Wonder

Last night we started a new series from Dare 2 Share called "SALT: Creating Thirst."  It is the goal of this 5 week series to use 5 questions to get students thinking about God.  Last night we started at the beginning with asking the question "Have you ever wondered about God?"

Most of us at some point have wondered about God.  The question of "What is He like" pops into my mind most often.  I remember asking myself that question many times as I was growing up.  Too often I thought of God as either a genie that would grant my wishes if I was good enough, or as a cosmic deity up in the sky not really caring about what was going on.

I could not have been farther from the truth.  Since accepting Christ at the age of 14 I have been on a journey of knowing God.  There are times I go back to thinking He is a genie and I have to be good enough.  There are times I live as if He really doesn't care about what goes on here - but for the most of the past 15 years I have been trying to figure out who God is.

The best place to go for this information is His written Word - the Bible.  Let's remember that this question "What is God like" is not original with you or me but has been on that has been asked ever since Genesis 1 when God created our first parents - Adam and Eve.

One of Jesus' followers asked Him what God was like and Jesus answered that if a person wanted to know what God was like - look at the life of Jesus.  Colossians 1:15 tells us that Jesus is the "image of the invisible God" - so that makes us ask "what was Jesus like?"

Jesus was kind and compassionate to the outcast and broken.  Prostitutes, tax collectors, the sick and diseased all flocked to Him looking for healing.  Not only did Jesus give them physical healing, but He provided a spiritual healing as well for all who would believe.

Jesus loved.  He loved people so much He was willing to take their place and be punished for all their wrong doing.  Not just the people who walked around with Him, but people who were alive hundreds of years before He was on earth and thousands of years after.  There is much more about Jesus but not the space here to explain all of who He is.

Basically, if you want to know God - know Jesus.  This doesn't mean filling your head with facts about Jesus, but to really know Him.  As friends get to know each other, they do know facts about each other, but at some point really good friends know more than addresses, phone numbers, and birthdays.  They are able to know what each other is thinking and some can even finish sentences for the other.  This is a deep and intimate knowledge.

Do you KNOW Jesus?

Jesus has come to satisfy the deep cravings that are within us.  The desire to be accepted and loved.  The desire to be known and understood.  The desire to really live and believe that we matter.  In Jesus we are able to have all of these desires (plus many more) fulfilled.

What does it mean to know Jesus?  It means having life.  Real life - something more than the physical life you have now - but a spiritual life that will never end.  A life where you know you matter because someone gave His life for you.  A life where you know you are accepted and loved because you are now in a family with a perfect Father.  A desire to be understood because Jesus walked in this world just like you and me.