Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– S.D. Gordon
Jesus’ Life Proves We Can Overcome the World
Before Jesus Christ came to the world, it was very easy to over-theorize God. Nobody has really seen God face to face. While Moses has seen God’s glory, he never really saw God face to face. This makes a lot of sense, because God is holy. This means that God is separate from sin. And since human beings are simple creatures, anything that is sinful would burn up in front of the holy. It is for Moses’ benefit that God only let him see His glory, and not his full self.
This is a very important fact from the Bible to keep in mind, as to the value of Jesus coming to Earth. Jesus came to Earth in human form, so we can understand the nature of God. As S.D. Gordon writes, Jesus was God spelling Himself out in language humanity can understand. There is a lot of misconception about the nature of God prior to Jesus coming back.
Common Misunderstandings Regarding the Nature of God
God the Father is a spirit that people haven’t seen. People have interacted with Him, like Abraham, Noah, and others through the Bible, but they haven’t seen Him face to face. As a result, it’s very easy to look at God as an absent Father. And when the Father is absent, the devil comes out to play.
The devil can make up all sorts of lies regarding the nature of God. One very common lie about God the Father that persists to this very day is that He is a bully, that He wants to run your life, and that He wants to punish you if you are bad and reward you if you are good. In other words, there is no need for faith. Everything is contractual. For you to get A, you have to do B. for you to get C, you have to do D.
When Jesus came back in human form, He made it clear to us that God loves you already, even when you hated Him. God’s love is born out of grace, meaning it’s a free gift. It’s not something you earn; it’s not something that you contract for.
This blew people’s’ minds, because this was a completely different presentation of the reality of God the Father. This is why it’s very important to understand the gravity of Jesus coming in the flesh.
What adds to this complexity is the fact that the world can be very overwhelming if we think that God is a bully. If we feel that religion is all about being perfect and becoming a saint, then there is really no point to this, because we’re all fallen sinners. All the rituals that we go through won’t be enough, because there’s no relationship with God. And that is the primary lesson that Jesus brought home when he came in human flesh.
We got straight from the mouth of God, the real path to Him. As Jesus said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the light.’ Meaning, a relationship with Him is the only way to eternal life. And nobody comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.
By using Him as our model, we can overcome the world that can often be burdened by these distortions of God’s character. God is not out to get you; God is not out to make your life miserable. God loved you so much He gave everything He had in the form of his Son, just to let you know that you have the choice to be reconciled with Him.
