IF YOU'VE SEEN ME, YOU'VE SEEN THE FATHER

John 14:9-11
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake. (WEB)

What does our Heavenly Father look like? The obvious answer is... Jesus! I am not saying that Almighty God looks like a Jewish carpenter with long hair and a brown beard. I am saying that the very Spirit that Jesus lives in is the exact same Spirit of His Heavenly Father. Their hearts are one in everything that Jesus is and does.

There are many Scriptures that I could refer to that speak of Jesus' complete and utter dependence on His Father. John 5:19-20 is one of these passages where Jesus says "The Son can do nothing of Himself. He can only do what He sees His Father doing".  Jesus also said that He only spoke the words His Father was speaking and only did the things He saw His Father doing, etc.

It amazes me that so many people in the Christian faith still struggle with the role that their heavenly Father fills in their life. It is as if they see Him as a distant and angry judge whose intentions are in conflict with the intentions of His Son. This kind of theology paints a picture of Jesus pleading with His Father not to judge mankind and further distances people from nurturing an intimate relationship with their Abba.

The very idea that God would somehow look at us differently than Jesus does is the farthest thing from the truth. Both Father and Son are one in all that they do. It was the Father who so loved the world, that He sent His only Son into the world to save everyone who would believe on His name (John 3:16) It was the Son who obeyed His Father and became the once and for all sacrifice that made a way for everyone to be reconciled completely to God (2 Corinthians 5:19-20) through the cross.

My prayer today is that those who struggle to see God as the best loving Father in all the universe, would simply see Father God through the life of His Son. As Jesus told us in today's Bible reading... If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father!

Hebrews 1:1-3
1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (WEB)