TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM

Before the foundation of the world, in fact, before satan, God planned for us to be His children, through Christ Jesus. (See Ephesians 1:5). It was His plan that we live, love and unite in Him, and to fulfill His dreams come true. Unfortunately though, satan and all his sultry beguile caused mutiny, and under the control of the demonic spirits we went.

And "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood and sought Him. Every one of them had gone back (backslidden and fallen away); they had altogether become filthy and corrupt; there was none who did good, no, not one" (Psalm 53:2-3).

So God, in His rich love for us, designed to reunite us through Christ in one single body by means of the cross. Yes indeed, the Lord Himself, He Who knows no boundaries, devised a plan, that He would come upon the earth and visit us...to lift us up and into Himself. A plan with exquisite thought and divine Wisdom, to apply the way we should relate to human beings in the absence of fear. He Himself came upon the earth to save us from the penalty of sin, to break down the dividing wall between us.

"By abolishing in His (own crucified) flesh the enmity (caused by) the Law with its decrees and ordinances (which He annulled); that He from the two might create in Himself one new man (one new quality of human out of the two), so making peace." (Ephesians 2:15).

Because of His great and intense love for us, He came to fill us with power to break the demonic afflictions that were destroying our lives. He came to sacrifice Himself for you and for me, to bind His covenant love to the rebellious and unbelieving. He came to give you the very life of Christ Himself, to demonstrate the riches of His free grace in His goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus. He came to crucify the flesh by means of the crucifixion.

He chose how He would come! He Who created substance formed within it, by passing though time and entering earth through the womb of an innocent child. He chose devout and godly parents, also, His race and the time and place in which to be born. He chose a pictorial hillside setting, where fruit and vegetables grew in abundance; the earth fertile, the temperature mild. He chose His hometown, Galilee, a country devoted to mixed farming and tobacco plantations; a playground for revolutionists, an unlikely place for the first coming of Christ to appear.

He came as Jesus, the son of David, son of Abraham, son of Mary, the Son of God. He chose to be born under Caesar Agustus, whose empire proclaimed and worshipped him god. He chose to come upon earth in the midst of turmoil, to be born in a feed trough in an unattended animal shelter. And His infancy was spent in an Egyptian refuse to escape Herod the Great, king of the Jews who commanded the slaughter of all male infants.

Unequivocally, He was a carpenters kid, no less...and He spoke Aramaic, a northern dialect closely related to Arabic. His Name Jesus, "He shall save," a common name in those days, comes from the word Joshua. He came as, "The Second Adam," to rectify what was wrong.

Jesus came upon earth in the flesh of a human being, a Jew with an identity and a family, a person in a sense, like anyone else. The Scriptures clearly show that Jesus was a man, whole and complete with human thinking, understanding and freedom. "He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness." (Isaiah 53 3).

He was raised in poverty, and His life was filled with rejection. He was mocked by His neighbors and betrayed by His friends, and He was tortured and crucified by His government. It seemed that God arranged the most difficult and humiliating circumstances for His entrance; A virgin mother, a poor father, an ungodly empire. The Gospel's maintain that Jesus came from heaven to lead the fight against evil, and to prove that God has not forsaken us.

Jesus studied and worshipped in the synagogues and temples and became the wisest teacher ever. He demonstrated powers that no one could explain, miracles beyond the human imagination. He came to demonstrate how to maintain peace upon earth, and no one that meets Him ever stays the same.

Scriptures avoid noting a word about Jesus physical description, they offer nothing about His hair or eye color, His height, weight or shape. "The first semi-realistic portraits of Jesus," wrote Philip Yancy in his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, "did not come until the fifth century, and they were pure speculation; until then Greeks had portrayed Him as a young, beardless figure, resembling the god Apollo."

Some people proclaim His beauty...His big blue innocent eyes, His soft supple skin. Others demand that the blades on His head were dark, His eyes brown, and revelationists states that His feet are like burnish bronze, His eyes like blazing fire. Beautiful in appearance? The Scriptures neglect to say, although He did have unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.

Since God judges not by appearance, unlike man, I visualize Jesus average in looks to discourage those who judge by mere appearances. "Stop judging by mere appearances," Jesus stated emphatically in John 7:24. Would Jesus appear beautiful when satan feeds on beauty to intimidate and cause envy in others? How do you score Jesus in your visual portrait of Him? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and when we love and adore a person's inner qualities, outer beauty manifests right before our eyes.

However He appears to you, erase the vision from your mind and look within His heart. "I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God," said Jesus. If I comprehend correctly, Jesus is telling me that whatever I think about Him and how I react, will determine my destiny forever.

If I get caught up in the beauty of what He appears to be, the vital message that comes from within would be lost. I would not judge fairly and righteously, our Lord and Savior, I would decide superficially at a spectrum glance.

Focusing upon looks, good or bad, distracts, and prevents the ear of the inner room from hearing. Jesus was a lover of people and lavished His grace upon all. He humbled Himself and became lowly and lived in the glory of humility, so He would not drive into compliance by force or threat. Beautiful is He in His concern for others, maternally regarding people as a mother regards her child in her womb.

Jesus conducted all His affairs with humility and consorted with the poor, prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners, yet He did not sin. He displayed benevolent courtesy and affection toward sinners and animosity toward sin. He came to show the church how to love the sinner yet hate the sin, but few are those who practice this teaching.

He made Himself so insignificant, satan failed to notice! Satan takes into account only that which is notable, influential and lofty, and affixes himself to that; he does not notice that which is lowly and beneath himself. Jesus became the poor, the bedraggled, to reach the dispirited, the forlorn, the outcasts, to raise them up and into Himself.

Jesus painstakingly cared for the unloved and unworthy, those who were rejected by society - to prove that even the outcasts were ultimately loved by God. Jesus showed people the love of God, that it mattered not their race, religion or profession. He came to prove that by loving one another, we make each other lovable. He came to deliver God's message - that He cares deeply about the agony here on God's good earth - that we matter immensely to Him.

Although people moved Him deeply, willfulness discouraged Him, self-righteousness provoked Him, selfishness angered Him. "Get out of my way satan," He commanded when Peter selfishly interfered with His plan. He passionately involved Himself with people, yet He did not trust them, and He had an uncanny power to forgive their sins.

Jesus came to reveal God's love for you, to show you how great is His love. He came to show you what the image of God looked like, you who were created in His image. Indeed He was special, unlike any other human being, a man who loved His enemies and prayed for those who maliciously persecuted Him. He was rich and became poor, who offered His cheek to those who struck Him, who gave His robe to those who took away His garment, who deprived no one who begged Him and required nothing back. He was kind and charitable and good, even to the ungrateful, the selfish and the wicked.

Jesus was wise, natural, gentle, creative, clever and irrefutably humble. He proved valid under scrutiny, and His ability to constrain could be perceived as divine timidity. Jesus conformed to the ultimate form of perfection in the resemblance of God. God is the supreme being of the universe - Jesus came to bring Him near to us.

Those who perceive a distant, wrathful, indescribable God, Jesus came to tell you that God loves you so much that He even counts the hairs on your head. Even your fingerprints, He has given none alike to prove that you are special. To those who fear proclaiming His Name, Jesus brought the Abramiac word Abba Father for jolting intimacy.

We know the Spirit of adoption, the producing sonship, and God as Abba our loving Father only because of Jesus. Jesus came upon the earth in search of His lost children, to reveal a God who is vulnerable, who loves and longs for our love. He came as His own Son to unite all the son's of God into one body, that we may live through Him.

Jesus walked the earth, He did not drive from town to town, and mass crowds followed, drawn by the dynamic power of His words. His words were clear, full and emphatically expressed, concise, and to the point. They were extreme in degree, strength and effect, and stimulated all who listened. His followers "were completely astonished at His teachings," wrote Matthew and Mark, "For He was teaching as One Who possessed authority, and not as the scribes."

He was a man of sincere and intense honesty, and spoke in a terminology anyone could understand. He detested coercion, so He persuaded by stating a consequence of action, then giving a person the freedom to either float or drown. Jesus spoke the message of God's kingdom, using parables, (figurative speech, Illustrations, lessons); simply by using His surroundings as examples.

God made Himself vulnerable, sensitive and tender to bridge the gap between us. He loved to encourage and build people up, and always gave credit where credit was due. "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist," praised Jesus. He rebuffed favoritism, proclaiming God's Words "If you show favoritism, you sin." Jesus lived God's message, thus made it powerful, returning reality to those among Him.

The Bible describes a man Who is so magnetic people quickly placed their trust in Him. He divulges such fascinating and clear cut teachings that after a short message people reveal to Him their most confidential secrets. Often they were so entranced, they listened for days without food, captivated by His gripping words.

When I read the Scriptures on Jesus, I vision myself in the crowd sitting among His followers, enjoying the gatherings. I imagine hearing His powerful voice and dynamic message, becoming intimately acquainted with Him; touching His garment, inviting Him to dinner, dousing His feet with perfume. How favored were those who were affected with His intense attraction, who listened and believed in His words.

Jesus loved everyone, the rich and poor alike. However He was attracted to the poor and involved Himself with any non consequential person that came along. God said, "blessed are the poor," for they have no honor to defend, no ego to uphold. They do not lust over their possessions and they appreciate what little they have acquired. They depend upon God and their relationship with people, and they are in dire need to be free from the bondage of sin.

The poor have no inflated need for secrecy...they do not struggle for supremacy, and rest their expectancies on cooperation. They have acquired a tenacious patience from lack, and can differentiate between what is needed and what is not. They have become strong, for they have survived the sufferings and tortures of life and they have less fear, for they have experienced first hand the art of living in spite of hardships.

The poor have a special need to be loved, and in their extreme poverty they find themselves in a state that fits the benevolence of God. The poor are blessed, for in their disconcert for life, when they hear God's message, they accept it as their way to salvation. In knowing they have nothing to lose, they welcome God's love and win the victors crown.

Jesus was drawn to the poor, and because they had suffered, they were more responsive to His message than the rich. Jesus came as a door to open our way to heaven. Those who depend upon God and are sorrowful - who repent and have a dire need to change - who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, will receive the keys that open the door in the Name of Jesus. The poor have an advantage over the rich, for those who have lost all hope will cry out to God for help, and they will surely be blessed.

The poor have a better chance of receiving the keys than the rich. Wealthy saints are rare. The poor have a concern for human-welfare, a dire need to alleviate suffering. They are big-hearted, willing to give, and are less apt to pose as righteous. They have no need to be pompous, and unlike the wealthy, they do not disguise their problems under an air of morality. They are naturally dependent upon the universe, depending solely on the grace of God for survival.

I grew up in Illinois in an upper class section of town, and I confess with some shame, the actions of the rich. Gambling, drinking, unfaithfulness, lust, greed, and pompous attitudes bloated the highly professional and political. Disgusting, but true, hypricital in every way, the rich did not practice what they preached. They gambled but vote it despicable - they drink to excess yet judge the drunk guilty and give a jail sentence. They go to church on Sunday in hopes to cover Saturday night's sins.

Reflecting back, I remember the dark and dreary basement that I and my siblings were cast into on the nights of celebration. Like an underground prison cell, or dungeon, the heavily controlled central tower of this seemingly medieval castle, shook with laughter and the roaring blunder of confusion; with their fancy feasts, exquisite hors d'oeuvres, and exotic drinks; food too good for children to touch.

It was there in that small, dark, dispiriting, dirt filled, cemented basement room, that I made my escape from a window at the age of 11. Poor parents, parents with barely enough money to feed and cloth their own children, sheltered and gave me food. Not just one parent, but numerous. Not one rich, all poor, gave out of the little they had. They showed me love, and out of their small treasury they offered me comfort in their scanty yet glorious homes.

Did Jesus come to save the rich? Perhaps, "give away all that you have and follow me," He told a man devoted to his wealth. But, He came also, to save the poor, the compassionate, the giving, the caring, those who have laid aside the roaring blunders of hypocrisy, and seek solely to set free and be free.

Jesus came with the Beatitude's, the passage from the Sermon on the Mount to delcare what makes a man happy and blessed. He came bringing freverent hope, goals, and exemplary standards. He came to convey God's standards in which we should never stop working toward, but also to show that none of us will ever reach His code of good conduct. The Sermon on the Mount ends the doctrine of strict adherence to the law, and proves that no man is perfect - that we are all entitled to make mistakes - that we are all equal.

Jesus declared the Beatitudes as a guide for adjusting human behavior, to show that it is impossible for a person to follow. The Beatitudes are the characteristics of God Himself, and for those who desire to reclaim His image are indeed blessed, happy and fortunate. The Beatitudes are found in Matthew 5:1-11.

The Sermon on the Mount was a riveting way to disclose our human failures. We sling the words, "I'm only human," around until the flesh eats away at the image we were created to be. We excuse our actions, our drunkenness, our affairs, our bad attitudes, because we are only human. Jesus came with a Sermon to stop those elusive words. By presenting our true characteristics, we find out who we are, and how far off the path we have gotten.

Jesus offers uncompromising and perfect standards for us to work toward, with useful rewards to pursue. Jesus knows how the universe runs, both here on earth as well as in heaven. He has lived the absolute perfection of the Sermon on the Mount, while undergoing poverty, mourning, hungering for His Father, and persecution. Throughout His sufferings He maintained meekness, purity, peace, mercy and love.

Jesus was a lonely man, yet often He craved to be alone. He did not marry or settle down, and had no place to lay His head. He had no permanent dwelling, no building or shelter to live, roaming from town to town. He went through cities and villages preaching and bringing the good news of the Gospel of the kingdom of God. And many women who He cured of evil spirits and diseases showed their appreciation by providing for Him gifts out of their property and personal belongings.

Jesus catered to the oppressed, in fact that was His principal audience. He consoled them in their time of grief and gave them hope in their time of suffering. He called them blessed and gave them love and encouragement, not coercion. Never once did He goad the poverty stricken to increase their standing position - He gave them freedom to advance at their own pace.

Jesus did not argue nor force His opinions. He loved people whether He agreed with them or not. God's character is all-loving, in this we are to pursue for the kingdom calls us to love, yes, even the ungodly, the slum landlord, the one who betrayed us most. If I deny such people love, then I must admit I have not truly known Jesus, nor have I understood His love.

Jesus did not come to change the world nor to heal those who refused healing. He came to win human hearts and drive out the strain of fear through endearing and persuasive words. Every person healed eventually dies - He did not come primarily to heal broken hearts and living tissues -- He came to heal souls.

Jesus came with supernatural powers to show us what the Garden of Eden was like before sickness, disease and death. He came to bring hope that God will restore the damage there. He came to show you, that through your faith in Him, a miracle will manifest and give you a glimpse of what is to come.

And His resistance was incredible! After spending forty days and forty nights in the desert without food, He refused satan's temptation to turn stones into bread. He resisted when satan offered Him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness if He would bow down and worship him. He resisted every urge to speed up His work for a secondary plan and a lesser good.

Jesus is the all-conclusive God Himself Who brought the message of love to His children. This challenging and fearless Spirit in the flesh came to give love, to stir a response of love. And He declared "The one who believes in Me does not (only) believe in and trust in and rely on Me, but (in believing in Me he believes) in Him Who sent Me. And whoever sees Me sees Him Who sent Me." (John 12:44-45).

Everything Jesus spoke was direct orders from the Father telling Him exactly what to do and say. Whatever He speaks, He says exactly what His Father has told Him to say in accordance with His instructions. Are your eyes blinded to the truth, your mind closed so you cannot see nor understand? Can you not turn to Christ for healing, so you remain sick?

Do you remain sick from some ridiculous notion that God is punishing you because of your sins? If so, the good news is, Jesus came to overturn that notion - to refute that man's blindness comes from sin and that tragedies happen to those who deserve them. Jesus came with the message that God especially loves the sick, the crippled, the blind.

Luke 13:1-5 says that your sin is no worse than all the others. Jesus' miraculous healings undo the Jewish religious law that convicts us of our sins, for a child of God deserves nothing but good health, wealth and prosperity. He came to show you that through His love you are healed in every area of your life.

John 2:15 said that Jesus drove out, with a whip, all who brought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers. This act caused many to believe that Jesus was radical and a lawbreaker. Scripture does not say He used a whip, it says He urged them out with a whip, the petty profiteers. He turned over and scattered the bokers money distroying their means to make dishonest money.

See, the temple is Jesus' Father's house, His body, and He will not allow anyone to turn His house into a marketplace, a sales shop, for He is devoted to God's house. Jesus was not a "lawbreaker"! But He did come to break a law, a Spritual Law that was destroying the innocence of man. A law that kept people in captivity and in constant greed and lust.

If you don't believe in God, then I ask you, what kind of god do you believe in? If your God is anything but a devoted, kind, loving and compassionate God, then I myself do not beleive in that god either. I appeal to you therefore, get to know the real God, the One Who came to save your soul. And once you get to know Him I can assure you, you will truly love Him.

I have Loved you before the Creation of the world. I am not willing to lose you. Come delight in Me and Me in you. Jesus