Greg Gordon
Member
One Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. – 1 Corinthians 8:6
God became a man. This short statement seems very simple but in reality it is so profound and early Church Fathers spent hundreds of years considering it. The son of God was made flesh and shed his blood, the very blood of God to redeem us. I remember a young disciple and believer in the Lord was spending time with me, I gave him a 800 page book to read on the character of God. He sat there astonished that someone could write so many pages on what God was like. For some modern believers we could barely write 1-2 pages, our meditation and consideration of God is not like those in the past. I remember when I first came to the Lord, the whole idea of the trinity confused me greatly and I never spent time or had someone speak to me clearly about the character of God. The idea of Jesus Christ being God in the flesh was believed but the real ramifications and understanding of that truth did not grip my mind. Later in my bible readings as a new believer I read that Jesus created the actual world himself (Colossians 1:16). This very truth of the divinity of Jesus was the test if a spirit was true or not for early believers (1 John 4:2). Most false prophets and teachings warp and twist the character of God and the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh.
St. John of Damascus said, “I believe in one God, the source of all things, without beginning, uncreated, immortal and unassailable, eternal, everlasting, incomprehensible, bodiless, invisible, uncircumscribed, without form. I believe in one superessential Being, one Godhead greater than our conception of divinity, in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and I adore Him alone. I worship one God, one Godhead, but I adore three persons: God the Father, God the Son made flesh, and God the Holy Spirit, one God.” What a wonderful statement of truth, especially and clearly testifying that Jesus was God in the very flesh and part of the Godhead. We must as believers consider these things, as many believers in Church history proclaimed some of these truths weekly or even daily in creeds. One good practice is to read and memorize the Nicene Creed as a way to meditate more on these basic fundamental aspects of God and the Gospel. Yes, God is a Father and we have a familial relationship with him, but we must also not lose the reverence for him as “hallowed” and holy (Matthew 6:9). Spend time thinking and meditating on the character of God. Jesus our Lord not only created the entire universe, but is the very person through whom we live the Christian life. Our partaking of his divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) we are able to live godly in this present world and rightly proclaim and know God accurately.
