The PURSUIT of ___________?

Mike Hosey, An Elder

One of the great things about the Bible is how it is so well confirmed by prophecy. Consider the birth of Jesus and some of the prophecies surrounding it. 700 years or so before Jesus was born, the prophet Micah told us He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) – and so He was.

Knowledgeable Jews of Jesus’ era knew this prophecy well, and directed the wise men of the Christmas story to His place of birth when those wise men asked where they might worship Him (Matthew 2:1-6). Ironically, a few decades later, knowledgeable Jews ignored this fulfilled prophecy and help set up conditions responsible for His crucifixion!

The prophet Isaiah also made a similar prophetic utterance about 700 years before the birth of Jesus.  He said that Jesus would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) – and He was.

Interestingly, the prophet Jeremiah foreshadowed the weeping that would be caused by King Herod killing all the young male children in his kingdom in an attempt to cancel the prophecies regarding Jesus, who would be a new and better king (Jeremiah 31:15, Matthew 2:17-18) than Herod.

But one of the most fascinating prophecies is Isaiah’s claim that Jesus would be called Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).  The word Immanuel means “God with us.”  This is fascinating because God literally stepped out of Heaven and walked among us in the person of Jesus.  Jesus was, in fact, God with us!

God did this miraculous feat to help us pursue eternal life (John 3:16).  Not so that we could pursue eternity.  Eternity is already guaranteed to every man.  But Jesus was among us so that we may pursue eternal life (John 10:10).

Once a person knows Jesus, they stop pursuing sin.  At that moment of submitting to the power of Jesus, they begin to pursue life.  Before Jesus, they pursued death (Romans 6:23).

The Bible tells us that we are the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27).  If that is so, then we represent God among men. We are the closest thing that others might have to God.  And if that is so, you need to ask the question, “What am I doing to follow the example of Jesus and to help people pursue eternal life?”