Saturday, October 4, 2008: What Does God Look Like?

What Does God Look Like?

Luke 22: 66 – 71.

I. Introduction.

This is the single most distinctive belief of the Christian faith: If you want to know what God looks like, look at Jesus! Because, Jesus is God. He is God who came to earth as a human being; living out a perfect life without sin; teaching a new kind of ethic; performing healing miracles; and eventually dying on the cross to offer us God’s love and the forgiveness of sins.

I realize that to claim Jesus is God defies all of our modern sensibilities. After all, God is immortal and all powerful while human beings are limited by mortality and imperfect power. It seems to be logically inconsistent for us to claim that an immortal, all powerful God came to earth as a human being. Yet, this is exactly what Jesus claimed to be. Jesus actually claimed to be God.

We can study the life of Jesus in much the same way we can study the life of any ancient, historical person. We turn to historical writings. None of us has ever met Abraham Lincoln. However, we can study the life of Abraham Lincoln by reading historical writings about his life. None of us has ever met Plato. But, again, we can study the life of Plato by reading historical writings about his life.

The historical writings about Jesus are contained in the Bible. There are four historical writings that tell us the story of Jesus’ life: the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Read Luke 22: 66 – 71.

This is part of the story about the crucifixion of Jesus. I find it significant that in this Scripture, Jesus actually claimed to be the Son of God.

By claiming to be the Son of God, Jesus was claiming to be “of the same nature” as God himself. This is significant for two reasons. First, this explains why the Jews wanted Jesus to be executed. The Jewish Law of the Old Testament says that anyone who claims to be God is guilty of blasphemy, which is punishable by the death penalty. Since Jesus claimed to be God, they wanted him to die.

Second, this is significant, because it shows very clearly that Jesus himself claimed to be God. Divinity was not a later concept that other people projected onto Jesus. Jesus himself claimed to be God.

Some people reject the historical value of the writings about Jesus’ life, because they are contained in a religious book. Other people say we should treat these writings in the same way we would treat any work of history. If we do treat the writings about Jesus in the same way we would treat a biography of Abraham Lincoln or a book about Plato, we discover something very interesting about the Bible. We discover that the Bible is every bit as reliable as any other historical writing.

On one hand, the claims the Bible makes about secular history have been verified by archaeological discovery and by other writings outside of the Bible. No historical claim in the Bible has ever been “overruled” by archaeology or by other historical writings.

On the other hand, scholars have done extensive work to place dates on when the various books of the Bible were written. This work has led us to a general consensus that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written before A.D. 100—less than 70 years after the life of Jesus. In other words, these books about the life of Jesus were written within the life time of men and women who actually saw Jesus and heard his teachings and the claims he made about himself.

Since the Gospels were written while eyewitnesses were still living, it was very possible that the claims Jesus made about himself would have been refuted by people who had been there. Yet, no one in the period of time in which the Gospels were written ever said that Jesus never claimed to be God. That is a modern phenomenon. How arrogant for us to think that we know more about Jesus and what he said than people who lived with Jesus 20 centuries ago!
Jesus claimed to be God. Now, what are we going to do about that? I believe Jesus’ claims about himself leave us with only three options. We must decide: Was Jesus a Liar? Was Jesus a Lunatic? Is Jesus Lord?

II. Was Jesus a Liar?

Almost everyone who has ever read the Gospels says that Jesus was a good and wise teacher. In fact, that is what Gandhi said about Jesus. However, Jesus cannot be a good man if he was a liar.

When Jesus claimed to be God, he has forced us to choose between two options. Either Jesus is God, or Jesus is a liar and a bad person. To say Jesus is God is offensive to non-Christians. To say Jesus is a bad person is offensive to Christians. To say Jesus was a good person is an attempt to offend no one. But it is an offense to Jesus.

If Jesus were a liar, then perhaps we can find his motive for lying. Everyone who lies is motivated by some selfish reason. Lying is an attempt to gain money, fame, pleasure or power. But, Jesus got none of these from his claim to be God. Instead, Jesus lived a life of poverty, hated by the world, tortured and eventually killed. Jesus even shunned all attempts people made to enthrone him as a political ruler. Jesus spent his time with the poor and oppressed, not the powerful elite.

III. Was Jesus a Lunatic?

There are people in mental health institutions who believe they are God. Perhaps Jesus did not intentionally lie to us. Perhaps he genuinely believed he was God, but was wrong about it.

People who have what is known as a “divinity complex” demonstrate certain diagnosable characteristics. They are egotistical, narcissistic, predictable and unable to love others. These characteristics do not fit what history says about Jesus. Jesus demonstrated wisdom by the answers he gave to his critics. He considered the needs of other people. He was unpredictable in the ways he lived and responded to others. And, Jesus showed love for other people by the way he ministered to needs and eventually gave his life as a sign of God’s love for us.

IV. Conclusion: Is Jesus Lord?

If Jesus was not a Liar or a Lunatic, then we should take him at his word. He is the Son of God, who lived as an example for us and died to give us forgiveness of sin. God sent his Son to search for you. All of our efforts to search for God will fail. But God’s effort to search for us will succeed in our answer to the question: Who do you believe Jesus is?


□ I want to seek the truth about God.
· God, I don’t even believe you exist. But, if you do exist, I want to find you. I want to know the truth. If you exist, show yourself to me.



□ I want to become a Christian.
· God, I know that I have sinned and that my sins separate me from you. I believe that your Son, Jesus, died on the cross to forgive me of my sins and was resurrected on the third day. Please forgive me of my sins. I invite Jesus to be the Lord of my life. Help me to follow Jesus in the way I live my life.