Exalt Jesus Alone

When reading through the book of Luke in the New Testament, I tried to see it from the viewpoint of someone searching for God. What would a Muslim or a Buddhist think of these verses? Many religions teach that Jesus is a prophet of God, but he is much more than that.

From the very first a reader will see that Jesus’ birth was miraculous. The eternal Spirit of God was involved even in the birth of John the Baptist who proclaimed that Jesus the Messiah was coming.

The Holy Spirit of God came upon Mary in order that Jesus might be born as a human man but still be God. His father was not Joseph, but the eternal God who created the world. Jesus did not have a sin nature. His spirit came from God and he was God Himself.

Read the New Testament, and you will see that people sensed Jesus was different. He never sinned. He never yielded to temptation or had an evil thought. He was pure and sinless as a child and to the last day of his life. Before Pilate sentenced him to death he said, “I find no fault in this man.”

In Luke chapter 4 you see how Jesus defeated the devil. Satan tried to lead Jesus into testing God and doubting God, but Jesus refused. He loved God and trusted his Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Further on in chapter 4 we see that Jesus was supernaturally protected when his enemies wanted to destroy him. The religious leaders of his day were angry because they realized that his message had supernatural authority.

Jesus overcame evil spirits and cast them out from people who were possessed. He healed every kind of illness. He reached out to everyone constantly in love and true compassion.

A mere human being cannot do this. An ordinary man, even a religious person, will eventually lose his patience or stumble in some way. Those closest to our religious leaders today can see that they are only human. They have faults and weaknesses. We excuse them because we ourselves are human. We don’t expect perfection of other people.

But we should expect it of Jesus, because he is God who came down to earth to redeem us. He paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross. The Bible clearly says, “The soul that sins shall die.” Jesus died so that we will not have to suffer eternally for our sins. God accepted his sacrifice as full payment. The fact that Jesus rose again and the tomb was found empty on the third day is proof that God was pleased, fully satisfied.

We can’t add anything to what Jesus did for us. Our good works will not make us more acceptable to God. If we offer our good deeds to God, He will be offended. He will see that we don’t fully value what Jesus did. We must exalt Jesus as Lord above all. He is my all-sufficient Savior. Are you trusting in your good works, or is Jesus your Savior?