Heaven came down (verses that inspire)

 

 

The old hymn, "Heaven Came Down," is a wonderful and uplifting song. I thought of it as I read these verses recently:  

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:38-40)

Have we ever sat down and really thought about what it took for Christ to come to earth? To come to a sinful world? "Blinders" were a favorite subject with my grandma; she used them in several expressions that she would repeat. "Take your blinders off and look around...." and "put your blinders on and don't let anything distract you."  Blinders were pieces of a horse's harness that made him look straight ahead. He wouldn't be able to see anything out of the "corner of his eye." With his peripheral vision obstructed, his attention would be directed straight ahead and he would focus on what his rider or coachman wanted him to do.

Well, today let's put on our blinders and focus on those verses up there!

Let's add one more to the pot for today:

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)

In our first verses, Jesus is telling His disciples that He came down from heaven to do the will of the Father. That it was Father God Who sent Him down from heaven. And then, just in case the disciples don't "get" what the will of God the Father is, Jesus tells them "why" -- for everyone who believes in the Son to have eternal life, and to look forward to Jesus raising him/her up in the "last day." That is the whole reason why "heaven came down!"

Our Redeemer left the glories of heaven. For us. He left the shining light of the Father's presence to come to the darkness of this sin-filled earth. He left the singing of the angels to come to the raucous, rowdy clamor of this world. He left peace and came to strife and conflict. The human part of Him must have wanted to close His eyes and just not see the terrible things that humans did to other humans. Surely His sacrificial love should inspire us to try to be like Him!

Paul told us in I Corinthians (chapter eleven, first verse) that the secret of living for Christ is to choose to follow Him. Paul said if he had plans to go somewhere and the Spirit said "no" -- he doesn't go. If the Spirit says to go somewhere and the prophets say "it's dangerous!" -- then that is where he will go. Paul said that Jesus didn't back away from the cross, so he would refuse to back out of dangerous tasks.

How do we imitate Jesus? Read of how He lived. How He loved. How He talked to the people. Cared for the people. Read about how He forgave. How He showed kindness. How He comforted the distressed showed mercy. Re-read the passages about how He took the side of the poor and the weak around Him; how He suffered for the people He loved, and introduced them to His heavenly Father.

That is how to live for Jesus. To imitate Him. 

And to bring a little of heaven down to earth again.