Jesus Starred

What Did Jesus Do?

And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3.29


No, the above does not refer to the Lord having “top billing” in the Bible, nor to His place as the principle character around whom the entire biblical narrative is built. Rather, the Son was the one who delivered on the Father's promise to Abraham, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. (See Genesis 15.5) The host of Abraham's offspring might not twinkle in the night sky, but they nonetheless shine, as we would expect “children of light” to do. (See Ephesians 5.8)

Of course, Jesus does have top billing in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek. Israel's Messiah is the Gentile's Christ, and though there are many fine “actors” who have a part in the Bible, there simply would not be a Bible, nor anything else for that matter, without Jesus; His name is rightly above all other names. (See Philippians 2.9) Jesus starred.

Were it not for Jesus the Bible would be merely an anthology of religious writings, an admirable literary collection, worthy of study along with the works of, say, Shakespeare. It is the Lord who makes the Bible the “Holy Bible,” the Word of God, the repository of all Truth, and the sacred history of God's redemptive plan for a fallen humanity. Jesus starred.

But for today I want us to consider what Paul wrote to the Galatians about the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham. Abraham was “as good as dead,” and the womb of his aged wife Sarah was as barren as the desert (See Romans 4.19); the opportunity to have even one son was gone, making the promise of offspring as numerous as the stars and the sand of the seashore (See Genesis 22.17), seem unlikely to ever be fulfilled. Yet, Abraham believed, which the LORD accounted to the patriarch as righteousness. And so it was that a righteous seed (singular) would descend from Abraham, so that the promise of seed (plural) too numerous to count would be fulfilled. Jesus starred.

When Jesus told His followers they were the light of the world (See Matthew 5.14) they didn't realize that the Lord was making them “stars,” shining children of Abraham, who, by faith, would illuminate a world lost in darkness without the light of Jesus Christ. Well, it is not as if it was the first time Jesus starred. After all, who do you think it was who created the myriad of lights in the night sky that Abraham stared up at as he wondered how it could ever be that his descendants should ever be so numerous.

Here's the thing, stars are still being made, and I am not speaking of Hollywood or American Idol. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham, births children of Abraham every day. Carl Sagan declared in Cosmos that we are all “star stuff,” meaning that there is one chemistry, and one set of elements, from which all tings in creation are made. Sadly for Sagan, he refused to believe that, more than “star stuff,” we can be “stars”; children of light who are offspring of Abraham, and who reflect the light of the Father by virtue of their faith in the Son. Shining the Light of God's glory and grace, his majesty and mercy, his word and will, upon those who otherwise live in darkness, can transform lost sinners into stars. That's what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4