fter spending time learning more of the nature of God two weeks ago we turned our attention this past week to the nature of Jesus. The way we respond to Him will be governed largely by our understanding of Him. Fortunately we can observe some things Jesus said about Himself early in His earthly ministry that can deepen that understanding. Jesus' authority had been challenged when he healed the man by the pool in Jerusalem so He gave a short dissertation to the crowd on Who He was. John chapter five records what Jesus said beginning in verse nineteen. He describes Himself as The Son of God. This was an affront to the Jews. They didn't want to hear it. It's the best possible news for us. We wouldn't want to deal with a stand-in. He also said the Father loved Him and had given Him right to judge, or decide the fate of men. More bad news for those looking elsewhere because Jesus said he could give life to whomever He chose. He made it clear that those believing in Him had passed from death to life and would not be judged.

It is a long way from beginning as an infant in Bethlehem to being the all-powerful Son of God. That is whom we are dealing with. Not a mere prophet or nice guy with some good teaching, but the actual presence of God in a human body, The Word Incarnate. It takes a Savior that big and that powerful to be the One we need. Our sin is so great and we are so far from God's righteousness that we need The Son of God for our redemption. Praise God that Jesus is who He is and that God loves Him. Jesus Christ is our blessed hope and we can have confidence in what He has done and its effectiveness in cleansing us. No less than the perfect sacrifice would do, and Jesus is that Lamb slain for our forgiveness.

We celebrate who Jesus is every week at Hillside in our worship and study. We believe the most precious knowledge we have is the knowledge of Christ Jesus. There is no other Way or Truth, or Life but in Him.

Our Ladies Group just finished a two-day Women's Retreat at Maranatha Bible Camp near Everton. Our congregation hosted this year's event for forty-two area churches from several states. It was a big job that was accomplished with much teamwork and the results were excellent.