Jesus the unfolding of God

A well-known writer speaking about God wrote: “God is not the object of discovery but the subject of revelation.”  What he was saying is this: God wants to reveal Himself, and the pursuit of knowledge about God may make us learned, but will this not satisfy our heart or soul.

The Hebrew Scriptures, from their opening pages, reveal the God who created all things by the power of His Word is the God who desires to be known by those whom He created. And while OT can be summed up as the history of God’s dealings with mankind, it contains His revelations to a people He called to be His own. He revealed to them not only who He is but what He planned to do not only for them but for the whole human race. The scriptures, then, are more than simply the record of this history; they contain the unfolding love story of the creator of all things, making Himself known to us.

And this is the promise that God gives to all who seek Him, to all who want to know Him…because GOD DESIRES TO BE KNOWN!

“Then you will call on Me, and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you will search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12-13 

What struck me in this promise is not that I will find God if I search for Him, but that He will be found by me when I search for Him with my whole heart. This is a powerful reminder that the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, wants to be found by us, wants to be known by us, indeed longs to reveal Himself to us.

God spoke through Isaiah to give us another promise of tremendous hope.

“My people will know My name; therefore, in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it.” Isiah 52:6

This self-revelation of God continues in the coming into the world of the ministry of His Son, Yeshua.

Yeshua said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you haven’t come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” John 14:9 

This was Yeshua’s own statement of being, His declaration of eternal existence with the Father: to see Jesus is to see and to know the Father.

He said I and the Father are one, and if you have seen me, then you have seen the Father. John 10:30 

Jesus is the unfolding love story of God in action, declaring that divine love triumphs over humanity’s brokenness and sin. His arms are the arms that enfold us and welcome us into a restored relationship with our Maker.