| Man With a Mission Most people would say Jesus came to earth to die on the cross for us. Yet before he died on the cross, while still in the Garden of Gethsemane, he told the Father, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do; I have manifested thy name.”[61] This does not mean that he merely told people God’s personal name; to a Hebrew person, name indicates character[62]. Isaac’s crafty son was named “Jacob,” which means “heel-grabber; sneaky, someone who trips you up.” Yet when he changed, God gave him a corresponding new name: Israel, which means “overcomer, Prince of God.” When Jesus said he manifested, or demonstrated, God’s name, it simply means that he made known his character. Jesus repeatedly declared that his mission on earth was to show us what God is like[63]. His mission was to demonstrate to the universe the true character of God. In that same prayer towards the end of his life, Jesus told the Father, “I have glorified thee on the earth.”[64] God’s “glory” is his character. When Moses asked to see God’s glory, this request was not denied; rather, “The LORD passed by before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering [patient] and abundant in goodness and truth!”[65] This is the manner in which he would save mankind. Jesus said, “this is life eternal—that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”[66] The word “know” in Scripture is not merely to have a casual acquaintance, or to know about someone; but to know in a personal, even intimate way. When Adam “knew” Eve his wife, he didn’t shake hands with her—they had a baby![67] “I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”[68] Since it is a law that by beholding we are changed into the same image[69], in his revelation of God’s character, perfect love would transform us. The Great Physician He only had 3½ years to accomplish his mission. While people often think Jesus went around preaching all the time, he actually spent most of his time healing people miraculously from incurable diseases. Most people mistakenly assume that Christ performed his miracles to demonstrate his power. But Satan has the ability to perform miracles. It was not God’s power that was in question. What was in question was what kind of a person God is. For thousands of years God had represented sin as disease.[70] Sin was symbolized by leprosy, a dreaded, incurable skin disease.[71] When Jesus saw that the crowds followed him because of his supernatural power, he stopped doing miracles and disappeared. When they later managed to find where he had gone, they asked why he left. He replied, “I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles.”[72] Jesus came as a healer to show us God’s relationship to sinners. The true purpose of his miracles was to show us what God is like—a healer. The word “salvation” from sin and death in the New Testament[73] is the word “healed.” Where were Satan’s accusations that God kills sinners? A physician does not cause his smoking patients lung cancer. It is the natural consequence of smoking. A physician doesn’t kill his dying patients— especially if he is their loving father. He doesn’t have to, for if they refuse to be healed, they will die. And he will cry—but what more could he do? “Rabbi—Teacher” He came as a teacher. The highly educated and most intellectual were charmed by his discourses, yet they were so plain and simple that even the poorest, unlearned and ignorant could understand him. No one needed to go to the dictionary or consult the learned scholars to obtain the meaning of high-sounding words. Through simple language that everyone could understand, through stories that people could relate to, he taught the people about God’s love. Our Father Jesus taught the people to address God not as some distant, impersonal deity, but as “our Father.” “Would any of you who are fathers give your son a stone when he asks for bread? Or would you give him a snake when he asks for a fish? As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”[74] If earthly people with carnal natures love their children this much, how much more does our Father in Heaven, who is perfect, love us? Sadly, too many of us have had bad fathers. For some of us, it is hard to relate to God if he is like our earthly parents, who may have let us down, hurt us physically, or worse. But our heavenly Father is perfect in his love. “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”[75] “Can a mother forget her little ones? Yea, they may forget, but I never will. Look, I have engraved you in the palm of my hand.”[76] This is how close we are to him! “Whoever touches you touches the apple of my eye.”[77] |
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| 61 John 17:4,6 62 much as we would say, “You have dishonored the family name.” 63 Psalm 40:9,10; John 1:18, John 14:7, John 17:3,4; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Hebrews 2:12,13; I John 5:20, etc. 64 John 17:3 65 Exodus 33:18-23, 34:5-8 66 John 17:3 67 Genesis 4:1 68 John 17:26 69 2 Corinthians 3:18 70 Isaiah 1:5, 6 71 This was the "cancer" and "AIDS" of their day. 72 John 6:26 73 in the original language it was written in, Greek 74 Matthew 7:9-11 GNB 74 I John 1:5 76 Isaiah 49:15, 16 77 Zechariah 2:8 |
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