"He holds everything together..." - Hebrews 1:3 (NCV)

Jesus is the Son of God; He reflects the glory of the Father and shows us the exact representation of God. 

That is powerful; we now know that our heavenly Father loves us with unconditional love, no strings attached and has provided us with a way of escaping the effects of sin and death. The Father gave us Jesus. 

It is easy to assume that Jesus just thought up this plan of salvation all on His own and decided to sacrifice Himself on a cross to do what no other man could do, but that would be shortcutting the wisdom of our heavenly Father. Jesus only demonstrates the glory of the Father.

"You know that in the past you were living in a worthless way, a way passed down from the people who lived before you. But you were saved from that useless life. You were bought, not with something that ruins like gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, who was like a pure and perfect lamb. Christ was chosen before the world was made, but he was shown to the world in these last times for your sake. Through Christ you believe in God, who raised Christ from the dead and gave him glory. So your faith and your hope are in God." 

1 Peter 1:18-21 (NCV)

Jesus existed with the Father long before the creation of the earth, and it was decided to put a plan in place for humanity in a meaningful way that would give all of humanity a savior. 

Part of that wisdom was putting a small part of the knowledge of God within everyone, a tiny remembrance that could be revealed (or triggered) by God. That was accomplished by creating a desire to know our creator and seeking to understand why we have this tiny remembrance and what it means. 

We have been told that coming to God is a choice, but it is more than a choice, it is really about seeking the reason why that small memory of God is there in our heads the first place.

 "And when all things are brought out to the light, then their true nature is clearly revealed; for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light. That is why it is said, "Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on you." 

Ephesians 5:13-14 (GNT)

We are all spiritually dead in trespass against God, which is sin. It is God who makes the first contact, by shining light on that small memory and showing us why we have this tiny memory of God. 

That light or revelation of God reveals that we all had a place with God in heaven long before we were physically born, literally before the earth was created. 

Our existence at that time was enjoying a large company of others who were like us who were focused on one thing, our King. His glory was the light that shone throughout heaven and upon us. 

These others were born in due time into this world as we were, and have also come to know their King through the same light of Christ touching the memory of our previous estate in heaven, revealing who Jesus actually is. These others have left us this lasting legacy. 

We may feel alone, but we aren't. An army of witnesses surrounds us. They have run their race of faith and finished well. It is now our turn.

"So since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us. Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor." 

Hebrews 12:1-2 (VOICE)

Jesus is our King who had endured great sacrifice, which was planned out before the world began so that we might become God's children with an unimaginable inheritance. This plan was set so that that we would become the children of God. 

To think that this is the choice we are given is wrong thinking. The reason is why we are given such a treasure is because it is God who is the one who chose us for such a destiny.

"We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. From the distant past, His eternal love reached into the future. You see, He knew those who would be His one day, and He chose them beforehand to be conformed to the image of His Son so that Jesus would be the firstborn of a new family of believers, all brothers and sisters. As for those He chose beforehand, He called them to a different destiny so that they would experience what it means to be made right with God and share in His glory." 

Romans 8:28-30 (VOICE)

Jesus holds everything together with His powerful word. 

When God put together this salvation plan for us, it was first declared in the book of Genesis

"In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The Spirit of God was hovering over the water. Then God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light. God saw the light was good. So God separated the light from the darkness." 

Genesis 1:1-4 (GW)

The word "God" in this passage is "Elohim," and it is plural. Christ was with God in the beginning and created the heaven and the earth. It says, "the Spirit of God was hovering over the water," the word spirit is "rü'·akh" or "breath," in this case, it is the unspoken breath of God." 

The breath of God was hovering over the face of the waters, the Hebrew word for hovering is "rä·khaf'," which means to relax, rest, or flutter. The Holy Spirit becomes our rest.  

Then God (Elohim) said, "Let there be light," so there was light. Jesus made this plain in the Gospel of John:

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark." 

John 8:12 (GW)

In Genesis, we can see the full revelation of our Father God, who is over all, the creative power of Christ which is the light, and the breath of God (the spirit) which is in us and even in our mouths to become the spoken word of God.

"But what does it actually say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the good news we have been called to preach to you)" 

Romans 10:8 (VOICE)

Jesus is the great one in heaven.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett