I was blown away by this statement Dave Emmett one of the leaders in my church made while preaching:
"God has placed so much honour on Jesus that when someone accepts Jesus, they get the Father too."
That's crazy! Check out Matthew 10:40 where Jesus is talking to his disciples: “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me."
I've been thinking lots about the Father since I heard Dave's comment and the importance of us having a relationship with him as well as with Christ since Jesus said that no one can even come to him unless the Father draws them first (John 6:44). He also said that no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). I think that's pretty interesting. Why would the Father draw people to Jesus only to have Jesus lead them back to him? Why not just lead them straight to him? I think that at least in part it's because the Father wants to be introduced to us by the One who knows him best! So clearly Jesus is the best man for the job! (John 1:18 + John 6:46) I think it's vital for us to get that being in Christ is supposed to start us on a journey of relationship with the Father and if we focus solely on Jesus we can miss some of what he died to lead us into. Don't get me wrong, It's all about Jesus but he makes it clear that while he is God, he is not the Father.
Where does the Holy Spirit come in? His role as God is to make us more like Jesus right? So the Father draws us by his Spirit to Jesus. Our union with Christ in salvation and our cooperation with the Holy Spirit's work in our lives makes us more like Jesus. So what is he like? His relationship to the Father is essential to Jesus' identity. Jesus' relationship with his Father while on Earth is massively important for us if we are to understand the Holy Spirit's work in us. He'd always make room to spend time with him, he'd only do what he saw his Father doing, only say what he heard his Father saying and his communion with him was so close that when the Father spoke publicly biggin him up to everyone Jesus was actually able to say "This voice was for your benefit not mine." (John 12:30) He was so secure in his identity already because he'd already heard the inward affirmation of the Father's voice for years. Imagine being so solid in how God your Father feels about you that when he shouts from heaven "I'm behind this one!" you don't even blush!
Jesus is so secure in his relationship as a son that he happily brings in more sons and shares his inheritance! (Heb 2:11) I so would not have done that!! Imagine it! Jesus who sat on the throne of heaven with all power and glory being continually worshipped and adored put it all aside to come to Earth and be bound by time and space to suffer and die at the hands of people who would reject his outrageous love so that he could defeat death and tear down the walls of sin that separated God and Man so that he could offer people the right to live their lives inside his eternal life and so become sons of God as well sharing in all of his rights and privileges and sit on his throne?!?!? WHAT???!!! (John 1:9-13 says it's true!) As new sons (male and female) we therefore have a blueprint laid out by the model Son. The more we become like Jesus and the more he reveals himself to us in worship, the more time we want to spend with his Dad getting to know him because he just shows us what the Father is like (John 14:9)!
I believe there's a spiritual maturity that comes only from hearing the Father's voice to us as individuals. The Father's voice puts something in us that we can't get anywhere else! It gives us the power to become whatever he says about us because it's the same voice that formed the universe. When he spoke the words "Let there be light" there wasn't an awkward pause in heaven because God got it wrong and light didn't exist. It received its existence from his voice, just like we do. (that's why God can't lie, whatever he says becomes true haha) The Father's voice makes us more like Jesus because it was the Father's voice that formed Jesus' identity. When the Pharisees would try to make him prove his sonship, Jesus refused to perform for them. When satan tempted him in the wilderness to prove his sonship Jesus refused again. He had nothing to prove. Hearing the Father's voice internally keeps us from performing to meet the standards of others. Whatever he names us becomes who we are even if we weren't what he said 1 second before.
Holy Spirit, continually lead us to Jesus and his finished work on the cross that removed everything that could keep us out of relationship with the Father. Lord Jesus, thank you for opening the way to the Father where we can find healing for our hearts and the strength to walk as you did. Father we open our hearts to receive your love and your affirmation, to be named by you so that we can reject the labels of others.
Clearly I'm not the first or the only person to be talking about the God the Father at the moment. If this is a topic you'd like to read more about, here's a link to my friend Mark's blog where you'll find a ton of insight and revelation to help you on your journey. Enjoy!
http://lovedfreeandpowerful.com/
"God has placed so much honour on Jesus that when someone accepts Jesus, they get the Father too."
That's crazy! Check out Matthew 10:40 where Jesus is talking to his disciples: “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me."
I've been thinking lots about the Father since I heard Dave's comment and the importance of us having a relationship with him as well as with Christ since Jesus said that no one can even come to him unless the Father draws them first (John 6:44). He also said that no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). I think that's pretty interesting. Why would the Father draw people to Jesus only to have Jesus lead them back to him? Why not just lead them straight to him? I think that at least in part it's because the Father wants to be introduced to us by the One who knows him best! So clearly Jesus is the best man for the job! (John 1:18 + John 6:46) I think it's vital for us to get that being in Christ is supposed to start us on a journey of relationship with the Father and if we focus solely on Jesus we can miss some of what he died to lead us into. Don't get me wrong, It's all about Jesus but he makes it clear that while he is God, he is not the Father.
Where does the Holy Spirit come in? His role as God is to make us more like Jesus right? So the Father draws us by his Spirit to Jesus. Our union with Christ in salvation and our cooperation with the Holy Spirit's work in our lives makes us more like Jesus. So what is he like? His relationship to the Father is essential to Jesus' identity. Jesus' relationship with his Father while on Earth is massively important for us if we are to understand the Holy Spirit's work in us. He'd always make room to spend time with him, he'd only do what he saw his Father doing, only say what he heard his Father saying and his communion with him was so close that when the Father spoke publicly biggin him up to everyone Jesus was actually able to say "This voice was for your benefit not mine." (John 12:30) He was so secure in his identity already because he'd already heard the inward affirmation of the Father's voice for years. Imagine being so solid in how God your Father feels about you that when he shouts from heaven "I'm behind this one!" you don't even blush!
Jesus is so secure in his relationship as a son that he happily brings in more sons and shares his inheritance! (Heb 2:11) I so would not have done that!! Imagine it! Jesus who sat on the throne of heaven with all power and glory being continually worshipped and adored put it all aside to come to Earth and be bound by time and space to suffer and die at the hands of people who would reject his outrageous love so that he could defeat death and tear down the walls of sin that separated God and Man so that he could offer people the right to live their lives inside his eternal life and so become sons of God as well sharing in all of his rights and privileges and sit on his throne?!?!? WHAT???!!! (John 1:9-13 says it's true!) As new sons (male and female) we therefore have a blueprint laid out by the model Son. The more we become like Jesus and the more he reveals himself to us in worship, the more time we want to spend with his Dad getting to know him because he just shows us what the Father is like (John 14:9)!
I believe there's a spiritual maturity that comes only from hearing the Father's voice to us as individuals. The Father's voice puts something in us that we can't get anywhere else! It gives us the power to become whatever he says about us because it's the same voice that formed the universe. When he spoke the words "Let there be light" there wasn't an awkward pause in heaven because God got it wrong and light didn't exist. It received its existence from his voice, just like we do. (that's why God can't lie, whatever he says becomes true haha) The Father's voice makes us more like Jesus because it was the Father's voice that formed Jesus' identity. When the Pharisees would try to make him prove his sonship, Jesus refused to perform for them. When satan tempted him in the wilderness to prove his sonship Jesus refused again. He had nothing to prove. Hearing the Father's voice internally keeps us from performing to meet the standards of others. Whatever he names us becomes who we are even if we weren't what he said 1 second before.
Clearly I'm not the first or the only person to be talking about the God the Father at the moment. If this is a topic you'd like to read more about, here's a link to my friend Mark's blog where you'll find a ton of insight and revelation to help you on your journey. Enjoy!
http://lovedfreeandpowerful.com/
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