Is My Jesus The One You Know?

Right off the bat, John says He is the Creator and that He is the Word that became flesh; the whole point of our faith.  Some imagine the Trinity as Jesus the nice one, the Father the stern one, and the Holy Spirit the mysterious one!  But Jesus is Mr. Nice Guy!  What about when He chased the moneychangers out of the temple?   He knows how to be stern too and to rebuke with all authority.  There is essentially no difference in temperament in the triune God.  They all can be mysterious, nice at times, and stern.  We must not put Jesus in a box and limit His personality to what we can imagine.

His incarnation is a mystery how He God can become man, and the hypostatic union [of His deity and humanity] is another profundity.  We must refrain from confusing, dividing, mixing, or separating these natures, as He is two natures in one divine Personhood. Each nature retains its divine attributes.  Jesus is not only truly and fully God, but truly and fully man or He could not be our Mediator and Savior. Only God could die for the sins of the world and be perfect.  He has three offices for us:  Prophet to show us our sins and the truth as Savior from the ignorance of sin; as  Priest to save us from the penalty of our sins and be our sacrifice, and King to be our sovereign and ruler to save us from the power of sin and give us victory.   

But Jesus was not a man with divine powers like a Popeye figure, or even a God in human disguise as Superman, nor a demigod (half God, half man) like Hercules.  Nor is He a Cosmic Killjoy or Mean Judge.  Everything that makes us human is in Him and everything that makes the Father God is also in Him.   We cannot put Jesus in a box and limit Him for He is infinite and beyond definition or understanding.  We cannot know Him exhaustively, but we can know Him truly.  That's the whole idea of salvation: knowing Jesus personally.

His favorite title for Himself was "Son of Man" because He related to the human race and wanted us to know He is a man and not a ghost or humanized god or deified human!  This title was uniquely Messianic and the fulfillment of Dan. 7:13 and what condemned Him at His trial when He claimed it.  He was insulted and persecuted for calling Himself the Son of God.  But He was this because He had no human father and was God's Son equal in deity, attributes, holiness, powers, and eternity.  He always was the Son of God and used this title (in fulfillment of Psalm 2:7), the eternal Son, which means He is God because only God is eternal.  He claimed to be "one with the Father," and that the "Father is in Him and He is in the Father,"  and in effect made Himself [out to be] God, as the Pharisees saw it.

In so many words, He did claim to be the great I AM (cf. John 8:28, 58).  He didn't always beat around the bush but would ask people to believe in Him for His very work's sake  He didn't just make claims but assumed the authority of  God by judging, doing miracles, and forgiving sins.  Usually, you don't believe someone who claims to be born of a virgin but if one had the character, witnesses, works, and credentials of Christ it would carry some weight in a court of law as admissible evidence.  

He was an itinerant teacher who never traveled more than about one hundred miles from his home base in Capernaum. Known to some simply as the Carpenter, He was what one would respect in a man as one who got down and dirty with men when calling them to follow Him.  To call Him a good teacher is an insult, but The Teacher. He is not the greatest anything as one would say Jesus the Great, for this is unworthy of Him and doesn't do His greatness justice.  He introduced a new preaching style using object lessons and parables as well as teaching sermons and doing miracles to illustrate the point.  He taught mainly just the Twelve (disciples) but did it one-on-one and did such a good job that it was all the size He needed to change the world with His teachings. 

His ethic raised the bar and is considered one that cannot be lived, but Jesus lived what He preached and preached what He practiced. His disciples referred to Him as Lord or Rabbi and this was a sign of reverence. His disciple Peter confessed Him as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.  He commanded respect and confounded all those who challenged His authority, for He didn't teach as the Pharisees or religious leaders, and not by authority, but with authority, not as any man ever spoke!  Finally, when He answered all their questions, they dared not to ask Him anymore.  

The Father is the eternal Father meaning there never was a point in time when He wasn't the Father; He didn't "become" the Father. Jesus was called the Son of David also, which was Messianic and didn't deny the title.  He was the rightful sovereign of the throne of David and the rightful King of the Jews.  He fulfilled the Law of Moses perfectly without flaw or sin and was born with the one purpose in mind: to die for us. He challenged His critics to accuses Him of sin. Usually, when you get to know someone you see flaws, but not so with Jesus: the idea that familiarity breeds contempt didn't hold water as Peter said, "Depart from me O Lord, for I am a sinful man."   The only charge that stuck and that He was crucified for in the end, was one of insurrection, that He claimed to be a King.  

Jesus was par excellence a man on a mission!  He came to die.  He could've taken the throne of David but His prioritized purpose was to die for our sins as the Lamb of God and Savior.  He resisted efforts to establish His kingdom at the time and would not even die before His time.  He prophesied His crucifixion and knew what He had gotten Himself into and what He signed up for.  He even prayed to be delivered from the Passion, but relinquished to God's will and suffered in our stead. He would first be our Savior and then our priest, then our King.  Right now, I believe in and understand Jesus as my Advocate and Intercessor when I go astray and the Good Shepherd who keeps me on the right track and in God's will. 

His mission was Job One:

Jesus came to save sinners and set them free from themselves, God's wrath, their enslavement to Satan, and sin. His message only has something to say to those who are lost, sick, and unrighteous and see their need for a Physician to heal them. Sin is a virus that must be healed and we cannot approach God while affected--He must cleanse us or He will have no part of us. He saves us despite ourselves and our own efforts, for there is no pre-salvation work we can achieve or preparation we can make to qualify for grace--that's why it's grace and not merit-based. In fact, the only qualification for salvation is to realize our need and bankruptcy in God's tribune. Jesus is on a rescue mission and meets us in our deepest need--the effects of sin.

Sin is both alienating and enslaving, it estranges and separates us from others and God. Jesus is the Great Reconciler and has done something about the sin question on the cross by shedding blood. Yes, He owns us because He purchased us with His very own blood was shed voluntarily on our behalf. Our greatest need was to be forgiven and made righteous, both accomplished at the cross. We are forgiven for our sins (what we've done or called being justified) and delivered from what we are (sanctification or from our sin nature). The cross is a great rescue operation! "If our greatest problem had been ignorance God would've sent an educator, or if it had been technology, He would've sent a scientist, but our greatest need was the restoration of our relationship with Him" (source unknown).

That's what salvation is: the healing of our relationship with God and getting back into fellowship with Him, for sin precludes and prevents that. We were in no position to save ourselves or salvage our souls, in fact, we needed divine intervention to meet our needs and do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. Jesus raised the bar on love and sacrifice, giving His all for us and pouring out His compassion on the cross when He was suffering the most--the ultimate sacrifice.

He thought of us to the very end and would rather die than live without us! His love is unconditional and sacrificial and costs something! We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving! In the final analysis, Jesus knew what His mission was--to do the Father's will and be subordinate to it in all things (that was His mission statement or motto of life--to do God's will!), which would bring about the salvation of His sheep, by laying down His life, for whom He shed His blood and poured out His very life. 

He rose from the dead to give us hope of a resurrection and to prove the reconciliation and redemption for our sins to the Father. His resurrection was the final sign He would give of His deity and divine mission as our Savior.  His kingdom was not to be of this world, but as the Emperor of Love, He would reign in the hearts of men and conquer kingdoms and turn the world upside-down and topsy-turvy.  His influence changed the course of history as the biggest revolutionary of all time and the central figure of Western Civilization or what is called Christendom.  The pagan and barbarian world of Rome was to become Christianized or converted by the year AD 313 with the Edict of Milan by Emperor Constantine, who became a Christian.    Soli Deo Gloria! 

Results In Prayer...

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it," (cf. John 14:13-14). 

"If you believe you will receive whatever you ask in prayer," (cf. Matt. 21:22). 

"And this is the confidence that we have, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us," (cf. 1 John 5:14). 

Note: God doesn't give us carte blanche or a blank check that we get literally anything according to our whims and wish list, but it must be in His name or according to His will that He may be glorified.  You could rightly say that we are praying for what God is already predisposed to do: His will. Thus prayer changes us, it doesn't change God! But there's nothing wrong with trying to get results and answered prayer!  We ought to aim for efficacious prayer and a continued and fulfilling prayer life. 

Christians ought not to just seek the practical or pragmatic, but prayer works and for obvious reasons, there's a God who hears them.  Some would say you can never know the truth of something only its consequences and the test of an idea is whether it works, not its truth.  But this is anti-Christian.  Prayer is not true because it works; it works because it's true--viva la difference.   Our goal should not be just to get results or our will done on earth but God's will done from heaven.  The most perfect prayer we can pray is one of relinquishment: Thy will be done.   The sake of prayer is prayer (per se), not to get what we want from God, but to seek fellowship and dialogue with God.  Sometimes it may seem our prayers are not getting through and are falling on deaf ears. Prayer is a matter of fellowship and sometimes restoration is in order. 

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear me," (cf. Psalm 66:18).   Sin always separates us from the holy God.  We must first confess our known and convicted sins before we even attempt to boldly come before the throne of grace.  Many things can hinder our prayers and we may need to be honest with God about it first.   We must be willing to wait for our renewal and reconciliation as we seek God's face in prayer and confession. 

We should never give up on our prayers and always persists for God is listening: He may be answering unawares, like in other ways. He may have something better for us.  Our prayers may lack resolve, purpose, faith, sincerity, or even humility We must always prepare our hearts first before we pray!  In God's economy, the way up is down, emptying comes before filing and confession before restoration.  We must not assume we are in a state of fellowship but humbly acknowledge our weakness and lack of worthiness before the throne. 

In the Bible, we are exhorted to boldly come before His throne and yet approach Him and enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise.  That gives us the right mindset as we have the right priorities. When we realize that prayer is the serious business of heaven and we are entering into His labors and the work of God, we become all the more fucuses and determined in our prayers with purpose. 

Also, we must realize that in prayer it is God's Spirit working His will in us and we can do nothing apart from His grace and power working in us. "I will not venture to speak of nothing but of what Christ has accomplished through me," (cf. Romans 15:18).  When we do get success, just like material success, we must give God all the glory and credit and not our prayer or persistence.  We have entered into His labors as a privilege of being used by God as a vessel of honor.    Soli Deo Gloria!