What does God look like to you?

In heaven, in all His glory can you picture Him?

One critical mistake the world makes is thinking that because Jesus came as a man, He, therefore, can’t be God.

But to jump to this conclusion is to limit God.

Too many times we conform God to our image of who we think He is or imagine Him to be.

Before I met Jesus, I conjured up a Sistine Chapel image of a man with a long grey beard, perched on a distant cloud.

Impersonal (because I didn’t know Him.)

Distant, because I could not relate to Him at all.

“And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” – Revelation 1:13-16

This passage is the real picture of our Lord Jesus in all His glory.

It is vital for us to know that His love for us compelled Him to shed His glory, become one of us, die for our sins, be raised from the dead and ascend back to glory.

A vital component of Jesus’ action was His act of humility.

Being Humble Like Jesus 101

“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.” – Isaiah 53:2

This prophecy from Isaiah gives a distinct picture of Jesus’ early days.

He grew up as a babe, dependent upon His mother for nourishment.

He had “no form” or beauty as it translates from the Hebrew.

Further, Jesus was devoid of “comeliness.”

He possessed no “majesty.”

In other words, Jesus shed His glory, to become one of us.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”  – Philippians 2:5-8

Here in Philippians, we see Jesus equal with God.

Nevertheless, He decided to come to earth without fanfare, without recognition by man, but just as an average guy.

He came as a lamb.

“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.” – Isaiah 53:7

Avoid the Destruction Pride Brings

“When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.” – Proverbs 11:2

Pride is and will always be a wall that separates man from God.

It’s interesting to note that it was pride that caused Lucifer to fall to earth, out of heaven.

But it was humility and love that brought Jesus to us.

“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north” – Isaiah 14:12

Being an all-powerful, all-knowing and ever-present God, Jesus had every right to be prideful.

But pride is sin and Jesus is without sin.

He is holy, and we are called to be like Him.

That means, in regards to pride, we must eradicate it from our lives.

“Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” – Proverbs 16:18

Nothing good can come from a prideful life.

But the challenge comes when we accomplish something, and we are looking for someone to acknowledge us.

“Hey, Brad, good job on that message you delivered,” someone might say.

“Awww. Thank you,” I reply.

But it doesn’t stop there.

At The Fork In The Road—Choose Humility

At this very moment, I have a choice to make.

I can either allow myself to get puffed up with pride, or choose to have a heart of humility.

I can let my pride jump in and it’ll say, “Yeah, I’m glad you noticed,” taking all the glory, honor, and praise t upon myself.

But the Holy Spirit jumps in and says, “Brad, who gave you that gift?”

“Um, that would be You Lord.”

All right then, “Praise the Lord!”

Make sure you walk in humility by acknowledging every single gift you have was given to you by Almighty God.

Let’s take Moses for example.

“Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.” – Numbers 12:3 

Like Jesus, Moses was humble.

God spoke to him like no other man.

His charge was to lead God’s people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land and to give them God’s laws.

But Moses didn’t let all that power and prestige go to his head.

Through it all, Moses remained humble.

And God honored him and blessed him for it.

Key Takeaway

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” – James 4:10

It’s our flesh—our carnal, sinful nature that craves recognition from the world.

Award shows, for example, are dripping with egos, pride, and the power to manipulate others for self-gain.

The world loves to puff itself up, and it is obsessed with self-adoration.

But that’s not what God’s calling us as Christians to do.

His Word makes it very clear we need to walk in humility, not pride.

Meekness is another form of humility.

Essentially, meekness is power under control.

This is such a beautiful picture of Jesus and His act of putting His power aside for the betterment of humanity.

“Like a strong stallion that was trained to do the job instead of running wild.” (Pastor David Guzik)

Here in the Beatitudes, Jesus is teaching us that if we can be like Him, then we will “inherit the earth.”

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” – Matthew 5:5

In other words, the meek win!

This is God’s way to live.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.” – Isaiah 55:8-9

So how do we become humble like Jesus?

We remember that Jesus humbled Himself for our benefit.

So, at the moment when you’re called to humble yourself, follow His lead.

Then you will reap the harvest of blessings for walking in obedience to God’s Word.

Amen?