Thursday, September 27, 2012


God came in the flesh with the message of love and salvation

A traveler, while walking along a quiet country road, saw birds pecking at grains. They looked so cute and the traveler felt like patting their heads.

However, when he drew near to them, they flew and sat down a little ways off. Not knowing the traveler's mind, the birds feared he would harm them. Though he attempted to come near to them several times, they flew away from him each time.

So the traveler came to a conclusion that there was no way to convey his love except to become a bird.
For the same reason Christ came in the flesh. Men always feared God and fled from His presence when they saw His holiness with their own eyes. So, God had to appear as a man in the flesh to deliver His special message of love and salvation.

Ex 20:18-21 "When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, " ... But do not have God speak to us or we will die." ...

When the ancient Israelites heard directly from God on Mount Sinai in an awesome atmosphere, they trembled with fear and asked Moses to intercede between God and them. As the birds flew away for fear of death when the traveler drew near to them with a loving heart, so the people feared they would die when God Himself proclaimed the word.

Men are afraid when they hear God's voice directly. So, our God came in the same appearance as us. God is spirit, but men are flesh; God is so awesome and dreadful to them. That's why He decided to come into the earth in the likeness of men.

Jh 1:1-14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... The Word [God] became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only [Jesus], who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Jesus, who came in the flesh, was God by nature, the One who created all things. He came as a man so that men could come near to Him. However, people who feared God when He showed His power and divinity, despised Him and held him in contempt when He became flesh. At that time, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, so-called religious leaders, did not recognize Jesus' divinity and looked upon Him as the same kind of man.

Ac 24:1-5 "Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: " ... We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect"

In those days, religious leaders called Jesus a 'Nazarene.' The Bible vividly shows that they denounced God as a heretic, though He loved mankind and preached the good news of the kingdom of heaven to them.

10:27-33 " ... I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

They tried to stone God, calling Him a blasphemer, saying that He was making Himself equal with God. Thus, they rejected God Him-self, so they could not receive His words precious like jewels.

John, the writer of the Gospel, recognized Jesus as God Himself who came in the flesh. However, in the eyes of the religious leaders, Christ appeared a mere man, a criminal even more brutal than a murderous robber. So they shouted to release Barabbas the robber and crucify Jesus.

Even Jesus' family and relatives, who were expected to know and understand Him better than anyone else, tried to take Him into custody.

Mk 3:20-21 ... When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

Why do you think these scenes are recorded in the Bible? We are to understand not only Jesus' divinity but also His humanity, so that we can know God rightly.

1 comment:

  1. God came to this earth as a men, humble appearance. Let's learn humble mind from God and give love to heavenly brothers and sisters!

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