De Humanitate Iesu

What follows is a transcript of a sermon based on some recent reflections; I thought it was worth a post:

For us, who have made the choice to believe in the resurrection power of Jesus, and pursue a Godly life, we are being made into the likeness of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, the Apostle Paul writes that under the ministry of the Spirit, we 

‘are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,’

and in Romans 8:29, Paul writes again that we are being conformed to the image of His Son.’ As we live, we should strive to imitate Christ, though not on our own power, but on the power of Holy Spirit dwelling within us. 

Therefore, my question to you is, if Christ is our aim, how much do you know about how Christ lived? How much have you meditated on how Christ lived so that you know what to aim for? In Hebrews 12:1-2, the writer encourages us to run the Christian race 

‘fixing our eyes on Christ,’

and I love that image, but what does it mean? If we do not have a clear picture of who Jesus was, how can we run focused on Him? The way that we view Jesus Christ and His life here on earth influences our whole Christian walk. If you have an accurate picture of what Jesus did, then we can better understand what we are aiming for. We have to know where we are going before we try to start walking, or we will end up lost and confused.

Jesus is God, but also fully human, which means that in His life, He faced many of the same struggles that we do. A passage that really helps us to understand this is Matthew 4, the temptation of Jesus. After more than a month of fasting in the wilderness, the enemy comes to Jesus. Think again of how physically weak Jesus would have been at this point; I’ve gone at most a day without eating, and after just one day, I already feel lightheaded and tired. Jesus went for forty. Then the enemy appears and says to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ What is the devil actually trying to test here? Is it simply the physical hunger of Jesus? Not so. Let us put the temptation of Jesus in context.

Just before the temptation, Jesus was baptised in the Jordan river by John the Baptist, and on that day, all the Trinity manifested. The Holy Spirit came down as a dove and the Father spoke these words ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’ A month after this intense spiritual experience, the enemy comes and challenges Jesus’ faith in those words by asking ‘IF you are the Son of God.’ The enemy is testing Jesus’ ability to trust in the words He has heard from God. We see this again in the second temptation, where the enemy says ‘If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ The enemy pulls in scripture as well, testing and testing Jesus’ security in the word of God. The enemy was testing how secure Jesus was in His identity in God, as the Messiah, as God’s Son.

In our lives, sometimes all that we have is God’s promises, His words of assurance from the past, the bible, or even something He may have spoken to us personally. How much do you keep those words and promises in mind, and live as though they are true? Sometimes we may also receive words from God, but not really believe them in our hearts. Yes, God loves me, but maybe not all the time. God is good, but maybe not this time, or only for other people. The enemy loves to take what God has said and twist it or undermine it with doubts and insecurities. He knows that if he is able to do that to us, then we will live in a cloud of lies that prevents us from living the full life that God has for us. This is what the enemy tried to do with Jesus as well, but Jesus was confident enough, and knew God’s word and character well enough, that He was able to counter with verses from Deuteronomy to stand firm against the enemy. Jesus trusted God’s words so well that He did not need to put those words to the test by jumping off the temple. Like Jesus, we should first know God’s words for us, and believe those words whole-heartedly without having to demand additional proof for them.

The third temptation attacks Jesus a little differently. Satan shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world and says to him, ‘All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.’ In Luke, Satan even says that he has the authority over these kingdoms because he has been given that authority. We often just recoil at the very idea that Jesus would bow down to Satan, and brush off this temptation as a silly attempt to cause Jesus to sin. But what is Satan really offering here? He’s offering Jesus a way out. Jesus knew that He would have to die at the hands of sinners. That was the plan that God had for His life, and it would be painful. Jesus knew the prophecies about His life, pierced for our transgressions, they will cast lots for his clothing, all that. He also knew that after this, He would be glorified by the Father to sit as His right hand, to have authority to rule in the coming Kingdom of God. Satan was offering Jesus a shortcut. Maybe you don’t have to do this God’s way, I can give you the authority that God is promising you right here, right now, without You having to suffer and die. To put it simply, You don’t have to do this God’s way, You can do it Your own way. 

When Jesus looked at His society, He saw a lot that needed to change, a lot of injustice running unchecked. The emperor of Rome at the time, Tiberius, was known for engaging in all sorts of immorality, for his cruelty and ignoring the affairs of state. Jesus must have wondered to Himself sometimes that if He was the Emperor, He could fix so many of the problems that plagued the people of His society. Things that He would do differently, based on the good principles of God’s truth. Decisions that could have been made more wisely and more lovingly, if only there was a Godly man in power. Yet, Jesus was forbidden to act on those thoughts because He knew that God’s way did not involve Him stepping up to become an earthly ruler in the first century, but rather, involved death and resurrection.

Very often, we look at our lives, and what God wants for it, but we trust our own plans and decisions more than God’s plan. He’s asking me to do that? Really? That’s nonsensical! No, there must be a better way, an easier and more comfortable way to get the job done. Think about the plan for Jesus’ life. Go and minister on the earth for three years, after that, you will be handed over to sinners to be crucified. To us, that seems like nonsense, yet, God’s plan and purpose was revealed. Through the work of Jesus, the whole world has the chance to be reconciled with God. I encourage you to step out in faith an obedience into what God has for you. From the present, before the full fruits of your obedience are apparent, it may seem absurd, but do we trust God’s plan enough to obey anyway?

Furthermore, just because we feel we have committed to God now, does not mean that those temptations and issues will never be a problem again. In our walk with God, very often we are challenged on how much we trust God’s words about our identity, and how much we trust God’s plan. Even for Jesus, after three years of ministry, He came back to the same old thoughts. Luke tells us that in the Garden of Gethsemane, right on the brink of the fulfilment of those prophecies, Jesus asked again, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ Again, Jesus had to remind Himself and choose God’s plan over His own plan for His life. Jesus struggled with point so hard that as He prayed, His sweat became like drops of blood. On the cross, the people who mocked Jesus used the same words that Satan did three years before, ‘If you are the Son  of God, come down from the cross,’ and ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.’

In our lives, depending on what God calls us to do and who we are, certain issues may be a lifelong struggle. Sometimes there are good days where we are secure in God’s love, and at other times, the situations are more challenging and it is harder to believe in the goodness of God in that particular area. But look at the example of Jesus, and let Holy Spirit give you the strength to keep trusting God no matter what. It is possible for us to live in this way. Jesus Himself tells us in John 14:10-12 that 

‘...I am in the Father and the Father is in me. The words that I say to you I do not speak of my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.’ 

The Spirit of God, abiding in Jesus and abiding in us today, is the one who gives us the ability to live Godly lives. Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us, comforts and helps us. Jesus relied on the Spirit, and we too can grow in godliness as we pay attention to the Spirit’s work.

Jesus was able to do what He did not because He was superhuman, but because He was fully human. We were all designed to be in communion with God, with His indwelling Spirit guiding and leading us. When we do not live as the Spirit, we do not live in the way that God designed us to live. A way that is less complete and less human than what God intended. A way that is limited because we do not have the full experience of life, the abundant life that is described by Jesus in John 10:10. Let us thank God that Jesus was sent to show us how to be human, how to live and with His example firmly set in our minds, let us venture to do exactly that.

De Psalmis

I recently shared a testimony on my reflections on the nature of personal relationship, inspired by the time that I've spent over the last few months meditating on the psalms during my quiet times. As one might expect with this process, planning out a sermon in a clear and systematic manner yields further insight, hence this post.

Most interestingly, the psalms have helped me to rediscover what the rest of the bible truly is. I was reluctant to read through the volume of the hundred and fifty songs embedded in them middle of the Bible. But I reached a point where I had read through just about everything else- the prophets, major and minor, the torah, the gospels and epistles. Thus, I began with 'How blessed is the man who...', and proceeded with one psalm a day. I took them each as a poem, since their musical settings were unknown to me; something for David to explain to us all when we do meet him I suppose. Who knew that my IBDP English would help with my quiet times? God does use everything. As someone who devours stories and appreciates good characterisation, now reading through the psalms, I had the realisation that I had been reading the Bible as though it was fiction, another novel, another fantasy. Beginning with the most prolific, David, was not just a king who reigned some two thousand seven hundred years ago, who committed adultery and inspired 'Hallelujah'. He was a person, a fully realised human being, who had his deep struggles with reconciling the idea and character of God to the circumstances which he encountered in his life, as all of us do. Extend this to every other psalmist, Solomon, Korahites, exilic Jews, Moses, the other unknowns; and further, to every 'character' in the Bible, to every prophet, apostle, king or shepherd. going further, to each name mentioned only once or twice, names in the genealogies, and note that each is a person, an object of the love of God, and He knows them more than just by name. We are not stars, we are far more complex. Biblical sonder if you will. I find it amusing that sonder is listed as an obscure sorrow. Why should it be? Yes, you are not the most interesting and multifaceted person out there, but should we not be excited that everyone is? Each person represents a whole new world, a fractal in a set of fractals, developing and dreaming in their own capacity. Each life is another that I can get to know, that God can redeem for His glorious purpose.

Going off that previous point, why do we use the misleading phrase 'bible character'? The lives we read about in the Bible are people, not characters. We may not have a lot of details about some of them, but by calling them characters, we sink into the trap of thinking of them as characters. Characters are great constructs, from Heathcliff and Daisy, to Arwen and Daneel. But as flat or round as they may be, they are not people. They can only have as much significance as we grant them, and once we have read through their story, they never surprise us with anything new again. A person however, does surprise, does change and develop in unexpected ways, and has a naturally imbued significance that comes from the Creator, as a certain declaration would affirm in addition to the Bible. We may know more about certain characters than we do people, but that has nothing to do with how much more significant a single human life is than a whole slew of characters in an epic like the romance of the three kingdoms. It would be a lot better to call the names in the Bible something like 'people in the Bible', or 'Biblical people'.

Far more than the people in the Bible, there is a tendency for us to view God as another, or perhaps the main character in the Biblical narrative. He creates, he loves and nurtures, he judges and destroys. Some may even view God as the most mutable of the characters, going from a wrathful, immature being to one of benevolence and agape. Far from it. The psalms more than show how God has always been a relational and personal God, who is not after sacrifices and legalism but after obedience and trust in His character and plan. The revelation of Trinity shows us that God is inherently relational between His three persons, even before any interaction with His creation.

God is in fact, the source of our understanding of what it means to be truly personal. On our own, we so quickly sink into classifying people as their professions, their ages, their family relationships, their past experiences, or their interests, and so on. Only as we come to know God as a person and develop our relationship with Him do we get a better and better glimpse of how people ought to relate in a way that is truly mature, loving and thoughtful. Every positive aspect that you have known in a relationship is a pale reflection of the kind of relationship that God has within Himself, and desires to extend to you, and desires for you to demonstrate to others.

One final point- Why do we ask 'What would Jesus do?' The same way that we might ask 'What would Darcy do?' Jesus is alive and active, and He'll surprise us from time to time with something unexpected. A character is not alive, and cannot help but respond to something in the same classic way. Of course you could ask what a character would do and get a simple response. Jesus, in contrast, is alive and responds dynamically to situations. Yes, He does have a consistent character, but the way that He wants to act might be completely unexpected. Let's not ask 'What would Jesus do?' but just ask God directly, 'What would You want to do?' and listen out for His response.