God's Message

Dorothee Cole writes:

In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us through His Son. He reflects the brightness of God's glory and is the exact likeness of God's own being, sustaining the universe with His powerful word.” (Heb 1:1-2, TEV)  How has God spoken to us in these last days?  Through His Son who is called the Word (John 1:1).  Jesus is God’s Word, God’s Message to humanity.  And what is the essence of this message, also called the Good News? 

The whole person of Jesus Christ is God’s message to all of us.  Christ’s words, His actions, His kind and humble character, and His love for the afflicted are the very words and actions of God Himself for humanity.  And what words they are!  “God blesses those who realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.  God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  God blesses those who are gentle and lowly, for the whole earth will belong to them.” (Matt 5:3-5, NLT)  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  (Matt 5:44, TEV)  “Do not judge others.” (Matt 7:1, TEV)  “Your sins are forgiven.” (Matt 9:2, TEV)  “The Father Himself loves you.”   (John 16:27)    

The message of Good News to humanity is the message that God through Jesus Christ has tried to make us His friends.  Indeed, God has not left a stone unturned in this endeavor. God Himself became a human being.  He humbly descended into the womb of one of His own creatures, spent His first night in a feeding trough, lived to serve and heal humanity, and finally allowed His own creatures to mock and kill Him. In Christ, God displayed His infinite love and kindness toward His children, including those who would eventually reject Him. 

Some say that Jesus’ purpose in dying on the cross was so that the Father could look at us again and be reconciled to us.  They say that God’s intense hatred of sin made Him kill His own son, so that justice could be served and that the penalty for sin would be satisfied.  They say that through Christ’s blood we are again made acceptable to God who now does not need to destroy us anymore to satisfy justice.  But Jesus revealed that the Father Himself is a friend of sinners.

God never needed to be reconciled to us – He has always been for us.  It is we who have wandered away, mistrustful and afraid of God, inclined to live a self-destructive life.  It is we who needed to be reconciled to him, not vice versa! God’s love for us is so deep, that He Himself came to us in His Son to demonstrate His great love, kindness, and everlasting forgiveness.  In Jesus, we see that God forgives sinners, even those who nailed Him to the cross while oblivious to their own sinfulness.  “Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34, TEV) were his words about those who did not even ask for forgiveness.

Through the manifestation of God in human form, we see and believe that God does not come to us with an attitude of condemnation, but rather that He longs to heal and save us from our own self-destructive rebelliousness. “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11, RSV) were His words to a woman who was found guilty by human standards.  Jesus’ words are the words of the Father to us.  God the Father came to us in Christ so that we would finally believe that He can be trusted, trusted with the worst of us.  This trust which is energized by God’s love restores us back into unity with Him, so that our hearts and minds are once again motivated by God’s perfect law of love and liberty.  Only through the person of Christ can we truly love others, only through Him can we truly love God.

The Word of God, His Message, the everlasting Good News is about God himself! The humble Son of Man who would condescend to grow up in Nazareth is none other than God, and God’s character is fully revealed in His Son who is the exact representation of God.  Or stated in another way, God is exactly as Jesus revealed Him to be, for They are one in   mind,  purpose and character. There is no other gospel. There is no greater news than that. God, the Creator and Sustainer of us all, wants to be our Friend. And what a trustworthy Friend He is!  May this Good News set the earth on fire, Lord! And transform all of us who trust You into channels of Your love.