Day #68 - See Me, See the Father

The Presence - A Devotional for Living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder

“Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Photo by Arifur Rahman on Unsplash

Have you ever seen a celebrity impersonator? Were they convincing?

Or have you ever been mistaken for being a celebrity? It is amazing how one person can remind us of someone else or how our mind can trick us into thinking someone is the same. Now we have technology that can create fake images or videos of someone that look eerily real. If you couldn’t be with someone how would you send someone else in your place to show clearly who you are?

Well, God sent us Himself. The Father sent the Son and they are one. When the disciples of Jesus were hearing Jesus speak about his own identity, Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples, said to him, “Show us the Father.” The response of Jesus is powerful, “Anyone who sees me has seen the Father.”

What we see in the Father has to line up with what we see in Jesus. The God of the Old Testament is not different than the God of the New Testament. God the Father and God the Son are not at war with one another. Jesus came to be the clear picture for us of who the Father is. Jesus came to redeem all of mankind and bring us into God’s presence for relationship with him. Part of that mission was to show us who the Father truly is.

I’ve heard Bill Johnson says several times, “Anything you think you know about God, that you can't find in the person of Jesus, you have reason to question (1).” There is a lot of truth to that statement. We see God most clearly in the person of Jesus.

Jesus coming to us as the God-Man, reveals the Father’s heart to be near us. Jesus reveals the heart of the Father and the Father expresses his heart through the person of Jesus Christ.

When we begin to look at Jesus we see the heart of God towards us. What kind of person was Jesus as he walked the earth? If he was representing someone, how amazing would that person be that he was representing? He is no mere impersonator or representative of course, Jesus was God in the flesh. Jesus shows us our Heavenly Father and this should cause us to want to run to him as the source of all we need.

Father God, thank you for the gift of your son Jesus. Thank you for the revelation of Jesus Christ in history walking among us to show us who you are truly like. Sometimes I haven’t seen you how I should, but oh how I see you now! I don’t need to be afraid of you or pull back from your presence because I am learning to see you for who you are as revealed in your Son. In the name of Jesus, amen.

(1) https://sites.google.com/site/christianquotes2/home/projects