The Ongoing Mission of Jesus on Earth

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Jesus Mission

The Ongoing Mission of Jesus on Earth

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1).

Mission of Jesus 

Directed by God, Isaiah first prophesied this a few hundred years before Jesus was born. When Jesus began His ministry as an adult, He quoted this verse, declaring He was the one about whom Isaiah had prophesied this. This statement proclaims what Jesus was sent to earth to do.

Arrival

When Jesus first arrived on earth, He did not drop down from the sky as an adult, flying from heaven to earth like Superman. Instead, He was born as a human baby, having grown in His mother’s womb full-term.

Jesus was the firstborn to Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus. Theirs was not a normal marriage right from the start. While they were still engaged, Mary became pregnant with Jesus. Joseph and Mary both knew Joseph was not the father of this child.

Unplanned by Man, God’s Plan

Although this pregnancy was not part of Joseph and Mary’s plans, God knew all about it, having planned it a very long time in advance. God was not going to change His plans.

When Joseph and Mary needed information so they could participate with God in His plans, He sent an angel, first to Mary, and then to Joseph in their separate homes. Informed by God’s angel, they learned God Himself was the Father of the child in Mary’s womb.

With this new information God provided to them, Joseph and Mary proceeded with plans to get married. Because of her pregnancy, they would not have had an entirely typical wedding.

Unexpected travel

Now married, another complication developed when, late in the pregnancy, Joseph and Mary had to travel out of town. 

God Himself planned His welcoming committee. He arranged for a bunch of angels to make a surprise announcement in the middle of the night to some shepherds, guarding their sheep from night predators.

The announcement was so intriguing that when one of the angels gave the shepherds directions, they delightedly went into town to visit the newborn baby and His parents.

Ongoing mission

After Jesus was born and the family settled down to live in Nazareth, Joseph and Mary had more children. Jesus was part of a blended family.

The family Jesus grew up in was shrouded in mystery and a hint of scandal. After Jesus began His ministry as an adult, some people considered Him an outcast because of His parentage. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus knew God was the Father of Jesus. Others were left to wonder.

The Mission Unfolded

The emotional pain Jesus felt from the smears of others, enabled Him to better relate to the brokenhearted, the captives, and those bound with shackles in prison. These were the people who understood more readily the hope Jesus offered them.

No family on earth is completely normal. There is something dysfunctional in all of us. Jesus came to earth to bridge the gap between the dysfunctional (us with sin) and the perfect (God with no sin). When we let Jesus represent us as individuals before the holy God, God accepts us. Jesus’ blood covering our sins makes us clean in God’s sight.

Our Mission

At Christmas, we celebrate Jesus having come to earth to redeem us to continue to do His mission.  We can continue this work, “to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1). God’s gift continues in us.

Merry Christmas 2023 and Happy New Year 2024! We seek God for peace on earth, so desperately needed.

“Father tell me where I fit into this plan of yours” Michael Card  Joseph’s Song.

 

Shirley Logsdon

 

 

 

 

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About Shirley Logsdon

I am the only child of Christian parents who wanted me to know God personally as they did. One night during church we watched a movie depicting a family in their home accepting Jesus as their personal Savior. I was nine and realized then my desire to make Jesus my personal Savior. With the full support of my parents, I met with the pastor and prayed to receive Christ. A few years later, several of us around the same age began classes for our confirmation to become church members. The privilege of taking communion was a special time for me. . During my teenage years I was outwardly complacent, but was inwardly rebellious. I developed the nasty habit of disrupting harmony in the household by nitpicking at anything and everything. A preacher came to hold revival services at my dad’s church and nailed me silently with looks. This helped me tremendously. I turned a corner and began to respect and obey my parents in attitude and actions. I survived these years through prayer (mine, my parents and friends). The love and tenacity of my parents and God’s grace got me through these years of upheaval. I readily identify with David the Psalmist when he said in Psalm 25:7, “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.” Because my parents provided a stable home life for me, when I went to college my Christian values remained intact. After completing my education in 1979, I started working. For a while, I worked at temp agencies, then I did odd jobs. I settled down in a secretarial position in 1986 working for a firm specializing in retirement plan administration. In 2007, I started working for a law firm, eventually becoming a knowledge management assistant in their law library, helping to alert attorneys to new business opportunities. I am a productive citizen of my country in large part because my parents prayed for me and made clear by word and example what they expected of me. I am extremely grateful to God for them. John 15:5 is my life verse: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” I am confronted with this realization every day I live, and it helps keep me on the straight and narrow path. I met my future husband at church. After a few years of our two families getting acquainted, he and I started courting. We married at the church where we met, in the presence of many relatives and friends. We have been married for 29 years. My hobbies are reading, cooking, and canning or freezing what my beloved husband grows in the garden. Also, I thoroughly enjoy writing. While my writing has included poems, most of my writing has been letters to family and friends. I like to share my faith when I write and am fond of adding a Bible verse or two to help focus on the source of our life. Since I am now retired after working 38 years, I can concentrate on keeping up with birthdays. Something else I enjoy is studying the Bible, often with others. Blogging is a new form of writing for me. I am getting my feet wet and I’m beginning to enjoy the experience.

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