2017.07.30_Jesus is God 3

God cares for souls

No one has ever seen God. Nevertheless people assume God is almighty and that they will prosper if God is on their side. Believers or non-believers, they equally acknowledge God’s power to a certain degree.

Of the many nations on the earth, Israel is quite unique. For a nation to exist, it must have its own territory, but Israel did not possess any land when it was first established as a nation. Jacob (Abraham’s descendant) and his family had to leave Canaan because of a severe famine and so they went to Egypt where they lived for four hundred years. During this extended period of time, Jacob’s family flourished and became a nation. As He promised to Abraham, God sent Moses to Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go, so that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.”

More than one million Israelites crossed the Red sea by the power of God. When they cut their ties to Egypt they went out into the wilderness. Although the wilderness is not a hospitable place for man to live, God accepted them as His own and led them on a journey to the promised-land that would last for fifteen-hundred years. As if that wasn’t enough, when they finally arrived in the land of Canaan there were already several established indigenous tribes. After many difficult battles, they occupied and settled the promised land a little bit at a time and made Jerusalem the capitol. The territorial dispute over Canaan that began so long ago continues to this day.

Israel has long yearned for God to rule them as their King. The kingdom they have been yearning for is not the same kingdom that Christians desire today. The Israelites wanted God to establish an earthly kingdom. Therein lies the problem. You see, this world is perishable but God’s kingdom is imperishable, which means that this world is not capable sustaining an eternal kingdom. The Kingdom of God is an everlasting kingdom. Flesh cannot enter God’s eternal kingdom because it belongs to this earth. Only souls may enter for they are eternal. In this way the world is just like Egypt which seeks to confine men’s souls under its power, but God commands: “Let my people go!” It is God’s will to establish His kingdom wherever there is a soul.

Since God is invisible, people try to explain God’s existence on a philosophical level. However, by sending His Son to this world, God has clearly revealed Himself to us. Nevertheless, men did not recognize Him. That’s because people have certain stereotyped perceptions about God. They reason that if God were to manifest Himself to us, He would take on the most majestic and authoritative appearance. Their own ideas kept them from recognizing God who had come into the world.

Jesus Christ is our God

Instead of honoring Jesus as God, they despised Him because of His appearance and background. In spite of the powerful words that He spoke and the signs He performed, they dismissed Him Because He was from the town of Nazareth. Nazareth was a poor, insignificant, and marginalized town that had never been mentioned by the prophets in the scriptures. Even the thief who hung on the cross next to Jesus mocked Him saying, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” This world still sees Jesus much the same way as that thief.

On the other hand, the other thief saw Jesus differently. He said to Jesus as He was bleeding out and about to breathe His last breath, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”As he was watching Jesus dying on the cross next to him and apparently powerless, yet he respected His authority. Today, believers are like this thief. The world still treats Jesus with contempt and scorn, and ignores Him and curses Him. Nevertheless, believers respect His authority. This is faith.

Knowing God is incredibly important. Many people hear about God, but their own ideas and philosophical world-view keeps them from ever meeting God. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose mind the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” If you do not see Jesus as God, you cannot be saved. We can only discover Jesus’ true identity through inspiration from God.

Who is God? God is the only one who can save us. People consider food, clothing and shelter as the essential necessities of human existence. They always have. These things have been the most prominent concern throughout the history of humanity. But think about it. When faced with death, can your clothing or food save you? What good is a mansion when you dying? You can enjoy closets full of fine clothes, delicious food, and a magnificent house, but you, like all people will eventually die.

Death is man’s greatest fear. All of men’s worries and anxieties are rooted in the fear of death: death by starvation, illness, violence, drowning, even death by accident in a car! Fear is actually a part of human nature since our body is mortal. The truth is that even with all of our advances in medicine and technology, humans have little or no control over their lifespan or the time and circumstances surrounding their death, nor can they stop it.

There is only one who can save us and that person is God alone. He alone can raise us from the dead, He alone can save us from eternal punishment, and He alone can help us to attain the resurrection of life. Idols cannot save our flesh from death, and they certainly cannot save our soul. There is only one who can save both our flesh and our eternal soul, and that person is God Himself.

That same God came to the earth two thousand years ago. Yet, people despised Him. They ignored Him because He was a Nazarene, they ignored Him because He was meek, and they ignored Him because He was poor. Nevertheless, He is the only one who can save us. In other words, only Jesus is our God. He was born to this world as our Christ. Therefore, our only God is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ died two thousand years ago, resurrected from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now He has sent the Holy Spirit to us. He said to His disciples, “It is for your good that I am going away” (Jn. 17:7). How was it good that He was going away? If he were still in this world, only a few people could meet Him. It would be wonderful for them, but the rest of us would never have the opportunity to meet Him in person, and at best we might be able to watch Him on TV. Thankfully, Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit so that each of us could draw near to God.

God who is in me and helps me.

His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee on a boat when suddenly a furious storm came over them. The boat was about to sink, the disciples were gripped by fear; But Jesus was fast asleep on a cushion. They woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Then Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!”Only God could save them from the storm. Jesus was the God who saved the disciples.

Jesus said to the disciples who just witnessed Him calming the sea, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Wherever He went, He gave gifts to people. It is an eternal peace that is unwavering under any circumstance. Even in the midst of the storm, He was at peace. Our life may be beset by circumstances far worse than a storm. But even in the worse circumstances, if the peace of God abides in us, we will overcome even the fear of death. This peace can only come from God, and Jesus is the one who gives this peace to us.

The Holy Spirit came to us so that we may believe in Jesus Christ. Through the Holy Spirit we have come to know the amazing fact that God is not far from us; indeed, He is in us. 1 John 3:24 says, “Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” Where have you found God? Has the Holy Spirit come upon you? If He has, God is in you. Accept that fact and place all your trust in Him. Then the peace of God will guard you even in the fiercest storms.