By Pastor Chad
Structural foundations are not generally seen as the most beautiful component of a building. But if one doesn’t have a good foundation, the rest of the building could have some serious problems. In my message on Sunday, I focused on a doctrinally foundational truth: Jesus is God’s greatest revelation. In John 14:8, Philip asked to see the Heavenly Father, and that was “enough.” He just wanted to experience the manifest presence of the Lord. What Philip did not yet understand is that God’s greatest manifestation was right in front of him: Jesus Christ.
What does that mean? What does it mean to call Jesus the greatest revelation of God? First, it means Jesus is God in the flesh. He is God walking among them. Philip requested to see God not realizing God was in the room with Him. The special revelation Philip was seeking had already been granted. The Father had been revealing Himself to the world through His Son ever since Jesus’ conception in the womb of the Nazarene virgin.
Second, claiming Jesus is God’s greatest revelation means that God accommodated Himself to our limitations. In Exodus 33:20, Yahweh says that no one can see Him and live, and yet, God was in the midst of those with whom Jesus interacted: His glory shrouded behind flesh and His power willingly tethered by grace. Mankind’s most profound longing is to know God, but this desire is diluted or misunderstood due to our fallen nature. We long for God, but not on God’s terms. We want God in our way. It is this sinful nature that hinders imperfect humanity from “seeing” a perfect Being. Yet, in His goodness, God sent His Son in the form of that which He had created in His own image. Behind the veil of human flesh, Christ’s glory shined like a consuming fire. To see God, to see that glory, one must look with eyes of faith; eyes that understand Jesus and the Father are One.
Third, calling Jesus the greatest revelation means He is the “Rosetta Stone” through which and by which we understand all other revelations. Sacred Scripture is understood in light of the incarnation of Christ. By that I mean, we understand what God did in the Old Testament through the lens of Christ’s incarnational work. His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and future return guides our understanding and interpretation of what we read in the Law and Prophets. Indeed, apart from Jesus’ redemptive work, the Old Covenant seems confusing and rigid. Through Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection, however, every law, event, prophecy, trial, and story reveals a beautiful picture of God’s grace and love.
Watch the full sermon here.
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