Is Christ’s Revealing Leadership Glorified In Your Life?

Is Christ’s Revealing Leadership Glorified In Your Life?

Good Morning Friends,

In Christ we have God’s full message to humanity disclosed. In Jesus we have the supremacy of the Word made flesh. But too few see and believe. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he describes a scenario in which people take to be real that which is in fact an illusion… In the story we are to imagine ourselves as prisoners compelled to gaze at a wall in front of us. We see only shadows but take them for real. Aside from a reflection of fire light, we are in the dark. Then, when we are finally freed- to see what is really inside the cave and what is truly outside the cave- we are at first bewildered and blinded,  but eventually understand. We see the Sun. With this illumination we are at last called to free others, and help them to see, and to think in new ways until they too gain awareness of the true light.  Friends, today we learn that our journey is not just out of the cave but back into the cave to help others gain freedom from the shadows. When God sent His son to first free us, He demonstrated the leadership we are to emulate.  Now we must share what is virtuous by helping others. Is Christ’s Revealing Leadership Glorified In Your Life?

Scripture: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-14 (NRSV)

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire.” But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” And, “In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like clothing; like a cloak you will roll them up, and like clothing they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will never end.” But to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are not all angels’ spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Hebrews 1:1-14 (NRSV)

Isaiah 61:1 (NIV)

Message: Perhaps in your life you have had those moments that might even persist where you call out, “Give me Jesus, I do not belong here!” Well most people resist this exclamation, but the thing is that God has always worked to reveal Himself to mankind, so to have that impression imprinted on one’s heart is not crazy at all. Helping others see this is a great joy. The Bible is filled with examples of how God has uses dreams and visions, angels, prophecy, the law….even a burning bush to urge this belief. Throughout Holy History these revelations give us a partial understanding and but a glimpse of God’s glory for us to enjoy. For now that God has spoken to us by His Son don’t you want and expect more? If we want to know what the Eternal and Almighty God is really like, we can look at the Lord Jesus Christ. Right? But until we meet Christ, face to face, all that we perceive are as reflections of God glory.  Here we discover that Christ is more than a reflection of reality revealed though sight. He is the revealer.  He is the source of illumination and the focus of our faith. He is the heir of all things. He is the creator. He is the radiance of God’s glory. He is the exact representation of God, the sustainer of all things…the redeemer. Jesus is better than anything. He has come to set us captives free and show us how to lead.

Pray we see Christ as the heir of all things. Pray we see Christ as the creator of all things. Pray we see Christ as the sustainer of all things. Pray we see Christ as the radiance of God’s glory…the exact representation of His Father… the Redeemer of mankind….the ruler of the universe. Pray with praise for a creation that calls us to be like Christ. Pray we realize that God calls us to rule like and for Him until His return but that we must have a subdued dominion to be effective. Pray we gain knowledge of what it truly means to be a leader. Pray we gain the will and desire to do what God requires. Pray we embrace the freedom in Christ. Pray we apply what we have learned even as we await Christ’s return, not as an outward conformity but as an inner work that makes all things new in God’s image. Pray that God grant us the grace to influence the world through Christ in us. Pray we are recreated in the image of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Pray God enables us to impact the world through the changes of grace… to change the hearts of others with the revelation of the truth.

Blessings,

John Lawson