Hebrews 2:15ff
And so, the greatest irony of salvation is that we have been saved, not by an all-powerful, omnipotent being, but by a normal human being. We can't look on the face of God or we shall surely die--but men looked on the face of Jesus and saw another guy, just like themselves...
This is the wonder of all creation: the Right Hand of Creation came down and became an average human--and it was in the truest sense of the word, for He came not as a human king but as a normal blue-collar worker. The steel worker walking the girders at your downtown construction site does not look much different than did the man Jesus, for that was His niche in life.
God, you see, had the idea of everyman down long before our playwrights. Jesus Christ was a perfect, noble, righteous man as no other, but He was a man we could look at, a man we can follow, a man Who understands us and our needs and our weaknesses. We understand the difficulties He faced as He understands ours.
It is to be His brethren that we are called, to be made in His likeness. When people look at us, as we grow in the Spirit and in Christ, they will see the resemblance between us and Him. This is as it should be!
My sisters look a lot like me. I look like my mother and father, who look like their brothers and sisters. There's a family resemblance, and when I go back to their hometowns, I tell people my family name and they say, that's right! You look just like them!
So if we are called to be the family of God in Christ, the same rule applies: when I introduce myself to someone in Maine or Los Angeles or Cairo and I tell them to Whom I'm related, they should look at me and say, yes, you're right! I can see the resemblance!
It's funny, that. How does a Russian Christian look? A Japanese Christian? A Brazilian Christian? An African Christian? In so many respects, these people are so different--and yet, having lived their lives for One man, having been born into one Word and with one baptism, these people can worship God together as one. It's truly inspiring.
What's the end of this matter? Jesus! Consider Jesus, the man Who "did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:6-7) He is our model and saviour, the Lover of our souls, the Righteous One, the only Son of God. And He is our brother.
This is the wonder of all creation: the Right Hand of Creation came down and became an average human--and it was in the truest sense of the word, for He came not as a human king but as a normal blue-collar worker. The steel worker walking the girders at your downtown construction site does not look much different than did the man Jesus, for that was His niche in life.
God, you see, had the idea of everyman down long before our playwrights. Jesus Christ was a perfect, noble, righteous man as no other, but He was a man we could look at, a man we can follow, a man Who understands us and our needs and our weaknesses. We understand the difficulties He faced as He understands ours.
It is to be His brethren that we are called, to be made in His likeness. When people look at us, as we grow in the Spirit and in Christ, they will see the resemblance between us and Him. This is as it should be!
My sisters look a lot like me. I look like my mother and father, who look like their brothers and sisters. There's a family resemblance, and when I go back to their hometowns, I tell people my family name and they say, that's right! You look just like them!
So if we are called to be the family of God in Christ, the same rule applies: when I introduce myself to someone in Maine or Los Angeles or Cairo and I tell them to Whom I'm related, they should look at me and say, yes, you're right! I can see the resemblance!
It's funny, that. How does a Russian Christian look? A Japanese Christian? A Brazilian Christian? An African Christian? In so many respects, these people are so different--and yet, having lived their lives for One man, having been born into one Word and with one baptism, these people can worship God together as one. It's truly inspiring.
What's the end of this matter? Jesus! Consider Jesus, the man Who "did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:6-7) He is our model and saviour, the Lover of our souls, the Righteous One, the only Son of God. And He is our brother.
posted by ionathas78 at 5:55 AM
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