Do You Know Him?

By David R. Ferguson "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him" (John 14:7 [MEV]).     Have you ever stopped to really consider the significance of these words stated by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Jesus was speaking to His Apostles who were asking Him to "...show us the Father...." (John 14:8) Jesus Christ told them, in essence, that they HAD seen the Father because they had seen Jesus! The Father and Son are One. Jesus told this to His followers in John 10:30 [MEV]: "My Father and I are One." They are One in the sense that they have the same purpose, which was to serve and redeem the lost souls of the world: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me. I am One Who bears witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me bears witness of Me.” (John 3:16-17 [MEV]; John 7:29 [MEV]; John 8:18 [MEV])     They are also One in their glory and willingness to share this glory with us: “I have given them the glory which You gave Me, that they may be one even as We are One: I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:22-23 [MEV])     They are One in that Jesus Christ was with the Father eternally: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM.” (John 1:1-3 [MEV]; Hebrews 13:8 [MEV]; John 8:58 [MEV])     Even though Jesus Christ was God, He willingly took on the form of a man to become Immanuel, God with us, the conduit through which we access the Father: “A virgin shall be with Child, and will bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is interpreted, “God with us.” Let this mind be in you all, which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. But He emptied Himself, taking upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the form of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a Cross. (Matthew 1:23 [MEV]; Philippians 2:5-8 [MEV])     May God bless you!

David R. Ferguson preaches for the Mentor Church of Christ in Mentor, OH.  He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://mentorchurchofchrist.com/ or davidferguson61@yahoo.com **