"For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9, NKJV).
His name is Jesus (meaning "this Lord is salvation"), but He is "God with us" ("Immanuel") in the flesh or incarnated. The full nature of God is manifest in Christ (cf. Col. 2:9) and God is personified for us to see, all we need to know is in Him and what we can know. The whole revelation of God, as He is to be known and worshiped, is in Christ Jesus--to see Him is to see the Father and to accept and worship Him is to do so with the Father. Jesus left us, but not as orphans, the Holy Spirit was given as a Comforter and Paraclete to guide and enlighten us.
We are actually better off with the Holy Spirit within us than when Jesus walked the earth as the God-man among us. We have both the whole counsel of God and the inward witness of the Spirit to be our inner comfort and witness. Christianity is about Christ and to remove Him is to disembowel it and neutralize its teachings and reality. You can remove Muhammad from Islam or Buddha from Buddhism and the religions stay intact, but not so with our faith: it is about Jesus beginning and ending, all else is circumference--every other issue is peripheral. We could not know what God was like except for the incarnation, and our access to Him would be limited without His intercession and meditating on our behalf.
We need to know what God is like to know how to live and Jesus is the express image of God with skin on for us. Of men inspired by God or inhabited by God, there have been many, men called by God and lead by God numerous, men of God and godly men countless, but Jesus stands out unequaled and unsurpassed as the God-man, unlike any of His predecessors and disciples--you simply cannot improve on Him. He is not a lord nor a god, but the Lord and God personified--the Word become flesh, and the Word is God.
According to Francis Schaeffer, Christianity is about "the God who is there." Sometimes we may wonder where God is, but He is right here as close as His name, and we might wonder and realize He was there all the time. Surely, He was there and we knew it not--that is the commentary on some people's spiritual life. For wherever two or three are gathered in His name, there He is! As the title implies, Immanuel, Christians have the Holy Spirit and God with them wherever they go never forsaking us (cf. Matt. 28:20).
We must endeavor to attempt great things for God and expect even greater blessings in return because we can be assured that God is with us and will guide us all the way. When God is in something, it will succeed. There is a story of Saint Theresa, who said she desired to erect a convent, and when asked of her resources, said she had twelve pence. They told her that even Saint Theresa couldn't do much with only that; she replied that God and Saint Theresa could do anything. We can see that the only important thing is whether God is in it or not; we don't bring our plans to God for approval, but find His will and do it and He will provide the resources. If we are led to do something from the Spirit, God will provide.
Jesus became what we are and what He was not, but continued to be what He was--He never gave up His divine nature, but became man as the God-man. He is not a deified man nor a humanized God, nor a man with divine attributes, nor a God that acts or appears as a man. He is not a God in human disguise either, but fully man and fully God, perfect man, perfect God--two natures united mysteriously into one nature forever. He feels our pain because He Himself experienced the worst man could dish out Himself. Could you identify with a God who knew no pain nor had any first-hand experience as a man in our world? Not only can we relate to Him, but He identifies with us and is in a position to make intercession for us. God is with us when we need Him most, and whatever happens, we will not be overwhelmed because of His presence through the Spirit abiding in us.
We must be careful not to limit Him nor put Him in a box: He was a great teacher; He was a divine Healer; He was a miracle worker; He was a great leader, etc. You cannot speak of Him in comparative nor superlative terms, such as saying He is Jesus the Great, or even the greatest leader, teacher, model, nor influence man has ever seen or for that matter, it diminishes Him by saying these things, for He cannot be compared but must be contrasted, the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in His nature for our benefit so we can know God personally and have a relationship with one that identifies with us on our level and we can resonate with Him, which is mutual. He feels our pain! Pronouncing Him in human terminology such as Jesus the Great doesn't do Him justice and no man can be what He was nor step into His shoes and do what He did (a regular man could do what Muhammad did, but no man can do what Christ did!).
Jesus took on the infirmities of man in the weakness of the flesh to identify with us and dwell in our midst. He always was, is, and will be the Lord of all and couldn't be our Savior, if not God with us! He emptied Himself of the independent usage of His divine attributes and obeyed the Father's will and didn't act independently on His own--for He could do nothing of Himself. The wonderful thing is that we can taste and see the Lord is good and find it out for ourselves and experience His presence in the same Spirit that His disciples did, opening our eyes to spiritual truth and showing us the way. In the final analysis, Jesus will not barter away His nature nor cease being God with us in the flesh! Soli Deo Gloria!
His name is Jesus (meaning "this Lord is salvation"), but He is "God with us" ("Immanuel") in the flesh or incarnated. The full nature of God is manifest in Christ (cf. Col. 2:9) and God is personified for us to see, all we need to know is in Him and what we can know. The whole revelation of God, as He is to be known and worshiped, is in Christ Jesus--to see Him is to see the Father and to accept and worship Him is to do so with the Father. Jesus left us, but not as orphans, the Holy Spirit was given as a Comforter and Paraclete to guide and enlighten us.
We are actually better off with the Holy Spirit within us than when Jesus walked the earth as the God-man among us. We have both the whole counsel of God and the inward witness of the Spirit to be our inner comfort and witness. Christianity is about Christ and to remove Him is to disembowel it and neutralize its teachings and reality. You can remove Muhammad from Islam or Buddha from Buddhism and the religions stay intact, but not so with our faith: it is about Jesus beginning and ending, all else is circumference--every other issue is peripheral. We could not know what God was like except for the incarnation, and our access to Him would be limited without His intercession and meditating on our behalf.
We need to know what God is like to know how to live and Jesus is the express image of God with skin on for us. Of men inspired by God or inhabited by God, there have been many, men called by God and lead by God numerous, men of God and godly men countless, but Jesus stands out unequaled and unsurpassed as the God-man, unlike any of His predecessors and disciples--you simply cannot improve on Him. He is not a lord nor a god, but the Lord and God personified--the Word become flesh, and the Word is God.
According to Francis Schaeffer, Christianity is about "the God who is there." Sometimes we may wonder where God is, but He is right here as close as His name, and we might wonder and realize He was there all the time. Surely, He was there and we knew it not--that is the commentary on some people's spiritual life. For wherever two or three are gathered in His name, there He is! As the title implies, Immanuel, Christians have the Holy Spirit and God with them wherever they go never forsaking us (cf. Matt. 28:20).
We must endeavor to attempt great things for God and expect even greater blessings in return because we can be assured that God is with us and will guide us all the way. When God is in something, it will succeed. There is a story of Saint Theresa, who said she desired to erect a convent, and when asked of her resources, said she had twelve pence. They told her that even Saint Theresa couldn't do much with only that; she replied that God and Saint Theresa could do anything. We can see that the only important thing is whether God is in it or not; we don't bring our plans to God for approval, but find His will and do it and He will provide the resources. If we are led to do something from the Spirit, God will provide.
Jesus became what we are and what He was not, but continued to be what He was--He never gave up His divine nature, but became man as the God-man. He is not a deified man nor a humanized God, nor a man with divine attributes, nor a God that acts or appears as a man. He is not a God in human disguise either, but fully man and fully God, perfect man, perfect God--two natures united mysteriously into one nature forever. He feels our pain because He Himself experienced the worst man could dish out Himself. Could you identify with a God who knew no pain nor had any first-hand experience as a man in our world? Not only can we relate to Him, but He identifies with us and is in a position to make intercession for us. God is with us when we need Him most, and whatever happens, we will not be overwhelmed because of His presence through the Spirit abiding in us.
We must be careful not to limit Him nor put Him in a box: He was a great teacher; He was a divine Healer; He was a miracle worker; He was a great leader, etc. You cannot speak of Him in comparative nor superlative terms, such as saying He is Jesus the Great, or even the greatest leader, teacher, model, nor influence man has ever seen or for that matter, it diminishes Him by saying these things, for He cannot be compared but must be contrasted, the fullness of the Godhead dwelling in His nature for our benefit so we can know God personally and have a relationship with one that identifies with us on our level and we can resonate with Him, which is mutual. He feels our pain! Pronouncing Him in human terminology such as Jesus the Great doesn't do Him justice and no man can be what He was nor step into His shoes and do what He did (a regular man could do what Muhammad did, but no man can do what Christ did!).
Jesus took on the infirmities of man in the weakness of the flesh to identify with us and dwell in our midst. He always was, is, and will be the Lord of all and couldn't be our Savior, if not God with us! He emptied Himself of the independent usage of His divine attributes and obeyed the Father's will and didn't act independently on His own--for He could do nothing of Himself. The wonderful thing is that we can taste and see the Lord is good and find it out for ourselves and experience His presence in the same Spirit that His disciples did, opening our eyes to spiritual truth and showing us the way. In the final analysis, Jesus will not barter away His nature nor cease being God with us in the flesh! Soli Deo Gloria!
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