Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Seeing the Real Jesus

In praying through a prayer guide for our youth and their sponsors who are in St. Louis this week, partnering with area metro churches in teaching VBS, I came across this wonderful reminder from 1 John 3:2 “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.” Yep, heaven keeps some secrets. God hasn’t told us everything. He’s revealed only a portion of His plan for us. I know quite a bit of my future in heaven, but God has chosen ‘no comment’ about many other things.

The next verse gives us a small glimpse of our future. “We know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” I can’t wait for that day. I try hard to understand Jesus as He is; I struggle to see Him through the lens of scripture. But I often wonder if I’m seeing Him rightly. I understand well the limitations of personal experiences and the hazards of personal biases. I’m a Missourian, a thorough mid-westerner, Anglo-male, conservative, theologically trained, always-been-in-church, Republican leaning, country-boy-at-heart, etc, etc. At the end of every day and every Bible study and every sermon, there’s a nagging thought at the back of my mind. Have I seen Jesus rightly? Did I tell the truth about God?

I wonder this because I know my handicap. My sin reminds me of my propensity to declare Jesus as I want Him to be, or as I think He is. One day, I won’t have to hope that I’ve seen the real Jesus, I’ll know it! I’ll see my Savior, not as I think He is, but in reality, “as He is.” What a day…glorious day, that will be! How sweet the truth of scripture!

2 comments:

Kevin Beck said...

Great thoughts. It is important for us all to see God for who God is, not for what we want God to be. Thanks for the reminder.

Bob AuBuchon said...

Rod

Thanks for the honest examination. I think we all from the right to the left and those in between tend to see, make and proclaim not only Jesus, but God from our culture, denomination, likes and dislikes. And as you have suggested, that is dangerous. Whether we see Him rightly, we can trust He sees us rightly ... sin and all.

The church I pastor also has youth in St. Louis this week [Bob Caldwell & Co]. My wife is with them and my youngest son [7th grade]. She called last night telling how the kids witnessed last night in the mall.

Keep blogging our way!

Bob