If you haven’t already read the first post, please start there before reading this cuz I’m just gonna jump right into the continuation of my last post. This is an excerpt from an excellent book that you need to pickup called No Perfect People Allowed.

The question is – where does religious thought fit? In the category of preference or truth? Is saying, “I believe Muhammed” or “I believe in Jesus” the same as saying  “I like red” or “I like black”? Or is it more like saying “I believe Ford Pintos are reliable” or “I believe Hondas are reliable”? That is where the real question lies. My experience tells me that most people these days think religious belief is more like a preference thing – red or black – whichever makes you happy. And I will acknowledge that they are right – it is just a preference, if God has not revealed himself to our finite, fallible world. But what if God took the initiative to show up? That would take away a lot of our subjective opinion.

“Don’t all religions basically say the same thing?”

I can affirm that all religions do agree on some things. But the more important question is not whether one religion or another is the right one. The more fundamental question is, “Who is God?” Has God revealed Himself clearly so we can know what he’s really like? The human dilemma is we can’t find God on our own. The eternal Maker exists beyond the limits of time and space. We cannot know much more beyond a blind guess of what the hidden Creator is like, unless he chooses to show up – to reveal himself in a way we can understand in our finite, limited existence. That’s the only way out of this dilemma.

Flatland Example

Just pretend you’re the Creator for a minute. Imagine if you as a three-dimensional creator created a two-dimensional world. I know we exist in four dimensions (length, width, depth, time) but for the sake of simplicity let’s just say three. So these two-dimensional people can move forward, backward, left and right, but they have no comprehension of up or down. You can watch their every move from above, but they can’t even comprehend you as a 3-D Creator ‘above’ watching in. You can do miracles in their world – your finger can appear and disappear. They can’t imagine where your finger came from or where it went. Now, you could remain completely hidden, and they couldn’t even comprehend your existence in another dimension.

But what if you wanted to relate? If you wanted them to understand you – even love you? You would have to take the initiative to reveal yourself in 2-D descriptions, or in a form they could comprehend – because they cannot possibly ‘see’ you unless you pull them out of their two-dimensional world ‘up’ into your 3-D world. But you could penetrate their 2-D plane of existence, you could help them see, not all of your 3-D splendor, but as much as is flatly possible for them to understand in two dimensions.

This example is to say that the point of Jesus is God appearing in a 3-dimensional ‘slice’ of time and space. Not that Jesus revealed everything about the God who is Spirit, who exists beyond time and space. But he revealed all that limited, finite, 3-D creatures can comprehend. This analogy helps me understand this mystery of God as Father, Son, and Spirit – three persons yet one God. The Trinity of God is describing a being not bound by time and space in a 3-D language.

But how do you know Jesus is the 3-D ‘slice’ of God?

As you scan the horizon of human history and read the sacred texts of the world’s religions, asking the all-important questions, “Who is God, and has God revealed himself clearly?” one name stands out above the rest. Only one man has ever made such a claim and done anything by which history would even consider its viability: Jesus.