A few years ago a movie titled The Passion of the Christ was produced which graphically depicted what Jesus Christ suffered through in order to fulfill His Father’s will. No one, having watched that film and studied the Scriptures from which it was taken, could deny the depth of passion Jesus Christ manifested throughout His life, especially at the end. In order to feel the full brunt of His passion we must understand exactly what He was so passionate about, what so totally consumed Him and empowered Him during His time on earth. A thorough study of His life and death reveals that His passion was constant and total. Jesus of Nazareth was totally sold out to and focused upon one thing and one thing only–THE WORDS OF HIS FATHER. When He said that man must live by every Word of God, He included Himself in that command. Jesus never told His followers to do anything He Himself had not done. And what did He do? What was the ONLY thing He did throughout His earthly tenure? HE OBEYED HIS FATHER. AND HE COMMANDS NOTHING LESS OF HIS FOLLOWERS. This Truth is put forth in 1 John 2:6 where salvation seekers are commanded to “walk as He walked,” and in 1 John 3:3 where they are commanded to “purify (them)selves as He is pure,” and in Revelation 3:21 where He commands them to “… overcome (Satan) as I overcame (him) in order to join Him in the Kingdom of God. This requires Christ-level faith. “Faith comes by hearing (studying)… the Word of God” (Rom. 10:19). EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO GOD’S WORD–His eternal rule book of life. When asked by a lawyer and a rich man what they must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus told them that they had to obey the Law–the Ten Commandments which include His Saturday Sabbath. He told them that in order to qualify for eternal life they must do what He Himself was doing in order to qualify–OBEY GOD’S WORD. Jesus of Nazareth had to qualify like any other man. He knew that if He failed His Father would have to spend eternity alone. See Jesus Christ: God, Man or God-man?

To the man Jesus His Father’s Words ruled supreme regardless of the situation. His life was lived in obedience to and in the ministry of those Words. As a man, Jesus was totally dependent on His heavenly Father. He humbly confessed that He could do nothing by His own power, that the works He did were works the Father did through Him (Jn. 9:4; 10:14). He did not even choose His own Words; He spoke what He heard His Father speak to Him by way of His Holy Spirit. Today, God’s true servants “hear” those same Words “spoken” in the Holy Bible, which is God in written form. Jesus was the Word of God in human form (Jn. 1:1-4,14; Rev. 19:13). Likewise, in order to qualify for salvation upon His return to earth His followers must be God’s Word in human form as they walk this earth. They must be God’s will manifested before the world. They must be His Words in living color. L.J.