How Good Jesus Is

Today it is our privilege to experience the communion service. And a fine day it is to remind ourselves how good Jesus is.

He loves His enemies, He heals the wounded. He changes the hearts of rebels. He is Jesus.

He grants us forgiveness, He supernaturally gives us repentance. He shows us right from wrong. He is Jesus.

He shows us mighty things out of His law, He convicts us of sin. He gives the power to overcome. He is Jesus.

He searched us out from the dark, dark world; came and put His arms around our weary shoulders. He gave sight to the blind and strength to we who had no strength. He fought the devil--and won; He fought the devil and bruised His heel--But He crushed the serpent's head. He opened the doorway for sinners to be changed, to know forgiveness, renewal, and eternal life. He is Jesus.

How many times, when you or I had been to the edge of losing all hope, did He come to us and renew our strength as eagles? How many times have you fallen into the trap of our foe, and you went down so far you thought the end would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But then from your vantage point in the dust of all sorrow, you looked up. And your blurry eyes discerned the rough-hewn cross, with God hanging there on it--Jesus. And you looked into His eyes afraid that there would be no sparkle of mercy or hope. But you were wrong. You saw His love. God is love. And love looked back at you, and you knew you were loved; you knew you were valuable in His eyes. And your mind was numbed because you couldn't quite understand how it could be. But I'll tell you how it could be. See--He is Jesus.

He came from the other side of the sky, when He didn't have to. He did it to save us, to change us. He did it to defeat sin and evil, to rub it out for all time. He came from heaven to earth.

Things would never be the same. Never.

And when He came He didn't just glide around or fly; He walked the streets of this planet--Nazareth streets. Nor did He come here ignorant or simple or naive about what fallen humanity was like in its inward parts. He knew that fallen people are rebels in thin disguise, bombs ready to explode, thieves and robbers and murders all, but for the intervention of His force from beyond.

He knew our wounds before we were wounded. He experienced our wounds as He walked through one day and into the next. The Scripture says that He took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses. (Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 8:17). But our adversary, who is always advertising "sin and live," gave boils and sicknesses to poor old Job. What a contrast. But then, it is just one more testimony to how good Jesus is.

Yes, although He "knew what was in man (John 2:25)," He came. Although He knew that in our flesh dwells "no good thing" (Romans 7:18), that we are none of us righteous, "no, not one" (Romans 3:12), He came "that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." How good Jesus is.

Have you considered, even briefly, Isaiah 53:5? "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed." Our transgressions my brothers and sisters, His wounds. Our iniquities, His bruises. Our chastisement, for His peace. "And with His stripes we are healed."

It's not "with His stripes we get a voucher," or "with His stripes we get a coupon." No, it is with His stripes we are healed. He has run the gauntlet; He has passed through the woes of the same fallen flesh borne by His people. I tell you, this was no indifferent second Adam skipping through a hazy charade. He was wounded for our transgressions. Yes, we think we've been wounded by our transgressions, and we have; but Jesus was wounded for them so very much more. A pure and divine character came to the rebel planet and understood by experience the distortion and the degradation of our fallen race. He felt the pull of temptation exerted not just outwardly, but from within. Constantly He warred against His own humanity for it was just as verily our humanity.

Yes, He is God, but that's not the scandal. The scandal is that God came down! And having come down He went up--up naked on the splintery cross. All the universe looked on to see if He would come down off the cross. Satan Himself was there you know. He whispered into every ear and thus it was shouted from every mouth he could work, "If you are the Son of God, come down off that cross. He saved others, but He cannot save Himself." How desperate Satan was at that defining moment. Why? Because of how good Jesus is. The universe looked on, but heaven didn't blink; heaven didn't faint; heaven didn't come down off the cross. There was a race to save, and at the cost of all things, Jesus followed through. That's what love is. Love has followed through for us. In this precious gospel we are not left as the mere orphans of sin, debtors to a still-broken nature. Yes, the nature is still broken, but there is healing. Jesus does the undoable. Is it hard to worship a Savior like that?! No, never. In fact, it is hard not to--once you see Him for who He is. (In some measure, for we will be ever learning more of this through eternity.)

Now when we enter our valleys, and when we stand on spiritual heights, He'll be there. He's the only way we'll be there. And we will be there.

"God has thrust His people into the gap, to make up the hedge, to raise up the foundation of many generations. The heavenly intelligences, angels that excel in strength, are waiting, obedient to His command, to unite with human agencies; and the Lord will interpose when matters have come to such a pass that none but a divine power can counteract the satanic agencies at work. When His people shall be in the greatest danger, seemingly unable to stand against the power of Satan, God will work in their behalf. Man's extremity is God's opportunity."

"Now is the time when the loyal and true are to arise and shine; for the glory of the Lord is risen upon them. It is no time now to hide our colors, no time to turn traitors when the battle presses sore, no time to lay aside our weapons of warfare. Watchmen on the walls of Zion must be wide awake." (Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 373).

See, you are those people. We are those to whom the gift has been given; those who will stand in the gap at the end of all things. Why? Only--I say only--because of how good Jesus is. Let your faith bring Christ's righteousness into daily practice in your lives. Because the world needs to know how good Jesus is. And He'd like you to show them.

O this day my brothers and sister, as we remember our Lord's death till' He come, rejoice and lift up your heads. We can have Christ in us because He was willing to enter our race and die as one of us. When you see the bread and the wine, consider not only the divinity, but especially the humanity of our Lord. He's seen us in our straights--in our deep, desperate, compelling need. And He came to us. He was and is and always shall be Immanuel--God with us. He pleads with the Father to remake us, so that we may go with Him when He returns, ever to be with Him where He is. And all this was made possible for us without our having asked.

See, our God is a God of mercy. Merciful to forgive, merciful to remake. Only when we see this and hold it together in one whole and see it in the person of Jesus do we begin to see how good Jesus is. Never forget. But I needn't worry.

We never will.