How can a person be both humble and proud? Christians flip flop all the time between walking in Christ and living according to that old sinful nature. I can be kind and gentle or mean and harsh, but not at the same time.
This week, I’ve been studying the
attributes of God and how God is all that He is all the time. That is, when He
is judging sin, He has not ceased to love sinners. When He is blessing His
people with mercy and kindness, He has not stopped being just and holy, hating sin.
Obviously we are not like God.
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain… (Revelation 5:5–6)
In Jesus Christ there are diverse
qualities normally incompatible in the same person. He is both infinite majesty and transcendent meekness. While some might ascribe the meekness to His humanity and the
majesty to His deity, Christ is not split up like that.
For in him the whole fullness of
deity dwells bodily… (Colossians 2:9)
Christ’s infinite majesty is
described in many places, as is His humble spirit. His “kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom, and [His] dominion endures through all generations” (Psalm
145:13), yet He is the “king (who) comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey”
(Matthew 21:5). This lion of the tribe of Judah “when they hurled their insults
at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats” (1 Peter
2:23). He had a wonderful spirit of forgiveness, was ready to forgive his worst
enemies and [even] prayed for them. He was silent and “led like a lamb to the
slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7).
While I can be meek, and maybe at my
best moments have something grand about me, none of us can match the
combination that is in Jesus Christ who is both a lion in and a lamb.
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