A-Z of Christianity -J-

JESUS! :)

I am sure you can imagine how hard it was finding a topic for 'J', especially at this time of year!

The whole Bible, even the Old Testament, is about this God-man. 100% God, 100% Man. One of the three members of the Holy Trinity of God, Spirit and Himself.

John tells us that Jesus was there at the very start:-

John 1:1-5

The Word Became Flesh. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (If you are wondering if Jesus is who John was talking about when referring to the 'Word' then read verses 14-18 of the same chapter!)

Jesus describes Himself as God or fails to correct those who told Him He was on many occassions (John 8:58 springs to mind).

Jesus was on a mission from the very second He entered earth on the original Christmas Day, He came to save us. Luke sums this up perfectly - For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)

Throughout the Old Testament God was faithful to a people who fell very far short of that faithfulness of themselves and at points could only be described as wicked, evil and conceited.

God, being just but loving, had only two choices. Destroy or Repair.

Today let's be thankful that Jesus came to repair and wipe us clean of all sin, taking the hit for us and enabling us to know God and be with Him when our time on earth has passed.

John puts it famously - For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Max Lucado wonderfully summaries this with:-

GOD LOVED

GOD GAVE

WE BELIEVE

WE LIVE

Merry Christmas everyone :) x





A Big Price!

Today is a very crazy day in European football. Transfer Deadline Day! The final day in which major football clubs can sign players this season. You can have really boring Deadline Days where nothing happens. But occasionally you get a real gem of a day where clubs keep you guessing right up until the final hour.

Today is one of those days. The main players are Liverpool's Fernando Torres, one of my favourite players (left), and Newcastle United's Andrew Carroll (right). At the time of writing they appear to be leaving for Chelsea & Liverpool (Carroll to replace Torres!) for £50,000,000 and £35,000,000 respectively.

I have read much concern over the amount of money being spent by football clubs. One work colleague suggested that those kind of sums could help feed some of Africa and that is certainly something to think about when we see such frivolity in our world on seemingly needless expenditure.

Many others have suggested that these players are not good enough to warrant those sums being spent on them, and this is what I am going to make a point about in this post.

In Football you are worth what somebody is willing to spend on you. Carroll could be one of the top strikers in the world in the next ten years and every penny spent would be worth it. Torres is one of the best strikers in the world already and if his goals fire Chelsea into the Champions League next season and to victory in it this year, he will have paid back the price already (especially as prize money is equally as exorbitant in football!).

Let's turn this around, if we are worth how much someone is willing to spend on us then how much are we worth?

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God considers us so valuable to Him that He was prepared to sacrifice 'his one and ONLY Son' to ensure we have the chance to have our sins forgiven and thus go to Heaven to be with Him.

The price paid for us was God Himself. This is how Jesus is described by the prophet Isaiah:-

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born,
   to us a son is given,
   and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
   Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace
   there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
   and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
   with justice and righteousness
   from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
   will accomplish this.

I have been down on myself a lot recently but knowing God's Great Love for me has helped me through it. If you are feeling down about yourself don't forget HOW VALUABLE YOU ARE TO HIM.

Thank you Jesus!