Who is Jesus to you?

100% God

100% Man

To have a balanced and accurate perspective of Jesus one must embrace both characteristics of His being. The God part which leaves us to view Him as Savior and Lord, holy and in total awe, as the Son of God.  This expression of reverence and deity causes us to fall down in humility and utter helplessness as the vapor and dust that we are. It is He the Creator and we the created. A sense of approachableness, the "see the face of God and die" or "His glory filled the temple" this glorious weight was impossible for any human to endure His presence. This and infinitely more describes the “Holy God being” of Jesus. The “ALL” of everything, mighty, majestic, powerful, Omni, words that unfortunately language cannot begin to describe His vast immenseness.

Then you have the 100% man part of Jesus. The "Son of man" humble, common, vulnerable, poor, and every other descriptor of the dust of the earth. Lord became servant, the Master now self-reduced to the lowest of slaves. Yet, this is the God, the "brother Lord" that we can relate to, converse with, share struggles and know we are understood. He is the "friend" that is closer than a sibling who counts us as valuable, as special, as worth dying for. We can relate to this Jesus as one who was tested beyond comprehension and yet did not sin. He spoke with authority and without hypocrisy. Without the human side of Jesus we would not be able to relate to God, we would not be able to connect with our Creator. This truth alone is awesome! God desires and pursues us, loves us so much that He took the ultimate step not just dwelling among us like He did with Adam and Eve, but became like us. We were made in his image and yet He came in ours, minus the sin. When we approach Him, when we address and seek Him there is an aspect of duality and tension. He is Holy Lord and unapproachable and yet He welcomes us into His arms as little children. He walks with us, coming alongside in all circumstances as a dear friend. He is both the Shepherd and the spotless lamb, the Master and the slave, the Mighty conqueror and the one submitted to be conquered.  This spiritual and physical tension is difficult to comprehend and yet He extends Himself by dwelling inside us, God in us who was God with us. His Holy Spirit guiding us and shaping us more and more into His image and likeness.

When I think about the sheer magnitude of this ominous truth I am again reminded of my sinful finiteness, my lack of everything and my desperate need for God. The irony is that I ask God to help me to be more like Him who created me and who also died in my place. I long for the intimacy of a close friend and yet need a connection with the majesty of Him who rules the Universe. The journey continues!