Remember Jesus Christ

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.

2 Timothy 2:8

This one verse is a pattern for handling difficulty in life. Jesus of Nazareth, raised from the dead, the One who stood by the Sea of Galilee after the resurrection and said to his disciples, All power in heaven and on earth is given unto me, (Matthew 28:18b KJV). Jesus, Lord of life, Lord of history, Lord of nature, Lord of all the rolling centuries yet to come. Jesus Christ, the very human Christ, one of us, part of mankind, with a history, an ancestry and a genealogy that he could trace. That is the gospel that Paul preached, the good news for today. I suggest that this is the message we need to hear again, because it is a message we seem to forget so easily.

Jesus is the Divine Counselor, the Divine Companion who is available to meet our need. If we took this truth seriously, it would enable us to experience immediate victories over lust, alcoholism, explosive tempers, caustic words, morbid fears, guilty feelings, and smug, self-righteous complacency. We would be delivered from so much if, at the moment of pressure and temptation, we would remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead. We would be delivered from loneliness, greed, jealousy, emptiness and restlessness. We would become wholesome, well-adjusted, well-balanced, loving people, able to cope with life no matter what it brought. That is what Christ came into this world to do.

Is this an exaggeration? Not if we judge from the testimony of Christians. Remember that Paul wrote to the Philippians that he had learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11). Paul had learned the secret of contentment. What kind of contentment? I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty (Philippians 4:12). Whether he had what he needed or had nothing at all, he knew how to be content. He tells us what the secret is: I can do all this through him who gives me strength, (Philippians 4:13).

It is very important for us to see that Jesus is there, not to do what we think needs to be done, but what he thinks needs to be done. Many Christians fail to lay hold of this promise because they want to use Jesus to accomplish their program; they want to use him to work things out according to their plan. Some people think that Jesus is a genie in the magic lamp of our desire which we can rub and there he is, bowing and genuflecting, and saying, Yes, master, what do you want? No, Jesus is there to toughen us, to motivate us, to strengthen us, to stabilize us so we do not panic, we do not give up, we do not in anger flip out, throw it all overboard, and try to run and hide. Jesus is there to strengthen us to live. This is the secret that Paul is talking about: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead.

Father in the midst of all the demands upon my life at this time, help me to remember Jesus Christ, raised for the dead.