Is it permissible for us to call Jesus in a personal manner?

We keep hearing that our relationship with Jesus should be personal, a connection that means we are one with him, spiritually as well as physical. Note that the Lord, during his 3 + years always intended to show God is more than a deity that no one can reach as human. Did you ever notice that when Jesus healed someone it wasn't necessarily to prove he was God. It always was out of compassion, something most of us have forgotten about. That in itself is enough to indicate that our Creator came to be like man except for sin.

Heaven will not be an entity where we will become like angels floating around the Throne of God. Imagine, if you can, a kingdom established like a fairy-tale where the king has his subjects living a subordinate lifestyle always bowing to the king’s desires. Think, for a moment, of the words by which God used to describe the creation of man; “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Gn 1: 26). Discern if you can, what this statement meant if only to have subjects that he can call upon for food and drink. God meant much more than puppets who would bow and ask, “Master, what else do you want from us?”

Before going too deeply into establishing our own position before God as a competition with him, just as Lucifer did, our sense of sharing his kingdom is to understand the scenario of a human child respecting his father knowing he can also ask for something that his father will always return with love what his child needs and wants if it is good for him.

This now puts the question in the heading to a relaxed relationship that the Incarnation was not to condemn the human heart for weakness, but to comfort us each time we fail. This is what a true father does for his children. It is also the very essence of how deep the love that God had when he said; “Let's make man in our image:” His image is love deeper than any human can conceive of. If the words “After our Likeness” makes us wonder the real meaning of his essence, discern and understand that we will be exactly like God in our love and forgiveness for each other. Jesus showed that as hung on the Cross! Mercy is not a word hanging in the pages of a textbook with multiple descriptions. It is the essence of a loving God who created man to be his companion in eternity, not a subordinate for him to control.

The love we will show to God is the very same concern we now reach out with to our brothers and sisters who look for the same mercy from us. A short question on TV showed a family with a discerning attitude towards another family who were different from them, as they stood on the steps of the church. The caption was; “If you don’t find love and acceptance towards this neighbor, how will you find God there?”

Yes, absolutely we can consider Jesus as a human being as well as our Creator. As mentioned above we see the healings of Jesus towards other humans he also showed his divinity via his suffering/death/resurrection for you and me.

Ralph B. Hathaway