Only Jesus Can do Jesus Stuff

Only Jesus Can do Jesus Stuff

Wherefore he [Jesus] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25 – AKJV)

Marsha Horn, one of my followers on Twitter posted the following on her Twitter page:

Eat, Pray and Be Happy! (Only Jesus can do Jesus stuff)

I applaud this; it is a joy to find new ways to restate eternal truths in a way that may capture peoples’ attention, and help them see how truly amazing Jesus is.

Only Jesus can do Jesus stuff

So, what is this “stuff” Jesus can do, that no one else can do?

The first, and perhaps the one dearest to our hearts is:

FORGIVENESS

There is a very real reason only Jesus can dispense forgiveness to a lost world. You see forgiveness comes at a great cost; sin is a horrible reality, and must be paid for. In the moral universe forgiveness is not a cheap commodity that can be casually given to anyone who asks for it.

There are only two ways of paying for the sin you and I have committed – either we must pay for it ourselves, which will cost separation from God for all eternity – or Someone Else must pay for it. Forgiveness for our sins can only come at the price of the shedding of blood:

And according to the Law, [one may] almost [say], all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22 – NASB)

Jesus shed His own blood on the cross to pay for our sins, and therefore becomes the only One through Whom God can forgives us our sins:

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24 – NASB)

The next “stuff” only Jesus can do is:

CLEANSING

…if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7-9 – AKJV)

Not only did Jesus shed His own blood to procure forgiveness for us, but he goes a step further and grants cleansing. We are not just forgiven sinners, condemned to continue our sinful lifestyle; by confessing our sins we have forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness.

If that were not enough, Jesus is also the only One Who can assure us a place in:

HEAVEN

Because Jesus has paid for all that can keep us out of Heaven, He is the only One Who can a place in Heaven:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. (John 14:1-3 – AKJV)

There is a whole lot more “stuff” only Jesus can do, and it will take us the rest of our lives to explore it all. Indeed, we will never get to the end of it in this life; we will need all of eternity to gain even a small appreciation of all has done for us.

So Much More

(© Wednesday 18^th November 2015 – by Christopher Shennan)

There is so much more Jesus can give,

To those hungry hearts who seek Him,

If only they give Him their wills,

And dare each day to believe Him.

There are many go only so far,

As is needed to just make do;

The treasures of Grace are so vast –

Always available to you.

There’s so much more you can still claim,

On the grounds of mount Calvary;

Don’t starve- a treasure awaits you –

For all of God’s blessings are free.

So much more if you’ll only seek them,

Christ’s opened so many new doors;

Just hunger and thirst to find Him,

All treasures of Heaven are yours.

Please visit My website: www.christophershennan.ca
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Forgiven by unknown. Shared on flickr by “Lynn ~ Off and On.” Copyright. Used under the CC by ND 2.0 license: please note the Disclaimer at this link. We have made no changes to this photo as found on the flickr link, above.

Naked Before a Holy God

Naked Before a Holy God

And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25 – AKJV)

Nakedness before God was not a shameful thing before the Fall. Adam and Eve’s innocence saved them from taking something beautiful, and distorting it into lust and impurity.

After the Fall, the sinful state of humanity dictated we must be clothed. God slew animals (the first indication that blood had to be shed in order to deal with humanity’s sinful state) to cover the nakedness of our first parents. Henceforth it became a shamed to expose our nakedness, except in the holy bond of marriage.

I take this to be a figure, or parable of God’s purpose for us spiritually. Can we come to a place spiritually, like Adam and Eve were spiritually – naked, yet unashamed?

In fact we are all naked before God anyway, since He sees all and nothing can be hidden from His sight. In our natural state, however, whenever we discover some sin of debilitating habit in ourselves, we feel shame. We have even invented a phrase to describe someone who feels no shame at their own sinful behaviour – we call them “shameless.”

And yet we can, through God’s Grace, come to a place where we can consciously stand naked before our Holy God, and yet feel no shame.

How can this be? Is it not required that we should feel shame for our sinful condition?

We can be naked before a Holy God simply because  Jesus carried our shame to the Cross, and shed His blood to cleanse us from all sin. That is why confession is required in order to become right with God.

Confession is the act of becoming naked before God and hiding nothing from Him. And what happens when we do this?

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; ⁷ but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:5-9 – NASB)

The act of true confession renders us naked before our Holy God, prompting Him to grant us forgiveness and cleansing. Having been cleansed from all sin I can stand naked before God and feel no shame, simply because he has removed the cause of that shame. Only when we try to hide are sin can a sense of shame overwhelm us.

Nothing to Hide*

(© 23rd April 1992 – by Christopher Shennan)

Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even [c]remained alive here after seeing Him?”  (Genesis 16:13 – NASB)

Lord, You are the God

Who sees me through and through;

My motives and ambitions,

Not only what I do.

You have a perfect record

Of the Secret plans I make:

What I think when I am sleeping,

And when I am awake.

You are the God Who sees me

Just as I really am;

What I think I will accomplish,

And What I really can.

You see the secret longings —

The hungers of the heart —

When I’m being foolish,

And when I’m being smart.

There is no point in hiding

From the God Who knows my all,

When I’m up and running swiftly

And when I take a fall.

It’s safer to take refuge

In God’s vast, Undying Love,

And know what e’er betides me

He’s watching from above.

These thoughts may be disturbing

To the men and woman who

Have something to conceal from

The point of Heaven’s view.

But to me it is great comfort

As I journey on my way:

‘Snot men, but God in Heaven,

Who has the final say.

Please visit My website: www.christophershennan.ca
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“Adam and Eve” by Hendrik Goltzius. Copyright. Used under the CC BY 2.0 license. This image is a cameo from the original work.

How Willing is Jesus?

How Willing is Jesus?

” And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on [his] face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”(Luke 5:12 – AKJV)

Are there times in your life and mine when we doubt Jesus is willing to cleanse us, perhaps of a habit, a sin, or an addiction?

I am sure we do not doubt Jesus can cleanse us, but will He when we have sunk into the depths and failed Him multiple times?

The man in our text was full of leprosy. In other words, he was in an incurable state and had given up any hope the leprosy would pass away naturally. He had however, a glimmer of hope. He had faith Jesus could cleanse him from his leprosy. The only question was, would He? Was Jesus willing to cleanse him? So his approach to Jesus was tentative, but hopeful: “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”

I do not believe this incident is included in Scripture for lepers alone. I believe He wanted to give you and me a pattern to follow when somehow we have sunk so low cleansing appears as an impossible dream. We have failed Jesus so often, and we have been a slave to our passions for so long we doubt His willingness to cleanse us and set us free. Surely He has grown tired of our constant failures and will withdraw Himself from us? How could he not? We cannot forgive ourselves, how could He not feel the same?

I believe the leper’s experience was included in Scripture as an object lesson. Jesus wants us to follow the leper’s example and approach Him with sincerity and truth. He wants us to come to Him with the leper’s plea: ”Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”

And you know what? I believe His answer to you and me will be the same as the answer he gave to the leper: “I will: be thou clean… “

If You Are Willing, Lord!

(c) 1992 – by Christopher Shennan))

” And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on [his] face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”(Luke 5:12 – AKJV)

If you are willing, Lord,

You can make me more clean,

In fact or in theory,

Than I have ever been.

Much more, indeed,

Than man conceives;

But wholly in line

With what he believes.

I have no doubt, Lord,

You can set free,

But I doubt you will

Have mercy on me.

For I seem so small

In the scheme of things;

And my guilt so real

That hope takes wings.

So I come to you, Lord,

With a plaintive cry;

Though I’m not worthy

Don’t pass me by.

I know you can cleanse

The filthiest kind:

In spirit and body,

As well as in mind.

You are willing, Lord,

You can make me whole;

In thinking, in attitude,

As well as in soul.

With no great effort

In word or deed,

You are able and willing

To meet my need.

“Healing of the Leper” by Niels Larsen Stevns. 1913. This image is in the public domain.

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