Focus: Consider Jesus!

Text: Heb.3:1

"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, CONSIDER the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, CHRIST JESUS."

This is the first day of the new year. The Lord God has most graciously brought us through into a brand-new year. It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. It is the day that the Lord has made, and there are two things we can do in it - rejoice in it and consider Jesus Christ. The first day of the year is a good day to consider Jesus Christ and to look to Him.

We are alive today by grace, and it calls for rejoicing. Millions of people have died right on the eve of the new year, but here we are - bubbling with life and teeming with joy. It is a miracle that we are alive, and it is for a divine purpose that we are still alive in this first day of the first month of the new year. 

It is a day designed by God for all of us to rejoice in Him. In rejoicing we glorify Him. In rejoicing we celebrate His grace and appreciate His goodness.

Apart from rejoicing in the Lord today, there is need for us to consider Jesus Christ. There is need for us to focus our attention on Jesus Christ. How we view Christ determines how we will value Him. Nothing can take the place of a right view of God. It is the starting point of the good life in a new year.

The writer of Hebrews says, "Consider…Christ Jesus." The word 'consider' is katanoeō in the Greek, and it means to fully see or to intensely and intently observe. It means to take a good and critical look at something or someone. It is translated as 'beholding' or 'beholdeth' in some places in the New Testament. It is more than just glancing at Christ; it is intentionally fixing one's gaze on Him.

In another place he says, "For CONSIDER him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds" (Heb.12:3). Considering Him will keep us from having mental fatigue or the weariness of the mind. The word here for 'consider' is 'analogizomai' in the Greek, and it is a compound word of 'ana' and 'logos'. The English words analogy and analog are derived from it. It involves a concentration of the mind on a particular subject or object and doing a critical thinking in order to become thoroughly convinced, and as a result, become really certain and confident.

Consider Jesus who appeared to John and says to him, "Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which IS, and which WAS, and which is TO COME… I am ALPHA and OMEGA, the BEGINNING and the ENDING, saith the Lord, which IS, and which WAS, and which is TO COME, the ALMIGHTY… I am ALPHA and OMEGA, the FIRST and the LAST… We give thee thanks, O Lord God ALMIGHTY, which ART, and WAST, and art TO COME; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned… Fear not; I am the FIRST and the LAST… These things saith the FIRST and the LAST, which was dead, and is alive… Holy, holy, holy, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, which WAS, and IS, and is TO COME… I am ALPHA and OMEGA, the beginning and the end, the FIRST and the LAST" (Rev.1:4,8,11,17; 2:8; 4:8; 11:17; 22:13).

Your Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the first and the last. He is the beginning and the ending. He is the Almighty. He died and came back to life, and He lives forever. He is the holy one. He is the God who is, who was, and who is to come. There was no time when He was not in existence and there will be no time when He will go extinct or cease to exist. 

Simply put, He is the I AM - the self-revealing name of God in the Old Testament. In Isaiah, God says, "Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the FIRST, and with the LAST; I am he… Thus saith the LORD the KING of Israel, and his REDEEMER the LORD of hosts; I am the FIRST, and I am the LAST; and beside me there is no God… Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last" (Isa.41:4; 44:6; 48:12). What God is in the Old Testament, Christ is in the New Testament. He is God manifest in the flesh. The writer of Hebrews goes on to say that "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb.13:8). 

He is self-existent, self-sufficient, eternally present and absolutely immutable. He is God at the beginning, God at the center or middle, and God at the end. He is the all-encompassing God. He is the origin and goal of all things. He is the only God. He is our King and Redeemer. He is the God of the armies. He reigns from the highest throne in the universe. Beside Him there is no one else. He has in His hand the keys of death and hades.

For being all this, we are instructed to be unafraid, to consider Him, to look to Him, to listen to Him, and to do His will. Let's consider Him for who He is and for what He has done for us and then cooperate with Him in all things. Think better and do better this year and keep considering Jesus Christ - the Apostle and High Priest of our profession.

Bishop Moses E. Peter