Chapter 5
Jesus: The Face of God

Now I want us to turn our attention to Jesus, but before that, let’s look at His forerunner, the prophet named John the Baptist. Jesus said of him, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11, emphasis added). Others in Scripture had more dramatic experiences with God. Others did greater exploits against disease, storms, and death itself. Some called down fire, others brought an end to famines, and at least one spoke to dry bones that were in a moment’s time turned into a living army. And still others
installed and deposed kings, directed their armies, and even made declarations that changed the course of history. But John caught heaven’s attention as no other prophet had done. He became known as the greatest born of a woman.

What was different about John’s life and prophetic ministry? Consider first that Mark’s Gospel specifically describes his ministry as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make His paths straight.”

—Mark 1:2–3, NKJV, emphasis added

John lived before the face of God—the ultimate place of favor and responsibility. He had an unusual grace for recognizing the presence of God, even before he was born. When Mary was pregnant with Jesus, she walked into a room to visit Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John. When Mary’s greeting reached Elizabeth’s ears, John leaped for joy while still in her womb.1 Amazing—John was still what our culture calls a fetus (in order to ease their conscience about abortion). And that unborn child was able to recognize God’s presence. Even more significant was John’s ability to recognize the connection that the presence of Christ had to his assignment and eternal destiny. That reality brought great celebration to him, although he was not yet even born. Great joy is always available to anyone who connects with his or her eternal purpose.

Luke’s Gospel records the early years of John’s life for several reasons. Not only does it show us that John was in tune with the presence of God from the womb, indicating the potential for what would fully mature in his ministry, but it also makes a point that this capacity was something that had to be protected. Zacharias did not believe the words of the angel sent to him from God with the message of John’s birth. Because of this, God made him mute for the entire pregnancy. His tongue loosened only after he responded in obedience to the command of the Lord in naming his child John.2 This is very important, for “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). Left unto himself while still in his state of unbelief, Zacharias could have killed with his words the very purpose of God in the promise given to them. Later, his words spoken in agreement with the will of God were the key to releasing John’s destiny. John was also protected by Elizabeth, who concealed her pregnancy for five months after conception. In other words, only when her pregnancy was becoming inarguably evident did she go public. The implication is that John’s exposure to the careless speech of others could have affected what God wanted to do.

Many would argue that God’s purposes will be accomplished regardless of the speech of others. Perhaps. But why then does He want us to know the effect of our words if they have no effect at all? The five months in seclusion were probably sufficient for her to become strong enough in her own faith to withstand the well-meaning curses that people would probably make—things like, “Oh, aren’t you a little old to be having a child? Isn’t there a good chance that this child will be born with deformities or retardation?” Being hidden away gave her time to settle into her call and learn how to be unaffected by the careless concern of others. Only with faith and confidence regarding her own call could she become strong enough to steward the anointing on her unborn child correctly.

Perhaps her main reason for hiding for five months included one more great responsibility, to protect John from the words of others. In our Western culture it sounds strange to hear someone talk of the effect of our words on an unborn child. Yet, I remind you, it was the greeting from Mary, the mother of Jesus, that caused John to rejoice. Words brought joy to an unborn child. Did he understand them? No, I doubt that very much. But a child has amazing discernment that, unless he or she has parents who understand the way the spirit world works and have learned how to steward their child’s anointing and gift, tends to get trampled on through life until that child can no longer discern. When the essence of Mary’s words reached his undefiled heart, he rejoiced! Elizabeth was then filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling her to become a good steward of the gift that God had given her son until the time that he was able to watch over it himself.

In the story of John’s birth we see a powerful illustration of partnering with the Lord in speech and action in order to steward the call of God on his life.

John’s Assignment

No prophet ever bore the responsibility that was given to John the Baptist. His assignment was not only to walk before the face of God; he was also to prepare the way for the face of God to be revealed for all to see. This was the moment that all the other prophets had longed to see. Now everything would change.

Picture a common scene of the old world: an army marching through a town, followed by their king being carried on the shoulders of his servants. Now picture the same scene, except this time it’s an army of one, dressed in camel’s hair, making crooked places straight with his prophetic declarations. He too is followed by a King, but this is the King of all kings. John would usher in the King’s face of divine favor. His assignment was not only to prepare the way for the clearest revelation of God but also to prepare the way for an actual manifestation of the face of God—Jesus Christ. In Christ, that which had existed in types and shadows for centuries would be brought into the open.

While that is the most important assignment ever given to a man, his assignment was not only to make declarations. More needed to be done to insure that the intended manifestation was as clear as our Creator intended:

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

—John 1:29–34, emphasis added

John made an amazing statement when he said, “I did not recognize Him.” Jesus didn’t stand out as the Son of God—until the Holy Spirit came upon Him and remained. Jesus, the face of God, wasn’t noticed until the Spirit of God came upon Him. The wonderful Holy Spirit has been positioned to manifest the face of God—first upon Jesus, then through Jesus to the world.

A key thought for me in this whole story is found in the phrase, “He remained upon Him.” This punchy prophetic declaration describes how Jesus did life: He walked through life in such a way that the dove of the Spirit would not be startled and leave. In Him we see a lifestyle that was crafted around the passion to host the presence of the Spirit of God. Being a person on whom the Holy Spirit can remain has a cost. (Cost in this context has nothing to do with works. It is passion for Him and a reverence for His presence where every move we make has Him in mind.)

Matthew’s Gospel records the details of Jesus’s baptism by John. At first John resisted Jesus for all the obvious reasons. He was not worthy to untie Jesus’s shoes, let alone baptize Him. On top of that, Jesus was not a sinner and had no need of public repentance. Yet John obeyed—and then he witnessed one of the most amazing moments in history. Heaven opened, the Spirit of the living God descended upon the Son of man, and the Father spoke in affirmation to His Son. Here is the full account:

Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” . . . After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

—Matthew 3:13–17

Previous to this encounter, John had announced that Jesus would come with a different baptism than his, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire.3 John was speaking of this baptism when he made the startling statement, “I need to be baptized by you.” When Jesus came to be baptized by John it violated everything that John had thought about their different assignments. He knew that his role was to identify the Son of God and prepare people with a baptism of repentance from sin so that they could receive the revelation of the face of God in the Son. He also knew that the Son’s role was to reveal this face through His baptism, the baptism of the Spirit. In his statement, we see that John’s regard was not for his title or his role, but it was entirely for the One he served. John, the one who is called the greatest of those born of women, revealed his biggest need. He needed the baptism that Jesus offered—the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire.

At the beginning of the chapter I referred to Jesus’s statement that the least in the kingdom is greater than John—greater than the greatest born of women. If the people Jesus was referring to are those who are already in paradise, it’s a moot point. Jesus didn’t waste words. Rather He was giving a significant revelation about the kind of person that would be walking the earth not many days later—people born of the Spirit and baptized in the Spirit. It is in this context that John’s confession, “I need to be baptized by You,” makes sense. The one thing he, the greatest prophet of all, lacked is now available to every born-again believer. The baptism in the Spirit, a profound encounter with the face of God, adds the power of heaven to bring transformation to planet Earth. This baptism qualifies the least in the kingdom to be greater than John. It is a promise that is in effect now, to the degree we live in and manifest the King’s domain.

The Ultimate Controversy

When we realize that John lived before the face of God and that this face was revealed in Jesus Christ, specifically from the moment that He was clothed in power by the Holy Spirit, then the question that needs to be asked is, what did this face look like? What was the nature of God that Christ revealed? This topic would take many volumes of books to address properly. But if
I had to pick one word to describe the nature of God revealed in Christ, it is that He is good.

I never realized how controversial the subject of the nature of God could be until I began teaching week after week that God is good, always. While most believers hold the belief as a theological value, especially because it is so stated in Nahum 1:7 and elsewhere, they struggle in light of the difficulties all around us. Many have abandoned the idea altogether, thinking it doesn’t have any practical application. The hardest part is saying that He’s always good. Some will say He is mysteriously good, which is about the same as saying He’s good, but not as we think of goodness. This response doesn’t help to clear up the confusion over the nature of God.

If I had to pick one word to describe the nature of God revealed in Christ, it is that He is good.

When we turn to the Scriptures we encounter similar apparent contradictions between the statement that God is always good and actual events in which He does not seem to be expressing goodness. While the Old Testament certainly contains revelations of God’s compassion and love for people, it is also riddled with many incidents that seem to imply otherwise. To those who do not have a personal relationship with God, this especially appears to be the case. The Old Testament is filled with accounts of all kinds of tragedies and conflicts that God seemed to bring upon people because of their sin and rebellion. The Old Testament seems to portray God as being quite different from the God we see through Jesus Christ in the New Testament.

More specifically, in the New Testament Jesus works against the tragedies that are devouring people’s lives and tries to bring restoration and healing. How many sick and diseased people came to Him and left afflicted and disappointed? How many times did Jesus actually say that the problem a person had was because God the Father was trying to teach a lesson that would ultimately make him more like Him? To how many diseased people did He try to explain that it just wasn’t God’s timing for them to be well? How many tormented people did He leave in that condition, saying, “This is the result of their choices. I would set them free if they really wanted to be free”? How many storms did Jesus bless? He not only lived differently from their common understanding of God; He lived in complete contradiction to their common understanding of God.

This striking distinction has eluded many. It has become common for believers to think God brings or allows sickness so that we will become more like Jesus. Today it is accepted for leaders to teach that God brings calamity because He knows it will draw us nearer to Him. If that line of thought were true, then mental hospitals and cancer wards would be glowing with God’s manifest presence as all their patients would have drawn near to God and been transformed into the likeness of Jesus. Two thousand years ago all sickness was from the devil and healing was from God; today people teach that sickness is from God and those who pursue a healing ministry are from the devil (or out of balance, at best). How far we have fallen!

While it’s true that believers can respond to disease and calamity with sacrificial acts of love and kindness, ministry should never be reduced to merely that. We are to be Christlike in loving service. But we have defined the responsibility of being like Jesus through this lens alone instead of by the way He dealt with such issues. Jesus stopped storms; He wasn’t interested in just helping with the cleanup afterward. He resurrected the dead instead of conducting funerals. He healed the blind instead of training seeing-eye dogs.

Some have gone so far as to say that, like a good-cop-bad-cop scenario, the Father is the angry One and Jesus is the merciful side of God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Confusion over the nature of the persons of the Trinity has made us welcome deception in our ranks.

Most of those who embrace the idea that God is an angry Father do so in equal proportion to their inability to demonstrate His power. Powerlessness demands an explanation or a solution. Blaming God seems to be easier than it is to take responsibility and pursue an encounter with Him that changes our capabilities in ministry.

Reconciling the Father and the Son

One of the most important features of the gospel message is that the nature of the Father is perfectly seen in Jesus Christ. Jesus was a manifestation of the Father’s nature. Whatever is thought to be in conflict between the Father in the Old Testament and the Son in the New Testament is in fact wrong. All inconsistencies in the revelation of the nature of God between the Old and New Testaments are cleared up in Jesus Christ. Jesus demonstrated the Father in everything He did. In short, Jesus is perfect theology:

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

—Hebrews 1:3–4, emphasis added

Some may ask, “What about Job?” I would respond, “I’m not a disciple of Job. I’m a disciple of Jesus. Job was the question, and Jesus is the answer.” The entire Old Testament painted a picture of the problem so that it would be easy to recognize the answer when He came. If my study of Job does not take me to Jesus Christ as the answer, then I never understood Job. The Book of Job, along with all other questions about God’s nature, are not meant to provide a revelation of God that would preempt the clear revelation of God through Jesus Christ.

For the believer, it is theologically immoral to allow an Old Testament revelation of God to cancel or contradict the perfect and clear manifestation of God in Jesus. I’m not denying that God displays anger and judgment in the Old Testament, as did Jesus to some degree, but by and large Jesus came with a display of extraordinary compassion. This is the revelation of God that believers are responsible to teach and model. This was made clear in Jesus’s statement, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21).

The only justifiable model we have is Jesus Christ. The job description is fairly simple: heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and cleanse lepers.4 If you say you are not gifted in such things, then I say, “Find out why.” Most of what we need in life will be brought to us, but most of what we want we’ll have to go and get. God has made these realities available. We must pursue them. These gifts are the overflow of the face of God encounter.

The Lord’s Prayer

I don’t have answers to all the questions about the differences in the portrait of God throughout Scriptures. But I have found a wonderful key for life: it’s best to live from what you know to be true in spite of the mysteries that you can’t explain. I cannot afford to stumble over my questions when what I do understand demands a response and commitment. The portrait of God the Father, as seen in Jesus Christ, is wonderfully clear. He deserves the rest of my life as I learn how to imitate Him.

As previously stated, Jesus set aside His divinity, choosing instead to live as a man completely dependent on God. In doing so, He not only modeled a supernatural lifestyle, but He also illustrated that the ultimate quest is for the face of God. His lifestyle of both fasting and praying on the mountain throughout the night—a lifestyle He no doubt had established long before the Spirit descended upon Him—demonstrated His unquestionable priority to seek God’s face.

It’s best to live from what you know to be true in spite of the mysteries that you can’t explain.

To say that Jesus came both to manifest the face of God and illustrate the quest for His face may sound a little confusing, but both are true. Remember, Jesus modeled for us what it looked like to grow in favor with God as well as with man. The heavenly Father responded to His Son by giving an open heaven, which was followed by words of affirmation, saying, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” It was in this encounter that the Father released the Holy Spirit upon His Son, enabling Him to manifest His face to the world.

The Father, by the Holy Spirit, directed all that Jesus said and did. It was the intimacy that Jesus had with His heavenly Father that became the foundation for all the signs, wonders, and miracles performed in His three and a half years of earthly ministry.

As we saw in the last chapter, Ezekiel made the prophetic declaration, “I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out my Spirit on [them]” (Ezekiel 39:29). The face of God is revealed in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The outpouring of the Spirit also needed to happen to Jesus for Him to be fully qualified. This was His quest. Receiving this anointing qualified Him to be called the Christ, which means “anointed one.” Without the experience there could be no title.

The Ultimate Disappears

In John 17 we read Jesus’s prayer about how He has fulfilled His assignment in ministry, saying, “I have glorified You . . . I have finished the work . . . I have manifested Your name . . . I have given them Your word . . . As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them . . . The glory which You gave Me I have given them . . .
I have declared to them Your name” (John 17:4, 6, 14, 18, 22, 26, NKJV). Clearly, Jesus’s assignment was to put His Father’s name, work, glory, and Word on display, particularly to this select group of disciples.

But then Jesus shocked His disciples when He told them He had to leave. Picture this—the face of God had come, and they had encountered Him and beheld His glory.5 Now they were hearing that this experience, which had become the ultimate encounter with God imaginable, was to be taken away from them. To top it off, Jesus said it would actually be better if He left them. “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7).

It is this single factor of being aware of personal need that enables someone to recognize that which God is doing in the earth.

Jesus manifested the face of God to mankind. But it was only when He was taken away that He could release His experience to become their experience. And so He sent the Holy Spirit to come upon them. This meant that they could have their own encounter with God’s face in a way that was not available through Jesus Himself. In other words, Jesus’s experience was to become the normal experience of all who follow. This encounter brings us into the ultimate transformation, that we might become the ultimate transformers.

The Practical Side of Glory

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God revealed His goodness.6 The goodness of God is revolutionary in nature.

His goodness is not a token act of kindness but is instead a picture of God’s overwhelming pursuit of humanity that He might show us His extreme love and mercy. People get stuck on God’s ability to judge and forget that He is the One who looks for the opportunity to show mercy. Many of His own children live in ignorance regarding His goodness and therefore continually misrepresent Him. In fact, no matter how horrible a person’s sin or life was, from the woman caught in adultery to the tormented man of Gaderene, Jesus revealed the face of God by showing mercy. These actions were never meant to be momentary displays of kindness so that in the twenty-first century God could finally punish people. His heart to forgive and show mercy is clear in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the clearest manifestation of the face of God that mankind has ever seen.

Many will remind us that while God is good, He is still the judge of all. And that is true. But in Jesus’s time that judgment was only directed at the people who claimed to know God but didn’t know Him at all: the religious leaders. Jesus was a continual threat to their empire of selfishness built on religious service. They were good at rejection, punishment, and restriction, but they were clueless about the heart of God—the very one they claimed to know. They knew little about the boundless love of God and His passion for the freedom of all humanity.

At one time Jesus said to the Pharisees, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). The most spiritually diseased people on the planet were the religious leaders. Yet His statement did not make an impact on them because they lacked awareness of their personal need. They were lacking in the genuine righteousness that comes from a relationship with God. Harlots and tax collectors had a step up on the Pharisees simply because they were aware of their need. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3, emphasis added). But the Pharisees’ lack of awareness of spiritual need disqualified them for the call of God to salvation.

Ironically, the greatest sinners were the ones who recognized who Jesus was when He came. The prostitutes, stargazers, tax collectors, and harlots all recognized Jesus as the Messiah. The ones most trained in Scripture were the ones who didn’t recognize Him for who He was. It is this single factor of being aware of personal need that enables someone to recognize that which God is doing in the earth.

The awareness of deep personal need is also the setting where extraordinary faith grows. When there is no awareness of need, the opportunity to respond to God remains out of reach. For this reason, the Pharisees had no access to the realm that pleases God the most—faith. And faith moves God unlike any other thing.