Celebrating Jesus - A Univeral Language

 

We were privileged to be part of the Sunday service at New Life Presbyterian Church yesterday when they asked us to sing a special song for the families that had gathered together in the chapel at the school to celebrate our Saviour Jesus Christ in the evening. During our devotional times at the hotel each evening we enjoy an informal time of singing and one of our team members leads us in a study. We chose to sing "Lord I Lift your Name on High". We had no idea how well that song would fit the message for the evening.

As has become the norm here with the wonderful Christian people of Orange Walk, we have received far, far more than we have given. We did our best to join in the singing of several songs in Spanish as well as English as Pastor Mario lead us through a time of scripture reading and songs of praise accompanied by his son Azeel on the electric guitar. As Pastor Leogardo ("Leo") took to the platform to open God's word to us, he apologized that he was not fluent in English and then proceeded to move seemingly effortlessly between the two languages as he expounded upon the two conditions of Jesus Christ - His humiliation and His exaltation/resurrection.

We looked at Philippians 2:1-11 which speaks of Christ giving up all the glory of heaven to come to earth - this is the Christmas story and the beginning of His humiliation. It is amazing to consider that the Creator became the created, and the king of the universe arrived on the Earth as a helpless newborn baby, totally dependent upon the care of an unwed teenage girl and her fiancé, who was a lowly carpenter. Then he humbled Himself through obedience to His Father, Jehovah, and died on the cross for our sins. His death and being laid in the tomb were the culminating events of His humiliation. And for those three days, Satan thought he had won the battle. Then we come to Easter, and the beginning of his triumphant exaltation begins on Easter Sunday morning when He is resurrected from the dead and this was witness by many groups of people, including over 500 at one time during the 40 days he spent here after his resurrection.

Then we looked at Acts 1:11 where we see the culminating event of his exaltation and resurrection – His glorious Ascension into Heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father. This glorious truth is the guarantee of eternal life with Him in Heaven, for those of us who have believed Him and accepted Him as Lord of our lives!

So we are reminded that if we suffer on this earth in any way, it is the pattern that has already been demonstrated by Jesus Himself, and we can take comfort that if we believe in Him, our humiliation will only be for a short while. Our hope is the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ who lives forever – who was, and who is, and who is to come. Amen!

As we shared around the table last night in our own devotions, Michelle was leading and asked us to share a verse that was meaningful to us in our lives. For me, I always go to these verses:

Hebrews 12:2-3
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

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