I hope you’ve noticed that the title of this blog is also what my blog site is called – John 20:21.
So what did Jesus mean? I’m fairly sure that Jesus, God the Son, came to be a human man in first century Palestine because God the Father wanted to translate himself from divine into human so that humanity could better understand who God is. Jesus also said that if we want to know what God is like, we are to look at him, Jesus.
So if God the Father sent God the Son to earth to reflect God to humanity… and if Jesus then said “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you” – then one aspect of that must be that as Christians, as followers of Christ, we must live lives reflecting God to those with whom we come into contact.
And that is a tough assignment – praise God that we also have God the Holy Spirit living within us to help us!
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about 1 Corinthians 12 and the Body of Christ and it struck me that it’s no coincidence that in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul talks about love. Maybe I’ve been missing the obvious for years (no surprise to those who know me) but it struck me that the love talked about in ch13 is the essential oil or lubrication to enable the Body of Christ in ch 12 to function.
My Coleraine mate in Cameroon, Clarke, has just posted a blog that thinks along some similar lines…
For many people, is their opinion of Christ based on the ‘important’ Christian – the minister? Or, is it based on the rank-and-file Christians. I hope I’m creating a good impression – what about you?
That’s his conclusion, but I suggest you read from the beginning to see how living in Cameroon is turning Clarke into something of a philosopher.
John 20:21 