Knowing Jesus

"And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent”. John: 17:3

God has reached out to us all through and by His Son Jesus Christ. He has done so out of Love for us all that we might come to know Him, not just know about Him. St. Paul considered that it was worth the loss of all things if it brought him to know our Lord Jesus Christ because St. Paul came to understand that in Jesus God the Father was most clearly and perfectly revealing Himself.

This is what the Apostles St. Paul was writing about.

" But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead" Philip:3:7 

The Great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals Himself to us through His Son Jesus Christ. 

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” Col: 2:9

Everything we need to know about the only true God we find in Jesus Christ, no part of God is excluded in Jesus. He is all there revealing Himself to us in Jesus, who is, fully God and fully Human. Jesus just does not tell us about God, Jesus shows us about God, Jesus is showing us what life in the Trinity looks like.

God the Father draws us to His Son Jesus by way of the Holy Spirit, Who speaks to us about Jesus, Who then reveals the Father. Jesus shows us what life in the Trinity looks like and through Jesus brings us into this relationship. This Communion, it is about Who God is.

A God Who loves us more then we can ever comprehend, and He invites us to be a part of this eternal love relationship.

"Perichoresis"

 The ancient church used the word "Perichoresis", which means to "joyfully dance in an eternal circle”, to describe the relationship, the communion that God has within Himself.

 Into this Perichoresis, this communion God invites us to be a part of it through Jesus. Everything that we ever needed or wanted is there for us, peace, belonging, joy, inclusion and more, for which there are no words in any languages upon the earth to properly express.

God's love is so great, He is so high above the heavens, yet He reaches out to us, in all our sins, brokenness, limitations and weakness and sent His Son to die for us. Jesus went to the cross, so there would be nothing to hinder us from having a relationship with the great God that is what the cross of Jesus has done for us, it takes away all of our excuses from knowing the Triune God and having eternal life. Through Jesus, God brings the life of the Trinity to us, and through Jesus brings us to the life of the Trinity.

Everything that God has done is to bring us into this relationship by, through and for his Holy Son Jesus Christ. God is relationship oriented, not task oriented. Everything that he does, even the tasks or works is for the ultimate purpose of relationship. Eternal life, is not just a state ,duration or condition of life, it is a way of life, it is a relationship. 

 In the end, the only thing that can stop us from living all eternity in glory with God is our own unwillingness to accept this relationship. It is freely extended through Jesus Christ, if it will only be freely received.

When we hear the Gospel, it is God's invitation to enter this relationship. When we hear and accept God's Gospel invitation, we are encountering Jesus himself and through him we come to know our God.

God loves you more than He loves Himself, and demonstrated it by dieing in the person of his Holy Son Jesus Christ. 

 Copy and Paste , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwC4sXa2kWo

Benediction: May we each and all come to know our Lord Jesus in an ever-deepening relationship, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.

Rev. Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma 

                              "If It Is Not About Jesus, It Is Not About Anything"