5 Assumptions About God And Why They Are WrongSample

Jesus is the Real Thing—He is our Hero.

Assumption: Jesus is for kids

We cannot talk about God without also considering Jesus. Jesus is God’s promised Son, spoken about in Genesis 3:15 to Adam, in Genesis 22:17-18 to Abraham, in Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6-7 to Israel. God promised to send a hero, one who would rescue humanity from the oppression of evil, break the grip of sin and death by dying in our place, and then defeat death by rising from the dead, according to the prophecies of the Bible. Jesus was that man. He was the fullness of God in human form (Colossians 1:19-20).

Our future depends on Jesus and we don’t want any wrong assumptions about him in our thinking. The assumption that “Jesus is for kids” leads to other false assumptions: that Jesus was probably a wimpy man and real men or women would not follow Jesus, much less put their trust in Him. You can imagine how these assumptions might affect faith in Jesus. But nothing could be further from the truth.

The name “Jesus” means, “the one who saves” or “the hero.” Jesus was the Son of God but he did not use his power for selfish or temporary advancement. He came to fulfill his Father’s purpose (John 8:27-29). Jesus’ goal was not to get out of the pain and humiliation of the cross. His goal was to win the battle for the hearts and souls of humanity. When he hung on the cross—suffering and dying in our place—he did not seek to escape, even as it cost him his life.

That is strength. That’s what real men do. Wimpy people run away and hide. But Jesus bore our shame in view of everyone until the price of our sin was paid and we were free! All those people saw him suffer and die.

Jesus was not a foolish man caught in a political conflict. Jesus is the Lamb of God offering himself as the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of people he loved. Jesus is the firefighter who runs into the burning building; the marine who falls on the grenade to save his buddies; the one who, by his own authority, laid down his life to rescue every human being from the spiritual death that they ultimately deserved because of their sin. He is our hero and savior.