Consider these facts about who Jesus Christ is:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(Joh 1:14 ESV)

and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought: Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross.

(Php 2:5-8 CEV)

So God did the right thing when he made Jesus perfect by suffering, as Jesus led many of God's children to be saved and to share in his glory. Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. That is why he isn't ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.

He even said to God, "I will tell them your name and sing your praises when they come together to worship." He also said, "I will trust God." Then he said, "Here I am with the children God has given me." We are people of flesh and blood. That is why Jesus became one of us. He died to destroy the devil, who had power over death. But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying. Jesus clearly did not come to help angels, but he did come to help Abraham's descendants. He had to be one of us, so that he could serve God as our merciful and faithful high priest and sacrifice himself for the forgiveness of our sins. And now that Jesus has suffered and was tempted, he can help anyone else who is tempted.

(Heb 2:10-18 CEV)

 Most of my recent posts have focused on what we gain in terms of a new identity and character in our relationship with Jesus.  Today I’m shifting the focus slightly to point out Jesus’s initiative to identify with us.  As the scriptures above attest to, He temporarily left His heavenly home to come and be one of us.  

Recently I saw a news report of a famous NFL celebrity from the 1960’s who was visiting the Chicago Cubs.  The video showed him receiving a Cubs jersey and putting it on.  It was as if to say, “You’re one of us now.” 

What I want to point out from the passages above (And OH! There are so many more than this!) is that God came in human form as Jesus the son and put on our jersey to show he cared!

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,”

“Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us.”

“We are people of flesh and blood. That is why Jesus became one of us.”

He created us and then came to rescue us in our sin.  He became one of us, like one of us, and lived with us.  And that lived with us part, it’s not like he lived in the same town but in the mansion up on the hill.  No, He camped out with us and lived through the human condition of the day, fleas, mosquitos, athlete’s foot and all.

 Even during His temptation in the wilderness, He handles it by using scripture to refute the attacks of Satan.  That’s something that we too can do in our humanness!  In that process He was identify with us by handling it in a way we could handle it

All this demonstrates that God is far from unapproachable.  He comes to us first before we can even begin thinking about ways we can grab His attention and earn His favor.  That’s why grace is what it is: unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor from God.  It comes to us at great cost to Him but at no cost to us.  It is available to anyone who comes to realize that there is an eternity, there is a God, we are sinners, there’s hell to pay, and there is no human way possible to make ourselves look righteous or holy in His presence. 

But He wants us to be presentable before Him.  So Christ the son, humbled himself and became like one of us.  He became a substitution for us in terms of stepping up and taking the punishment for our sins, and then after enduring it, dying for us, turns around and graciously offers us the gift that he paid for on our behalf: eternal life. He bought it, we can choose to receive it.  His loving grace and mercy is available to all who realize their need for redemption though Christ but it does not universally cover all.  Everyone has that choice to make.

Where are you at spiritually today?  What stands in the way of making a decision to be a follower of Jesus, the one who gave His life so that you might live?

Ya wanna talk?  Very few people want to publicly air their issues about why they can’t bring themselves to step over the line and Follow Jesus.  So let me make this offer: private message me or open the conversation on FB, which ever one makes you feel comfortable but please, do it today.

Know who you are, whose you are, where you came from and what your destiny is.