Following in the footsteps of the Son

“Paul has a way of packing a lot into a few words.” This was how Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider started his sermon in Hanover (Germany) on 11 December 2016. The service was based on Galatians 4: 4–5: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

True God …

These verses are a reference to the incarnation of the Son of God: “Jesus Christ was true God and true Man,” the Chief Apostle explained. “He was the image of the invisible God. God came on earth in the Son of God, and through Him and in Him God became visible. One could recognise God and see how He really was and is.”

• God is the truth: “The Son of God was here. God had promised this and now it had been fulfilled.”
• God is love—not a theoretical kind of love, but a dynamic kind of love: “He went right to the end, right to the cross.”
• God is near: “He shared the fate of mankind—even suffering and death.”
• God is grace: “He is not the God who wants to avenge Himself and punish human beings.”
• God is the Almighty One: “Nobody could stop Him. He was stronger than death.”

… and true Man

“Jesus was a man like all others. He was like all the other men, and yet He was the Son of God,” the Chief Apostle continued. “How are we supposed to understand that?”

• Jesus is the new Adam: “… the man who has a good relationship with his God.”
• Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers: “He has given power to those who believe in Jesus to become children of God.”

And that means, the Chief Apostle said, that as children of God we are to become like God. “More specifically this means to be like Jesus Christ was, and to have the same relationship with God as Jesus Christ.”

The image as an ideal

“What was so peculiar about the fact that the Son of God was on earth?” was the question regarding the guiding principle. And: “What should distinguish us?”

• The clear awareness of His divine sonship. “As children of God we know that we are on the path that leads to the Father. This awareness must live in us every day, in every situation in our lives. We know that things will not remain as they are. This is merely a stage, and we are on our way to the Father.”
• The close connection to our heavenly Father. “We must to listen to Him, we must speak with Him, because we want to get to know Him better.” For this we need the word from the Holy Spirit and an active prayer life.
• Our boundless trust in the Father. “I don’t understand anything at all any more. I am at my wits’ end. I am finished. This is all too much for me, but I trust in You, Father. I put everything into Your hands.”
• Our obedience towards the Father. “We have our own ideas, we have our own wishes—and that is fine. We are aware of all the offers in this world, and we also use them, but there is a limit: this is the will of God.”
• Our service to man: “We place ourselves at the service of our fellow human beings in order to serve God. Salvation is the Lord’s business, but we are at His service so that our fellow human beings can recognise the offer of grace.”

“This is not something that I came up with. It comes from Paul,” the Chief Apostle said at the end of his sermon. “God sent His Son. He was a Man on this earth, but He was also the Son of God. We are to become like Him because we are children of God. I think that is a wonderful mission.”