But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
Romans 3:21-31 NRSV
How can we know God? How can we know what God looks like? How he would behave? Paul tells that God and his righteousness have been revealed in Jesus Christ. So if we want to construct a mental image of God, we could use the Bible, or theology, or the various materials of worship. Yet, more simply, if we look at Jesus we see God. God in the flesh. When Paul writes Colossians, he tells us that “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation ... For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col 1:15,20 NRSV).
We know this; some of us will think that this is even intuitively obvious. But is this how we actually think? When we imagine God the Father, don’t we all too frequently tend to act as if the parental side of the Trinity has a totally different personality? A different demeanor? The Judge. The Traffic Cop. The Wrathful Warrior. The Landowner uprooting dead trees. How do we justify this? How do we maintain this in opposition to Scripture?
I think it is because all too frequently we tend to project our earthly fathers onto the face of God, however good or however bad this father image is. Obviously if our father is godly this is somewhat helpful if occasionally confusing. If our father is not godly, then we are going to have to be particularly careful about how we image God. Otherwise, this tendency causes us to engage in a serious if unintentional piece of idolatry – substituting the image of something or someone else for God. Truth stands in opposition to this idea. Jesus is the only, the true “image of the invisible God.”
If “Jesus loves me, this I know,” why don’t we believe this about the Father, even when the Bible tells us so? “For God [the Father] so loved the world ….” If Jesus wants to redeem us, can we not see that God wants to do the same? If Jesus is merciful, is this not a perfect picture of the Father’s mercy? Since Jesus is faithful, will not God be? Ultimately since Jesus is righteous as God is righteous, he makes it possible for us to have a relationship with God the Father and a healthy image of that Father who made himself visible in the form of Jesus. When you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father.
So is it our job to go around showing people pictures of Jesus so that they can know what God looks like? Yes, exactly so. We don’t have a photo of him in our wallet, or our computer, or even on our Facebook pages. His image is to be revealed in our demeanor, our lips, our hands, and our feet. So perhaps the reason that many people struggle to believe in God is not that we have yet to construct some “superproof,” some apologetic that can convince any and everyone. Perhaps the problem is that we, his imagers, need to present a clearer picture of Jesus. In focus. Consistent even in the little details. Not smudged. Surely this is something that can only be done by the power and grace of God.
Being conformed to the image of Christ, the mind of Jesus, is the calling of a lifetime. It is our calling today.
Grace and peace,
Ron
