Christ and Him

Crucified
We should speak of Jesus and Calvary often. Our conversations should be sprinkled with the
fragrance of His name and sacrifice. Always should we guard against the danger of using careless and
flippant words when speaking of the Saviour. If we speak irreverently, we are hurting Him and
bringing contempt on ourselves. The Jews have taken the extreme that by not speaking His name, they
will avoid polluting God's name and thus they won't sin. This could be acceptable but the Bible teaches
us in Philippians 2:11 that “Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God
the Father.” God wants us to talk often of Him; by doing this we can keep Him utmost in our minds.
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11) Jesus is worthy of our praise
because He created us. Then, after we chose to pollute this world with sin, Jesus sacrificed His life so
He could redeem us from the mess we got ourselves into. He forgives our sins. He gives us promises
in His Word so we claim them when we are tempted. He listens to and answers every heartfelt prayer.
Paul wrote in Hebrews 1:3, “And upholding all things by the word of his power...” So He's the
Upholder of the world. Still another gift given to us is the gift of prophecy. The books of both Daniel
and Revelation are full of information about our future. We don't deserve any of these gifts, but Jesus
loves us so much that He does all of this and more.
The Creator created out of nothing, a perfect world. He thought of every edifying pleasure He
could give man: Furry mammals, downy ducks, interesting sea creatures, gorgeous roses, velvety green
grass, tasty fruits, and best of all, love. Jesus could have made us like cars, without feelings and unable
even to enjoy eating. But instead He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis
1:26 Isn't the Maker of the world worthy of praise?
Our Creator is also our Redeemer. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 Jesus
could have given up on us; after all, we were the ones who chose to sin, but no! Our dear Saviour gave
His life for our sins so we could have eternal life. Isn't our Saviour worthy of honor and praise?
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 Jesus forgives us when we stumble and fall. Isn't He worthy of praise?
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter
1:4 The promises of Christ are precious and beautiful. Each time we are tempted, we can pray and
claim a promise. Immediately extra angels will be sent to guide and protect us in our moment of need.
Isn't Jesus worthy of glory and praise?
Jesus holds our world in His hands. Have you ever stopped to think what it would be like if Jesus
decided to take a “vacation”? It would take only a minute or two, and all people would have died
because their heart quit beating! Jesus said, “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
Jesus numbers every hair on our head. He knows us that well and cares for us that much---why even a
loving earthly mother doesn't know her child that well! Isn't Jesus worthy of praise?
The gift of Prophecy is a special gift given particularly for this present time. The Revelation of
Jesus shows how we can have eternal life. It gives us a peak into the future. We needn't be troubled
when we see pestilences come upon us, since we know what they mean. Revelation also shows us how
to help others prepare for the second coming. Isn't the Coming King worthy of glory and praise?
So how can I give glory and praise to Jesus for all He has done? The best way to give Jesus glory
is to give attention to His sacrifice and accept His gift of salvation. He washes us from our sins in His
blood (Revelation 1:5,6) and we in turn wash our robes white in His blood (Revelation 7:14). After we
accept salvation and are cleansed, we are branches on the Vine as it says in John 15:5, “ I am the vine,
ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.”
Philippians 1:11 says, “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the
glory and praise of God.” So it glorifies Jesus for us to bear fruit! Another way we can give glory to
Jesus, is to pray to the Father for gifts in Jesus name because He, not us, is worthy of receiving these
gifts. In John 3:35 it says, “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” God
loves His son and in turn Jesus loves to give us gifts because we are His.
Referring back to our opening paragraph, we remember that we are to speak often of Christ and
Calvary, but is that enough? No, No! We must be partakers of Jesus' gift moment by moment. Each
day we are to wash our robes in His blood. The reason we experience so many of the low points in our
Christian walk, is that we forget to come for cleansing. Ellen White wrote in Steps to Christ, p. 70,
“Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, 'Take
me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with
me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.' ”
Jesus left a special ceremony, the Lord's Supper, for us to do in remembrance of His sacrifice.
“And he took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which
is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is
the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:18,19)
Although to the carnal mind the communion service may merely seem to be a little piece of bread
with a tiny glass of grape juice, to a sanctified Christian it means much, much more. “Verily, verily, I
say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”
(John 6:53) We must spend time before the service preparing our hearts. Jesus spoke in Matthew 5:23,
“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against
thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then
come and offer thy gift.” This principle, referring to the sacrifice of a lamb, applies to us during
communion. If we are not right with our brothers and sisters, we are not ready for communion. There
is great danger in partaking of the Lord's Supper unworthily: “For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” (1 Corinthians
11:29) So we must earnestly ask the same question King David penned in Psalm 139:23, 24, “Search
me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in
me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” This time before communion is a time to ask forgiveness.
Give up every sin, no mater how “innocent” it may seem. Each wrong must be made right. When we
have searched our souls and are ready for the Lord's supper, it can be a most joyous time to remember
our dear Saviour.
In summary we conclude that Jesus is worthy of glory and honor and that to give Him this, we
should accept His sacrifice. Jesus gave us the ordinance of communion to help us remember this
sacrifice. To God be the Glory!