Doing and Saying What God Says and Does

One of the interesting things I have found in the bible is that Jesus is doing and saying the things which God says and does. The prophets in the Old Testament and the disciples in the New Testament present themselves as imperfect servants of God. They tell us that the message they are bringing is not their own, but comes from God.

Jesus also presents himself as God's servant, but tells us he obeys him absolutely and perfectly. But he also speaks with the same authority that we find only attributed to God in the bible. And the people listening to him say things like:

The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. [Mark chapter 1 verse 22]

After his resurrection and before he departs from his disciples to go back to his Father, Jesus says:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

This clearly shows the high place Jesus gives to himself. Since that time, millions of people have thought deeply about what Jesus was claiming, and have concluded that he really is as exalted as he claimed to be.

If he is himself God, if he really is in charge of the world and you and me, what should be our response to him?