Some Interesting Facts About Heroes…

Today, I thought we might take a look at some interesting facts about heroes. Most of these things, I’m sure we already know, we just never stop to think about them. That doesn’t make them any less true.

For instance, we have a tendency to think of heroes as being…well, heroic! And being heroic, somehow bumps them up a little bit from the common mass of humanity. We forget, though, that even heroes are human. We have a tendency to overlook their flaws because of their “hero” status. Their actions sometimes make them larger than life. The thing is, in spite of their actions, even heroes still burp, fart and sneeze just like the rest of us!

Take a look at King David. Now, that guy was a hero! How many of us know a young teenager that would stand up to a giant? Not the comic book kind of giant, but a real, true-to-life giant that wants to rip us apart limb by limb. Most of the teenagers I know would have a hard time just putting down their video game (or cell phone) long enough to get off the couch!

But David? If you go back and read the story, you’ll find that when he stepped out on the field, David not only faced Goliath, but ran toward him! No hesitation. That’s how heroes are, ya know. That’s how David got to be king in the first place…by defeating the giant that nobody else had the courage to face. A remarkable feat, for a child, don’t ya think?

But, then we fast-forward a few years, to that incident with Bathsheeba, and we find that even though heroes are heroes, they are still also human beings, subject to human flaws. Even as a hero, David faced temptations that he failed to overcome. And, it’s also interesting to note that David had his own hero… God! Just read through some of the Psalms some time…

Speaking of David, this might be a good time to make an observation that we don’t often think about. David was a hero to the entire nation of Israel! David is an example of the rare kind of hero. David was a hero to a whole country. When we think of heroes, we often get it set in our minds that they are everyone’s heroes, just because that’s what we’ve made heroes out to be. But that’s not true.

It’s a rare hero, indeed, that is a hero to a nation. Then there are heroes who are heroes to a handful of people. But most heroes are only a hero to one person…the one they rescued. And while they are, on the one hand, nothing special, on the other, they are. They are a hero!

Let’s take a look at the mythical knight in shining armor, who rescues the damsel in distress. While it may have taken a courageous feat to slay the dragon, that knight is not my hero…nor is he yours. He’s a hero only to one person…the fair maiden he rescued from the dragon’s lair. Right? You and I weren’t in any danger! Yet, we hail him as a hero and bestow honors upon him. Why? Because he’s a hero!

But this is the thing. Here’s what we don’t realize. Heroes are a dime a dozen! Now when I say that, I’m not making light of heroes at all! What I’m saying is, that if we take the time to look around us…to really look around us…heroes are all over the place! We just fail to recognize them. Their feats haven’t been extraordinary enough to capture our imagination, but they are there. And, maybe…just maybe… their feats WERE extraordinary enough to capture our imagination, but you and I just weren’t paying attention!

Imagine, if you will, a young woman with three small kids and more groceries in her arms than she can carry. Just as she gets to the door she can’t open, someone she’s never met before, steps in and, not only opens the door, but holds it for her…until she, her kids and her groceries are able to get through it.

That person is a hero to that young woman. You know I’m right! You’ve been that young woman, even if you’re not female. We’ve all been stuck on the wrong side of a door, with an armful of something that left no free hands to grab the door knob. Every single one of us. And what happened? A hero came along…

For that moment, that person…whether young or old, rich or poor, good or bad…is a hero. Not to just anyone, and not to everyone. But that person is a hero to the most important person that he or she could be a hero to in that moment of time…you. Because you are the one that needs it.

Regardless of how that person looks, smells or acts before or after this heroic deed, for that brief instant, they are a hero. Not to the world. Not to a nation. But to you. In spite of his or her past, and whatever dark deeds may lurk there. In spite of YOUR past and whatever dark deeds may lurk there… God sent you a hero when you needed one.

This hero slayed your dragon. Brought your giant to his knees. This hero allowed you to continue on in life, instead of leaving you stuck on the wrong side of the door with your arms full of groceries and three unruly kids…

That’s what heroes do. They allow you to continue on in life. They keep you from being swallowed by the dragon and squished by the giant. After all, that’s what makes them heroes, isn’t it?

What is a hero?

What is a hero?

What is a hero?

Hero – a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

What is a hero? Once again, I have discovered a train of thought on which I started at the wrong end. For whatever reason, it’s been on my mind the past few months to ponder on heroes. What they are, who they are, and what makes them heroes in the first place. And, naturally, with me being me, I started at the end, rather than at the beginning. This is my feeble attempt to rectify that situation.

The above definition of the word “hero” came from the dictionary…but that simple definition seems to have left out so much…

The things I’d like to share with you are things the dictionary has failed to expand on.

A super-hero, is simply a notch above a regular hero. We each have our own list, of course…as we are each influenced in different ways by different people and circumstances.

This series is about some of my personal heroes. And it’s about you and me. Of course, when it comes to heroes, Jesus would be at the top of the list, but since he’s also Deity, that goes without saying. The Super Hero of all super heroes! Otherwise, I’m a guy that has few earthly heroes. But there are a few…

As super heroes, I would mention the Apostle Paul, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and (although he’s not a real person) Hawkeye Pierce. This list would also include some folks you’ve never heard of, most likely…my grandparents, my parents and my kids, as well as a buddy I grew up with who has dedicated his life to spending a great deal of it getting shot at in foreign lands, so that you and I may sleep peacefully at night. Some day, I hope to be able to put down in words just what these folks have contributed to this life…

Then there are regular heroes. Not super-heroes, but heroes just the same. People that have an impact on the world, whether by their own design or by “accident”. People that touch other people in ways that defy explanation…other than to say they are heroes. I could be a name-dropper here, and mention guys like Vince Gill, Keith Whitley, Alan Jackson (ok, so I’m partial to country music!), Clint Eastwood and the Duke…but this series is more about the heroes that no one recognizes. The quiet, hidden heroes…the heroes that the dictionary fails to define.

Like the teacher that doesn’t have any extra time to spend with the one student in the class that can’t keep up…but she does it anyway. Not because she has to. She’s going to get paid the same either way. But because that’s what she does and who she is…

Or like the guy that holds the door open for a lady with her arms full of groceries, even though they’ve never met before and never will again…for no reason in particular, other than to be helping her out a little bit.

Or maybe like the cashier at a fast-food restaurant that sees a few hundred people a day…some not so pleasant, by the way…but smiles at each person as though they are great friends that she hasn’t seen for awhile…just because. Oh, I know. There aren’t too many of those, but there are a few scattered around.

Or the kid that finds a twenty on the ground and hands it back to the guy that dropped it…just because it belonged to the guy that dropped it.

Looking at my own list of heroes, I’ve noticed they all have quite a few things in common, aside from the qualities mentioned in the dictionary version. First of all, they all started out as ordinary human beings. No capes or super-powers. None of them can fly without a balloon, plane or helicopter. No lazer-beam eyes, or anything like that. None that can leap tall buildings in a single bound…

Secondly, they are flawed individuals. Every single one of them. Even the super heroes (with the exception of Jesus, of course!). Each of them has his or her own set of drawbacks. Some of them, more than others. But, being heroes, their actions often cover up their shortcomings, making them appear to be flawless, unless you really, really look for them. That’s how heroes are, ya know…

Thirdly, because they are flawed individuals, they don’t always do the right thing like the heroes in the movies. That’s part of what being flawed is all about. On top of that, they don’t always win. They don’t always defeat the bad guy. In fact, sometimes they ARE the bad guy…but unless you look deeply, you would never know it, because they are, after all, heroes.

The fourth thing they have in common is this: When they fail, it’s often difficult to detect. And when it is detected, it’s easy to forgive. In fact, sometimes when they fail, it even adds to their legendary “hero” status. Why? Well, because they’re heroes! And that’s just how it is with heroes. For whatever reason, it’s really hard to hold a grudge against a hero.

Anyway, these are a few of my introductary thoughts on heroes. As time goes by, I hope to expand a bit on some of them and offer some interesting and surprising insights. It’s my desire to educate you just a little on “What is a hero?”, and by doing so, sharing a few “secrets” that may have eluded you in the past…secrets that might even change your outlook on heroes…and if you’re not careful, may even change the way you live.

Now, I realize that my list of heroes and your list of heroes won’t be the same. That’s quite natural. But the sweet thing is…it doesn’t matter. The things we’ll be looking at can be easily applied to any list, regardless of the names it contains.

Take a look with me, won’t you? Take a look with me into the mystical world of the special breed of folks we refer to as heroes.

Not so terribly long ago, I shared with you another hidden prayer…this one found in Mark 9:24:

“Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!””

It entered my mind to expand on that a little. Have you ever stopped to consider what this fellow is saying to Jesus? He’s saying, “Lord, I believe…but help me to KNOW!”

What’s the difference? Allow me to revert to your childhood (at least, this is how mine went!). As a child in the early years of school, before I knew or cared anything about math, I believed that two plus two was four. Why? Because that’s what the teacher told me.

Then she would place two objects on the desk. Then she would place two more. We kids would count them and come up with four. The next day, she would tell us again, that two plus two was four. We believed, because she told us. But, now, we also believed because we remembered what happened when she placed the objects on the desk. Once again, however, she would place two objects on her desk, then place two more beside them. Again, we would count to four.

It didn’t take too long for our belief to turn to knowledge. For years, now, I have ceased believing that two plus two is four. It is now something I KNOW.

Knowledge is a step beyond belief. Jesus told this guy that if he believed anything would be possible. How much more is possible if we step beyond belief and into knowledge?

Once we have seen Jesus heal the sick enough times, we don’t have to believe any more…we can KNOW. Once we have experienced his forgiveness enough times, we don’t have to believe we’re forgiven…we can KNOW.

In the middle of the night, when all is dark…and you feel an urging to slip quietly to the bathroom, you don’t believe your floor will be under your feet when you put your foot down. You KNOW it. Otherwise, you’d stay in bed and wet yourself. How do you know it? Because you’ve done it before, and the floor was always there.

Likewise, Jesus is always there. We “believe” it, or at least claim to believe it…but do we KNOW it? And if we don’t know it, how can we reach that point? By exercising our beliefs. Set enough apples on the desk enough times, and belief turns to knowledge. Put your foot down in the dark of the night and belief turns to knowledge. Test your beliefs long enough and belief turns to knowledge.

The problem is, in order to test our faith, we have to face trials. Jesus can’t heal someone unless they are sick. He can’t save someone unless they are lost. He can’t lift up someone unless they have fallen. All these are things we really don’t care to face…

“Lord, I do believe. Help me to KNOW!”

A powerful prayer, but a scary one. Are we ready to use it knowing what it may bring? Do we want to remain in “belief” or move ahead to “knowledge”? Most of us are going to face unpleasant things in life, whether we choose to make that step or not. So, perhaps the real question should be, will we stay where we are in spite of them, or will we use them to forge ahead in knowledge?

Just a short post today on something interesting the Lord put in my path to share with you. There’s no such thing as coincidence…

We all know that when Adam ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, that his nakedness was revealed to him for the first time…and he was ashamed. Up to that point, he and Eve had been totally at ease romping around through the garden in the nude! Aside from eating the fruit, Adam had done nothing wrong…so why was he ashamed at being naked?

Perhaps, because it wasn’t so much the nakedness of his body that caused the shame, as much as the nakedness of his soul. God’s perfect creation, fallen from grace…with nowhere to hide. The glory of God, that had once been clothed Adam, had fallen away when he ate the fruit…

What happened next is interesting.

God, with his very own hands, stitched together the first clothes in our history, out of smelly, matted, unsightly animal skins…and He gave them to Adam to cover his nakedness so he could hide his shame. But though it was hidden, it was still there…beneath the animal skin clothing.

Still, the clothes couldn’t replace the glory of God. And while they covered Adam’s nakedness in his own eyes, and before man, they couldn’t cover his nakedness before God.

But here’s the REALLY interesting thing…

In order for Adam to have acceptable clothes on before the Lord…God had to remove His own robes and offer them to Adam. The animal skins, after all, would never be sufficient for Adam to wear into the Lord’s presence. It was then up to Adam to decide whether to continue to wear the smelly animal clothes of shame into the Lord’s presence, or to pick up the glorious robes of the Lord and stand before God in restored glory.

Now, how about this? Adam ate the fruit. His nakedness was revealed and filled him with shame. God made him clothes from animal skins to cover that shame. And at the cross, God removed His own clothing, hung there naked for all the world to see…took Adam’s shame upon Himself…and left His own glorious robe in Adam’s hands, to wear or not.

Just as He provided clothing for Adam to wear before man, God provided clothing for Adam to wear before His holy presence. Just as Adam was ashamed to have his nakedness revealed, God suffered shame in order to clothe Adam.

So, Adam. The choice is yours. You can stand before God in your smelly, matted, flea-infested animal skins…or you can stand before God in robes of righteousness.

Which will you choose?

It’s been awhile since my last post, for which I apologize! I’m in the process of formatting some of my books for Kindle and Nook, which is taking me a little time, as I consider myself to be somewhat technologically challenged!

All that aside, I felt the need to post an excerpt from one of those books. The intent is not to advertise the book, but rather to help make you aware (and to remind myself) of something I find to be totally fascinating! We’ll just call it…God’s love!  :)

It’s interesting that there are millions of people in the world today that seek miracles from God just so He can “prove” His existence. Millions more seek miracles as “reassurance” of their faith. And, of course, millions more seek them, simply because they need them. To the last group, I would encourage you to keep seeking! It’s on the way!

To the two former groups, however, I have a slightly different response. You’re looking in the wrong place for your miracle. You’ve already seen it, you just may not be aware of it….

Excerpt from “Secrets From Before“…

The Word Became Flesh…

In the last post, we talked a little bit about preaching the cross and the power of God…and we talked a little about how, sometimes, it’s important to do it out loud. Now, we’ll look at WHY it’s important to do it out loud…

Before we go into that, though, keep in mind that none of us are expected to walk around mumbling incoherently to ourselves, rambling on about the judgments of God and spouting Bible verses all over the place. That’s not what this is about…

Paul tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thes. 5:17). That can be a vocal thing, or an internal thing. Like Mary in Luke 2:19, we can walk around treasuring and pondering the things of God all day long without uttering a single word. And there’s not one tiny little thing wrong with that.

But there are other times that thinking and pondering aren’t enough. There are times when we have to “do” things…or “speak” things out loud…even when it seems no one else is listening. How come?

Without re-hashing the last post, one response might be so that you, yourself, can HEAR the Word. You can’t HEAR it unless it’s spoken out loud. But that’s not it. The thing is, in some sort of way that we don’t understand exactly…well, it might be easier to SHOW you what I mean.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think God has to actually DO anything in order for it to be accompished. I mean, I’m one of those guys that believes that if God wanted to do something, all He would have to do is flex a brain cell…not even a flex, but more of a half twitch…and it would be done. That’s assuming He operated that way. But He doesn’t.

Look at creation, for example. First, He thought about it, and then He spoke it into being. “Let there be…”

You will never convince me, that God HAD to speak in order for creation to exist. Again, I believe He could have twitched a brain cell and creation would have come bursting forth. But I do believe that He CHOSE speaking out loud as His method.

Not because there’s anything inherently special about “speaking” (as opposed to simply “thinking”) other than the fact that He, Himself, authorized it to have a certain power when used by His creation….us! God has given the spoken word an extra charge of powder…

For instance, most of us know that…

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9)

But did you notice something? They are two different things. Believe in your heart. Confess with your mouth. They are seperate. There’s a little extra juice in the spoken word…something that believing in your heart just doesn’t have. James wrote a little about the power of the tongue and warned of its dangers. He realized there is a power in the spoken word. And how about Jesus?

Again, I will never be convinced that Jesus had to speak in order to accomplish things. I believe he chose to speak things as an example to you and me…an example that our spoken words have been given some kind of authority (that most of us don’t understand) by the God who created us…an authority that is backed by a heavenly power source.

I don’t believe that Jesus had to speak to the leper in Matt. 8:3, in order for the man to be healed. I don’t think he had to speak to the demons in Mark 5 to cast them into the herd of pigs. I don’t think he had to speak to the storm in Matt. 8:26 to calm the wind and the waves…

I think he did it as an example to us. To reveal to us a power that WE have…a power that God has given us to use as a tool. The spoken word. A power that concerned James enough that he took at entire chapter to warn us about its dangers. What is this power? The answer is found in John 1:14.

“The Word became flesh…”

Somehow, in a way that only God understands, our words have to power to “become flesh”…at least in some sense. Call your child “stupid” long enough and you will see stupidity manifested before your eyes. Encourage him and you will begin to see confidence. Despise him with your words and you will watch as hatred is born…but love him and you will see a child of compassion arise.

Sometimes, we need to pray out loud. Sometimes, we need to praise out loud. Or rebuke out loud…or claim the promises of the Lord out loud. Not always. But sometimes…

And remember, that no matter what you speak, to take care…in case your word becomes flesh. Be sure that the words you speak are words of life and blessing, so they can’t come back to haunt you…

The Power of God

Have there been times when you REALLY needed to experience the power of God, but you weren’t sure exactly how to do that? I know I’ve written a bit on this topic in the past, but I’m thinking it was in one (or more) of my books, rather than here. In any case, it bears repeating!

Can we, today, experience the power of God? And…if so, how? This is so cool….

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:18).

There it is. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who have been saved, it’s…what? The power of God. What does that mean for us? You need the power of God? Preach the cross!

Now, before you start coming up with excuses, hear me out…

Read it again. It simply says that the preaching of the cross is the power of God. It doesn’t say you need to do it in front of huge crowds, or on the radio or television…or even to another human being. It just says the preaching of the cross is the power of God.

So…

You can preach the cross to your dog or cat. You can preach the cross to your canary…to the ants that may be crawling across your back porch. In fact, you don’t have to preach the cross to living creatures…you just have to preach the cross. Preach the cross to the bubbles in your sink while you’re doing dishes, or to the cobwebs in the corner, for instance!

Now, before you begin assuming that I’m making light of a serious situation, let me help you out a little bit….

When you preach the cross…even if there’s not another living soul around to hear it…there’s still ONE person that hears it, if no one else does. And that person is you! The first thing you need to realize, is this…

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom. 10:17)

When you preach the cross, even if it’s only to yourself, you are hearing the word of God. What’s that doing? Read it again…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God….it’s helping to build your faith…

Secondly, and this it pretty exciting…

“…so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

Wow! Standing in your kitchen, preaching the cross to your soap bubbles is ACCOMPLISHING something! Now, I don’t know what it is…and YOU may not know what it is…but it’s doing something! And the thing that it’s doing, is…it is achieving God’s purpose! Now, you sit back a minute and think about that…

You’re standing at your sink…feeling kinda low…half-heartedly preaching the cross at your soap bubbles…and the words you speak are accomplishing God’s purpose in your life and manifesting the power of God!

Suddenly, it doesn’t seem that we’re taking this thing so lightly after all, does it?

Well, yeah, but Isaiah says GOD’S word never returns empty…

So then, preach the cross using God’s own words! For instance…

“He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” (Isaiah 53:4)

Where did he carry them to? The cross! What happened to them? When he died, they died…when he descended to the “lower, earthly regions” (Eph. 4:9) he carried them with him…right back to the place where they originated…and he returned them to the one they belong to…the fallen Lucifer.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24).

He bore our sins where? On the cross. And again, God says by the cross we have been healed. Why? Because he bore our infirmities and carried our diseases to their deaths on the cross…

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Eph. 2:14-16)

There ya go…plainly stated: Through the cross he abolished the law and its commandments and created in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace and reconciling us to God.

“For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Col.1:19,20)

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col. 2:13-15)

That should be enough to get you started…preach the cross if you need the power of God. Be sure to do it out loud, will ya? It doesn’t say to THINK about preaching the cross, it says to PREACH it…and you can’t preach it without saying it out loud. (We’ll take a look at why that’s important next time).

Til then…

Fear Not…

In today’s times, it’s easy to be afraid. It’s easy to be discouraged. Believe me, I know it as well as you do. The interesting thing is, when we take a moment to stop worrying and look toward God, is that the most repeated command in the Bible is this little two word directive: “Fear not.”

God knew we would be afraid. God knew we would be discouraged…that’s why He told us so many times, over and over to “Fear not.”

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 49:10)

Easier said than done when you have bill collectors calling several times a day. Or when you’re sitting in the doctor’s office listening to something you REALLY don’t want to hear about yourself or someone you love. Sometimes, it just down right hard to believe it…especially when it seems that the entire world and even life itself is against you.

It seems like we’ll never get out of the rut. The bill collectors will never stop calling and there’s not much change ahead at work that we can see. No good changes, anyway. Worse yet, there’s nothing the doctors can do about whatever it was in his stack of papers and tests that wasn’t so good.

We’re stuck. At least it seems that way sometimes. Even when we pray about it. Even when we do our best to turn it over to God. Especially when we pray about it and get nothing in return but silence…

Yes. I know it as well as you do. And we can talk all the Christian talk we want to…and quote all the passages we want to…claim all the promises we want to…believe as hard as we can believe as often as we can believe it…and, yet, here we are…still.

On top of everything else, instead of getting better, we wake up to find out the car won’t start, or somebody’s got to go to the dentist, or the fridge quit fridgin…

Yet, we’re to fear not. We are not to be dismayed, for God is our God. He will strengthen us and help us…He will uphold us with his righteous right hand…but we have to let him. And THAT is the hard part. We keep wanting to try to fix it ourselves because it seems like He’s not even listening, much less doing anything about it.

It’s our job to let God be God…and to learn to rest in the assurance that He’s there…that He has a purpose for what we’re going through at this moment. It’s our job to keep our eyes on Jesus, rather than watching the storm, so we don’t sink into the depths of the raging sea, like Peter did. We can’t win that one, folks…we all know the water is way over our heads!

We have to learn to wear our armor and wear it all…to wear it effectively. We have to learn something else, too. Another often repeated command…

Hail Ye Knights of the King

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deut. 31:6)

Be strong and courageous. How do we do that?

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.” (Ps. 28:7)

We have to trust the Lord. He is our strength. He is our help. It’s no wonder that the poor fellow that brought his son to the disciples for healing cried out…

“Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

I challenge you today, and myself, as well, to make this short simple prayer a daily routine for the next 30 days. I might suggest we even keep daily journals to see what happens between day 1 and day 30…

But for the next 30 days, if you will, pray this simple prayer:

“I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Then share what changes have occurred and some of the things in your journal that might reveal what Jesus has done for you during that time. I would strongly encourage you to pray for one another, and for myself, too.

We can’t change the times in which we live, my friends…but we CAN, perhaps, allow him to help us to be strong and courageous…and to fear not. And if we can do that, maybe we can have an impact on these times…

Many blessings!

Images of Jesus

Images of Jesus

There are a few other images of Jesus we need to carry with us into the new year. One of these is the image of Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Of all the images of Jesus we can imagine, this one is the most important… for without this one, we have no salvation.

The innocent lamb. The lamb that God, Himself, provided (Gen.22:8)…

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

It’s no secret that God provided an acceptable sacrifice for sins through the crucifixion of Jesus. All sin of all men was heaped upon him on the cross and carried to the grave. We were given, in exchange, his righteousness…the righteousness of God.



It’s imperative that we understand that we have no role, whatsoever, in our salvation, other than making the choice to hide ourselves in Christ. We didn’t die on the cross for our sins, and if we had, our sacrifice would have been found lacking in the eyes of God.

Paul makes an interesting statement in Phil. 2:12:

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…”

For some reason, perhaps because we feel a need to contribute to our own salvation, we focus on this verse and assume we have to DO something in order to help Jesus save us. What we SHOULD be doing, however, is reading the next verse (Phil. 2:13):

“…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

See? It’s not YOU or what YOU do…it’s GOD and what GOD does IN you. Paul goes on to give some tips on how we should try to behave, relying on GOD to make the changes in us, in order to keep us from becoming one of those arrogant, religious, “holy” folks that Jesus used to condemn.

It’s so simple, it’s profound. We deserve punishment. Jesus took that punishment and offered his righteousness in its place. That’s it. We are free to accept it or reject it. But we wouldn’t be in this position if not for one thing:

The image of Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Lamb of God

There are many other images of Jesus, of course…and we’ll look at a few more over the next couple of days, but this is the one that needs to stick with you more than any of the others.

The image of Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Images of Jesus

Images of Jesus

Images of Jesus

As humans, when we think about images of Jesus, we tend to need or want to put a face on him for some reason. There are pictures of a solemn Jesus, a white or black Jesus, a Jesus in pain, a weeping Jesus and even a laughing Jesus…among countless others.

What we fail to realize, is that it doesn’t matter what he looked like. He just looked like any other average person. Like you, maybe. Or like me. He didn’t look white or black. He looked Jewish. The length of his hair doesn’t matter. Whether or not he had a beard…

The images of Jesus that really are important, had nothing to do with his physical features. That’s why I decided to do this short series…to give us some images of Jesus that have a little meaning. Something we can take into the new year with us, and maybe share with others….

In the last post, we briefly looked at the image of the power and glory of God, wrapped in human flesh. Today, I would like to look at another image that’s rarely discussed. Perhaps it can be explained better, simply by jumping right into it:

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52)

Did you happen to catch it? Jesus grew in wisdom, stature and favor…with God…(and here’s the part you might have missed)…and with man. Jesus grew in favor with man. People LIKED him!



He wasn’t the ol’ stick in the mud that’s often portrayed in many pictures…the guy that never smiles and is always so serious about life that if he cracked a grin the picture frame would shatter into a gazillion pieces. People LIKED him. He was fun to be around!

Now, we all know God has a sense of humor…just look at us! Some folks are hilarious to be around…and we’re made in his image! God never asked any of us to be fuddy-duddies, but look around the church pews some Sunday morning at some of the faces you see…

How about this one? What was the first miracle Jesus performed? Turning water into wine at a wedding! Now a “religious” man wouldn’t be caught dead turning water (or anything else) into wine…wedding or not. If anything, he’d be trying to turn the wine into water!

Secondly, how did Jesus wind up at the wedding? Take a look at John 2:2, won’t you? What does it say? Jesus and the disciples were INVITED to the wedding. Why were they INVITED? Because they were a bunch of fun-loving guys! They were fun to be around. Nobody invites people to a party unless they enjoy being around them…right?
You don’t enjoy their company, you don’t invite ‘em…right?

I’m not trying to change the images of Jesus that you may have in your mind…but I am trying to expand some of the boxes those images may be kept in. Yes, Jesus was a serious guy when he needed to be serious…but he also enjoyed having a good time. He enjoyed laughing and joking and carrying on with the people around him. In other words, he enjoyed life!

Look around you. Don’t we all know people that other people seem to be attracted to, for some reason? What’s the reason? People enjoy being around them. Why do you choose the friends you choose? You enjoy their company, right? Why do people hang around YOU? Because they enjoy being around you…

People LIKED Jesus. Not because he was the Son of God, or the Savior of the world…
but because he was Jesus…the guy that was cool to hang with. In fact, when the Bible states that “he grew in favor with God and man”, Jesus hadn’t yet been revealed to be anything other than a carpenter’s son. Just plain ‘ol Jesus. The fun guy (with uncanny wisdom) that lived down the street…

And once his true identity was revealed…how refreshing it must have been to hear him condemn the religious people of the day…their arrogance and “holiness”…in order to reveal God’s true intent for humankind…faith (as opposed to works) and love.

So, of all the images of Jesus we can take into the new year with us, please, please, please, allow one of them to be this one: a man who grew in favor with God AND man. An image of a Savior…the Son of God…who wasn’t afraid to laugh, smile and have a good time. An image of a Jesus that was fun to hang with…and keep in mind, while you have that image in place, that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:).

Images of Jesus