I believe in God

From all eternity, God spoke one word which said all He had to say. It was not a human word, and therefore it was not limited. The word God spoke is God. "The Word was with God and the Word was God" (Jn 1, 1) John told us in the prologue to his gospel.

Spoken from eternity the Word brought about the beginning of time through creation, for “All things were made by Him and without Him nothing was made that had been made”. (Jn 1, 3)

After creation, God made his Word known in many ways and at many times through those he chose so people could come to know Him, the true God and to embrace the project He set in motion when He created everything that is in the heavens and on earth.

When the time was ripe enough and people were yearning for the promised Messiah, the Word of God became human without ever abandoning his divine nature. As a small baby, He was given the name Jesus, for He came as a saviour for all mankind. When He grew up He became a carpenter and He practised his trade until He started to dedicate Himself full-time to His Father’s work.

He was no ordinary man, but He lived like any other man and made Himself a model for humans who want to live in God's light. "I am the way and the truth and the life" Jesus said, inviting us to walk His way, to ask for His truth and to accept the gift of His life. He is the one to follow if we want to be truly human for Jesus of Nazareth is the only human being who is as God desired human beings to be when He created them.

God created us humans in his image and this was very good (Gen 1, 27.31). Therefore, it is a mistake to try to mould ourselves into an image that is not that of the true God as it is presented to us in Jesus. Such an image will not be a true image, and it will cause us trouble. Experience tells us that a false image of God will destroy our true humanity. Every time humans tried to ‘play god’ their eyes were opened and “they realized that they were naked!” (Gen 1, 7), totally unprotected.

Only God could clothe humans back to their full dignity, and He does this through His Son, Jesus of Nazareth.

Having this as a background, I profess that I believe in God.

I Believe in God when I fix my sight on Jesus as He is presented to us in the Gospels brought to us by the Christian community.

No one but a true and living God could have thought such a solution to the problems created by humanity. Humans have always spoken about divinities visiting earth taking the human form. None came to earth as Jesus did.

Born like any other child, He lived his childhood in his parents’ home behaving like any good son. For nearly 20 years we have no news of His doings. “We know him, he is one of us” people said when he started preaching and healing the sick.

He was killed like the worst criminal.

Fragile in his human flesh He resurrected from the dead and showed that He has the real power.

People want a god who fits their dreams. God presents us with a Son who is like us in everything so that we could live like Jesus did and accept our humanity and rejoice in it. “This is my son, follow Him, listen to Him”, God said. He does not ask us to work miracles or to be super-human. He asks us to be simply human and thus to be a true likeness of God like Jesus is.

I believe in God when I try to look at my fellow humans the way Jesus looks at me and at them, especially when I see him nailed to the cross.

I imagine God looking at humans he originally formed out of clay, as the creation story goes, and into them he breathed life and they became human. A great sculptor like Michelangelo used to look at a block of Carrara marble and his creator mind saw the work of art he wanted. He then chipped away the excess marble that was imprisoning his creature and he worked until it gained a life of its own. I have to confess that I am more deeply touched by his unfinished works for they speak of the artist rather than the work of art. Of course, God is by far a greater artist than Michelangelo, for God created us and all that ever existed or that will ever exist.

It is with love that a sculptor looks at the blank marble block and at his finished work. It is with love that God looks at us although we are still burdened with our sins, and it is with love that he encourages us to shed our excesses in order to become a better image of Him. We are God’s unfinished work.

God loves us. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends” (Jn 15, 13). This Jesus said. This is what He did.

Humans are so precious to Him.  They are creators like Him and they can be lovers like only He is, but on a smaller scale. However, they are sinners, like He is not. And He wants to clean each one of us like a loving mother cleans her children for He wants us to live our lives to the full.

God spoke the Word and the Word became human so we could see him, and model our lives according to him so we could be called and really be God’s beloved children.

I believe in God!