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[[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2009_06_09|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]]
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======Who is God? (6) God the Servant ...======


Tuesday, June 9, 2009. Who is God? The Christian God is a servant. The
serving attitude is one of the key features of God's character. God is 
someone who has a deep and strong sense of dedication, of solidarity, of
being there for others, of being someone who provides, who delivers, who
cares. God is the Lord by his power and timeless existence. But he is the
servant by his character and the way he is and has been ever since.

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The image of God as a servant is not widely clear to our social context today. 
That is surprising, in particular when we talk about the christian societies
in the west. We should know. But somehow this knowledge about the serving
God has not reached a clear conscience in our societies. Our ideas about God
are quite vague usually. We think about power, have films like Bruce Almighty. 
When we need to say who God might be we will first name him as creator and
ruler. And in fact he is. He has created everything and he rules. But his
heart, his character, his will, his goals, his purpose is to be a servant!

How do we get this view into the heart of God? God himself is showing his
heart. He is showing it in Jesus. The message of the New Testament is that
if we encounter Jesus, we meet God! Here, God is among humans as a human. 
God has become human in Jesus, first in the baby of Mary, then being the 
young adult, becoming the carpenter, being the missionary who talks and
heals, then giving the ultimate sacrifice at the cross to take the punishment
of the world, the penalty for everyone of us who have failed to live in the
spirit of the holy God. 

Jesus is showing service on every page throughout the New Testament. He is
the ultimate servant. His leadership is a leadership to service, to being there
for the others. He is called the head, but he is using it to teach us a new
style of living. He wants us to be driven by love. Caring for children is one
of the fields of exercise and a good image for service as Jesus wants us to
learn. We care for babies - they cannot do much. They need to be fed, need to
be cleaned, and they want activity all the time, someone who is there, talks
to them, cares for them and explores the world with them. The only thing they
can give back is a smile or signs of trust. Jesus wants us to be parents to
one another, to take up this type of care and dedication. Later, when children
are older, they start to develop their own will, their own ideas about where
they want to go. Then being parent changes. But the dedication will be 
necessary in the same depth, just in a different way!

The Christian God is a servant. God is this kind of parent himself. He is
caring, he is there every day for everyone of us. He wants to be the key basis
of our life and wants to fill us with his spirit - the spirit of service, of
love and dedication in regenerative creativity. Entering the kingdom of God 
is just great - because of the presence of this fantastic and truely holy spirit!
[R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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