Jesus: Identifying With Sinners
“God With Us”

Opening Comments:

Welcome back to “In The Seams.” Our usual format is to interview a guest, usually someone who has a ministry, website, resources, or is an author concerning topics related to our struggle with chronic illness and pain. However, I have, on a few occasions, taken the opportunity to share something with you without the aid of any guests. So, that’s what I am going to do today, and I hope it encourages you on your journey, however painful it may be. 

I am recording this on the 4th of July, Independence Day, for those of you listening in the U.S. So, by the time you hear this, I can just say that I hope you had an enjoyable and safe holiday. I’m grateful for the freedoms we have for even something as simple as recording a podcast about Jesus without fear of reprisal. That is certainly not true everywhere in the world, and some of our listeners may know that personally. 

Freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, freedom of the press, and so on, are freedoms to be cherished. But today, I want to talk about the freedom of God, by which I mean what God has freely chosen for our benefit at great cost to himself. And though I could talk about this subject in relation to anything God has done, including the creation itself, specifically, I want to focus today on God’s free choice to identify with us as sinners through the life, ministry, and suffering of Jesus Christ. 

Any theology that claims the importance of “God with us” must be rooted in the historical events ot Jesus’ ministry. His prophetic name from Isaiah and applied to Jesus in Matthew is “Immanuel,” which is literally three Hebrew words that mean “God with us.” When we speak about God being with us as we struggle with pain and suffering, it is not an abstract concept, but a lived reality for God himself through the life of Jesus Christ, and extended to us personally through the Holy Spirit. 

People want to know when they are hurting, just how exactly God is with them. When we ask questions like that, we are talking about our personal experience. And we may not always experience the presence of God in a tangible way. But that does not mean that God is not with us. The promise of Jesus, given in Matt. 28:20, that he would be with his disciples until the end of the age, must form the foundation for what we believe. Then, even on our worst days, we can take comfort in knowing that whatever I'm feeling, God is with us in Jesus Christ. 

The reason why God can be with us in such a personal way is because of his free choice for the holy one to identify with us as sinners. There are four different ways I want to focus on today that demonstrate how God has done this in Jesus Christ. 

Inherent In His Incarnation 

First, God identifying with sinners is inherent in his incarnation. Incarnation means “in the flesh.” For God to be incarnated is a great mystery and a miracle beyond understanding. But that is what the Bible tells us about Jesus. 

John 1:1 proclaims, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” A few verses later in Jn. 1:14, we are told, “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” “Word” translates the Greek word “Logos.” We don’t have time to get into everything that word implies. But we can emphasize that this “Word” had all the characteristics of divinity, and yet also became flesh. Of course, we know this happens when God enters our world through Jesus of Nazareth. 

A sinless God enters into a sinful world. Of course, it is central to the doctrine of the atonement that Jesus never sinned, but since it was for the sake of sinners he came (cf. 1 Pet. 3:18), he embraced the plight of sinners and the wages of sin, which is death. I’ll come back specifically to that death in a later point, but that death was foreshadowed even in Jesus’ baptism. 

Embraced in His Baptism 

We are told in the gospels that John the Baptizer was baptizing people in the Jordan River as a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John’s role was to prepare people for the coming Messiah, who would take away the sins of the world. As John said in Jn. 1:29 about Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” 

It makes sense for sinners to be baptized, but why did Jesus submit to baptism? When John asks Jesus this same question, Jesus just tells him, “It is to fulfill all righteousness.” It is important to recall what happened as the baptism was completed. The Spirit came down upon as a dove, and a voice from heaven identifies Jesus “as my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.” There is something in this choice of Jesus that received commendation from his Father. If Jesus wasn’t a sinner, then his choice to be baptized indicated his decision to identify with the sinner’s plight. It means Jesus is embracing the mission he was sent into the world to do. The coming of the Spirit empowers for that mission. 

Commercial: Broken and Mended Conference
I wanted to step aside and share some exciting news from Broken and Mended. We will host a virtual conference on Oct. 18th featuring Dave Furman, Vaneetha Risner, Shannon Cramer, and Aren and Trina Bahadourian. The theme is “Broken Apart, Mended Together.” 

It will be a free event, though registration is required. We will soon share the schedule and registration instructions, so be looking for it on our website or any of our social media channels. Make sure you save the date, in the meantime, Oct. 18th! 

Lived Out in His Temptations

The next thing we read is that Jesus is driven into the wilderness by the Spirit so that Jesus can fast and be tempted for forty days. Jesus lived out the mission he embraced in his temptations. I don’t think the three temptations we are told about are the only ones he faced, even over those forty days. They represent, perhaps, his greatest temptations. And I would love to spend more time on that, but the main point for today is that he knew real temptation. Yet, he was without sin. 

One of the most important verses in the Bible, in my opinion, is Heb. 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.”
You may have some victories over temptation in your life, but we have all given in at some point. No matter how great the temptations were to Jesus, he endured them until they, and the devil, were defeated. But if Jesus were somehow protected from temptation, then he would have had less than the full human experience. But as the Hebrew writer says, “He was tempted in every way, just as we are,” 

Magnified On His Cross

But the incarnation, his baptism, and the temptations would have meant nothing to us if they were not all pointing to the greatest sacrifice anyone would ever make. In the gospel of John, Jesus repeatedly speaks of his coming death as his glorification. This, of course, turns crucifixion on its head, which was intended to bring the maximum shame possible to its victims.

One of my favorite passages that brings all of this together is from Phil. 2:5-11. I’ll read it in full from the CSB:
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
7 Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
9 For this reason God highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
11 and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord

From “existing in the form of God” to “even to death on a cross” is the greatest reversal of status of all time. Yet, for Jesus, it was not a “reversal of fortune,” but a willing choice to do his Father’s will to rescue the sinners he came to save. Of course, this passage also implies that his resurrection and ascension, otherwise neither he nor we could have had victory over sin and death. But it was in the act of giving his life on the cross that showed how far God was willing to go to be with us. 

Conclusion: Experiencing God’s Presence Begins with Believing His Promise
Jesus did not do all of that just to break his promise to you that he would be with you always. If you are a follower of Jesus, you will never be without Jesus. Jesus teaches in the gospel of John that this presence is a literal one, even if not a physical one. Jesus says in Jn. 14:23 that the Father and Son will make their home in us. Throughout this section, it is made clear that this happens when Jesus sends the Spirit, the Counselor, Advocate, and Spirit of Truth to live in us. 

There are days when we do experience a tangible presence in our lives that defies explanation. There are other times when we see that presence in hindsight, when we have already endured the trial. And sometimes we just have to believe in God’s promise even when we don’t experience it. But start with the promise, not your experience. 

I’ve never heard an audible voice from God, but there was one time that I heard a voice within me say something so strongly that I could not deny it as the voice of God. It was one sentence, and I have carried it with me ever since. “Give yourself permission to live as if I am really with you.” So, I repeat that message to you. “Give yourself permission to live as if God is really with you.” Because he is. He promised.