Here, Paul is saying that one of the great gifts of Jesus is that, because God took on flesh and came to us as Jesus, we now have access to and an intimate knowledge of God. If we wonder what is on God’s heart, what is important to God, or how God would have us be, then we need look no further than Jesus. Despite our longing to be more like Jesus and to follow him more closely, sometimes that bar seems pretty high.
His ability to love the unlovable, to forgive the unforgivable, and to stand up for the indefensible seems way beyond my capacity much of the time. His challenge to look deeply at systems and structures that create inequality, to examine our own participation in the brokenness of the world, and to examine, acknowledge, and root out our own sin is daunting. But because of Jesus, we know what we are aiming for. We know who we want to model our own thoughts and behaviors after.
Offer a prayer of praise and ask the question, “Jesus, who would you have me be?”