Daily Scripture: Romans 1:1 From: Sha’ul, a slave of the Messiah Yeshua, an emissary because I was called and set apart for the Good News of God.
2 God promised this Good News in advance through his prophets in the Tanakh. 3 It concerns his Son — he is descended from David physically; 4 he was powerfully demonstrated to be Son of God spiritually, set apart by his having been resurrected from the dead; he is Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord.
Mark 1:1 The beginning of the Good News of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of God:
2 It is written in the prophet Yesha‘yahu,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare the way before you.”[Mark 1:2 Malachi 3:1]
3 “The voice of someone crying out:
‘In the desert prepare the way for Adonai!
Make straight paths for him!’”[Mark 1:3 Isaiah 40:3]
Colossians 1:15 He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, 16 because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.
18 Also he is head of the Body, the Messianic Community — he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might hold first place in everything. 19 For it pleased God to have his full being live in his Son 20 and through his Son to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through him, through having his Son shed his blood by being executed on a stake.
Reflection Questions:
Christian faith said Jesus was “the Christ” (a title, not a name—the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah). “Son” was a human analogy word they used to say that Jesus was as much God as the Father—it did not suggest that Jesus came into being later than God. It’s a matter of straightforward history that it was not centuries before Christians began speaking of Jesus as God. Scholar Larry Hurtado wrote, “In historical terms we may refer to a veritable ‘big bang,’ an explosively rapid and impressively substantial christological development in the earliest stage of the Christian movement.”
- Colossians 1:15-20 most likely quoted an early Christian hymn. Scholar William Barclay wrote of verse 19, “The object of [Jesus'] coming was…to bridge the chasm between God and man….The initiative in reconciliation was with God….God’s attitude to men was love, and it was never anything else.” Have you ever thought that Jesus had to convince an angry God to save you? How does realizing that “God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ” (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:19) change your view of what salvation required?
- Romans, Mark and Colossians are all clearly first-century documents, not some later formulation by a church council. None of these verses tried to explain the mystery that Jesus was fully divine and fully human. They just stated it as the reality the early believers said was transforming their lives. In what ways has knowing Jesus changed your life for the better?
Lord Jesus, Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” I want to join Peter in believing and proclaiming that astounding, life-changing truth. Amen.
Insights from Kari Burgess
Kari Burgess is a Program Director for the Catalyst team, handling promotion and marketing for all of the conferences held at Resurrection, as well as registration and coordinating hospitality volunteers.
The Apostle’s Creed statement we are looking at today is: “I believe in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only son.”
Believing in Jesus as God’s only Son seems easy to me on the surface. Since I was a child I’ve heard the story of the Virgin birth, and Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and just accepted it.
But there have been times when I’ve questioned this statement of Christian faith and others–as a high school student, a college student and at various times as an adult. This is deep stuff. And I have no theological training or authority. I am just a Christian seeking to dive deeper into the mysteries of Scripture and grab hold of my faith as my own, not just accepting stories I’ve long read and known. I think it is important to spend time evaluating and questioning these basic truths and clarifying for myself exactly what I believe as a Christian. But as I get down into the deeper meaning, my head starts spinning and I find it difficult to wrap my human brain around the concept of Jesus as Son of God. The limitations of a human father and son relationship automatically makes me put a limit on the God the Father and Jesus the Son relationship.
Jesus is not merely a descendant of God. He is not just a son that looks like his Father (in the image of God), or a son that has some characteristics of his father but maintains his own separate identity, making his own decisions. Somehow Jesus being the Son of God but also being the essence of God is hard for me to comprehend.
Several years ago, I read the fictional book, The Shack, by William P. Young. This book has its limitations and I’m certain there are scriptural inaccuracies in it. Despite this, The Shackchallenged my traditional thinking about God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and opened my mind to the complexity and beauty of this relationship.
In the book, a modern man (Mack) who has gone through a terrible family tragedy has what I might call an “out of body experience” with the Trinity: God, Son and Holy Spirit. The book is a beautiful journey for Mack, learning to work through his anger and grief through a greater understanding and growing personal relationship with all three depictions of God. At one point in the book God says to Mack, “…that you can’t grasp the wonder of my nature is rather a good thing. Who wants to worship a God who can be fully comprehended..?”
And when trying to clarify the Trinity to Mack, God says, “We are not three gods, and we are not talking about one god with three attitudes, like a man who is a husband, father and worker. I am one God and I am three persons, and each of the three is fully and entirely the one.” Sort of blows my mind. How about you?
The Shack is one author’s creative opinion on how God, Son and Spirit work together. Even if I don’t entirely agree with his depiction, it helps me to think beyond my traditional and limited view of God and his relationship to His only Son, Jesus. In my humanness, I can never fully comprehend how Jesus, Son of God is both fully divine and fully human. And that is okay.
But it is exciting to think about my journey going forward, continually forming and refining my understanding of these great truths. I look forward to other books I might discover, discussions with other Christians, teaching from Pastor Adam and our other pastors, classes and Bible studies to join–all bringing greater understanding and ultimately bringing me in closer relationship to Jesus. I have confidence that one day all will be revealed, and I will fully comprehend the wonder of God.
My challenge to each of you is to continue to seek, continue to ask difficult questions and continue to refine your understanding of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
The Apostle’s Creed statement we are looking at today is: “I believe in Jesus Christ, [God’s] only son.”
Believing in Jesus as God’s only Son seems easy to me on the surface. Since I was a child I’ve heard the story of the Virgin birth, and Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and just accepted it.
But there have been times when I’ve questioned this statement of Christian faith and others–as a high school student, a college student and at various times as an adult. This is deep stuff. And I have no theological training or authority. I am just a Christian seeking to dive deeper into the mysteries of Scripture and grab hold of my faith as my own, not just accepting stories I’ve long read and known. I think it is important to spend time evaluating and questioning these basic truths and clarifying for myself exactly what I believe as a Christian. But as I get down into the deeper meaning, my head starts spinning and I find it difficult to wrap my human brain around the concept of Jesus as Son of God. The limitations of a human father and son relationship automatically makes me put a limit on the God the Father and Jesus the Son relationship.
Jesus is not merely a descendant of God. He is not just a son that looks like his Father (in the image of God), or a son that has some characteristics of his father but maintains his own separate identity, making his own decisions. Somehow Jesus being the Son of God but also being the essence of God is hard for me to comprehend.
Several years ago, I read the fictional book, The Shack, by William P. Young. This book has its limitations and I’m certain there are scriptural inaccuracies in it. Despite this, The Shackchallenged my traditional thinking about God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and opened my mind to the complexity and beauty of this relationship.
In the book, a modern man (Mack) who has gone through a terrible family tragedy has what I might call an “out of body experience” with the Trinity: God, Son and Holy Spirit. The book is a beautiful journey for Mack, learning to work through his anger and grief through a greater understanding and growing personal relationship with all three depictions of God. At one point in the book God says to Mack, “…that you can’t grasp the wonder of my nature is rather a good thing. Who wants to worship a God who can be fully comprehended..?”
And when trying to clarify the Trinity to Mack, God says, “We are not three gods, and we are not talking about one god with three attitudes, like a man who is a husband, father and worker. I am one God and I am three persons, and each of the three is fully and entirely the one.” Sort of blows my mind. How about you?
The Shack is one author’s creative opinion on how God, Son and Spirit work together. Even if I don’t entirely agree with his depiction, it helps me to think beyond my traditional and limited view of God and his relationship to His only Son, Jesus. In my humanness, I can never fully comprehend how Jesus, Son of God is both fully divine and fully human. And that is okay.
But it is exciting to think about my journey going forward, continually forming and refining my understanding of these great truths. I look forward to other books I might discover, discussions with other Christians, teaching from Pastor Adam and our other pastors, classes and Bible studies to join–all bringing greater understanding and ultimately bringing me in closer relationship to Jesus. I have confidence that one day all will be revealed, and I will fully comprehend the wonder of God.
My challenge to each of you is to continue to seek, continue to ask difficult questions and continue to refine your understanding of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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