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April.13.06 - Light for the Day -- "Three Views of Jesus Christ"

-- Isaiah 9:6 
   For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, 
   And the Government will be on His Shoulders. 
   And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, 
   Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

-- John 1:17 
    For the Law was given through Moses; 
   Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ.

-- Luke 24:44 
   Jesus said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still 
   with you:  Everything must be Fulfilled that is written about Me 
   in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

-- Matthew 5:17-18
17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or 
     the prophets;  I have come Not to Abolish but to Fulfill.
18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, 
     not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, 
     will pass from the Law until all is Accomplished.

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In the Birth of Jesus, we see God coming in weak and vulnerable 
of human form. God chooses to share our location and condition. 
God is With us. 

In the Death of Jesus, we see God present in suffering human form. 
God chooses to take our part instead of being our enemy. 
God is For us.

In the Resurrection and Ascension, we see God in the victorious 
human form.  In this form, insinuating Himself into the depths of 
our very being. 
God is In us -- as the Spirit of Christ. 

Three views of Jesus, Three views of God.

Here, then, in a cameo, is the glory of God. Here is what God is 
really like. He is the God who is With us, the God who is For us, 
and the God who is In us. 

In short, when God shows His face, He always shows His Grace; 
the treasure that He offers to lodge with us is nothing other than 
the Grace of God.  For when we say Grace, we mean precisely this: 

the Promise of God-With-us, 
the Power of God-In-us,   and 
the Pardon of God-For-us.

-- Lewis B. Smedes

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-- Mark 1:1 
   The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

-- John 1:1-5, 14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
   and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through Him all things were made; 
   without Him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In Him was Life, and that Life was the Light of men.
5 The Light shines in the darkness, 
    but the darkness has not understood it.

14 The Word became Flesh and made His dwelling among us. 
     We have seen His Glory, the Glory of the One and Only, 
     Who came from the Father, full of Grace and Truth.

-- Philippians 2:6-11
6 Though Jesus was in the Form of God, 
    did not Regard Equality with God as something to be exploited,
7 But Emptied Himself, taking the Form of a Slave, 
   being born in human likeness. And being found in human form.

8 He Humbled Himself and became Obedient to the point of death --
   even death on a Cross.
9 Therefore God also highly Exalted Him and gave Him the Name 
   that is Above every name,
10 so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, 
     in Heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
     to the Glory of God the Father.

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-- John 11:25-27
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. 
     Those who Believe in Me, even though they die, will Live,
26 and everyone who Lives and Believes in Me will never die. 
     Do you Believe this?"
27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I Believe that You are the Messiah, 
     the Christ, the Son of God, the One Coming into the world."

-- Romans 6:3-4
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been Baptized into 
   Christ Jesus were Baptized into His death?
4 For we died and were buried with Christ by Baptism. 
   And just as Christ was Raised from the dead by 
   the Glorious Power of the Father, now we also may Live New Lives.

-- 2 Corinthians 4:10 
    We always Carry around in our body the death of Jesus, 
    so that the Life of Jesus may also be Revealed in our body.

-- 1 Peter 1:3-5
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 
   In His Great Mercy He has given us New Birth into a Living Hope 
   through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 and into an Inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade -- 
   kept in Heaven for you,
5 who through Faith are Shielded by God’s Power until the Coming 
   of the Salvation that is ready to be Revealed in the last time.

-- Acts 4:12 
   Salvation is found in no one else!  For there is no other name 
   under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

-- Romans 6:23 
   For the Wages of sin is death, 
   But the Gift of God is Eternal Life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

-- Romans 8:2 
   Because through Christ Jesus the Law of the Spirit of Life 
   set me Free from the Law of sin and death.

-- John 20:31
   But these are written so that you may come to Believe that 
   Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, 
   And that through Believing you may have Life in His Name.

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-- Luke 24:1-8, 44-47, 50-53
1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, 
   they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb 
   bringing the spices which they had prepared.
2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, 
   that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, 
   they said to them, "Why do you seek the Living among the dead?
6 "He is not here, but is Risen! 
    Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
7 "saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of 
    sinful men, and be Crucified, and the third day Rise again.’"
8 And they remembered His Words.

44 Jesus said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still 
     with you:  Everything must be Fulfilled that is written about Me 
     in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
45 Then He opened their minds so they could Understand 
      the Scriptures.
46 He told them, "This is what is written: 
     The Christ will Suffer and Rise from the dead on the third day,
47 and Repentance and Forgiveness of sins will be preached 
     in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

50 Then Jesus led them to Bethany, 
      and lifting His Hands to Heaven, He Blessed them.
51 While He was blessing them, 
     He left them and was taken up to heaven.
52 They worshiped Him and then returned to Jerusalem 
      Filled with great joy.
53 And they spent all of their time in the Temple, Praising God.

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-- Romans 8:1-2
1 Therefore, there is now No Condemnation to those who are 
    in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, 
    but according to the Spirit.
2 For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has Set you Free 
   from the Law of Sin and of Death.

-- Romans 5:1 
   Therefore, since we have been Justified through Faith, 
   we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

-- 2 Corinthians 13:14 
   May the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
   And the Love of God, 
   And the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.