The Wednesday Word - 10 August, 2022 A.D.

 Jesus: The Altogether Lovely One.

 by D.G. Miles McKee
 

In Christ alone, we discover who God is and what He is like.  In Christ alone, we also learn what man should be like.  What a marvel Christ is … God and Man in one person; there has never been anyone like Him! Consider this; the greatest of people are usually flawed.  Einstein was brilliant, but he was also a sex maniac. Gandhi, the great peace-loving leader of India once paid a compliment to Adolph Hitler. People are not perfect.
 
Let’s face it, the best of men are men at best, we are all flawed, all that is, except for Christ Jesus.  In the annals of human history, Jesus Christ remains the only one of whom it can be truthfully asserted, "He is altogether lovely” (Songs of Solomon 5:16).

He is altogether lovely because He is the out-shining of the Father’s glory (Matthew 17:1-9).

He is altogether lovely for He is the glory of God against whom we are measured and fall short. (Romans 3:23).

He is altogether lovely for He has become our champion and has brought us back to God (Romans 3:23, Hebrews 2:10)
 
He is altogether lovely because there He was, at the cross, “Bearing shame and scoffing rude,” and doing so without opening His mouth in His own defence. (Isaiah 53:7).
 
He is altogether lovely because although He is the shepherd, He is also the Lamb.
He is altogether lovely for He is our faithful guide.
He is altogether lovely for is our flawless sacrifice;
He is altogether lovely for He is our perfection (Hebrews 10:14).
He is altogether lovely for He Himself is the wondrous wrath offering. (Romans 3:24-25).
He is altogether lovely for He, by Himself, purged our sins (Hebrews 1:3)!
 
Is He really altogether lovely? If so, then tell people about Him. What a simple message we have …“Behold the Lamb!”  We don’t have to argue or be belligerent, we can simply tell about the Lamb.  We don’t have to despise or condemn, we just tell about the Lamb.  He is altogether lovely! We can help no one unless we point them to the Lamb.  No one else can take away sin.  No one else can bathe the conscience and cleanse it for it is the Lamb who was slaughtered; it is the Lamb who was the one final sacrifice for sin. He is altogether lovely.
 
Not only when we witness, but also when we have fellowship one with another may we say, “Behold the Lamb.” May we talk about His person, work and offices. May we continually think about Him, observe Him and know all that we can about Him. May we examine Him, meditate on Him, worship Him and sing to Him! The more we are occupied with Him, the more we will be transformed.
 
There was no greater wonder ever than that God should provide Himself as the Lamb for the sin offering. May we always be in awe of Him! Angels marvel at this mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. May we join with them in astonished wonder and never cease to be amazed.
 
May we always be filled with the wonder of the flawless Lamb!  He is not distant. He is here; He is not in hiding. Look at Him and see Him for who He is.  He is the living Word, the Word made flesh, the Holy One come to earth as the sinner’s friend.  He is loveliness itself, filled with grace and truth.
 
About 300 hundred years ago, Scotland had many prominent preachers.  An English man went there to listen to some of them.  First, he went to hear Robert Blair.  He came back and said, “That man showed me the majesty of God.” Then he went to hear a sermon by David Dixon, and he said,“ That man showed me my heart.”  And then he heard Samuel Rutherford, and he said, “That man showed me the loveliness of Jesus Christ.”  What mighty preaching there must have been in those days. We may yet see it return to our pulpits.
 
He is lovely!
 
And that’s the Gospel Truth!