In This Edition:
Lenses: The God I See In Jesus Christ
Coming Up On The West Side
Top Picks: What To Read On Substack
Lenses: The God I See In Jesus Christ
“The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation’” (Exodus 34:5-7 ESV).
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
Close your eyes. I want you to picture the face of God. Hold that image in your mind. What are you picturing? Get as clear a picture as you can. Does God have a human looking face? Is he standing or sitting? Is he old or young? Zoom in. Is he stern, frowning, or smiling? Now, focus on your feelings. What emotions are welling up inside you? Is it fear, concern, joy, curiosity, bewilderment, worry, pain, awe, love? Once you’ve identified the picture you see, and the emotions you feel, ask yourself why you see and feel what you do. What experiences in your life have framed God in this way for you? Perhaps you can name the stories in Scripture that seem to overshadow the others, the ones that color how you see everything else.
It was A. W. Tozer who said “what comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” In fact, Tozer writes, if you can get someone to answer honestly what they see when they think of God, you “might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man.”
Isn’t that true? When the children of Israel were getting ready to meet God on the top of the Holy Mountain, they looked up and saw the cloud and the billowing smoke, heard the thunder and saw the lightening, they got a picture of God in their head, and they cowered in fear and refused to go meet Him. And God said, “I want you to know my heart!” So, he sent his Son Jesus to show us the Father. And prostitutes and tax collectors, the lepers, the poor, the folks in the villages and in the countryside couldn’t help but be attracted to Jesus. And in this, Jesus declares, “this is who God is!”
Paradigms are powerful things. You can see it in our self-talk. The stories we tell ourselves about who God is will inform who we think we are, and, in turn, will color how we see everything in the world.
There are several paradigms concerning God that seem to be alive and well. All of which deeply inform our view of ourselves and our view of the world. All of which can be found in books, novels, movies, sermons, bible classes, podcasts, atheist best sellers and top 10 Christian books of the year. And all of which are terribly misguided. When you hear news reports that say US church membership fell below 50% for the first time in Gallup poll history, or that the “nones” (those who check “none of the above” on the religious question on the census) is now the largest and fastest growing religious category in the country, or that the new atheists tout convert after convert to atheism as the number of Christian believers rapidly declines, I can imagine its easy to feel alarmed. But I also think it’s worth pressing pause. It’s good to consider two reflective questions before jumping to any conclusions or mounting a response. Question #1: what is it that these people don’t believe in? and Question #2: what exactly have I been trying to convert them to?
A few moments ago, I asked you to picture God the Father. I wonder what picture comes to your mind when you hear the name “Jesus Christ”? I ask, only because for Christians, Jesus is God. He came to show us the Father. It’s so common these days to hear people talk about the two this way: “I’m not too keen on God the Father—the one pictured all through the Old Testament. Seems like he was always mad at something, always waking up on the wrong side of the cloud. Then, around the New Testament times, he sent his Son Jesus and became a Christian.” But the God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever was perfectly presented in the face of Jesus Christ.
THE GOD I SEE IN JESUS CHRIST
Listen how the Lord describes himself as he introduces himself to his people on the Holy Mountain in Exodus 34:
The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance” (Exodus 34:5-9 ESV)
There is no doubt that, like every good father, he can be serious. He can be tough. Sometimes love has to be tough. He is a God of holiness and justice, he is tough on crime and he doesn’t end his introduction without saying that he will “by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children…to the fourth generation.” There is that. We won’t end our series without talking about that.
But that’s not how he begins his introduction. It’s not even the majority of his introduction. It’s not the snapshot he leads with or wishes to leave you with. After all, what God does to those who don’t want him, those who turn their back on him, those who refuse him is hardly the message intended for a people who want him, who have turned their face toward him, and who diligently seek him. “The Lord, the Lord is a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”
Which is a healthier lens for thinking about God?
Option 1: “If you mess up, if you fall down, if you make a mistake, if you start to doubt, if you don’t hang on real tight, if we disagree, if you just aren’t sure, then just think about hell cuz that’s where you might be goin!”
Option 2: “The Lord, the Lord knows we are dust. He knows what it’s like to face temptation. He knows we don’t always know which end is up, and we are tossed to and fro. He knows we are doing our best, and he knows our best is far less than perfection. In fact, our Lord is known for his mercy and his graciousness. He’s not mad at you. In fact, he’s slow to anger as a rule. His love is relentless. And it doesn’t stop. And when he says “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” you can take that to the bank because when all else fails…our God is faithful. Faithful is He who calls you, and He will do it. In fact, he keeps his steadfast love for his struggling children all over the world, and he delights…delights…not in perfection; not in all those who measure up just right. No…he shows pictures to his angels in heaven of his kids and says “this one messed up royally….and I just loved the look on his face when I said, “I know it hurts you to fall short; and I want you to know…I love you and I forgive you. I delight in forgiving you. Because I am love, and love keeps no record of wrongs. I always trust, and I always hope. And my love for you will never fail.”
He delights in you. You. Not you when you are at your very best. You. Not you after you get all spiritually cleaned up. You. Not you only when you’ve kicked the habit, only when you’ve mastered the temptation, only when you’ve made the right choices. You. Lovely, beautiful you. You in the valleys of your life. You in the darkest moments. You when you had nothing to offer him. When you were dead in your trespasses and sins. That’s when he so loved you and me that he sent his son to die for us. And if he could love you like that then, what makes you think that now, in your struggling but sincere desire to please him, he could love you less? When you are kneeling at the edge of your bed, wondering what he thinks about you, he wraps his arms around you and whispers to you “I couldn’t love you more. You are my child, and I am proud of you.” When you struggle with the addiction that has taken over, when you go right back to that sin that you promised to quit but keeps drawing you back in, when you made that unthinkable choice that you think will haunt you forever, picture the God you could only hope for, and know this: my God is even better than that!
THE GOD WHO MEETS OUR DEEPEST NEEDS
What is it that you need most right now? If it’s lovely, if it’s trustworthy, if it’s deserving of praise, you’ll find it in my God. Maybe it’s forgiveness for John. Or Maybe it’s compassion for Tony. Perhaps its peace for Joann. Or mercy for Denise. Hear the good news. God does forgive you, John. He does. The Lord is full of compassion for you, Tony. May His peace be upon you, Joann. May He shower you with his mercies, Denise. And when you go home and look in the mirror, tell yourself, “It’s true. It’s true.”
Picture God. There he is running after his prodigal son. There he is giving sight to the blind. There he is crying tears of joy as he finds his lost lamb. Now picture yourself in the arms of God, caught in the grip of His grace. Frame it. Because it’s true.
A sermon preached at the West Side Church of Christ titled “Lenses: The God I See In Jesus Christ.” It is the opening sermon in the series “A Good & Beautiful God.” This lesson also appears on the Life on the West Side podcast (Season 2, Episode 16). Available on all podcast platforms.
Coming Up On The West Side
Three More Lessons On A Good & Beautiful God
We are nearing the end of our 3-month Sunday morning series exploring the goodness of God. Here is the lineup for the rest of the series:
October 2: “(Glory to) The God Who Is Holy.”
October 9: “The God Who Is Self-Sacrificing.”
October 16: “The God Who Transforms.”
You can watch the sermons live at 9 AM (CST) streamed on facebook or YouTube, or visit my website later to watch the sermon, get the discussion guide, read a transcript, or listen to it as a podcast.
November Sunday Morning Sermon Series: A Worthy Faith
Beginning October 23rd, I will offer a 4-part sermon series titled “A Worthy Faith.” Each lesson is intended to deal with intellectual challenges to faith, while extolling the value of placing our trust in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The series will be as follows:
October 23: “A Faith Worthy of Our Questions.” Dealing with common objections to the Christian faith.
October 30: “A Faith Worthy of Our Desires.” A look at our deepest longings, fulfilled only in God.
November 6: “A Faith Worthy of Our Examination.” The intellectual credibility of faith, offering reasons to believe in the Christian story.
November 13: “A Faith Worthy of Our Trust.” Comparing the alternatives.
These lessons will be streamed Sundays at 9 AM (CST) on facebook or YouTube, or you can visit my website later to watch the sermon, read a transcript, or listen to it as a podcast. If you are in the area, we would love to have you join us.
Our Continued Study Of Mark: A Bible Study
Our Wednesday night adult Bible study is exploring the Gospel of Mark in a series titled “Jesus Christ and the Mysterious Kingdom of Suffering Servants.” We cover 1-2 chapters a week. These lessons are streamed Wednesdays at 6:30 PM on facebook or YouTube, or you can visit my website later to watch the class. We will continue this study through the end of the year.
Top Picks: What To Read On Substack
I have truly enjoyed the Substack platform for writing and sending these email posts. Some of my friends are on here as well, and I’d like to introduce them to you!
Jim Martin’s Encouragement Note
Jim Martin is Vice-President of Harding School of Theology in Memphis, TN, and a life-long preaching minister. He offers encouraging words for those in the practice of ministry, along with links to readings and resources that provide freshness for the far journey.
JL Gerhardt’s The Goodness
Jennifer Gerhardt is a missionary, a former storytelling minister for a congregation in Texas, a well-published author, a popular lecturer, and a former classmate of mine. She sees life through a grateful lens and always has something good to say. Thus it is fitting that her substack is called “The Goodness.” You will enjoy reading her positive and encouraging reflections.
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My name is Nathan Guy, and I serve as the preaching minister for the West Side Church of Christ in Searcy, Arkansas. I am happily married to Katie and am the proud father of little Grace. You can find more resources on my website over at nathanguy.com. Follow me: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
