God is the Man
When we think about God, it’s sometimes hard not to be awestruck. He’s the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent creator of the universe. He’s as far beyond us as we are beyond the ants we see scurrying along the ground. So when we talk about building a relationship with a being like that, it might sometimes seem to be an impossible thing. Relationships typically require some form of understanding between the parties involved. As great as he is, can any of us truly understand God? As far below him as we are, can God truly understand us?
What makes things even more difficult is that we are physical beings, but we can’t really interact with God in a physical manner particularly as he appeared in the Old Testament. Just think about what God said to Moses when Moses asked to experience his presence in person..
It sounds like an inescapable problem, but in reality, God already solved the problem in the most amazing way. To understand his solution, we have to acknowledge and understand that God is a triad. This is often referred to as the godhead. An earlier blog entry (The Trinity) already addressed this topic. God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Father is the person of the godhead that is highest and most revered. He is the person of the godhead mostly referred to in the Old Testament. However, in the New Testament we see that Jesus, the Son, is the answer to how we can truly relate to God. As believers, we understand that Jesus was born to deliver the Gospel, died and was resurrected to give us a chance for salvation. We don’t often think about the fact that Jesus was also God experiencing what it was like to be human.
Never before had God seen his creation through human eyes. He had never before embraced the humans that he loved so much the way we humans embrace those we love. He didn’t know the simple pleasures that humans enjoy so much like eating a good meal. He had never just sat around with the people he loved sharing stories and fellowshipping.
God had to humble himself and squeeze all his glory into a tiny human vessel to do any of that, and that human vessel is who Jesus was and still is. During his life here on Earth, Jesus was able to teach his followers the way humans do. He was able to express his feelings and desires in ways that are uniquely human. He was able to feel and emote and live in all the ways that we do yet without sin.
Jesus felt sadness and fear in Gethsemane. He felt pain when the soldiers beat him before his crucifixion. And yes, even as the only human to have never sinned, he had to face the consequence of sin - death. These are things that were likely wholly unfamiliar to the Father, but God as a whole came to experience them because Jesus is God, and he is also a man.
Jesus did all of that so God could understand us at our level, but that’s not where the story ends. God has another aspect - the Holy Spirit, and after Jesus’ resurrection, all believers were given access to the Holy Spirit. You see God didn’t just make a way for Him to understand us at our level. He also gave us a way to start to understand Him at His level. We now have a way for our understanding to be mutual. There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to form the relationship we all want with God.
What makes things even more difficult is that we are physical beings, but we can’t really interact with God in a physical manner particularly as he appeared in the Old Testament. Just think about what God said to Moses when Moses asked to experience his presence in person..
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” - Exodus 33:19-20Seeing God up close and in person could literally mean death for us. We see God interact with people in a number of ways (e.g., a burning bush and a column of clouds), but never in his purest form, because, as limited physical beings, we can not handle God’s presence.
It sounds like an inescapable problem, but in reality, God already solved the problem in the most amazing way. To understand his solution, we have to acknowledge and understand that God is a triad. This is often referred to as the godhead. An earlier blog entry (The Trinity) already addressed this topic. God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Father is the person of the godhead that is highest and most revered. He is the person of the godhead mostly referred to in the Old Testament. However, in the New Testament we see that Jesus, the Son, is the answer to how we can truly relate to God. As believers, we understand that Jesus was born to deliver the Gospel, died and was resurrected to give us a chance for salvation. We don’t often think about the fact that Jesus was also God experiencing what it was like to be human.
Never before had God seen his creation through human eyes. He had never before embraced the humans that he loved so much the way we humans embrace those we love. He didn’t know the simple pleasures that humans enjoy so much like eating a good meal. He had never just sat around with the people he loved sharing stories and fellowshipping.
God had to humble himself and squeeze all his glory into a tiny human vessel to do any of that, and that human vessel is who Jesus was and still is. During his life here on Earth, Jesus was able to teach his followers the way humans do. He was able to express his feelings and desires in ways that are uniquely human. He was able to feel and emote and live in all the ways that we do yet without sin.
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; - 1 Peter 2:21-22Jesus wasn’t just part of God’s plan to save us. Jesus was God’s plan for letting us know that he understands us. He came to experience the good parts of being human, but he also had to indulge in the bad parts. When he encountered friends mourning the death of Lazarus. He empathized and was moved to tears.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him! - John 11:33-36Jesus had the power to raise Lazarus and later did just that. However, just being there and understanding death and how it impacted the people around him had a profound effect on him. Perhaps, one that God could never have experienced had not Jesus come to the earth as he did.
Jesus felt sadness and fear in Gethsemane. He felt pain when the soldiers beat him before his crucifixion. And yes, even as the only human to have never sinned, he had to face the consequence of sin - death. These are things that were likely wholly unfamiliar to the Father, but God as a whole came to experience them because Jesus is God, and he is also a man.
Jesus did all of that so God could understand us at our level, but that’s not where the story ends. God has another aspect - the Holy Spirit, and after Jesus’ resurrection, all believers were given access to the Holy Spirit. You see God didn’t just make a way for Him to understand us at our level. He also gave us a way to start to understand Him at His level. We now have a way for our understanding to be mutual. There is no reason we shouldn’t be able to form the relationship we all want with God.
… by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. - 2 Peter 1:4
Chris Lawyer
Image courtesy of dailyverses.net
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