Easily, one of the greatest challenges for anyone who is following Christ is the fact that your relationship is based on the pages of scripture instead of face to face interactions with a person. This reality is usually the reason people settle for a lifeless faith that is more ritual and routine than it is a relationship with a living God.
My goal for this series of messages is for you to no longer see Jesus as simply a historical figure or a character in a series of fables. Instead, you’re going to see Him as the person He was and is.
When I say “God’, what comes to your mind? Do you see a loving God or one who is vengeful and angry? What I know to be true is that the closeness of your relationship with God is massively impacted by how well you know Him. If you don’t know God well enough, you’ll misunderstand His actions and His motives and attribute things to Him that are not true.
So what’s God like? God is like JESUS because JESUS is GOD. Jesus claimed to be EQUAL with GOD (John 10:30). He could forgive sin, something only God could do (Mark 2:5). He claimed power to raise the dead (John 5:25-29). He is the first and the last (Revelation 1:17). He is to be the judge of all humanity (John 5:27).
Jesus claimed titles given ONLY to GOD. He is Lord (Psalm 110:1 and Matthew 22:43-44) and the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9 and Mark 14:61-64). He is the Messiah (John 4:26), the Savior of the world (John 4:42). He is our Good Shepherd (John 10:11). He is our Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1; Isaiah 62:5). Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12; Psalm 27:1). He is the WORD. “In the beginning, was the word and the Word was with God, and the word WAS GOD (John 1). The most clear thing Jesus said in His claim to be divine was “I AM” (John 8:58). You see, this was the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush.
Jesus accepted WORSHIP and PRAYER as GOD. We know that through the Old Testament, the people of God were commanded not to worship anyone but God alone. Jesus accepted worship and prayer requests on many occasions: when he healed a leper (Mark 1:40) and again when a ruler’s son was healed (Matthew 9:18). He was worshiped and asked for help by the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:25), the mother of James and John (Matthew 20:20) and a demon-possessed man (Mark 5:6). His disciples worshiped Him and prayed to Him (Acts 7:59).
He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15 ESV). He (Jesus) is… the exact imprint of his (God’s) nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. (Hebrews 1:3 ESV). Whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father (John 14:9 ESV).
I’m going to say something that I want you to write down. Anything you believe about God that you can’t find in the person of Jesus, must seriously be questioned. If you want to know what God is like, you have to look no further than Jesus.
Jesus is FULLY God and FULLY man. He is the ONLY God-Man. As a man, He has a personality as do each of us. If we drill down on the DISC personality test, what traits do we see in Jesus? He has each trait in perfect balance.
He was a decisive leader (D in DISC). When a situation needed to be handled or fixed, Jesus jumped up and made it happen! He wasn’t passive. Just like any decisive leader, He’s bold, daring, and confrontational. He healed people to confront the legalistic leaders of His day, raised multiple people from the dead and boldly cast demons out of people. He was daring, walking on water in the middle of a storm, rebuking the wind and waves knowing they would obey Him. He was confrontational with the prideful and self-righteous, driving money changers out of the temple and dealing with Pharisees.
He was an inspiring friend (I in DISC). Above all, He lay down His life for His friends which was the greatest act of love (John 15:13-15 ESV). He was positive, patient and kind with petulant disciples as they learned to follow him (James & John, Sons of Thunder and an impetuous Peter). He was encouraging to those who struggled to believe (Mary & Martha at the death of Lazarus and the demon-possessed boy).
He was wise, empathetic and compassionate as a counselor (S in DISC) to those who crossed His path. The woman caught in adultery legally should have been stoned to death. Jesus wisely handled the situation and lovingly corrected the woman without condemning her. His empathy was palpable when He cried in response to Lazarus’ sisters’ pain. He feels what we’re feeling. Jesus’ compassion manifested itself in miracles including the feeding of the 4,000 and healing a whole city of sick people.
He is a careful planner (C in DISC). He’s intentional, calculated, and detail-oriented. John 5:19 says “He does only what he sees the Father doing” and in John 12:49, He declares He doesn’t speak on His own authority but what the Father has commanded Him to say. In the feeding of the 5,000, we see His organization, His calculated approach to accomplishing the task. He is the Word and God used the Word to create this world. To see how detailed He is, just look around at Creation. Your body and its systems are amazing. The atmosphere is perfectly fine-tuned to support life, with breathable air, a perfect balance of oxygen and hydrogen. We are the perfect distance from the sun - too close we would burn up, and too far, we would freeze. The abundance of water on our planet supports life and if the electromagnetic force were slightly stronger or weaker, life would be impossible.
Why do these things matter? You need a leader who will challenge you and boldly lead you forward. You need a friend who believes in you and will speak life into you! You need a counselor who has the wisdom you need. You need a planner and an architect who is going to structure your life for success.
Proverbs. 3:5-6 (NLT) commands, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” We are created for a purpose and meant to work together. The Church and the work we do is not built on the gifts of a few but on the sacrifices of many. We each have things to contribute and Jesus is our lead and inspiration.
