Who is God?

On Palm Sunday Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider conducted a divine service in Kaiserslautern in Germany. He based his sermon on John 12: 23: “But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.’”

Jesus revealed the nature of God

Jesus went to Jerusalem to glorify God and to be glorified by God, or, in other words: “The Lord Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to publicly and unequivocally reveal God’s nature and His own.” Through His death on the cross Jesus revealed the greatness of His Father.

He revealed the glory of God: “He showed that God is so great that it is worth suffering and, in spite of everything, remaining with Him. The relationship with God, the fellowship with Him is much, much more important than our lot on earth, than suffering and death.”

Jesus revealed that God is love and the truth and that He trusts Him one hundred per cent: “There could not have been a better demonstration of how great the love and the power of God are: ‘I have absolute trust in Him, even if I don’t understand at all what is happening now; I trust Him!’”

Jesus’ sacrificial death also showed who He Himself was: “He revealed: I have been sent by God to bring you His love; and the love of God for you is so great that I will give my life for your salvation. I am the good shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.”

God, for His part, glorified His Son. “Through the resurrection He showed: ‘This is my Son, He will not die; I am with Him. I have given Him the victory.’ Later, through the resurrection, God led Him into His glory, where Jesus Himself said: ‘And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.’”

Believers proclaim the nature of God

Now it is the believers’ task, the Chief Apostle said, to glorify God. “The time has come, today, now, here to show who God is and who we are.” The faithful fulfil this mission by proclaiming

• that Jesus is active in His church: “Jesus Christ is active on earth, granting salvation, grace, forgiveness, and blessing. We bear witness to this by going to divine service, for example.”
• that Jesus is love and truth. “We trust Him completely. We are not afraid and do not worry unnecessarily. We have absolute trust in God.”
• that they glorify Jesus Christ. “We can glorify Jesus Christ by keeping His word and showing: Jesus Christ is right; we live according to the gospel.”

Believers must show who they are.

• Those who have received mercy from Jesus Christ: “And because we have received grace and still receive it, we are ready to forgive our neighbour.”
• Those who love Jesus Christ: “We serve the Lord because we love Him from the bottom of our hearts.”
• Those who have been sent by God: “We have a mission to fulfil, namely to do good in the name of Jesus Christ and to help our neighbour obtain salvation.”

Believers do not always win the acclaim and approval of their fellow human beings, the Chief Apostle warned: “When we want to show who God is and who we are, it is not always well received.” Yet this is precisely the time to show who God is and who Christians are. The Chief Apostle promised those who are carrying out this mission that God would glorify them: “We will experience the resurrection, receive the resurrection body, and will be led into the kingdom of God, into eternal glory. This is our future.”