Sunday, September 20, 2009

Can we really see Jesus?

I was going through a religious magazine the other day and noticed an ad for some book about getting to know Jesus better, etc.  THE PICTURE ON THE BOOK COVER WAS PATHETIC! I mean Jesus looked like a redneck from out in the back woods.  I thought to myself: "THAT IS NOT MY JESUS"

I am tired of seeing someone else's idea of what my savior looks like!  God describes himself as "I AM".  Not much for Michelangelo to work with, but somehow he marched on...(at least he showed real talent!)

I always took "I AM" to be a description of who we need God to be at a particular point in our lives, such as a father to orphans or a comforter when a loved one dies, etc.  To me this also means that God is white, black, oriental or Native American, etc.  HE IS who we need him to be, whoever we are.  Why must He be pigeon-holed into a look that fits a societal role?  This also explains why we get all these doofs who see "His" face in bread roles and paint spills, (WHATEVER).

Let's take a look at the bible's take on this:
Exodus 20:4
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Now we go to the New Testament:
Hebrews 8:1

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens...

So here is the point, Jesus is in heaven, and we are not supposed to make a likeness of anything in heaven.  Does that make sense to you, 'cause it does to me!  We need to get over this desire to paint syrupy images of Jesus and heaven and get down to the heart of the matter: SALVATION, which has no face or any other physical appearance other than a sea of voices singing praise to the Father on high.

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