CONSIDER HIM

CONSIDER HIM. Hebrews12:3 By looking unto Jesus, we will have a foretaste of heaven now as the children of God. When we look unto Jesus, we won’t focus on our sufferings, infirmities, trials, and failures. We will lay aside other distractions as we “look into His wonderful face.” There will be the joy of love that overcomes hatred, grace that abounds, and victory that finds its joy in the Victor. We look unto Jesus: His path on earth, His glory in heaven, and His high priestly work for us at this present time. We will be changing into His likeness even while here on earth.

God’s people will have times of weariness and discouragement in our lives, and when that happens, we need to “consider Him.” Considering Him in this passage means making a comparison to our Lord Jesus Christ and thinking about the torture He endured on our behalf. When we focus our minds on what He endured, it brings healing and encouragement because we consider how much greater His distress of spirit, soul, and body was than anything we pass through.

There will be opposition to godliness from people living in the ungodly world system. There will be pain and hurt of various kinds when we look unto Jesus instead of trying to be like those who do not know God nor love our Lord Jesus Christ. When we look unto Jesus, consider Him, walk in Him, walk in the light with Him, and walk to Him, we can see the path ahead and the goal we are reaching for.

The pain He bore on the cross was greater than physical pain. It was the pain of the perfect, spotless One being made sin for us. Judgment fell on Him from God. Men forsook Him. But He endured “as seeing Him who is invisible.”

When we consider Him, we see the wounds in His hands and feet and think of the physical pain He endured. When we see Him as the Lamb of God bearing away the sins of the world, we think of what He suffered in every way on the cross, and then of the glory that followed His resurrection and ascension into heaven. When we consider Him, we look to Him who loved, blessed, prayed for, wept, and died for us, and rose from the dead in triumph and is at the right hand of the throne of God, we will no longer be weary and faint in our souls.

When we consider Him who suffered and patiently endured all that was against Him, we realize that any suffering we have can be endured with courage and patience. He learned obedience through the things He suffered; so do we. He was perfected in His human completeness through suffering, and we mature spiritually through suffering. His character was put on open display during His suffering, and our response to suffering shows what it means to us to be a Christian.

His meekness and lowliness of heart while He suffered give us an example of an appropriate attitude and can empower us to share His yoke and learn from Him. The submission, gentleness, patience, kindness, and love of Jesus were evident to all when He suffered. He will be with us in our times of suffering, and we will find courage and be conscious of His abiding presence when we consider Him.