by William Oldham

   Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be true God and true Man. As the eternal, from everlasting, to everlasting, God, He was the second Person of the Godhead, the Word of God. His Person as a Man began when the virgin Mary was empowered by the Holy Spirit to conceive Him. The God Man Jesus had a birthday in a manger in Bethlehem: God was His Father, Mary was His mother.

          God willingly placed Himself into the limitations of a human body. And not only that, but placed Himself in the role of a slave, sent to serve His brethren. As a Man, Jesus fully submitted Himself in obedience to His Father. As a Jew, Jesus fully submitted Himself to the Law of Moses. Jesus Christ was a humble Man from birth to death.

          Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God. He is, “…The radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s being, and He sustains everything by the mighty power of His command. When He had cleansed us from our sins, He sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the Majestic God in heaven. In these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son. He appointed Jesus to be the heir of all things, and it was through Him that God made the universe.” Hebrews 1:1-3

Jesus humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:8-11

There are many things in Jesus’ life that demonstrate His being a true man. The first, being, that He was born into this world like all of us. We read that, as a twelve year old boy, Jesus was obedient to Mary and Joseph. We see Him tired and sleeping. We see Him eating and drinking. We see Him making friends; we see Him praying often, sometimes all night. But there is one thing Jesus did that I believe, reveals, both true God and true Man together. 

Jesus Wept! It was at the tomb of Lazarus, a man Jesus loved. Although Jesus knew He would raise His friend back to life, His tears reveal a truth from God’s word: In trouble and sorrow, more than anyone on earth, Jesus is able to sympathize with us, and give us the help we need.

 “…We have a High Priest Who can be touched with the feelings of our weaknesses; He was in all points tempted as we are, yet was without sin.” Therefore we may come boldly unto His throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15

          Jesus Wept! Just a few days before He was crucified, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. As he arrived at a place overlooking the city, He wept. Those tears were shed over the terrible destruction He knew was going to befall the people and the city, because they had rejected Him. His tears reveal this truth:

“…God does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

          Jesus wept in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was a pure, innocent Son, greatly loved by His Father. On the cross, His Father would lay on Him the sin of the world and Jesus Christ would bear the judgment and penalty of that sin. Jesus wept because He knew that on the cross, as our sin-bearer, He would be accursed and separated from His Father—if but for just a moment. All because He so loved us and took our place at Calvary.

          What a friend we have in heaven: Jesus—true God and true Man!

Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net

Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

          Two very important conversations had just taken place between Jesus and Peter, before Jesus laid this before his disciples. Jesus had asked the apostles who men were saying He was, and they told Him what the people were saying. Then Jesus asked them who they were saying He was, to which Peter replied, “You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 16:15-17 

          Following that conversation, Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Matthew 16:21

          Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him saying, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Matthew 16:22-23

          In those two brief exchanges between Jesus and Peter, Peter was greatly blessed and then sternly rebuked. Was there a contradiction there? Absolutely not! Scripture declared that anyone who died on the cross was accursed. So when Peter, knowing the truth that Jesus was the King of Israel, and hearing Jesus say He was going to be crucified like a common criminal, his human side totally rejected that thought.

          The forgiveness of our sins, and our eternal life with the Father and His Son, rested entirely upon Jesus being on that cross; it was God’s plan and a divine necessity. There was a sin debt that must be paid and man couldn’t pay it: in great mercy and grace, out of His unfailing love, God Himself paid our sin debt and set us free. By obedience to His Father through death on the cross, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name—Lord! Philippians 2:9

          Jesus insists that His followers deny themselves. What does that mean? It simply means that you and I must demand of ourselves that Christ has the rule over our lives; anything less means you are unwilling and want to rule your life yourself. The old man wants what he wants, when he wants it, and how he wants it. On becoming a new creature in Christ, the order is reversed; we want what Christ wants.

How can we know what Christ wants?  “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” “Anyone who loves Me will obey my teaching.”  Matthew 4:4/John 14:23

The will of God and Jesus Christ is clearly revealed in the Scriptures. If we truly want the Lord Jesus to have rule over our lives, we will give ourselves to reading and meditating on His words. This will require a denial of some of your time doing other things, but is absolutely essential to your walk with Christ.

We love the public sign of the cross; but the real cross that Christ insists we bear is not visible. It is the daily crucifying of our old man’s desires, wants and wishes: to daily kill our selfishness and think of others; to love others as we love ourselves. The cross is crucifying worldly lusts and ungodliness. The cross of Christ promises us that if we die to this world, we shall one day rule and reign with Him, forever.

The sign of the cross is the death of the old man. If we won’t bear the cross, we won’t wear the crown.

Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net

by William Oldham

        What a wonderful privilege it is to be a citizen of Heaven! What hope fills my heart, knowing that one day, I will set up residence in that heavenly country forever, leaving behind, a world of sin and sorrow. What comfort and joy I find, knowing that one day, I will join my friends and loved ones in that fair land. There we shall meet face to face, the One who loves us and Who brought us to that beautiful place—Jesus Christ.

          Folks from every nation, tribe and tongue, who are united together in Christ, are fellow citizens of Heaven. “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 Now, all who are in Christ, are citizens of Heaven. 

However, we cannot enjoy the fullness of our citizenship while we are in these mortal bodies. Only when Jesus Christ comes for us, and we are given our new, heavenly bodies, only then shall we fully comprehend our citizenship. Until that Day, we are housed in a temporary, body of clay, and are “strangers and pilgrims” in this present world. But, we have the sure word of God to guide us in our earthly journey. Here we have a word from the apostle Paul:

“Above all, you must live as citizens of Heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Jesus Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies…” Philippians 1:27-28

          In reading this Scripture, it becomes very clear that above all we may think or do, there is one thing of utmost importance to Jesus Christ—the faith of His Good News. He has committed into the hands of His citizens, He has commanded us to tell the Good News (the gospel) to whosoever we may have opportunity to do so; that must be uppermost in our hearts and minds.

          The first word of the Good News of Jesus Christ is love; a love beyond all understanding; a love that would cause God to give His only begotten Son, whom He loved greatly, to an old rugged cross for the sin of the world—for sinners like me and you! It is a love that Jesus Christ would demonstrate by willingly giving His body to the nails and spear, and shedding His life’s blood for the likes of you and me. In love, Jesus laid down His life to give us forgiveness of sins and free us from all condemnation. This is the Good News Jesus wants the world to hear.

          In order to keep this the main thing, and fight to proclaim it, the citizens of Heaven, living on earth, MUST stand together, with one spirit and one purpose. One spirit means the Spirit of love; the love of the Father and the love of Jesus Christ. When a person is born again, “…The love of God is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.” Romans 5:4

          Every citizen of Heaven possesses God’s love; but sadly, not every citizen practices it. If we refuse to love one another as Christ loved us, we lose our unity, His purpose is lost, and the Good News falls by the wayside; and the lost remain lost. “This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” John 15:12

          You may feed the poor, help the homeless, work on a disaster team, (which are all good things to do), but if you don’t love your brothers and sisters, the rest means nothing in Christ’s eyes. If you love this present world, the love of the Father is not in you. For the love of Jesus Christ, love one another with a genuine, sincere love, if in fact, you are a citizen of Heaven.

Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net