Several years ago, I had the opportunity to take a team of youths and young adults to Slovakia. As an experienced world traveler and an overprotective youth pastor, I was very watchful over my group, especially as we left the airport. Thankfully there was an Ukrainian leader, a fellow believer, who met us and helped us find our way through the airport, on the bus, onto the train, and stayed with us throughout the trip. It was nice having another adult joining us, but I still felt the need to be very vigilant and protective of our group. As the protector, I wanted to be between my team and any potential threat, make sure the stayed in twos, and hover a bit until we were all safe at our destination.
I enjoyed talking with my new Ukrainian friend in our travels, but it wasn’t until we arrived at our destination safely that I felt at ease enough to have a casual conversation with him. You know how you size up people and make an assumption about who they really are, and often apply your own biases in your perception of them? I had made up my mind that this guy was fun and likable. He was helpful, especially with the language barrier and directions. But there was more to him than I could have perceived with my own senses. It was at this moment that he shared that he was the reigning Ukrainian kickboxing champ!
As that revelation dawned on me, I realized I had been stressing over safety of my team all day in our travels and not knowing that I had a kickboxing champ leading our way. A sense of relief came over me that our safety was not solely on my physical strength and awareness. I had a champion on my side!
As I recount this story, it causes me to consider how we often come up with assumptions about Jesus. Many of us have heard about him since childhood and become overly familiar with terms and titles that they can almost become meaningless to us. As I did with my kickboxing friend, we make up preconceived notions about God and Jesus, which really begins to define him according to our standards. This leads us to a place of stress and anxiety, such as I had in our travels, not realizing that the Champion is with us, and we are carrying a burden that he will happily take for us (Matt. 11:28-30). It was when my friend self-disclosed, revealed, that he was a champion that it brought me peace. The Bible is God’s self-disclosure, revelation, of who he is. Let’s read about Jesus, the Son of God:
Read Colossians 1:15-20; John 1:1-14; Hebrews 1:1-3
There is more to Jesus than we can perceive on our own. It takes his willingness to reveal who he is, through his Word, by his Spirit, for us to understand the truth. Is Jesus the Picture Bible Jesus? Is he the Buddy Jesus? Is he the Hippie Jesus? Is he the Revolutionary Jesus? All these caricatures miss the point. They are developed by our biases and our preconceptions. It is only coming to the Word of God that we will find clarity and truth.
The Nicene Creed draws from Scriptures like we just read to summarize the revelation of who Jesus is:
And (WE BELIEVE) in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
Jesus, through the incarnation, became human flesh. We may not be able to understand the Trinity or the Incarnation completely, but we can understand a man. When Jesus entered into our space, he imaged the invisible God in a way that we could understand. Unfortunately, some early teachings failed to capture the significance of who he is, and they thought he was just a man. Thankfully the apostles and early church fathers preserved the truth for us in the writings of the New Testament and the early Creeds.
The Bible reveals that Jesus is God, not a god, not a lesser god, but God of very God. How can this be? He is Co-Substantial with the Father, meaning he is of the same essence as the Father. As Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). This is huge and transformative. It was and is definitely controversial. How many people do you know who are both human and divine? Right! He is the unique Son of God, “begotten not made.” God has other children through adoption of those who believe in Jesus (John 1:12), but Jesus’ relation to the Father is unique. That is what is meant boy “one and only Son” or “only begotten.” It’s referring to his oneness with the Father, and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus revelation that he is God means he is the Champion we need. Next week we will look at how our Champion delivers us from sin. This week our focus is on the fact that Jesus is God, one with the Father. Jesus created all things “ex nihilo” or “out of nothing!” He is the one who sustains all things and holds them all together. As the Creator, he is over creation and rules creation. As Jesus, the Creator entered into creation with the purpose of bringing the light of salvation and redemption to a lost world. That is grace and mercy personified.
This revelation means that Jesus is the Champion. He overcame sin, death, and hell. He wants to deliver you and me from the frustrations and bondages of sin. He wants us to have confidence in this life and hope for the next. Like my spirit was lifted when I understood my friend was a champion, our spirits and souls can be lifted by knowing that Jesus is God of very God, and he is our Champion.
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