Christians Believe a lot of crazy things
God Became One of Us
Christians believe a lot of crazy things.
One belief is that we think God became one of us, which is a strange thought.
It is one of those "hold on, hold on" ideas that is difficult to accept: God came to earth and became one of us, seriously!
The person who explained this best was the Apostle John.
John, as an elderly man reflecting as an eyewitness, summed up the experience in this way.
Translated into contemporary English, John wrote, “The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him, the complete gifts of undeserved grace and truth have come down to us.” John 1:14 CEV
You didn't see this, but John witnessed it, along with Matthew, Peter, James, and many others.
John realizes that he's getting older, and Jesus hasn't returned yet, so he needs to get this written down before he dies so people will know what happened.
His experiences were so overwhelming and profound that he struggled.
The best way he could describe and summarize his experiences of spending three years with this man Jesus was that God showed up in a body and dwelt among us.
What if this is true? What if that really happened?
this is a big deal!
Why?
Together, we will attempt to uncover why God chose to live among us in the form of His Son, Jesus.
A clue is in Jesus' conversation with his apostles at the end of his ministry.
To set up the scene, Jesus tells his disciples, "I'm leaving, but don't worry."
Their response was, "Nope if you leave, it's bad," which led to a conversation in which Jesus revealed one of the reasons why God sent him to live among us.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God: believe also in me.” John 14:1
This is ridiculous… or is it true? It’s one extreme or the other.
Jesus goes on, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.” John14:7
There he goes again, equating himself with God!
The disciples were confused and were reacting much like we do. What is this conversation even about?
Finally, Philip requests that we have all likely made in the past. It is such a compelling plea.
Philip pleaded, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.’” John 14:8
"Jesus, just show us God!"
Isn't it true that there have been moments when you wished there was a God who knows your name?
If you're comfortable, share with your small group about times in your life when you struggled to understand why Jesus came as one of us and lived among us. Why was this so important? Couldn't God have forgiven all our sins without having to come as one of us and live as one of us, among us?
The Dark Night of the Soul
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?” Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:9
In other words, Philip, this is important. I am as close as you’ll see what God is like.
If you want to understand God's message, listen to me.
If you seek insight into God's thoughts on a matter, listen to me.
Listen to me to understand God's attitude or perspective on a person, situation, or relationship.
If you wish to know what God would say to you or someone else in a specific situation, listen to me.
Do you want to know what God is up to? Watch Jesus because you’ll never get a better clue about what God is like than him.
Do you know why Jesus came into the world? Do you understand why God came to dwell among us?
One of the reasons was to communicate and to demonstrate what God is like.
God wants you to know him at such a personal level that he was not content to send information. He sent himself.
God was so interested in making this personal that he showed up to make it as personal as possible.
Instead of hoping that you could look up and out and figure it out, he decided to come down and in because he wanted you to know him.
He doesn’t want you to guess. He doesn’t want you to have to try to figure it out.
Jesus didn’t claim to have the best explanation of God. He claimed to BE the best explanation of God.
Even if God didn't do anything, say anything, heal us, or fix anything, if we could live the rest of our lives with the certainty that there is a God and he knows our name, would it be enough to find peace in the dark night of the soul?
Would it be enough for you so that, from then on, wherever you went, you would know that there is a God, and He knows you are here?
Would that would be enough?
