Getting to know Jesus is something we’re expected to do as Christ followers. What is Jesus like? How do you get to know Him? He’s not walking around on earth anymore, after all. One way to get to know Jesus is by studying his four-fold personality. Each of us can relate to one of the four styles of Jesus as revealed in Scripture. Take a journey with me through my next four posts, exploring the personality of Jesus. This post reveals Jesus as the Heart of God.
Ancient personality theory
There are four basic personality styles, and each person is a blend of all four styles. The styles are the Sanguine Heart, the Phlegmatic Soul, the Melancholy Mind, and the Choleric Strength. For most people, only one or two styles is very obvious. If you don’t know your personality, take this free assessment: Personality Key.
Jesus has a personality too. His personality is like ours but so, so much better. He is the only perfect person ever born, the most complete, well-rounded man. Jesus’ personality is revealed throughout the Bible, a perfect combination of the Heart of God, the Soul of God, the Mind of God and the Strength of God.
One of the oldest Scriptures revealing the four-fold personality of Jesus is Isaiah 9:6. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
The Wonderful Counselor is a title for the Mind of God. The Mighty God refers to the Strength of God. The Everlasting Father is another name for the Heart of God. And the Prince of Peace represents the Soul of God.
The Everlasting Father is a loving image of Jesus. A father is a family member, a relative. Jesus has the qualities of a parent who loves us no matter what, whose love for us will never wane. Our parents love us; faults and all. And that’s a good description of Jesus as the Heart of God. The Everlasting Father is the only name of Jesus in this passage which represents a family relationship.
We can picture Jesus as someone who optimistically loves all types of people, and who is loved by many. Because He is eternal or everlasting, He can be counted on to always be there to meet our needs. Let’s take a look at how Scripture paints a portrait of Jesus as the Everlasting Father, the Heart of God.
The Heart of God
Jesus loves all kinds of people, and He sees the potential in each of us. He’s optimistic in the extreme about our capabilities. Jesus didn’t love just beautiful, successful people. He loved down-and-out losers. He touched lepers, he dined with sinners, and he socialized with prostitutes. In Matthew 9:11, the religious rulers of the day saw the kind of people Jesus associated with and asked His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
People were attracted to Jesus. Even though Isaiah describes Him as having “no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,” and “nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2), great multitudes of people followed Jesus everywhere He went. His audiences filled the tiny homes. People sat on the window ledges and even came in through the roof to be near Him. Everywhere Jesus went, a party occurred. Sometimes, He even provided the food and wine.
In ancient days, family stories were handed down orally. It was the patriarch’s responsibility to pass the stories on, ensuring they were never lost. One of the roles of the Everlasting Father is to tell the family stories. Jesus did this when He shared His parables. He taught complicated precepts through simple parables, and people still retell His stories today.
Jesus enthusiastically said “yes” to every request from His Father and then He followed through with His commitments to completion. Jesus said in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” Jesus is the ultimate volunteer.
Jesus always saw the potential in people, and He sees the potential in us today. He is the ultimate optimist! In Mark 9:23 Jesus said, “Everything is possible for one who believes.”
Jesus is represented as the Son of Man in the gospel of Luke. This Gospel was written to illustrate how Jesus was the Son of Man, a complete human being just like us. The audience for this gospel was Gentiles, other than Romans, representing a varied cross-section of humanity. The genealogy of Jesus goes all the way back to Adam, the first man, in Luke. The focus on the humanity of Jesus shows Him involved with all kinds of different people including thieves, women, officials, the poor, the wealthy, and the lowest people in society. This Gospel is more international in flavor than the others, including many different races and nationalities of people.
A full account of the virgin birth is given for Jesus in Luke, as well as accounts of His life as a child. We see Jesus’s emotions displayed in Luke, for instance when He is in prayer and sweating drops of blood. Instead of commanding angels in Luke, we see angels coming to minister to Him. Luke reveals much about the human side of Jesus.
Luke, the writer of this gospel, was a physician, and a student of human nature. He would naturally be knowledgeable about aspects of human feelings and emotional needs, growth, and development. The characteristics of Christ presented in Luke’s Gospel include brotherly love, passion, friendship, companionship, and sympathy. Of all the creatures of the earth, only humankind has these loving traits.
The Gospel of Luke presents the image of Jesus as the Heart of God, pictured as a man.
Making Friends with Jesus
I can hardly wait to get to heaven and meet Jesus. I smile when I think of His optimism and His vision of what I can become. I can’t wait to listen to Him tell me a story. I love it that He will always be there for me, no matter what.
I don’t have to wait to die to get to know Jesus, however. I can know him now. In the Psalms it says, “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure” (Psalm 18:25-26). I might add about Jesus: to the loving friend you show yourself unconditionally loving, to the quiet and reflective, you show yourself introspective, to the decisive leader you show yourself a commanding presence, and to the liberal you show yourself the perfect judge.
It’s not that Jesus is changeable, but that He is complete. Each of us is created in the image of God. We each have some of the wonderful personality traits of Jesus. It’s like we each have a little slice of Jesus-Genius in us.
Did you find yourself attracted to some of the Heart of God traits above? Could you relate to some of them? We are naturally attracted to people who are like us. Those who relate best to the Heart of God are those who want to be loved, warts and all. People who have some of the same personality traits of the Heart of God might be more outgoing, fun loving, great storytellers, optimistic, and have high energy. We call this personality the Sanguine Heart.
[Tweet “Meet your new Best Friend in the gospel of Luke.”]
To begin to connect to your new best friend, read the Gospel of Luke. Underline any passages that really speak to you, that reveal this side of Jesus. Know that he understands you completely, he knows you like the back of his own hand. He knows what it feels to be in your skin. Spend time talking to your new best friend. This is called prayer. But don’t forget to stop talking once in a while and let him speak to you!
…because U count, deb