God reveals Himself in numerous ways. I can look to nature and notice order and law. God reveals Himself in nature, but not perfectly. God used prophets and teachers, but this revelation came through imperfect men. God reveals Himself through a book, a book for which we should be grateful - but not satisfied. A book is not personal, but God is infinitely personal. A book is the Word become word, not the Word become flesh.
Selwyn Hughes, in his book "Christ Empowered Living,"says, "The Word passed from controlling the universe to obedience, from independent cooperation in the equality of Deity to dependent submission to the will of God."
Every moment, the will of Jesus was under the constraint of love and completely aligned with the will of God. In Jesus, we see a picture of a will yielded to the divine will of the Father, which shows that the One who holds all power uses it for good. Until Jesus, we could only see the will of man and the destruction that it created.
We can look at nature and recognize that it still retains a glimpse of the perfection and order it originally embodied, yet we still see that it has also fallen into disaster. We can look at man, the intricacies of the human anatomy, and the characteristics that set us apart from the rest of creation and see such a purposeful and magnificent design; however, we still recognize that our thoughts and actions can be so selfish and evil.
Until Jesus, nothing perfect existed on earth. Nature was beautiful, but it could spontaneously produce a fire or storm that devastated thousands. Humans were lovable, but they could also cause much pain. There is no other way for humans to understand the loving character of God without Him coming down from His throne and proving Himself to us.
I've never heard of a king who leaves his throne to persuade the peasants of his love for them, but the Creator of the universe did this for us. Until a perfect man came to display perfect love to the world, such a love could not have been known. Jesus was necessary for God to be known as a personal, sacrificial, loving, gracious, holy, immaculate, awesome, forgiving God. Jesus was necessary for the Church. God provided a perfect picture of what it looks like when our will is in perfect submission to His.
God never used the famous parent line "Do as I say, not as I do." The King left the pure and perfect heavens, put Himself in the constraints of human flesh and weakness, was born as a helpless child, and remained sinless and lived His life in service to humanity, who had betrayed Him. He experienced exhaustion, sweated blood, survived the number of lashes said to kill a man, carried His cross, hung upon it, and sacrificed Himself so that everyone may know that the God of the universe is love and that He invites you to be loved by Him.
By looking at the life of Jesus, we can see straight into the heart of the Father. God is a Christ-like God, and I can think of nothing better and I could be content with nothing less.
