An Intimate Look at His Earthly Life

It’s “looking unto Jesus” that I really want to talk about. In an unmistakable sense, the entire Bible is the authorized biography of Jesus Christ. He’s the Seed of the woman in Genesis, the Passover Lamb of Exodus, the Burnt Offering of Leviticus, the Smitten Rock of Numbers, the Prophet–like–unto–Moses in Deuteronomy, the Captain of the Lord’s army in Joshua, the Kinsman Redeemer in Ruth, the Fourth Man in the furnace in Daniel, and the Suffering Servant in Isaiah. The shadow of Jesus falls over every page of the Bible from the first hint of His coming in Genesis 3:15 to His glorious return and eternal reign in Revelation 22.

It’s in the Gospels, however, that we meet Him face–to–face and study His earthly life from conception to ascension. In reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we’re able to kneel with the Magi in Bethlehem’s stable, join Christ for His baptism in the Jordan, hike with Him through Galilee, hear His teachings on the mountainside, watch Him debate in the temple courts, and join Him on that “hill far away.” These scenes become so ingrained in our minds it’s as if they’re part of our own biographies.

As we study the story of Jesus, there’s one thing we know for certain: He perfectly fulfilled the will of God. He said, “I have come—in the volume of the Book it is written of Me—to do Your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:7). In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed, “Not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). His every moment was a continuous personification of God’s perfect will.

An Exposé of His Motives

With that in mind, we can be certain that God’s will—His all–encompassing plan for us—includes three glorious elements: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.

“This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,” Paul added.

Notice he didn’t merely say, “For this is the will of God for you.” He included that powerful New Testament prepositional phrase—“in Christ Jesus.” This was Paul’s signature phrase for describing the Christian life. When we receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we are “in Christ.”

Just as Jesus perfectly fulfilled His Father’s will in the realm of His own personality, He now does so through you and me by His Holy Spirit.

When we rejoice, it’s Jesus rejoicing through us. When we pray, it’s our Lord Jesus Christ prompting and empowering our prayers. When we give thanks, we’re reflecting His own emotions.

It makes sense, then, to notice how He did these things in the Gospels.

For example, the four Gospels talk about “joy” and “rejoicing” more than forty times. We have no problem visualizing Jesus as a man of joy. His birth brought a message of “good tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10). His ministry filled His followers with joy (John 3:29). He rejoiced that the lost sheep was found, and He encouraged His followers to rejoice that their names were written in heaven (Matthew 18:13; Luke10:20). He rejoiced when people received His message (Luke 10:21). His first command on Resurrection Sunday was, “Rejoice!” (Matthew 28:9).

“These things I have spoken to you,” He said in John 15:11, “that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Rejoice always! It’s not a matter of trying to work up our emotions, but of letting Jesus accomplish His Father’s will through our personalities each day.

This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

An Invitation to Respond

And what about praying without ceasing? Jesus prayed constantly. He wrestled in prayer. He modeled prayer. He rose early to pray. He prayed through the night. He withdrew to the mountains to pray. He retreated to the Garden to pray. He drew down mighty answers to prayer. He taught on prayer. He told us to pray like an insistent neighbor knocking in the night and like an oppressed widow demanding her rights. He told us to pray for those who despitefully use us, to pray in our secret closets, to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the work, to pray and fast, to make His temple a house of prayer for all nations, to pray believing, to pray in His name, to pray lest we fall into temptation, and to pray and not lose heart.

And what about giving thanks in all things? Listen to these verses: Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth….” (Luke 10:21) And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks… (Matthew 15:36) Then He took the cup, and gave thanks… (Matthew 26:27; Luke 22:17) Then they took the stone away from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me” (John 11:41).

Earlier I mentioned an observation that biography is looking at history through the prism of a person. In the same way, we can look at the life of Jesus through the prism of 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18. Jesus carried out the will of His Father, demonstrating perfectly what it means to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all things.

Now He does the same through us, and that’s the significance of the final line in verse 18: “For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Our personalities don’t have enough self–contained power to do these things in our own strength. We can’t rejoice always without the joy of Jesus. We can’t pray without ceasing unless the Lord helps us. We can never learn to give thanks in all things unless Jesus’ own perspective is foremost in our thoughts. He is our example and our indwelling secret to knowing and following God’s sure and certain will.

When our own biographies are finished and our stories are told, may those who knew us say, That was a person who rejoiced always, prayed without ceasing, and gave thanks in all things; that was a person who carried out the will of God in Christ Jesus.

¹Carl Rollyson, Reading Biography (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2004), 42.

This article is adapted from the March 2013 issue of Turning Points Magazine and Devotional, a ministry of Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah. Request your complimentary subscription today.