The Desires of Christ

Jesus Christ is the creator (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16) and sustainer (Hebrews 1:3c; Colossians 1:17b) of all creation. Part of that creation is the human race. What are the desires of Jesus Christ for the entire human race?

The answer to that question can only be found in the Bible. The place we will start is the book of Isaiah, chapter 55, verses 10&11. God the Son, the Holy One of Israel, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ is the one speaking in these verses.

Isaiah 55:10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;"

Isaiah 55:11 "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."

As the creator and sustainer of planet earth, Jesus Christ controls the weather on this planet. For an in-depth look at what the Bible has to say about Jesus Christ controlling the weather, see the book God Speaks Through Storms by Rev. Moses Onwubiko of Grace Evangelistic Ministries. This book is available free of charge.

In Isaiah 55:10, the phrase “seed to the sower and bread to the eater” refers to the agricultural economy of Israel at the time in which Isaiah wrote. At times, Jesus Christ as the Holy One of Israel would use the weather to control the economy as judgment on Israel. An example of this can be found in 1 Kings chapters 17&18. Here, there is judgment on the Northern Kingdom of Israel and King Ahab because of their worship of Baal.

These are some of the verses that give the story regarding the Lord withholding rain and then returning the rain after 3 years of drought; 1 Kings 17:1; 17:14; 18:1; 18:17-18; 18:41; 18:45.

1 Kings 17:1 "Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."

1 Kings 17:14 "For thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the face of the earth.'"

1 Kings 18:1 Now it happened after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth."

1 Kings 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is this you, you troubler of Israel?"

1 Kings 18:18 He said, "I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and you have followed the Baals.

1 Kings 18:41 Now Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower."

1 Kings 18:45 In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.

My purpose here is not to discuss this incident in detail but to show the connection between Isaiah 55, verses 10 and 11. Verse 11 continues the subject of verse 10:

Isaiah 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

As the rain and snow have a purpose, so does Christ’s Word. As do the rain and snow, so will His Word accomplish what He desires and it will succeed.

So, what are the desires of Christ? One thing for sure, as stated in verse 11, they must be related to His Word.

In the context of Isaiah chapter 55, the main focus of the purpose of Christ’s Word is on salvation.

In 1 Timothy 2:3-4 we have the complete picture of the desires of Christ.

1 Timothy 2:3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

1 Timothy 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the [true] knowledge of the truth.

God our Savior is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel. We can see that there are 2 overall objectives that He desires for all people: to be saved and to come to the [faith] knowledge (Gr. epignosis) of the truth.

Truth here refers to the Word of God. Jesus stated this in His prayer to God the Father in John 17:

John 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

Our Lord’s first desire relates to salvation, how we attain a relationship with God. The Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ, is the portion of the Word of God that speaks of salvation.

The most direct statement of how a member of human race can be saved is found in Acts 16:31a:

Acts 16:31a They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved

It is also well put in John 3:16:

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

God’s only begotten Son is Jesus Christ. The only way any member of the human race can be saved is by believing in Jesus Christ.

So, when it says that God our Savior desires all people to be saved, basically Jesus is saying He desires all people to “Believe in Me”.

For an in-depth look at salvation, visit Jesus Saves.

Our Lord’s second desire relates to our lives after we are saved.

The Greek word for knowledge in 1 Timothy 2:4 is epignosis. Epignosis is sometimes correctly translated in the Bible as full knowledge or true knowledge. Since, as we will see, it is God’s Word that we have believed, I like to refer to it as faith knowledge.

This is an extremely important word as far as the Christian life is concerned. See the section on this website on epignosis for more detail on this word.

The Bible, the Word of God, is the very mind, the very thinking of Christ the living word (John 1:1) expressed in written form.

1 Corinthians 2:16 For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. NLT

God’s Word, sometimes also referred to as Bible doctrine, is of no benefit to us on the pages of the Bible. We must study God’s Word, understand it and believe it.

The key to epignosis is faith – believing; it is God’s Word that we have understood and believed. I think one of the most succinct statements on the importance of this is found in 1 John 4:16:

1 John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

We have to know God’s Word, the mind of Christ, and believe it.

This Bible doctrine that we have believed is now in our soul where we can use it. This knowledge of the Bible that we have believed that is in our soul is epignosis. Epignosis in our soul therefore is synonymous with the mind of Christ, the thinking of the humanity of Christ. Christ’s thinking becomes our thinking. We are commanded to think like Christ in Philippians 2:5:

Philippians 2:5 You should think in the same way Christ Jesus does. NIrV

So, when it says in 1 Timothy 2:4: God our Savior desires all people to come to the [true, faith] knowledge (epignosis) of the truth, basically Jesus is saying He desires all people to “ Think Like Me”.

So, if we were to paraphrase the desires of Christ in 1 Timothy 2:3&4, it might go something like this: Jesus says to all people, “Believe in Me and then come to think like Me.” Believe in Me – Think like Me.

I think one important thing about paraphrasing this verse like this is that it emphasizes the necessity of focusing our lives completely on Jesus Christ. Everything is about Jesus Christ.

It could be expressed as:

Believe in Jesus - Think Like Jesus

Believe in Christ - Think Like Christ

Believe in Jesus Christ - Think Like Jesus Christ

Believe in Him - Think Like Him

Any one of these puts the emphasis on Jesus Christ as the central focus of our life.

But I think the first person, Believe in Me – Think Like Me, is much more intimate. It’s like the conversation our Lord had in John 9:35-38 with the blind beggar to whom our Lord gave sight. I’ve paraphrased this conversation.

Do you believe in the Son of Man?

Who is he lord that I may believe in him?

You’re looking at Him and you’re talking to Him. It’s Me!

Lord, I believe!

It doesn’t get much more intimate than that, standing face-to-face with the Lord. The first person, Believe in Me – Think Like Me, makes it an intimate appeal from our Lord Jesus Christ just as with the blind beggar.

Putting it in the first person also puts it in line with our Lord’s Good Shepherd parable in John chapter 10. Here’s a few verses from that parable that I think express our Lord’s desire for an intimate, personal, eternal relationship with all people:

John 10:14 "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,

John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

John 10:28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

In verse 14, My own know Me speaks of salvation – Believe in Me.

In verse 27, hear My voice speaks of listening to the teaching of the Word of God, the thinking of Christ – Think Like Me.

For more detail on each of our Lord’s desires for the human race, see the separate sections on this website for Believe in Me – Think Like Me.

Conclusion

God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, desires to have an intimate, personal and eternal relationship with you. All that is required from you to begin that relationship is one tiny little bit of faith. If you desire to have that relationship with Him, you can begin here: Jesus Saves.

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