
These things to come are largelyfound in the book of Revelation(cf. Rev.
1:19), which in many respects fits in with the prophetic books of the Old
Testamentwhich discuss God’s dealings with Israel and with the world. Of
course the Scriptures are linked togetherin other respects as well, for the Old
Testamentpoints in many ways to Christ, while the New Testamentshows the
fulfilment of many prophecies concerning Him and His finished work.
However, this falls outside the frame of our subject.
But what a tremendous assurance it is to have the complete Word of God in
our hands, and to know that the Scriptures provide us with everything we
need on our pathway to heaven. All this we owe to our greatProphet, the
heavenly Man Christ Jesus. Throughthe Spirit He has revealedto us the deep
things of God, the secrets ofGod’s heart, and has given them to us in the
Scriptures of the New Testamentin spiritual words (1 Cor. 2:6-16).
A Prophet mighty in deed and word
The accountin Luke 7 tells us how Jesus was honoured as a Prophet. This is a
lessonfor us that we might also honour Him as such, for we have every reason
to glorify Him as our greatProphet. We should be perfectly aware of His
greatness,evenmore than the people of Nain. For them the raising of the
young man was proof of His mission: “Then fear came upon all, and they
glorified God, saying, ‘A greatprophet has risen up among us’; and, ‘God has
visited His people’ ” (Luke 7:16).
If we just take these last words literally, they testify to the fact that God has
come to man in the Personof the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word became flesh
and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Christ is truly God. God visited His people
when Christ came into the world. But He is also truly Man. His human nature
is indicated by the first remark of the people: “A greatprophet has risen up
among us”. God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law
(Gal. 4:4). So this verse in Luke 7 testifies to Christ’s greatnessas Godand
Man in one Person.

As the Son of the living God, He gives life to whom He will (John 5:21). The
young man who had just been raisedfrom the dead was the living proof of
this. Along with the daughter of Jairus (a child) and Lazarus (an adult), this
young man is sufficient proof of Christ’s power over death.
And is this not valid in a spiritual sense as wellfor all those who have heard
the voice of the Son of God? ForHe has authority to give eternal life to as
many as the Father has given Him (John 17:2,3). And we know that He has
raisedus from the “grave” of our sins and our guilt, to enable us to walk with
Him in newness oflife. He has given us everlasting life, and we have passed
from death into life (John 5:24,25). How greatHe is, our Prophet and Saviour,
the Sonof the living God! We are sure about His greatness, as we personally
experiencedHis powerin delivering us from the bonds of death.
Responding to the miracle that had happened, the inhabitants of Nain
“glorifiedGod”. This will also be our reaction, as we see the quickening power
of Christ at work in people who are dead in trespasses andsins. Christ is
indeed the greatProphet. Both His words and His actions show His unique
mission and His lifegiving power, reaching beyond the grave. Along with those
two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus, we can say as believers that
He is a Prophet “mighty in deed and word before God and all the people”
(Luke 24:19).
There is just no one like Him, the Prophet confirmed to the people by God
with the accompanying signs and wonders (cf. Acts 3:22,23;7:37). The law
was given through Moses,but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ
(John 1:17). Therefore let us thank God for sending His Son, His Prophet, His
Spokesman. Foras we worship Him, we see the Father’s image in Him, full of
grace and truth.
3. The Great Priest
Hebrews 4:14; 7:4; 10:21
The letter to the Hebrews offers us a picture of the greatness andthe glory of
the Lord Jesus, particularly with regardto His unique, perpetual priesthood.

Jesus was a man of greatness

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