Jesus Reflects God's True Nature

Oct 10, 2018
5 min read

In this series of blogs, I want to present you with a fresh new vision of God. And the best way for you to view God is by knowing Jesus Christ. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and the writings of the New Testament scriptures reveal Jesus as God’s brilliant, tender, creative, humble, powerful, truthful, grace-filled, forgiving and sacrificial expression of God in the flesh. Jesus shows who God is and the more you get to know him, the more you’re able to say, “I know the character and heart of God.”

JESUS UNVEILS THE GOODNESS OF GOD

In my last post I wrote about the goodness of God. Since Jesus is 1/3 of the Triune God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), he represents, in the flesh, the true nature of God. There was an event in the life of Jesus where he declares his goodness. We find it in Mark 10:17–18…

17 As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.” (Read the full context here)

Jesus wasn’t suggesting that he wasn’t good when he said, “Why do you call me good?” He said this because he knew how much the human concept of goodness needed clarification. From a human viewpoint, the concept of good is a moving target. We think we’re good because we could be worse! Or, we’re good because we’re better than others. Or, we’re good if we can get other people to think we’re good. But none of this is even close to actually being good, is it? We’ve settled into a limited definition of good because we use the wrong measuring stick to determine what’s really good. And that’s why Jesus told the young man who flattered him: “No one is good, except God alone.” Or to paraphrase Jesus, I believe he was saying this:

“Young man, do you know who is truly good? The only One

who is perfectly good is God, so, if you’re calling me good, you’re declaring that I am God. You are right, I’m not just a good teacher, I am a good God. Since I am good, I have your good in mind. So, listen to me and I will show you the way to eternal life.”

Any person today who says to Jesus, “How do I obtain eternal life,” would hear the same reply from him: “I am a good God and I have your good in mind. So, listen to me and I will show you the way to eternal life.” It's important to understand that Jesus was clarifying that no person is good enough to find eternal life on their own. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden every man, woman and child has been infected by sin and we are soul-sick. Jesus, was the only man who every lived who was good. Only he is qualified to show us the way to eternal life.

JESUS DEMONSTRATES THE NATURE OF GOD

Jesus is the ultimate expression of the nature and character of God. If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus. The writer of Hebrews 1:3 asserts …

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

If you’re wondering what God is like you need to go no further than Jesus Christ. And to get to know Jesus, you need to look no further than the Bible. It’s there that you’re able to infuse your heart and saturate your mind with his Godly attributes:

When you read about Jesus embracing lepers, dining with outcasts, and stooping to wash the stinking feet of people about to abandon and betray him, you see a humble servant.

When Jesus declares his compassion for prisoners, the hungry, the cold, the sick, and the disenfranchised, you're confronted by the kindness and compassion of God.

When he speaks of a shepherd who goes out in the night to find one lost lamb or a heartbroken father who never stops yearning for the return of a wandering child, you encounter God's love without limit.

When Jesus is surrounded by a clamoring crowd but stops to give his full attention to children, you meet the tenderness of God.

When Jesus multiplies a few loaves of bread and fish to feed thousands, or he heals the sick and raises the dead, you see the miraculous power of God.

When Jesus voluntarily allows his body to be beaten and ravaged for the sake of people who’ve turned their backs on him, and when with his final aching breath, he prays for the forgiveness of the very people who nailed him to a cross, you encounter God’s mercy, grace and final solution to our sin.

When Jesus comes to life, emerging from his tomb, you witness the victorious God over death and Satan.

ENOUGH PROOF

I have enough proof to believe God is good, full of grace, tender, merciful, loving, forgiving, powerful, wise, and victorious—how about you? Today, right now, it’s this God who offers himself to you. No one loves you as God does. No one forgives you as God does. No one gives grace as God does. Since God is good and you have needs in your life, go to him right now and ask for his help. Take to heart Jeremiah 29:11-14…

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord...

As you pray and ask God to help and direct your life, be assured that he will answer you from the beauty, goodness, and might of his nature and character. Trust his wisdom. Submit to his ways. Embrace his love. Your God has a future and a hope for you in this life and in eternity.

NEXT STEP

1. Are you afraid of giving God the future you’re walking into? What’s stopping you from fully trusting a good God with your life? Stop playing god with your life and future. Choose to believe that God has only good plans for you and then trust Him to walk with you each day. God may not walk you on the path you would choose, but the path he takes you on is the straight one.