I have believed in God since a young girl. When I was teaching third grade a coworker invited me to study the Bible. I wanted to know God and had never read the Bible before so the thought appealed to me.
I took the summer off from work that year and began to read the Bible from front to back. I fell in love with the God I met there, especially the God I saw in the Old Testament. Yes, I understood about Jesus and loved him, but the character and nature of God that I saw in the Old Testament captured my heart.
A few years ago I read this verse in John 5:22-23, ” For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”
This verse made me think more deeply about my understanding and honoring of Jesus, so I began studying truths about him in God’s word.
I looked at what the Bible says we have in, by, through and from Jesus. These prepositions are small words, but they introduce great truths about Jesus. I would like to present a few of these truths, without much comment, for your consideration. Perhaps they will magnify Jesus in your mind and heart, as they do in mine.
Redemption in Jesus
Romans 3:23-25b states that we have redemption in Jesus through his atoning blood.
“… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation (atonement) by his blood, to be received by faith.”
No Condemnation in Jesus
Romans 8:1-2 states that God in Jesus removes all condemnation from us. What a relief to our mind and spirit!
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Grace in Jesus from Before the Beginning of Time
Before the creation of the world God planned to send his son to save us and bless us.
The salvation of man through the Son of God, Jesus, was not an afterthought or hastily contrived bandage to the troubles of mankind.
I Timothy 2:9 and10 clearly reveal this truth:
“He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
We can read this same truth in Ephesians 1:4-5.
“In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. In his love he chose us to be his holy people—people without blame before him. And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ…” (ICB)
