Believe in God; Believe Also In Jesus

“¹Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” – John 14:1 (ESV)

It is not uncommon to profess a belief in God. The safety of that belief in God is evident all throughout. Even the worst of criminals acknowledge God. Think about all of the movies about the mob, the common theme is the Italian Catholics. And the ISIS or Taliban Terrorists, all profess and yield to Allah.

Here is where things turn, ask about the belief in Jesus. There will be many responses to identify who Jesus is/was. And the conversation will suddenly turn a bit uncomfortable.

Jesus provides God as tangible. God is no longer a “being”, but a man. With Jesus, I am suddenly thrust into potentially meeting face to face with God and that is uncomfortable. If I profess God as a being, there is little chance that He will come and meet me. I can still pray to Him and believe that He will care for me, but that tends to be in the sense of the CEO caring for the customer care rep, there is little chance of a personal encounter. Jesus gives that chance of local encounter and we become uncomfortable at the thought of Him being there to see just what I have done and hold me personally accountable.

I am glad to have Jesus with whom to encounter daily. I am very much imperfect and NEED the accountability provided by God and the person of Jesus. I need to know that around any corner, Jesus is waiting to call me to task.

Knowing that Jesus is God and that He walked among us, is frightening and comforting. The frightening part is that He was/is here to hold me accountable, and the comforting part is that He was/is here to catch me when I fail. Jesus is God and it is our duty to believe in God and believe also in Jesus.

Are you a believer in Jesus as you believe in God? When you think about Jesus, what feelings are stirred up? Are you able to believe in God and also believe in Jesus?