Understanding the God that we serve!

Understanding the God that we serve is to tap into the heart of God and to grasp the majesty of His heavenly wisdom.

Who is this Christ Jesus the glory of His people Israel and the light that brings revelation to the gentiles according to the words of Simeon?

(Luke 2:32)

What do these words really mean? And what are these words representative of?

How can I an earthly minded man on this side of heaven understand who Jesus Christ of Nazareth really was and is?

What virtues do I need to attain before I could trust my life fully unto Him?

What is the greatest quality of His character that can speak best to me about Him?

What does the good book say about this God that everyone tells me to come into relationship with? Who is He after all? What it is it in Him that can attract me to Him above all things?

Many questions like these at times go through the mind of all men, even Christian believers of all ages.

The answer to all or most of these questions are given through the illumination of the precious Holy Spirit in the next few verses of the New Covenant reading in Philippians chapter 2 verses 6 through 8 which speaks of the Lord in this way.

“ Christ Jesus being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death and even the death of the cross.”

Here in these short few verses we gain a world of understanding about who our God is. Apostle Paul writing to the Philippians’ uncovers a great mystery about the state of humility of their Savior. He says Jesus being in the form of God did not cling to the majesty and powers He attained as God, but emptied Himself from all His divine judicial rights and powers and came to serve and not to rule at His first coming.

A very thing Jesus always told His disciples when He walked with them on that three and half years. When asked by James and John to command fire to come dawn on His enemies, He rebuked them saying “You do not know of what spirit you are of”. He said I did not come to destroy life, but to save them.

Ofcource in His judicial rights and per all His divine authority He could command all the angels of heaven to come down and exercise His legal authority, but He had emptied Himself of all that to appear and serve men in the power of a brand new law called the law of love.

This also means having all authority given  to Him by His Father did not use any of them to destroy lives, but was and is gentle like a mother waiting for her children to come to her in love. As one minster whom I heard yesterday that said and I quote “He did not use force on no man to receive or even accept Him, but was and is patient and loving so that all would come to Him willingly and in love”.  Yes He is a gentle and humble God who stands outside of the doors or our hearts and knocks, even though He has the legal right to break in and intrude, yet He does not push Himself us, since being in a form of God  He does not consider it robbery to be equal to God when it comes to us whom he came to save and deliver.   He does not force Himself in; He waits until we invite Him in.

Having all power and dominion, He is not power hungry. His delight is to use mercy and not revenge.

Being the Judge of all he stood before the courts of men as one who was condemned. He is not like us humans who upon receiving any position of authority to act or use that authority to make ourselves a name or prideful stance.
Even to His disciples while fighting to see who was the greatest among them He said. “In the Kingdom the greatest is the servant of all”. Being the Lord of all did not Lord it over them at all. He stepped in lower to climb up higher. The way of the kingdom exaltation He showed to be humility. Before the use of authority He said the Character of men needs to be changed through humility. That is why even Paul said in His pastoral letters never to put a new convert in any position, because they would fall into the same condemnation as the devil did. He was the glory of His people Israel, because in His suffering He stood under it without the use of His divine judicial authority.

Are you still puzzled by this divine authority presented to us in humility? He not only left His heavenly abode to step down on earth, but lived without its judicial rights to serve us through His heavier matters of the law, which were faith, mercy and justice.

Yes this is why the carnal mind is in enmity with God, because it does not comprehend them in its depravity. Calling it a robbery would mean to use His Godly authority at all times, but He did let go of them through a higher law of humility.

In Matthew chapter 12:20 the scripture says about Him “A bruised reed He will not break and smoking flax he will not quench”. What a controversy or contrast of the Adamic human nature. Men this side of heaven sees a bruised reed and they are in haste to break it, and seeing smoking flax they seldom blow on it to quench it. A very contrast of what men of this world are accustomed to do.

In the quest of understanding the God that we serve we need to know Him in these ways. We need to understand that He is a God who does not break the hurting men or bruised man even though He has all the judicial rights of heaven to do so if He was going to use all His divine attributes.

He is the God who seeing the smoke that comes out of a flax He does not breath upon it to quench it but, on the contrary He fans the flame remaining in us to make us shine for Him all the more.

He comes to the broken hearted, He is like the good Samaritan who stands closer than a brother and does what the Levite and the Priest would not stop to do.

This God that we serve does honor our free choices and never bears upon us a load we cannot carry. He made Himself of no reputation, so we can come close to Him.

Reputation many times creates a distance between men, but He despised to be a man

Who lives or draws from the benefits of His reputation. He in humility saw others better than Himself in sharing in their sorrows and grief.
The God you and I serve prayed to His Father in heaven that He would glorify Him with the glory He had before in allowing suffering to come to Him and it was in His suffering that He glorified His Father.

As Apostle Peter in his first epistle chapter 4 verse 14 says “If you are reproached for the name of Christ blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.”

Do you know now why Simeon said that He was the glory of His people Israel, because in His suffering the Spirit of glory did rest upon Him?

Then let us begin to pray that we begin to understand Him in all that He is in order to worship Him with a true heart.