Randy and Katy Smelser

Americans living in Germany but citizens of heaven

A Word for Sunday

PazGedank12-14
Peine Newspaper 13 Dec. 2014

A Word for Sunday

God Snaps a Selfie

from
Randall Smelser
Preacher
Christusgemeinde Peine-Stederdorf


In the Peine Newspaper from 4 Dec. 2014 it was reported that over half of the Germans have taken a selfie but also that most people think that selfies are annoying. For those who do not know what it is: a selfie is a snapshot that you take of yourself using a smartphone or an other digital camera. Many people use them in a Social Network to show what they are doing, who they are with or where they are. Even celebrities and our Chancellor have taken selfies.


God too made a selfie. Of course, He does not snap a digital picture of Himself. But by Jesus coming to the earth in the flesh, God became visible. Jesus once said to His disciples: Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. (John 14:9 NIV)

In Jesus we see God, as He is, what He does and with whom He likes to be. Jesus showed the love of God by spending time with the normal people and finally by dying for mankind. Through “impossible” miracles Jesus showed God’s awesome power. In the way that Jesus dealt with the religious leaders, who misused their position of power, and the moneychangers in the temple, who He threw out, He showed God’s disgruntlement und sense of righteousness. In the tears of Jesus at the grave of a friend, we see God’s compassion and consolation. And through the birth of Jesus, we see the great self-discipline that God has. God willingly became small. When we consider the Baby in the manger, we see a picture of the almighty God. That is not just a baby but a Selfie.