Truth 04 · Session 2 of 4 · About 2 min
Who your Father is
One God, and He has shown you His face
Quiz at the end of this chapter.
One God, who came Himself. Whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father.
Read these first
Isaiah 9:6 · NRSVue
6For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon His shoulders, and He is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
John 14:8-9 · NRSVue
8Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." 9Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Colossians 2:9 · NRSVue
9For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
Hebrews 2:17 · NRSVue
17Therefore He had to become like His brothers and sisters in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people.
A few words on what they mean
Know what you believe
Who is the Father who adopted you? I want to be straight with you, because you will meet people who explain this differently, and you should know what you believe and why.
One God
There is one God. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Jesus called that the first of all the commandments (Mark 12:29). One God, with no distinctions in His eternal nature. Isaiah has Him say it in His own voice: "I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no god" (Isaiah 45:5).
That one God came Himself
That one God came Himself. Isaiah said the child to be born would be named "Mighty God, Everlasting Father". John says "the Word became flesh and lived among us" (John 1:14). Paul says that in Jesus "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily". All of it. Not a third. Paul calls it "the mystery of godliness" (1 Timothy 3:16), and the mystery is this: God has been revealed in flesh. When Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, Jesus answered: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." He did not say He could point you to Him. He said, you are looking at Him.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit
So Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not three persons. Father is God in relationship, the one who made you and bought you. Son is that same God come in flesh, conceived in Mary "from the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20), which is why the Spirit who overshadowed Mary is the Father of the child she bore; there are not two fathers. Holy Spirit is God at work as Spirit, the one now living in you. One God, who has shown Himself these ways. And His name, the name He gave when He came, is Jesus.
So who was Jesus praying to?
If Jesus is God, who was He praying to? Answer: Jesus was not God pretending to be a man. He was a real man. He got tired, He wept, He was tempted, He prayed "with loud cries and tears" (Hebrews 5:7), and He died. Hebrews says He "had to become like His brothers and sisters in every respect" (Hebrews 2:17). So when Jesus prayed, the man was praying, and the Spirit He prayed to was the same God who lived in Him and spoke through Him. That is not two Gods, and it is not two persons in a committee. It is one God, who really did become one of us, flesh and Spirit together.
Why it matters to you
Why does this matter? Because the same God who spoke to Moses, who walked in Galilee, is your Father. Everything He is, is yours to call on. And when you pray in the Name of Jesus, you are calling your Father by His Saving Name.
Reflection
In your own words, why could Jesus say 'Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.'?
Verse to memorise
For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
Colossians 2:9 · NRSVue
Say it until you can say it without looking.