God’s Unique Identity and our Unique Identity in Him

God made Moses like a God to the Pharaoh and a Prophet to Israel. God had to say, "I AM" who I am, because the Pharaohs of this world compared him to the sun, the moon, the stars, and even reptiles of this fallen world. God felt so insulted, perhaps, that when he introduced himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he needed to tell Moses not to get confused by worldly comparisons. He is of 'a' kind; He is unique; He is who He is! Likewise, God made Moses unique to the Israelites when he said, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1).”

 

Similarly, Jesus, the prophet like Moses, the shepherd King like David, and Yahweh personified as the Shepherd and Savior of Israel had to remind his disciples, "I AM the Good Shepherd" (John 10:1) lest they get lost in details by comparing him with Moses, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, and John the Baptist. Jesus is who he is! He is unique, the unique Son of God = the Royal Davidic Messiah (Psalm 2) and the Priest of the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110). Jesus is superior to all of the prophets and angels, yet his type can be seen in many of them. Jesus is Lord, King, God, and a resurrected human being. In him, the whole created reality has already risen. When he returns, it will rise again physically.

 

When people saw Paul, they saw a crazy guy who needed a wife and a family. When God saw Paul, he saw in him a revealer of mysteries and the presenter of his Son, the Resurrected King and Lord of this world. When people saw Peter, they saw someone whose business had failed, someone only God could resurrect. However, when Jesus saw Peter, he saw a fisher of men who would lead thousands of his people back to him. Jesus gave Peter worth, a worth that people or things of this world cannot steal. Consequently, when Peter saw the beggar at the Beautiful Gate, Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6).

 

When many people see me, they see a man broken by divorce and rejection, in need of a well-paid job and a beautiful wife. When God sees me, he sees a steward of his mysteries (1 Cor 4:1). He has chosen me to decipher ancient scriptures and reveal their mysteries, and thus to impart meaning to people's lives and make them disciples of Jesus Christ, the King. My mission is to know Jesus and make Him known. However, I don't have a surname, pedigree, denomination, or the name of a Christian country or church to back me. Still, what I have I share with you, the unique name of Jesus Christ, the Messianic King of Israel and the whole world. 

 

You are in the boat, and I may be on the stormy sea with Jesus in the middle of it. From your comfort zone, you ask me, “Where is your risk-taking faith?” I see the storm, I hear the wind, I feel weak, and I cry out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:28-30). On that day, Jesus did not teach Peter how to walk on stormy seas without any help. He taught Peter to know that, even if he cannot believe or focus fully, the great “I AM” is always there to hold his hand and wash his feet. Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. (Matthew 14:31-32)

 

Then those who were in the boat worshiped [Jesus], saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:33).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Resurrection Day: The day God's love and justice defeated the devil's hatred and injustice

In a famous movie dialogue from Dabang, the heroine tells the Robinhood Police officer who proposes to her, "Thappad se darr nahi lagta sahib; pyar se lagta hai." (Sir, I am not scared of beatings. I fear love.) Love is the crucial ingredient of God's character that makes the devil tremble. Many of us assume that the devil fears holiness and loud rebukes. On the contrary, he is not scared of self-righteous people's holiness or loud rebukes of spirit-filled prophets. He fears love, genuine love. Jesus Christ defeated the devil's hatred expressed in people's rejection by his love. He came to his people, but they chose to disown him. Even so, he chose to love them more, so much more that they didn't know what he had accomplished for them upon the cross. Many people must have thought that God punished Jesus. They were right about this first aspect, but little did they know that God had laid their punishment upon him. Like sheep, they had wandered away, but, in...
Read more

Celebrate Jesus Christ, The Light of Life and Love, this Diwali

As we celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, let us remember that the most profound and irreversible darkness is death. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world (John 8:12).” Further, he declared, “I am the resurrection and life... He who believes in me will live even if he dies (John 11:25).” The light of the world came to reverse the darkness of death by his resurrection and a promise of future resurrection for all who believe in him. Resurrection is the only known cure for death. Homoeopathy, Allopathy,  or Ayurveda cannot reverse death. Only resurrection can reverse death. Jesus cured death. He also cured hatred with his love. That is why no religion or philosophy has defeated the gospel even after two thousand years of Jesus' advent. Martin Luther King Jr compared love to light and hatred to darkness. He said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”  [1]   Love is light. Jesus is that loving ...
Read more

Empuraan: A Movie Review from a Hindu-Christian Perspective

Dear Empuraan, We love you. We know you intend to present something positive using negative Biblical characters. Love and justice are human needs. Perhaps it is because God created us in his image: love and justice. Your movie is successful. Your acting is superb, as always. People love your presence and presence of mind. Your message is justice through strength, that is, by punishing the wicked. Even so, the Bible says, "Delightful are the merciful. They shall receive mercy." I loved many of your quotations from the Holy books. For instance, "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it... for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you (Matthew 10:19-20)." However, the first 10-20 minutes of Empuraan are a biased depiction of historical facts to support one faction of Kerala's thoughts. Don't forget that the Gujarat riots have a cause. Muslim people burned a train in Godhra on 27 February 200...
Read more