John 13 we see His testimony for our pathway of service. We know that He is the same yesterday, to day and forever (Hebrews 13:8). We are reminded by John's obser vation of His life that the highest honor lies in the lowliest service. Christ rules all because He served all. Isaiah predicted six outstanding qualities of character marking God's pattern Servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. The first is depen dence (Isaiah 42:1). It is amazing to consider the self-emptying of our Saviour when He came into the world to become a man. In His virgin birth He did not divest Him self of any of His divine attributes or prerogatives. "He upheld all things by the word of his power" (Hebrews 1 :3 ). Jesus identified Himself closely with each of us in all of the weaknesses and infirmi ties of human nature, yet He was without sin. We hear Him say, "The Son can do nothing of him self" (John 5:19). This does not refer to His deity because, as God, He can do anything. As the perfect Man here in this world He was subservient to the will of His heav enly Father. In John 7:16 He ex plained, "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me." We see the tremendous character of this di vine Servant as He taught, "The works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works I do" (John 5:36). Taking all of these and other verses together, we see a clear indication that our Lord lived a human life and chose to be dependent upon His heavenly Fath er for both His works and His words. What about the way we live? Are we seeking to be totally dependent upon the Father, too? Page 43
If you had the opportunity to select some area of positive knowl edge, what would your purpose and desire be? For the Apostle Paul, it was to come into a fuller realization of Jesus Christ, the pow er of His resurrection, the fellow ship of His sufferings and being made conformable to His death. What a perfect pattern and exam ple he gives for us in Philippians 3:10-12. There is an excellent portrayal given of our Saviour in Isaiah 42:1 - 4. Here we are reminded of Him as God's Servant who comes to bring forth judgment on the sins of man. Without question, there is only One who ever demonstrated to the world full spiritual maturity. The winsome characteristics of our Saviour's life on earth were fore told by the prophet, guided by the Holy Spirit. The phrase, “ the servant of the Lord" is used in three distinct ways. First of all, it has reference to the nation of Israel as God's ser vant (41:8). Also in the Old Testa ment, it is used of the children of God (54:17). Finally, as we see here (42:1-4), it is used of the Re deemer in a future sense. God selected the people of Is rael to represent Him so that they might be lights among the godless nations of the world. This nation, however, failed Him at every turn. His only begotten Son then ren dered a devotion to service which Israel had failed to give. He met the highest ideal of God and man. For this reason, His service to God is the pattern for you and me. Only twice in the Bible is our Lord spe cifically stated to be our example. Once it is in connection with ser vice and the other in suffering. In
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