Notes of Faith December 3, 2024
Like Father, Like Son
He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”?
John 14:9
We often hear the expression, “Like father, like son”—and similar expressions: “Like mother, like daughter,” “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” and “chip off the old block.” We know the meaning of all these proverbs: The traits and appearance of a mother or father are often replicated in their children. Traits are not perfectly passed on, but seeing parent and child together makes us think, “Oh, I’m not surprised!”
John 5:19-21
19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20 "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. 21 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.”
When it comes to Jesus and His Father, appearances are not passed on since “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). But as to traits, Jesus could say, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” And Paul wrote of Jesus, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9). The writer to the Hebrews said, “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God” (Hebrews 1:3, NLT). No wonder Jesus answered as He did when Philip said, “Show us the Father”!
Many people wonder what God is like. They don’t realize they can discover God’s character by discovering the Person of Jesus Christ.
God is One and in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit dwell all the character and attributes of God. It is easier for us, though we have not seen Jesus, to experience and understand God through the human life of Jesus as described in the gospels. We can know Him truly and fully through believing faith and obedience to the commands of God as given in His Word. The true Christian today has the very Spirit of God dwelling within him. We are His temple and as such a reflection of His character. May we live each day pleasing to the Father, through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in the power of the indwelling Spirit!
Pastor Dale