Over time, I’ve become increasingly aware of the crazy number of misunderstandings there are about the God of the Bible. I see them in the media, I hear them in conversations and questions, and I experience them in my own thinking too. I believe that many times, these misunderstandings spring from the fact that we form opinions about God based on faulty sources--what people have told us about Him, the actions people have done in His name, Bible verses taken out of context, and our own uninformed assumptions just to name a few. Knowing these misunderstandings exist in myself and in each person who may read this, I am writing for two reasons: to encourage us to care enough to want to correct our misunderstandings and to point us to Jesus as the best person to help with that.
A friend recently told me, “I believe there is a God, but I don’t know what God is or how to find out.” I may have misheard it, but the tone of the comment expressed a sense of contentment with not knowing and indifference toward pursuing answers. This made me sad because, not only do I believe God has given us a way to know Him, but in my personal pursuit of Him, I have experienced ever-increasing amazement and delight at who God is and ever-growing peace and joy in the relationship He has made possible for me to have with Him. I don’t want my friend—or anyone for that matter—to miss out on that!
So, how do we clear up our misunderstandings about the God of the Bible and get to know who He is? Answer: Jesus! In Jesus, “God’s word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1: 14). Jesus was not just a great teacher or a person to be emulated, but the Bible states, “He is the image of the invisible God…and in Him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:15, 19). Thus, by getting to know Jesus, you are getting to know God! Did you know Jesus—God in the flesh—welcomed outcasts, valued women, befriended enemies, rebuked self-righteous religious leaders, identified with no political party, yielded his power, walked humbly, served sacrificially, sought justice, healed the sick, cared for the poor, rejoiced with the rejoicing, wept with the sorrowful, and ultimately laid His life down for our sake? He is a God like no other! So, whether you know little more about Jesus than His name and bits and pieces of why He’s celebrated at Christmas and Easter or if you’ve been soaking in His Word for many years, I want to encourage and challenge you this Easter season to seek to clear up some misunderstandings you may have about God by learning more about Jesus!
There are many ways to do this. For me, I am reading through the Gospels again (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). These four books of the Bible tell of Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection. They reveal what He said and did while He was on the earth and show how He responded to others and how they responded to Him. As John says at the end of his gospel, they were written “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). I know I’ve mentioned this before, but another great thing to do would be to watch The Chosen series. If you are a visual person like me, this TV series does a beautiful job of bringing the Gospel stories to life. Whether or not you believe what is shared in the Gospels after reading them, I hope you would walk away having a better understanding of those who do believe and why they would. If you decide to read the Gospels or watch The Chosen, I’d love to hear any thoughts, corrected misunderstandings, or new perspectives you walked away with.
By Katie Miller
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