Jesus knows life on the planet, and he wants to talk about it.
With me …
With you …
“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood.”
Jesus is big picture and little picture.
He sees everything from the perspective of God because he is God. And he sees everything from a human perspective because he is human. Perfect human. Unlike any of us but still human. Jesus was born into this world as a little boy. Mary’s little boy. And he grew to be a man. Yes, God, Savior, Lord, Creator, but still human, still a man who experienced life on this Earth two thousand years before any of us were even thought about.
Jesus knows life here because he lived here as one of us. And we mustn’t forget that.
It absolutely had to be that way!
- Hebrews 2:14–18 (NLT)
14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had* the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. 16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,* so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.
My dialogue with God …
I tend to carry on a conversation with God throughout much of my day. I “caught” myself doing this a few mornings ago, talking with God , and it occurred to me what a great thing this was. I was able for a few moments to see myself from a more outside perspective let’s say.
A good thing …
And at that moment God spoke this message to me. “Dave, do you realize what a good thing this is?”
And I thought, “Now that you mention it, I do realize what a good thing this is.” Even though my dialogue, my conversation, at times seems to be dominated by my confession of sin … again … or how little time I have spent in prayer … or how I haven’t read the Bible as much as I would like …
God is there living and working in me. He has planted deep in my heart a desire to serve and please him. I do good things that I would never do apart from his work in my life.
Sometimes I am so wonderful, and sometimes I am not.
But even when it isn’t so great, I still talk …
What is better, or maybe I should frame the question as what is worse? Talking to the only Person who completely understands me and loves me unconditionally about my sin? Or avoiding the conversation and pretending? Or worse avoiding this Person who deeply loves me until I have it all together?
That won’t happen because he is the One who puts us together.
My struggle is part of my witness that I am God’s …
What I am trying to say is that even when I struggle, that struggle to walk in the light of my God, even when I fail and don’t do this enough and or do that too much …
That very struggle speaks to God living in me and transforming my life. My struggle speaks to God’s involvement in my life.
My sin isn’t good …
And my failure to obey isn’t good. But getting back up time after time and believing that God will do what he says he will do and forgive my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness, that is a very good thing. That is faith; that is the journey; that is the path of the righteous.
- 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We must never rationalize our sins and our poor choices, but we must always confess them. God had this written down in his holy book because we are reluctant to believe that he could or would do such a thing. So he put it before us in black and white. He is faithful and just. He forgives. He cleanses.
And Jesus cleanses because he knows that life here on the planet tends to get a person dirty. He knows what this life is about. He knows what it takes. It takes him, a living, breathing, intimate relationship with the Son of God.
It takes a conversation, a dialogue between friends. I, as Abraham, am a friend of God. I am right up there with the best and the worst of them. Sinners saved by grace.
And friends talk. About everything. And friends listen.
- Philippians 2:12–13 (GW)
My dear friends, you have always obeyed, not only when I was with you but even more now that I’m absent. In the same way continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 13 It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please him.
