Christmas According to Jesus

12/01/22 – 12/04/22

Jesus’ Perspective: He Knew Who He Was

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  12/03/22

Read Isaiah 53:4-9

God made us to reflect His goodness and righteousness to a watching world. But this life of purpose would not be possible if Jesus hadn’t known His purpose. He knew the reason the Father had sent Him. But He also knew that He was both God and man. He was uniquely suited to be the perfect sacrifice we need. We have all sinned and rebelled against our Creator. Not one of us is without scar or blemish. That is why we need a spotless Lamb—a perfect, sinless, beautiful Savior—to die in our place.

Because He came as a man, Jesus understands life in our fallen world and the temptations of this world—even though He never sinned. Because He was fully man, He could represent us and take our place as the wrath of God was poured out on all the sin of the world. Because He was fully God, Jesus could carry our sin on His shoulders and pay the infinite price we owed. Jesus really was the perfect sacrifice, the only one who could save us.

So, how should we respond to this precious gift, not only on Christmas but on every single day of the year? Jesus told us through a parable recorded in Matthew 18:21-35. The story centers on a servant of the king who owed his master ten thousand talents—an amount equivalent to roughly 150,000 years’ worth of wages! It’s a debt the lowly servant never could have repaid. And do you know what the king did? He forgave the debt. Friend, you and I are just like that servant. Apart from Christ, we stand before God with a sin-debt so large, we could never repay it. And yet, on the cross, Jesus purchased our forgiveness.

But Jesus’ parable doesn’t end there. After being forgiven such a massive debt, the servant actually had the nerve to go out and prosecute his fellow servant over a matter of a hundred silver coins. What a sad, shortsighted way to live after having been forgiven so much! The servant in the story should have freely forgiven others just as he was forgiven. He should have loved just as he was loved.

Don’t miss the lesson from Jesus’ parable. Let Christmas be a reminder of the great price Jesus paid for your forgiveness; then go and live a life of love, patience, and forgiveness toward others. It’s one way you can live out your purpose.

Prayer: Lord, help me to reflect Your forgiveness and grace to the world. May I remember the wondrous gift of freedom I have received through Christ and be utterly transformed so that I become a bold and loving ambassador of Your Gospel to those around me. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).