The Focus of Everyone
In Isaiah 14:12-14 we read of the illegal determination of someone called “son of the dawn”. This was probably the one who would be known at the first by a job description as the Adversary and later known by Satan as a proper name. Five times he is quoted as saying “I will” finally ending in the summarizing statement
I will make myself like the Most High. (Isa 14:14 NASB)
How was he going to attempt this? By lies and murder. This proved to be pointless in trying to prevent God's Savior from coming into the world. After Jesus came, the devil brought great temptations against Him trying to derail His purpose in bringing salvation to the human race.
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (Matt 4:9)
The focus of the devil's plan, to make himself like the Most High, was to be concerned with Jesus Christ. Satan offered to Jesus all the kingdom of this world if He would simply fall down and worship the devil. Twisting the words of God did nothing. Killing the babies of Egypt (during the time of Moses) and the babies of the time of Jesus' birth was useless. Nothing in the politics of the world or in any religion on the planet accomplished anything. The devil had to focus on Jesus in order to have any chance of bringing his evil desires to pass.
When Jesus was standing before Pilate, he wanted to release Him finding no fault of anything in Him. The Jewish leaders put political pressure on Pilate to sentence Jesus to death. Finally,
Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. (Matt 27:22)
The focus of the Jewish religious leaders, now insane with jealousy and rage, was Jesus. The focus of Pilate as he became very concerned with his political position was Jesus. And so it is for every person, even today.
But I'm not even a Christian, someone says. This doesn't apply to me.
This is not a matter of religion or philosophy. It is a matter of being human. It applies to everyone. It is not a Christian thing. It is not a Jewish thing. It is not a Western thing. It is not an ancient thing. The one question that applies to every person is
What are you going to do with Jesus?
No matter which continent we live on, we share something in common with every other person. It does not matter if you were born in the 20th century. It does not matter if you were born into a culture that worships some god or philosophy. It has nothing to do with anyone's opinion. The Creator of all things demands that we take a personal stance on the historic message of Jesus of Nazareth. Deciding to do nothing is a decision against Jesus. The one issue that connects all of us humans is something of everlasting importance. Do business with God in your heart today.
Mar 2, 2025