Devotional - week of December 14, 2008

JESUS CAME TO BE OUR EXAMPLE

No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. John 3:13

Two passages in the New Testament tell us that Jesus came to be an example for all believers. He said it about Himself when He had washed the feet of the Apostles. Peter wrote that Jesus suffered as an example for us to do the same.

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit who lived in Him would come to live in all believers. Since Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has lived in all believers as He did in the life of Jesus. We have the same possible resource that Jesus had. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, We can follow His example in our daily lives. Jesus was God. He never ceased to be God. However, in coming to live on earth, He became a man and lived as a man.

With these thoughts in mind, consider the words of Jesus recorded in John 3:13. “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

We can follow this example of Jesus. Paul calls this quality of life living in the heavenlies. The Book of Hebrews calls it living in the Holy of Holies.

Meditate on the description of life in the heavenly Holy of Holies recorded in Hebrews 12:22-24:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling.

Such a life seems impossible, but Jesus came to show us that it is possible. Paul teaches that it is possible when we experience our spiritual crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Jesus lived in heaven and on earth while He was in this life. He made it possible for us to do the same.

Truths like these make it easy for us to keep Christ in Christmas.

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