For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20
As presented on *The Lutheran Hour® by Dr. Oswald Hoffmann, March 17, 1957.
C. S. Lewis once said about Jesus Christ, “A man who was merely man and said the sort of things Jesus said wouldn't be a great moral teacher. He’d either be a lunatic, on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg, or else he'd be the devil in hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse.” Today I should like to urge upon you to recognize Jesus Christ for the person He claims to be.
When Christ was born in the little Judean village of Bethlehem, God’s plan for the redemption of mankind reached its culmination. It was God’s subtle purpose that through His Son—through His life and death, through His suffering and agony and resurrection—a new kind of life might be shared with mankind. It was God's purpose not to condemn sinners, but to win them, even as Christ said, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Myself” (see John 12:32).
Are you still in doubt because you cannot understand it all? Well, I might as well tell you that you never will quite understand it all. I cannot quite understand how God and man could dwell together in one person. This actually happened in the Person of Jesus Christ. Yet I believe Jesus Christ was God and that God had a great purpose in doing just what He did. That purpose was to reconcile all men unto Himself.
God, our Father, give us the willingness to believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ, even though skepticism, doubt, and sin cloud our vision. Make us true followers of Him. Amen.
Taken from A Message of Hope: Proclaiming the Cross (selections from messages broadcast on *The Lutheran Hour, celebrating 75 years of proclaiming the promise).
Copyright © 2006 by Lutheran Hour Ministries
*The Lutheran Hour is the longest-running Christian radio broadcast in the world. It is a production of Lutheran Hour Ministries. For more information, visit www.lutheranhour.org.
Today's Bible Readings: Leviticus 19-20 Mark 9:30-50
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