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Print Page | Add To Favorites | Close Window | Send To A Friend | Save This Page FAQ # 168 QUESTION 168 : While
I can readily understand the idea of God (one person) loving me to such
an extent as to give his only begotten son (another person whom he loves
very much --who came from his own ‘substance’) - even though he eventually
got back his son in that he raised him from the dead (Gal 1:1), I find
it a bit difficult to see or appreciate the love, if what happened was
simply that God – Jesus Christ- who cannot die, appeared as though he
were a man, pretend to die and then tells us that ‘In this was manifest
the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten son
into the world, that we might live through him’ (1 John 4:9). A number
of texts seem to make a distinction between Jesus and “the father,” Example:
In the realm of Christendom
there have often been confusion as to the personage of Jesus and his relationship
that he has with the one He continually referred to as the ‘Father’. This
confusion is not unique to the scholars of this generation because even
the disciples were unclear as to the identity of Jesus in the days preceding
the crucifixion. In the days proceeding the
resurrection, however, all of those issues were clear to the Apostles.
This was so clearly epitomized when the last of the Apostles were to meet
him after the resurrection; look at Him, bowed before Him and declared
with finality, “My Lord and My God.” This is why when Jesus was
telling his disciples about the Father, hinted that the Apostles themselves
knew “the Father;” Phillip finally asked in frustration, “show us the
Father and it sufficieth us.” If the Apostles who were with
Jesus continually for 3 ½ years heard and saw him speak about and related
with the Father were confused about the Father’s identity, then it is
easy to see why today we also have problems identifying the Father when
we read about the life of Jesus. But Jesus love His disciples
and us so much, that he would not leave the earth with such an important
revelation unexplained. He knew he was about to die and wanted to comfort
his disciples and reassure them, so that when they go through the dramatic
experience of seeing their Lord crucified and killed, their faith in God
and belief in His word would not faint. In explaining his father’s
identity, Jesus began by first telling his disciples something unusual,
probably pretty disturbing to those who were closest to Him and felt that
they knew Him better than any one else in the world. He said, “If ye had
known me ye should have known my father also and from henceforth ye know
him and have seen him” (John 14:2); the implications are profound. How
could those that knew Jesus best not know who he was? This could only
be true if Jesus by all of his interactions both public and private never
clearly and precisely revealed the totality of his identity. In fact,
this is what Jesus flatly stated in John 16:25, “These things have I spoken
to you in proverbs, but the time cometh when I shall show you plainly
of the father.” What a marvelous truth!! The importance of this truth
cannot be understood, because it gives us a framework for understanding
who Jesus was and what he really meant all along when he spoke about the
father. Jesus is telling his disciples, I have not been speaking clearly.
I have been speaking figuratively and in parables. And Jesus also earlier
lets us know why he spoke in parables, “That seeing they may see, and
not understand: lest at any time they should be converted and their sins
should be forgiven them” (Mark 4:12). When Jesus finally let his
disciples know the meaning of the parable of the father, he was fulfilling
his Mark 4:11 declaration – “unto you it is given to know the mystery
of the kingdom of God, but unto them that are without, all of these things
are done in parables.” So we see that Jesus spoke
about the Father in parables for most of his ministry and did so in order
to keep the mystery of the kingdom and the revelation thereof for his
chosen people. In the end Jesus knew that he had to keep his identity
and his purpose on earth hidden from the people of the world and ultimately
from the god of this world. The Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 2:8 let us know
why. That is, if “the princes of this world knew: for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Indeed, Jesus
very salvation plan rested on keeping his identity and his purpose hidden. Since we know that Jesus spoke
of the Father in parables, let us see what Jesus did to explain the meaning
of this parable of the Father. Phillip came to him in John
16 and said in frustration, “show us the Father and it sufficieth us.”
Jesus answered back, so long have you been with me and you don’t know
ME. Phillip asked for a revelation about the person Jesus kept calling
the father and Jesus indirectly answered by saying that Phillip needed
a revelation about JESUS! Jesus was saying in no uncertain
terms that if you don’t know the identity of the one I refer to as the
Father, it’s because you don’t really understand the identity of the one
you see, walk with and talk with as Jesus. “When you have seen me you
have seen the father,” What a declaration and a revelation!! You see, when people are confused
about the identity of the Father, it’s because they don’t understand the
identity of the one called Jesus. They do not understand that when Isaiah
said his name shall be called, “the mighty God” and “the Everlasting Father,”
it’s because there has not been nor will there ever be another that can
be called our God and our Father. They do not understand that
the essence of God is spirit and that the spirit that lived in the body
of Jesus was God the spirit. Jesus was simply God in a body. They do not
understand that the same spirit that fills the universe as the father
can inhabit a body and be called the Son. They do not know why Paul in the book of Hebrews called the son,
the express image of the invisible God. They do not know why John had
to say no man hath seen God (the invisible spirit) at any time, but the
son hath declared, revealed or manifest Him to the world. If Phillip were to ask us
today to “shew him the father,” many would try to conjure up a manifestation
outside of Jesus – whether it be a voice from heaven, or a cloud – but
never Jesus. Many do not understand the mystery of 1 Tim 3:16 – that God
(the spirit) was manifested in the flesh and that God in the flesh being
was called the son. Many do not realize that Jesus was the fullness of
the Godhead (all deity) in a body. Probably a simply way to think
of it is to think of Jesus as Clark Kent who was always talking of superman
(the father) as if he were a separate person in order to disguise his
identity. Jesus spoke as Clark Kent, but when he wanted to, he flowed
in the power as superman. And, in Clark Kent’s style, He would always
give the glory to the father as Clark Kent gave the glory to superman. It is sad that we in Christendom
don’t really understand our God. When the spirit of God manifests Himself
as a cloud, a flame of fire, a voice of thunder, or an angelic being none
dares call him a separate being. But when the spirit of God manifested
himself on earth in a body, we automatically think that he must be a separate
person from Himself. The truth is, God the spirit can manifest Himself
in anyway he wants to mankind, because he is an all-powerful God able
to do anything at anytime. And whether he is in a body or out of a body
or in us, He is the selfsame spirit and the self same God that works all
things according to the counsel of his own will. We serve the all-sufficient
God whose name is JESUS. {Source: Paul Dean} Answer Notes: 1. Before his ascension he said, “Touch me not; for I
am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto
them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your
God” (John 20:17)? After his ascension he was called that God, “my Lord
and My God” (John 20:28) and Acts 7:59. Each time Christ spoke
from his humanity it was most often a reference to us. |
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