It is sad to think about all the people who have rejected Jesus.  The reality is Jesus has been a rejected man from the beginning.  This is no real surprise because Isaiah prophesied about it (Isaiah 53:3).  John referred to this rejection too (John 1:10-11).  Fortunately, not all have rejected Jesus.  Some have believed in Him (John 1:12).

To those of us who believe, Jesus is precious.  More importantly, He is precious to God

1 Peter 2:4 (ESV)
⁴ As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,

What is it about Jesus that is so precious?  We will consider this for the next few nights, and I want to begin by emphasizing the  preciousness of His life.

John tells us that Jesus is the light of men (John 1:4), and that He gives light to everyone (ver. 9).  Jesus called Himself the light of the world on several occasions (John 8:12; 9:5).  Light reveals.  The life of Jesus has revealed precious things to us.  First, His life has revealed the Father.  Jesus is an exact replica of the Father.  The Hebrews writer called Him “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3).  No wonder Jesus told Philip, “…Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).  In Jesus we see love, compassion, forgiveness, patience, and even righteous indignation.  Since Jesus is the exact imprint of the Father’s nature, we know that our Father has all these characteristics as well.  Is it not comforting to know that we serve such a wonderful and loving God?

The life of Jesus is also precious because it reveals to us what kind of people we should be.  Remember, it is the fundamental aim of every Christian to be like Christ.  Paul tells us to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5), and Peter exhorts us to follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:21).  So, the characteristics we see in Jesus, the very ones that characterize the Father, are the characteristics that we should all strive to have.  The life of Jesus is precious because it reveals to us what we should be.

The life of Jesus is precious because it assures us of our own salvation.  Paul said that since we have been reconciled to God by the death of Jesus, much more we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:10).  Yes, the death of Jesus was essential for our salvation, but He was raised for our justification (Romans 4:25).

Finally, the life of Jesus is precious to us because of what He does for us now that he lives again.  Jesus lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).  In Jesus we have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1).  It is because of the life of Jesus and what He is now doing for us, that we can be more than conquerors (Romans 8:34-37).  We have so much to be thankful for when we think about the life of Jesus.  Others may think that His life is insignificant; however, to those of us who believe, it is indeed precious.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.