Part 6
The New Testament
It consists of four Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; the Book of Acts, Revelations of Jesus Christ and twenty-one (21) Epistles.
Who is Jesus?
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2) He was in the beginning with God. 3) All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4) In Him was life and the life was the light of men.
5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
Let me re-type above five verses and use the name Jesus in place of ‘Word’ and ‘Him.’
“In the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God. 2) Jesus was in the beginning with God. 3) All things were made through Jesus and without Jesus nothing was made that was made. 4) In Jesus was life* and the life* was the light* of men. 5) And the light* shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it. “
I find above verses foundational. The bedrock as to who Jesus is. From the very beginning, Jesus was with God. And the Word (Jesus) is God. Jesus is God and the Heavenly Father is God and together with the Holy Spirit, they are one God. It appears that all things were made by Jesus. Jesus, who is God, made everything.
Jesus is also called *life and the *light. So, Jesus is God, Jesus is Life, and Jesus is Light, among other things. He created everything which includes all of us.
In order to know Jesus more intimately, I re-read His statements in the various Gospels like for example:
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” Matthew 5:13
This is my take on the above declaration of Jesus: As a member of the human race, each one of us will be interacting with other people all the time. At home, in school, at work, in our hometown and other places we go to.
We all want to be accepted by the people we meet, by our peers. We refrain from saying anything that may offend people. For example: if someone says, “Well, all religion leads to the same God, there are many roads leading to heaven.”
If we are going to be truly the salt of the earth and a true follower of Jesus Christ, we would reply, lovingly and politely that
“Actually sir, or mom, there is only one way to God or to heaven and that is thru the ‘Door’ which is thru Jesus Christ who was the one who came down to earth more than 2000 years ago and died on the cross to pay for our sin-debts to the Heavenly Father. “
Above reply could start an argument and has alienated supposed friends and people in general. You will now be considered a ‘narrow minded’ Bible carrying untorelable Christian or worst, a Jesus freak. But that is what Jesus wants us to be, the salt of the earth. Otherwise we are useless. And useless salt are used as road surfaces in olden times where people walk on. As a Christian, we are not in a popularity contest.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16.
As a light of the world, we should be an example of a Godly person at all times, on Sundays and every day of the week. At home and at work. With our friends and with strangers.
Do Not Worry!
“Therefore do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat? or ‘What shall we drink? or
‘What shall we wear? “. . . .For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:31-33
There it is. From the mouth of Jesus Himself. Do not worry. But seek first the kingdom of God and all of these things which you need will be provided. Provided of course that you are a true follower of Jesus Christ every day of the week, at home, at work and everywhere else.
It is probably human nature to complain for something or nothing. Like a small child. Some children, as soon as they wake up, they start crying or yelling. Like the Israelites when they left Egypt and were in the desert on the way to the promised land. They were always complaining about this or that to Moses and to God. They were not firm believers in the power of God. The same is true today.
We are to remember this: If we do not trust God, if we have not turned over our lives to the Lord, if we have not asked the Lord to come and live in our heart and be our Lord and Master, why would we expect Him to be our genie?
Would you be a genie to your children or your friends and relatives who do not trust you?
Here is another thing which Jesus said “…… do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34.
How true ! Some of us worry about the things which might happen tomorrow and most of what we worry about does not happen at all. What a waste of energy in worrying about tomorrow’s problems.
Some of us worry if we are not worrying about something. I believe we are confused about the concept of planning and worrying. Plan by all means, but there is no need to worry. (This is a huge blessing if you have Jesus as your Lord and Master. You can always turn over your worries to Him).
If you are about to worry about something which might happen tomorrow, tell yourself to ‘ I will postphone worrying about this for tomorrow.’ When tomorrow comes, you discover you did the right thing, there was no need to worry at all. So from now on, when the urge to worry pops up, immediately say to yourself, ‘I will postpone worrying about this until tomorrow.” Plan but do not worry.
