Hewn from the Rock

Joseph Gisbey believes it is imperative for Christians to understand the world that Jesus stepped into to inspire faith today …

"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was but one I called him, Then I blessed him and multiplied him."

Isaiah 51:1-2

When you and I accepted the Jewish Rabbi Jesus as our Messiah, Lord and God we became part of another story. This story did not begin with the gospels or the ‘new testament’ but rather stretches back throughout eternity and one that connects us with a narrative of a God who has always looked to take a people out of a people, to display his power and love to a hurting world. This is seen so clearly by God’s act of grace and mercy when he spoke out to Abraham, minding his own business in Ur of the Chaldees. This voice turned his world upside down and set into motion a chain of events that would let the world know that God had not left alone. For centuries the Jewish people would stand out as those called to shine in the midst of a dark world. At times the light would flicker but ultimately the world would see the revelation of Yahweh through his dealings with this nomadic people. We have been quarried out of the same rock as Abraham and Sarah. We are part of a family with roots that go deep into the sands of time, and have been invited to the family banquet, adopted as full sons and daughters.

In 2007 I traveled to Cairo where friends from our church were working into various communities. I had been invited to visit a particular Christian community where a Coptic Church had been reaching out to the less fortunate amongst them. The origins of the Coptic Church date back, so it is believed, to the Mark of Mark’s Gospel and is full of rich and diverse tradition. This particular church had been built into a rock face and they were seeing some extraordinary miracles of healing and God touching His people. I have just recently come across a wonderful clip of the congregation worshiping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPhTEYqinVQ

We as the people of God have been quarried out of a rock that is ancient and strong, the same as that of Abraham and Sarah. To separate ourselves from our Jewish roots is to disconnect from the life giving sap that empowers our lives and witness. 

My firm belief is that it is imperative for us to understand the world that Jesus stepped into. It was a world of religious factions, apocalyptic aspirations and messianic fervor. To better understand the gospels we need to understand the land of Jesus, its customs, history, traditions and culture. I do not believe that Jesus came to start an institution, or a new religion. He came to initiate a movement of passion and power that would cover the globe like a flood. All that was lost in Eden was to be restored. People would be able to walk and talk with God again; the earth that had groaned and ached for so long would be released. Jesus came to show us how people could be infused with the very presence and glory of God.

Clearly Jesus was and is 100 per cent God, in human form. Colossians 1:15–16 says:

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”

However, Jesus was also fully human. In Philippians 2:6–8 it says that Jesus, ‘being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant’. God Almighty decided to shelve his divinity to show us what it would look like to be fully human, covered by and totally yielded to The Holy Spirit. Obviously, if we were to conclude that all the miracles, signs and wonders that Jesus did, he did as the son of God I would still be incredibly impressed, but I would not be provoked to be different, to reach for something more. However, when I begin to realize that Jesus showed us a new way to be human, I begin to hunger for the original purpose and intent that God had for us when He made us in his image.

God has given us the power and the promises to be people living in the way that Jesus lived and doing the things that he did. 2 Peter 1:4 says: ‘He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.’ We see this truth come into sharp focus as we see Jesus the Jewish Rabbi raising up followers, inspiring them by his words and actions to walk in his footsteps. My prayer is that we will hear the voice of the Spirit calling us to follow, to walk after him and believe that we too can be like Him.

Joseph Gisbey’s first book, Follow: Walking in the Dust of the Rabbi, is published this week on Thursday May 21. It is available to purchase in paperback and eBook for £9.99.