The Old Testament Scriptures tell of a time when man had fallen from grace and was living in expectance and in preparation of the coming of the Messiah. In the New Testament, the Gospels are the testimony of His grace (of Jesus); And the Epistles explain the mysteries of the new life in Christ. The Old Testament speaks about Christ in code, in encryption, and the New Testament decodes the Old Testament, it is the key that unlocks the coding. The focal point of our entire devotion in Christianity has Jesus Christ at its centre. Going into the Word with this basic information on the landscape of our faith, gives us a better grip (understanding) of what exactly it is we were signing up for when we became born-again. The lifespan that GOD has assigned and apportioned to each one of us is so that we may seek Him and know Him – this is the purpose and the will of GOD for us as believers. Whatever the question and whatever the circumstance, Jesus is the answer and the reason.
In the opening verses in the Gospel of John and the Epistle of 1 John, Apostle John gives invaluable insight into the character of the person that is Christ Jesus. These introductory verses basically tell us that absolutely everything in the universe of GOD, in the creation of GOD, in the Kingdom of GOD, is centred on Jesus and revolves around Jesus – John 1:1 KJV/AMP and 1 John 1:1-3. We know that we can take John at his written word because there was no other man or disciple who was closer to Jesus than John was. No man who lived in those times was more intimately acquainted with Christ than John was. I was just about to go down the rabbit hole, trying to imagine what it must have felt like for John to be in such a close relationship with the LORD, but I quickly corrected myself – I do not have to wonder or imagine it because, as a believer, my faith is engineered in such a way that I too can have close encounters with the GOD, I too can build and enjoy an intimate relationship with our LORD and SAVIOUR, if I truly, diligently and earnestly seek HIM.
When GOD sent Christ Jesus to the world, man could see, hear and physically interact with Jesus, physically handle the living Word of GOD. The Word of GOD became flesh, the Word manifested to the world, and this was a fulfilment of Scripture. John writes that the teachings that we as believers base our faith on, are teachings about a Messiah that we (man) know, a Messiah that we (man) have heard, a Messiah that we (man) have seen and looked upon, a Messiah that we (man) have come into contact with and touched. A disturbing thought is that many today teach and preach about Jesus whom they actually do not know, Jesus whom they have never had an encounter with. In 1 John 1:1-3 AMP John reveals these two things about Jesus, firstly that Jesus is the Word of life and secondly that Jesus is the eternal life. The life, the eternal life, we talk about is the person of Jesus Christ, and the whole reason that we are born-again is Jesus. So as I live, I already possess the eternal life by being in Christ; The eternal life, which is the person of my Lord and Saviour, is my present current reality.
In Romans 10:17 it is written that— “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of GOD”. And since Jesus is the Word of GOD, this means that faith comes by hearing about Jesus, by hearing the message about Jesus, because the Word of GOD is what infuses us with the true faith of GOD. Jesus is the object of our faith because everything was made by Him (Jesus), everything was made for Him (Jesus), without Jesus nothing was made that was made, the Bible says [in Colossians 1:16 read with John 1:3]. Jesus is our ultimate pursuit in the Kingdom, and if Jesus is not at the centre of all that we are doing, if we are not seeking and pursuing Jesus, then we are truly lost. Time and time again we are implored to ‘seek first the Kingdom of the Lord and His righteousness’ [Matthews 6:33] and told that ‘Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him’ [—John 14:6]. These instructions are not the babbles of bored apostles, they are the truth about the new eternal life in Christ that we have chosen to partake in— It all sounds deceptively easy right?! And yet it is notoriously hard to achieve.
Jesus is the righteousness of GOD [1 Corinthians 1:30, Proverbs 8:17-21, and Proverbs 4:7-9]. There is no other righteousness of GOD other than HIS own Son. Some people seek the Kingdom of GOD, others seek the righteousness of GOD, but they go right past Jesus who is the righteousness of GOD and thereby fail to be in good standing with GOD. When GOD gave His Son to the world, He gave an entire complete offering in Christ, with nothing missing and nothing lacking. He is much more than everything that you are looking for, need and want. There is no virtue in us, no Kingdom in us, without having Jesus in us. We cannot get access to the Father without Jesus. Seeking anything else other than Jesus is a foolish errand of the spiritually ignorant because it is written that ‘a fool has said in his heart that there is no GOD’ [Psalm 14:1a], that ‘durable riches (enduring wealth) and honour (righteousness, the right standing with GOD) are with GOD’ [Proverbs 8:17-21], and that ‘Christ is the Word and the Word is GOD Himself’—John 1:1AMP]. So in all our seeking, we ought to seek Jesus and sadly this is where it all goes horribly wrong because, instead of seeking Jesus, we seek for things in the Name of Jesus.
GOD is infinitely clear about how He wants us to do our seeking. He has given us a sure and fool-proof way to attain all the things that we want. His way is not based on any worldly standards but is premised on the Kingdom principle that everything that we could ever need and want in life is in Christ. GOD knows that we need the things that we seek, He will not deny us these things, He will give them to us, but He wants us to first seek! The wisdom in seeking Jesus is the principal thing in the Kingdom of GOD; And when we seek Jesus in diligence, in earnestness and in truth, everything that the Kingdom promises, everything that the Kingdom offers, becomes ours automatically. This is the formula Jesus gives us. This is the formula Matthew has recorded as being given by Jesus in Matthews 6:32-33. As believers we cannot seek for things the same way that people of the world do; No amount of working hard, no amount of connections, will work for a believer or make a believer rich.
Jesus does not say the things written in the gospels for kicks and giggles. Jesus came to the world to show us the way into the Kingdom, and that way is through Him. Hebrews 4:12-13 reveals three things about Jesus— (i) Jesus is the living Word of GOD; (ii) this Word is the Almighty GOD Himself; and (iii) Jesus is the all-knowing Word of GOD that is sharper than a two-edged sword and nothing is hidden from Him. The implication and application of this Scripture is that GOD is looking for the purity, honesty and sincerity in your heart, conscience and faith [—1 Timothy 1:3-5]. Seeking Jesus is not about going to church; And it is not about church affiliations, denominational affiliations, or attending Bible study sessions, prophetic schools, bible schools and church conferences. Seeking Jesus is about seeking with an honest heart, and GOD calls for honesty in our seeking. The only thing we are required to seek in the Kingdom of GOD is Jesus Himself and nothing else, but we must seek with an honest heart! GOD is looking for our honest and sincere response to the Sunday messages that we hear each week, week in and week out.
Anyone going to GOD must approach GOD with a pure heart and sincere faith, and ‘you will seek GOD and find Him, when you search for Him with all your heart’ [Jeremiah 29:13]. The very act of seeking Jesus is (by its nature) not about what is good for GOD, but it is about what is good, beneficial and virtuous for me. And GOD incentivises me to seek for Him by rewarding us for seeking Him diligently from the heart [—Hebrews 11:6 NKJV/AMP]. When you are on fire for the Word, are you on fire for Jesus or are you on fire for the worldly things that you expect being in Jesus will bring into your life? GOD always knows your motive and the motives of the heart for seeking Him, nothing is hidden. It is a pure, sincere, diligent heart that GOD rewards and if there are no rewards then you know that the problem is in the heart, in the motives of the heart. GOD looks for the diligent seeker with a pure heart, He manifests and reveals Himself to this seeker, and the results of His good works in the seeker’s life will show in how GOD rewards him with good fortune and blessings.
GOD is infinitely clear about how He wants us to do our seeking. And when we seek Jesus in diligence, in earnestness and in truth, everything that the Kingdom promises, everything that the Kingdom offers, becomes ours automatically. This is the formula Jesus gives us in Matthews 6:32-33
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