Jesus Christ came to visit this world. He was God “reconciling the world to himself.” Through Jesus Christ God made if possible for alienated men, sinners, to return to Him, but only through Jesus Christ. God ordained that all the world’s peoples—all nations and tribes of every language—would be redeemed from their estrangement.
As Jesus came to this world he humbled Himself to be God’s Servant. His home was the glory of heaven, but He when he visited this world His glory was veiled (Heb 9:3; 10:20); and, yet he abided in this other world, which is cursed and defiled, without being touched by this defilement. As God’s Servant (Isa. 49, 53) He exemplified to us how to live in this desecrated realm in a perfect and God-honoring way.
For example, He humbled himself for about 30 years as a son, and under the tutelage, it is presumed, of his earthly step-father in the trade of a Carpenter. As it is enjoined upon us in the 4th Commandment, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD YOUR God,” so it is that Jesus exemplified this for us. Richard Steele says “That his precepts might have greater force, he has given us his own example: for before his entrance into the ministerial office, we find him labouring in the carpenter’s trade: and if so divine a person stooped to a laborious calling to teach us humility, diligence and industry, shall any who call him their master, refuse to imitate him herein?”
Have you ever stopped to consider that “preaching the Gospel” includes exemplifying humility, diligence and industry at our place of employment? When we spend our employer’s or customer’s time to evangelize our fellow employee, or our employer’s customer, we are stealing our master’s time and money. Certainly there are recognized times where we converse with people in the course of our business, but we should guard our testimony by following our Lord’s example to us.
As Jesus came to this world he humbled Himself to be God’s Servant. His home was the glory of heaven, but He when he visited this world His glory was veiled (Heb 9:3; 10:20); and, yet he abided in this other world, which is cursed and defiled, without being touched by this defilement. As God’s Servant (Isa. 49, 53) He exemplified to us how to live in this desecrated realm in a perfect and God-honoring way.
For example, He humbled himself for about 30 years as a son, and under the tutelage, it is presumed, of his earthly step-father in the trade of a Carpenter. As it is enjoined upon us in the 4th Commandment, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD YOUR God,” so it is that Jesus exemplified this for us. Richard Steele says “That his precepts might have greater force, he has given us his own example: for before his entrance into the ministerial office, we find him labouring in the carpenter’s trade: and if so divine a person stooped to a laborious calling to teach us humility, diligence and industry, shall any who call him their master, refuse to imitate him herein?”
Have you ever stopped to consider that “preaching the Gospel” includes exemplifying humility, diligence and industry at our place of employment? When we spend our employer’s or customer’s time to evangelize our fellow employee, or our employer’s customer, we are stealing our master’s time and money. Certainly there are recognized times where we converse with people in the course of our business, but we should guard our testimony by following our Lord’s example to us.
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