FRIDAY January 6, 2023

God Sent His Servant Jesus

“You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
Acts 3:25-26

The Jews were blessed. Through Abraham’s bloodline came the Messiah. Through that blessing, the rest of the people on the earth were blessed––all the Gentiles. God told Abraham:

“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3).

Who did God raise up to bless us? His Servant Jesus. What was He sent to do? God sent Him to bless the Jews and also the Gentiles. How? In turning every one of us away from our iniquities––our sins. Yet what happened? Jesus came to bless the Jews, and they cursed Him. They spit on Him and cried out for Him to be crucified. The Jews called for the death of their Messiah. Matthew 27: 20, 22-25 unfolds the sad scene:

…the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus…. They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!” Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all … he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:20, 22-25).

Did you know Jesus came to bless you? How are you blessed? When you repent and ask Jesus to come into your life! He forgives your sins and remembers them no more. Your life starts again with a blank page!

We are new creatures in Christ Jesus; we have participated in the resurrection life of Christ, and the Law cannot demand penalties from our life.
~C.H. Spurgeon~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!