The Man Christ Jesus
When we study Scripture, we’re not only learning about how we should act as Christians, but also how we should think. We are always learning more about God as well as the world around us.
Learning how to think well about God and others is important as we seek to live faithfully according to God’s Word. Scripture guides and orients our thinking towards God’s thoughts about us and the world.
It is common in culture to believe that all religions and paths of life lead to the same place. But, we must go to Scripture to assess all truth that we hear.
In 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul tells Timothy that there is only one mediator between God and mankind. That means that there is only one access point to beginning a relationship with God and being connected to Him. The one mediator is Jesus.
Because Jesus is the only one who is both God and man, He is the only one who can make a way for us back to God. Thus, not all religions lead to God, but only one with Jesus as the center of it all.
It is Jesus who makes the whole plan of God possible. Without Him, we are left without a mediator to bring us back to God. As Christians, we are entrusted with this truth. It is this truth that changes our lives forever.
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, ...
Fulfillment of God’s Promises
Hundreds of years before Jesus, the people of God were in trouble.
They were stuck in life, unable to help themselves, and perhaps beginning to doubt that God would save them. Have you ever felt the same way? If so, you might relate to the original audience of this verse—the exiles in Babylon.
The Babylonians conquered God's people and land, sending them hundreds of miles away. Maybe they thought that God had abandoned them, or that He couldn’t hear their cries. But God is always close—especially when His people call on His name.
Isaiah let his people know that God would provide a way out of Babylonian captivity. And God kept His promise, allowing His people to return home.
Generations later, many of God’s people saw themselves as being in a new exile. They were home, but all was not well. So they remembered this verse and its promise—that no matter how dark or desperate our situation might be, God is able to provide a path out of brokenness, ...