Jesus the Precious One: Part IV
“Unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious” (1 Peter 2:7).
The very name of Jesus is precious. His name was announced from heaven before His birth by Isaiah who wrote of Him saying; And His name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
As we have already mentioned, on an earlier occasion, His preciousness was announced by the angel who instructed concerning His name, “Call Him Jesus for He shall save His people”. Notice how His mission was bound up in His name. He was to save His people. That was His task. He was not to try to save His people or, by His work, make His people savable. No! He was called Jesus because He would most assuredly save His people.
He is precious!
To declare His name as being Jesus is to affirm that He saves. But what does He save from? He saves from both sin and sins!
“Brother Miles,” you say, “sin and sins …what’s the difference?” It’s like this, sin produces sins. We inherited the sin virus from Adam (Romans 5:12). It was planted in the human race by Adam’s fall and has polluted all of us. Sins are produced by sin. We read, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Our sins are the fruit, but sin is the root.
Some years ago, a young fellow approached an elder Christian, complaining that, in spite of all his prayers and efforts, sins were continually creeping into his life and behaviour. The old elder replied, "On what tree do apples grow?" "Why, an apple tree," said the astonished youth. The question seemed so ridiculously irrelevant. "And on what tree do plums grow?" "On a plum tree." His astonishment deepened! "And on what tree do sins grow?" was the next question. There was a pause. Then, with a smile, he said, "On a sin tree, I should think." "You are right, my lad," said the elder. "That's just where they do grow."
Here’s the point. The sins that at times plague Christians are not little isolated bits of external evil implanted into us by the devil. Their cause is much deeper. They spring as fruit out of sin which is within us. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). So what did Jesus do? He dealt with sin and its power (Romans 6:6; Romans 8:3).
HE IS PRECIOUS!
Because of Calvary, we are now instructed to, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” Romans 6:11-12.
On the cross, Jesus dealt with both sin and sins. Now may we, by faith, walk in that victory. I’m neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I will guarantee you this … the more precious Jesus becomes in our thinking, the more we will grow to hate sin and loathe the sins that it produces. “Unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious.” Yes indeed, His Name is precious.
If we could travel back through time to the days when Jesus walked the earth, we could hear the conversations of those whom He had helped. One man asks’’ “Who healed you?” The reply comes, “It was Jesus.” Another asks: “Who set you free from the demons?” “It was Jesus. “Who raised you from the dead?” “It was Jesus!”
What a precious name …Jesus. As the hymn writer sang, “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds In a believer’s ear! It soothes His sorrows, heals his wounds, And drives away his fears.” “Unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious”
And that’s the Gospel Truth! |
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