Father and Son

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.””
John 14:6-8 NLT

How many times have we looked at a man and a boy, perhaps playing together, kicking a ball around. And then we’re struck by the similarities between them. The same nose, or an identical laugh. Mannerisms that show those around them that they are related. An expression often applied to someone is that they are a “chip off the old block”, meaning that a man is behaving in a way similar to his father, or a woman to her mother. We of course, in these enlightened days, know all about genetics and hereditary factors and understand the process, well, the scientists think they do. Such parent/child similarities can be very positive but there are also negatives, in that a child can take on their parents’ bad characteristics as well. 

There are people who blame their proclivities to sin on their parents, or grandparents. And some Christians would perhaps feel relieved of personal responsibilities when they read Exodus 20:5, “You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me“. A generational curse can be used as an excuse. But if we dig deeper we find that this was a specific warning from God to the nation of Israel over idolatry and in any case, we know that sinful behaviour is dealt with through repentance. Blaming our parents for our sin is no excuse before God. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:21-24, “Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy”. 

Well, Jesus said that by knowing Him, His disciples would know His Father in Heaven. One distinction between Jesus and any other child is that there were no bad traits. There was no sin in Jesus that could then be attributed to Father God Himself. We of course know and believe that God is good. And that goodness was, and is, displayed through His Son Jesus. Everything Jesus did was 100% in line with His Father’s wishes, and God’s goodness and mercy was displayed everywhere Jesus went. In John 10:32, we read, “Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me”“? There were of course times when Jesus confronted and exposed the sinful attitudes and behaviour of some He encountered, particularly the Pharisees. But His anger with them was never sinful. 

We pilgrims are children of God. So, do we display the characteristics of our Heavenly Father? Would someone observing us see anything of God in us? Paul wrote, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering” (Romans 8:14-17). In 1 John 3:9 we read, “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God”. And a last word from Romans 8:29, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters”.

Do people know by the way we live and what we say and do, that we are children of God? And do they see Jesus, our elder Brother, in our family traits? Hmmm…

Father God. We do indeed call out “Abba, Father” because that is who You are. We praise You today. Amen.

Godly Claims

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Father and I are one.” Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?” They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.””
John 10:30-33 NLT

Jesus made the claim “the Father and I are one”. We believers know of course the truth in that, and the impact that this statement has on our faith. We know all about the Trinitarian God we worship, or we think we do. We struggle at times to describe how our God can exist in three persons, three very distinct but totally unified individuals with very different functions and personalities. But why are we surprised about our struggles? God is a Being infinitely more intelligent and far-reaching than we are. He is an infinite God that we, with finite minds, can never fully describe or appreciate. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God—but there is only one God. That is the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. It doesn’t help in our understanding that the word “Trinity” cannot be found in the Bible. But each member of the Trinity has different functions, and each can be defined, at least to a certain extent, by a detailed Bible study. In the end, though, we have to accept that we worship the only true God and leave things there.

Jesus made the truthful statement of His unity with Father God. The Jews listening to Him were incensed by what they perceived as blasphemy, which was punishable by death from stoning in those days. Their sensitivity was perhaps increased by tales of rulers in other lands making such a claim about being a god. And they knew about the pariahs who demanded that people bowed down to them, or to an effigy made to look like them. They could read about such a situation in the days of Daniel – “King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. … When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue” (Daniel 3:1, 5). There was a later story about Herod that Luke wrote about in Acts 12. “The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!” Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died” (Acts 12:22-23). People making godly claims generally come to a sticky end. And for those who claim that this was just a historical situation existing in an ancient society, look at the situation with the leaders in North Korea today. 

In 21st century Western cultures, if we asked the average man in the street about Jesus and His relationship to His Father, we would be fortunate to find anyone who knew anything about what we were asking. Most people would probably, if they were honest, admit to a belief in a “higher power”, something that is not unsurprising because God created everyone – Psalm 139:13, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb”. Within our “DNA” is something of God’s handiwork. But a knowledge of God and His Son Jesus would not be considered all that relevant today. But we pilgrims know better, and when Jesus said he was One with His Father, we feel the warmth emanating from that relationship. Rather than pick up stones to kill Him, we instead fall on our knees to worship Him. Our knowledge of Jesus and all that He did for us can never be replaced by a religion based wholly on the Law of Moses.

Dear God. Thank You for Your love and compassion. Amen.