Who Is Jesus? Part 1Sample

Check Your Lens

In chapter 6, we continue in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is introducing us to the new kind of relationship we can have with God. One not based on religious actions but on our adoption into His family. This new relationship is marked by trust, not worry, because when we understand that God is our Father, not some celestial dictator, we begin to see the world differently. That’s what Jesus explains in this section. 

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:31-33 NIV

What is Jesus saying? He’s saying that when we misunderstand who God is, we’ll look at the world through the lens of worry, and we’ll spend our lives in an exhausting cycle, chasing after things that will never ultimately satisfy us. 

See, in Jesus’ day, the “pagans,” people who worshiped other gods, would constantly offer sacrifices to try to appease their deities. The only “relationship” people could have with those gods was purely transactional. “If I offer this sacrifice to my god, then they will bless me and not punish me.” But Jesus was making certain that these false ideas did not creep into His followers’ understanding of God. No, it is loud and clear through these chapters that God’s relationship to us is that of a loving Father. Look at how Jesus teaches us to pray:

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name …’” Matthew 6:9 NIV

This is beautiful. The kind of relationship we get to have with God is one marked by trust, not worry, because God is our Father. 

But for some of you, the idea of God being a Father isn’t very comforting. Because your dad wasn’t someone who protected you, and he wasn’t a safe person you trusted. And that’s so hard. It makes it hard to relate to God in this way. But God is not just a bigger version of your dad, He’s the perfect version of your dad. In every way that your dad failed as a father, God will never fail. He has a perfect track record. You can trust Him. 

Jesus is inviting us to lay aside any faulty perspectives we might have and see God for who He really is—a Father with a good heart and strong arms: one we can trust to bring about the best possible outcome, one we can run to instead of run from, and one we don’t have to appease with religious actions but can count on for heart transformation. 

Will you trust Him?