I Am Man
Part 2, “But whom say ye that I am?”
July 20, 2011
By David, Michael, and Ron Schwartz
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Matthew 16:13-17
13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
What Jesus capture in this question was the question that mankind has struggled with for millennia: Who is God? What other question has been the source of more debate?
Throughout the first couple thousand years of mankind’s existence God interacted with men on an individual basis. Men like Enoch, Noah, and Abraham came to know God individually. They had firsthand experience with God. It wasn’t till God appeared to Moses that He first began to build a relationship with humanity corporately.
When God first appeared to Moses it was to demonstrate that He exists. His name? “I am,” or I exist, or I live. Following this God then showed His purity in the form of a law – a sort of minimum requirement for the most basic relationship with Him. Through His law and the prophets who followed, mankind’s understanding of God continued to grow. Over the course of 2,000 years mankind discovered more and more about God. Eventually, God came in the form of Jesus and “dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory… (John 1:14).” Mankind came face to face with the God they claimed to serve and obey. All speculation was set aside as they finally learned firsthand what God is really like.
All through the Old Testament God’s people speculated about the nature of God. From their understanding they drew conclusions about God and the Messiah He would send. Through the law they came to understand that God was inflexible and demanded unquestioning servitude to a moral law with unyielding obedience. Through the prophets mankind came to understand that God’s Messiah would be a revolutionary conqueror, who would bring the fractured nation of Israel together and destroy without mercy and with unbridled violence the captors of Israel.
Who God and His Messiah actually turned out to be was nothing like they expected. Instead of a violent warlord king, the Messiah came as the “Prince of Peace.” Instead of a Lion, He appeared as a “Lamb of Sacrifice.” Instead of being born as a King, He was born in a manger. Considering the way in which God presented Himself the previous 2,000 years, the Messiah’s tolerant and forgiving attitude toward the captors of Israel seemed misleading. God had to know that His people would not understand. Why didn’t God tell them plainly who He is and what He wanted? Why all the mysteries and secrets? Why cleverly disguise His plan and intention?
When God took on human form through the life of Jesus He did showed humanity His true nature. His people met Him face to face and hated Him, and even executed Him. Who God turned out to be is not what mankind wanted Him to be.
God knew that humanity would never respect Him once they came to know Him. He knew that they required Him to be comparable to their arrogant and self-serving nature. This became clear by their revulsion and disgust of His embodiment: Jesus Christ. God knew that creatures who prey of their own weak would hate Him when they would learn that He is “meek and lowly in heart (Matthews 11:29).” So He waited to show himself. He “hid from ages and from generations (Colossians 1:26),” allowing mankind (as a whole) to worship and serve His majesty, but never really seeing His heart of love and sacrifice. Ultimately that is all He wanted: their love, just as He loved them.
God chose to hide Himself (and continues to hide) because He wants us to endeavor to discover Him. Endeavoring creates a relationship with Him, which in turn allows us to discover His love for us, and eventually causes us to love Him for whom He is. Instead of simply going through the motions of worship or obeying His law, God wants us to discover His love. Because only when we truly love someone can we accept them for who they are.
Who Is Jesus?
If we were to ask you, “Who is Jesus,” what would you say? Would
you say that He was a carpenter? He was. Perhaps you’d describe Him as a Rabbi?
He was that too. Maybe you would say that He was a great teacher? You wouldn’t
be wrong. But, if you’re like most believers you’d say that He is the Son of
God, the expressed image of God, the Messiah, the Lamb of God, the Word of God,
or Emanuel: God with us. What Christian would reduce the Son of God to simply a
Rabbi or carpenter? Not one. To describe Him as a Jewish Rabbi or carpenter
completely misses His essence. Jesus is God incarnate. He’s God in the flesh.
Jesus asked his disciples to explain how people how people viewed Him. He was told that people tended to define Him by what He did. They generally agreed that He was a prophet. They saw Him through what He did - His actions. Then Jesus asked the same question of His disciples. “whom say ye that I am?” Peter replied without hesitation, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
When we describe Jesus we don’t describe Him by what He did – a teacher, rabbi, or carpenter – but by who He is. Like peter we confess to Him, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Like Jesus, there are two aspects that define us: 1) what we do, and 2) who we are.
Over the years we’ve talked with dozens of frustrated teens who
are about to graduate and feel completely overwhelmed and confused about what
they should do next. They desperately want to do God’s will but are completely
baffled as to what it is. They want to find their purpose or calling, but to
them this translates into filling an area of contemporary ministry. Whether
intentional or not teens are led to believe that their only option is to find
God’s will is to attend a Bible college or seminary.
The subtle message that’s conveyed to young Christians is that God’s Will =
Your Calling = Your Ministry = What You Do. But this is completely contrary
to what Jesus tried to get His disciples to understand when He asked, “whom say
ye that I am?” It wasn’t what He did that was important, but who He is!
Many young people are confused. When discussing God’s will for
their lives, they often see undue emphasis placed on “what they do.” The fact
that they are a child of God is simply taken for granted and treated more or
less as unimportant. Rather than focusing on their relationship with Jesus,
their affections are subtly turned to focus on what has essentially become a
Christian career – a.k.a. their ministry. Consequently, in modern Christianity
it’s no longer what a person is that makes them important, but what they do.
It’s not important to be a son of God. However, it is important to be a
minister.
Try telling a young Christian (who is struggling with this decision) that they
don’t need to find God’s will because they are already in it, and observe their
response. “I know,” they’ll tell you as though they’re repeating empty words,
but nevertheless they can’t reconcile that fact with the ideology impressed on
their minds that ministry somehow equates to God’s will. It is a concept and a
practice they’ve observed their entire lives.
Contemporary Christianity has so twisted the thinking of young people that
growing spiritually as a Child of God is no longer their objective. It is impressed
on them that it’s fine to pursue a relationship with God while you’re young,
but if they’re going to grow up they must discover their calling or ministry.
Their status as a child of God becomes less important as the work becomes more
important. There relationship with God becomes secondary.
In the Book of Revelation Jesus tells the Church of Ephesus, “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first (Revelation 2: 2-5).” When you consider what they were DOING it seems praiseworthy, but not when it placed their RELATIONSHIP (i.e. “first love”) with Christ secondarily.
Christian leaders who define who they are by their work often fall into the same trap as did the Ephesians. They grow to measure their value by their work instead of their relationship. It is leaders such as this that fill the headlines with actions such as being caught with prostitutes, embezzling or misappropriation of money, adultery, etc. This happens because in their minds their ministry is of more importance to God than the quality of their relationship with Him. Their relationship with God is of secondary importance.
God never intended that His relationship with His people be reduced to a secondary role, or something of lesser importance than their job.
Our World our Garden
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Compared to the rest of the Bible, there is something very unusual about the
first chapter of Genesis. Until the very closing verses of that chapter, man
did not exist.
God made a world first – a world that belonged to Him – then brought mankind
into it to share it with Him. When you read God’s instruction to mankind, it’s
clear that God intended that mankind would make it better. The scripture tells
us that, “the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to
dress it and to keep it (Genesis 2:15).” The
idea that mankind would improve it is obvious. It only makes sense that if you
were to share with someone your paradise that you would expect them to take
care of it, right? Wrong! Mankind took the innocent, beautiful, and pure world
which God created and contaminated it with sin, moral corruption, and every
form of evil that exists today. It’s humorous to hear people talk about all
the evil that is in the world as if it’s God’s fault. Just remember that evil
and sin didn’t exist at all until mankind created it. What happened to God’s
world isn’t unique. This story has been repeated over and over since Adam first
walked in the garden of God.
Just like Adam we too have entered the world which God created. What have we
contributed to this world, or simply to the world around us? Is this world any
better since we took our first steps? Or have we like Adam simply brought to
this world our sin and rebellion from God? We must ask ourselves, “What have
we done to make this world a better place?” We cannot blame Adam and Eve for
the fall of mankind because we are no different. Jesus set the example for us
to follow. He came into God’s world “doing good,” and
intended that we whom are His followers should follow His example.
Acts 10:36-38
36The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching
peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
37That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout
all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
38How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and
with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were
oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
When you consider the life of Jesus, a man who lived for 33 years in the world,
it’s difficult to describe “His” garden. This is because He put so much energy
into making better the gardens of those around Him. He sacrificed so much to
make their gardens a better place that He rarely had time to improve His own.
Jesus invited twelve men to share in His garden, and what happened? Just like
the story 4,000 years before when God invited Adam to share His garden, another
Adam named Judas betrayed Jesus and contaminated His garden with sin and greed.
Each of us have a garden, and like God we allow others (like Adam) into it. How
many times have we been hurt as a result of sharing our gardens with other?
How many countless times have we shared our paradise with someone just to watch
them destroy what we have built? As a result, many people have been hurt so
deeply that they no longer allow others into the garden of their life. In
return they no long accept the invite from others to share theirs. So they go
through life not touching the lives of others and not being touched. They see
needs all around but shut them out. They simply can’t handle the thought of
their garden being destroyed again and again.
God was hurt by Adam, but He is also hurt by the billions who have
followed. Yet that hasn’t prevented Him from reaching out in love and inviting
still others to share His garden. He even invited us. What are we going to do
with His invitation? Are we going to be like Jesus (and God) and share our
gardens with the world? Are we going to enter into the gardens of others and
“till their ground,” and improve their lives? We have the power to help or hurt,
to heal or wound, and to improve or demolish, what will we do? Will we be like
Jesus and accept the pain that Judas’s will bring but nevertheless change the
worlds of others for the better? Will we do good even though we know that the
very people we will help will be the ones who may ultimately devastate our
lives? It is an overwhelming thought.
Final Thoughts
The tenor of this note could be construed to suggest that God is a cowering pushover and wants the same of His people. To suggest that the essence of God when revealed to His people was a sacrificial lamb seems to take away from the grandeur of the King of the universe. Yes, we know this, and this is the struggle Jesus was up against when he tried to reveal God to the world. You see, according to the world you cannot be both. A lion cannot be a lamb, a king a servant, or a man be God. However Jesus broke these rules. He is a King who serves His people and a man who is also God Eternal. “His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).”
Remember the Beatitudes (Matthew 5)? They are described as a stairway leading up to God likeness. What do you find at the top? “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9).” At the top is notpastors and priest, but God’s children. We find at the top that it’s not what you do, but who you are that is important.
It comes down to character. Some people believed that character develops when going through adversity, but in reality only then is it really seen. Character is what you are when no one is around, what you do when no one is looking, and what you dream in the privacy of your imagination. This is what Jesus demonstrated to us. He was above all things, a man of principle and character. God entrusted to Him the welfare of humanity. He could have taken this world and all who lived here and forced His will upon it. Instead, in the privacy of the night time He would slip away a pray for understand to do that which is right and to protect God’s most precious treasure.
Jesus understood that the people who scorned Him were all part of God’s garden. To harm them would be to harm the garden of God. God has the treasures of this universe to share, but He will only share it with those whom exhibit His character. You’ll know them because they will look like how God appeared when He came into the world. They will look like Jesus. Though God in the flesh, they will be the servants of all. Though possessing life eternal, they will sacrifice themselves for others. Yes, look for those who gladly lay down their lives and you will find the “children of God.”
Are you married? There you will find your true character. Do you sacrifice yourself for your spouse, or use them to fulfill your own needs? And what about your children? Are their needs more important than yours, or are you simply living vicariously through them? What about your job, and your friends, how have you changed their worlds?
Our focus must change from emphasizing what we do over who we are. Relationship instead of performance must be the barometer of spiritual growth. If we continue to emphasize performance we will fill our churches with actors and actresses – imposers. Make no mistake. Our young people are influenced by our lives. Consequently, we must model character and relationship over performance. We must set an example for our children to follow. We must bring the emphasis back to our relationship with God.
Get to know those who hand out blankets to the homeless on cold winter nights, from their own earning feed the poor of their communities, and labor to improve the “worlds” of those around them even if it means sacrificing theirs and you will begin to see the heart and nature of God. People have the heart of God resemble Him, and are as self-sacrificing as Jesus.
If you’ve closed your borders because of the damage others have caused your garden you will only succeed to imprisoning your heart. You will never be free. Each heart yearns for love – both to give and receive - love that can be known only when we cast caution to the wind and learn to love unconditionally. Only when we allow our gardens to be consumed by others will we understand what God meant when he said to “be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28).” When we lay down our lives for others we spread our goodness into their lives, and we fulfill God's command to "subdue... and have dominion (Genesis 1:28)," by conquering their hearts with love.
If love is a rose and God only knows,
Then I’ll be the water indeed.
For when I’m consumed for the blossom to bloom,
Then part of its beauty I’ll be.
I am man, but then so was Jesus. And He was also God. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2).
Take care and may God bless you our friends.
David, Michael, and Ron Schwartz
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