The Son is the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor, the exact expression of God’s true nature—his mirror image! He holds the universe together and expands it by the mighty power of his spoken word. He accomplished for us the complete cleansing of sins, and then took his seat on the highest throne at the right hand of the majestic One.
Hebrews 1:3 TPT
In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth and He made man in His image and put him on the earth. Man and God had an untainted relationship, man seeing and walking with God and learning from Him. This was until the fall of man in Genesis 3. The consequence of this fall was that man forgot both who he is and who God is, having been cut off from God’s presence because of sin. A veil covered his eyes and he essentially became blind and began to walk as such. In a bid to discover who he is and find the One he lost, he began creating images of creatures, idols, and worshipping them. Even now, man in his fallen state still creates idols of either men or things in a bid to define his purpose and find the identity that he lost. However, as Psalm 115:4-8 and Romans 1:22-23 those that make these dumb worthless idols and worship them eventually become like them, trading the glory of immortal God for images of mortal men and perishable things like them and becoming fools in the process.
God however, since the fall of man, had reached out to man in various ways. He spoke through prophets of Old, sending his Word to man and giving hints of His nature to man, Hebrews 1:1-2. He gave the law to guide in man’s interaction with God, since He cannot stand sin. There were men whose hearts sought after God and they diligently served God with this limited revelation, believing to eventually see God through the law. The closer these walked with Him, the more of His nature God showed them. Hence it was said of Moses that he was shown the ways of God. The Israelites had access to this law as well, but many could only came as far as knowing his acts and left with a false narrative of who God was, Psalm 103:7. This also influenced who they became, hence it was said that Moses was the meekest man on earth in his days, being one to have the closest revelation of who God was. The Israelites on the other hand were stuck in a far less limited understanding of who God was and many of them left murmuring and some had a holier-than-thou mentality like the pharisees. Many others simply rejected this knowledge and sought to re-define God as a result their person was redefined as well. Yet in all this, there was never a perfect revelation of God to man until the man Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, being the exact image and replica of God means, He perfectly mirrors God’s person and nature. He is the law of God personified. He is called the Word of God because He is the manifestation of the mind of God. Just like a person will not see a hat in his mirror image unless he is actually wearing a hat, there is nothing in Jesus that is not in God and nothing in God that is not seen in Jesus. Jesus is God. Jesus perfectly mirrors all that God is for man to see, John 14:8-11. Jesus appearing to man came to restore man to what He lost in the garden of Eden, the true and untainted fellowship with God. So he came among men and called them friends rather than servants, because this had been God’s intent from the beginning, John 15:15-17. He displayed the true nature of God as “the LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” in Exodus 34:6. Rather than calling for a bear to kill children because he was offended like Elisha did in 2 Kings 2:24, He forgave sins, He ate with outcasts, He washed the feet of his disciples, He rejoiced in good and rebuked sin, He showed great compassion because this is the true nature of God. He showed that God is love, and desired to be loved and not just served. He showed the power of God to redeem and deliver those oppressed. In essence, He came to explain what God was trying to communicate through the prophets of old, re writing the narrative of a military commander in the sky who seeks to squash men like a bug. He brought up the idea of a marriage which is the most intimate relationship a person can have with another, because this was God’s intent from the beginning, to be one with man, Ephesians 5:31-33.
For the longest time, God looked past the ignorance of men because there was no complete revelation of His nature. Now however, man is without excuse, whether Jews or Gentiles, Acts 17:30. The revelation of God is no longer available to a select few, but to all. Just like those who worshipped idols became like the idols they worshipped, they who worship God in Spirit and truth have access to becoming like the God they worship. For this reason, Jesus can command us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect, Matthew 5:48. We can actually be perfect now because we have access to the full picture. The revelation of God we have changes us.
Prayer for today: Heavenly Father, thank you for not leaving me in my ignorance. Thank you for going the extra mile to show me who You really are in the person of Jesus Christ. When I look at Christ, I see a God who is merciful, slow to anger and gracious and loving. Now, because I see this in You, I can become like this too. Lord, please search through me and point out any lie I may have believed about You! Reveal the truth of Your Son Jesus to me!
0 Comments