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I have revealed Your name to the men whom You gave to Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. (John 17:6 NKJV)
What is God like? What does He love, and what does He hate? How would He treat the wealthy merchant, the beggar on the street corner, and the single mother who just lost a son? What would He say to those who are self-righteous and to those who are heartbroken? God answered all of these questions by manifesting Himself through Jesus.
We seldom use the word “manifest” these days, and, through neglect, we have lost a sense of what this word means. The original word in the Greek literally means “to render” as an artist would render on a canvas the invisible image in his mind. Through His incarnation, Jesus became the perfect rendering of the image of the invisible God: He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15 NKJV)
From the moment humanity was separated from God, we were in need of a living example of what He is like. He was incomprehensible to us because it was difficult to relate to the Creator of the universe from our position here on earth. We needed a manifestation of the Master, and so He sent Jesus to us so that we could witness His image framed in human flesh. Notice what God did not manifest for us. He did not manifest theology. Knowledge about God is valuable information, but such information is useless if we don’t know how to apply it to real-life situations. God did not manifest philosophy. Many of the world’s greatest philosophers have also led some of the emptiest lives. Nor did God manifest morality. No matter how moral people are, it can never be a bridge to a relationship with God.
In Jesus, we find the application, fulfillment, and restoration that these other things cannot give us. Are you walking in a way that is worthy of our manifested Master? If not, it’s never too late to turn back towards God.
What is God like? What does He love, and what does He hate? How would He treat the wealthy merchant, the beggar on the street corner, and the single mother who just lost a son? What would He say to those who are self-righteous and to those who are heartbroken? God answered all of these questions by manifesting Himself through Jesus.
We seldom use the word “manifest” these days, and, through neglect, we have lost a sense of what this word means. The original word in the Greek literally means “to render” as an artist would render on a canvas the invisible image in his mind. Through His incarnation, Jesus became the perfect rendering of the image of the invisible God: He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15 NKJV)
From the moment humanity was separated from God, we were in need of a living example of what He is like. He was incomprehensible to us because it was difficult to relate to the Creator of the universe from our position here on earth. We needed a manifestation of the Master, and so He sent Jesus to us so that we could witness His image framed in human flesh. Notice what God did not manifest for us. He did not manifest theology. Knowledge about God is valuable information, but such information is useless if we don’t know how to apply it to real-life situations. God did not manifest philosophy. Many of the world’s greatest philosophers have also led some of the emptiest lives. Nor did God manifest morality. No matter how moral people are, it can never be a bridge to a relationship with God.
In Jesus, we find the application, fulfillment, and restoration that these other things cannot give us. Are you walking in a way that is worthy of our manifested Master? If not, it’s never too late to turn back towards God.