Bruce Cooper

He Who Has Seen Me Has Seen the Father

John 14:8-9 NASB

“Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Do you ever wonder why God puts up with us? I do. Sometimes, actually most times, we are so far off track that it isn’t even funny. I marvel at God’s patience and the depth of His love.

Yet, even considering how thick headed we can be, one would have to be pretty dense to not see the extent to which God was willing to go, to bring us back to Himself.

Jesus, fulfilling the will of the Father, on the cross, for our sins, says it all.

There simply is no greater demonstration of love. There can be no greater illustration of He Who is Holy, giving of Himself, to redeem, we that are not, because of God’s love for us.

And how dare humanity trample that aside as if it means nothing.

And that is also why, there is no other name under heaven given to men, by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12) and that no man can come to the Father, except through Jesus (John 14:6).

And it doesn’t matter where I look in the Bible, starting at the beginning of Genesis right through to the very end of Revelation, there is continual repetition illustrating the difference between God, our Creator, who is Holy, and ourselves, His creation, who are not holy, and the need for us to understand, appreciate and value, the reality and benefits of trusting in and following God’s ways and thoughts, versus our own ways and thoughts. And God uses material realities to illustrate spiritual realities throughout, using that which we can see to help us see and understand that which we cannot see, much like God our Father sent us His Son Jesus, in the flesh, so that we might see and understand of the Father.

The Book of Hebrews even takes it a step further and spells it out for us, point by point. The author of Hebrews goes through a series of arguments showing how Judaism was a foreshadowing of Christ, how all the promises within Old Testament Judaism are fulfilled in Jesus, the Messiah. And each and every one of these points is significant, because they all point to the deficiencies or shortfalls of man’s way versus the completeness or fulfillment of God’s way, through Jesus, the Son.

And then, to further illustrate the absolute necessity of Jesus Christ, we have the numerous Scripture verses (Romans 5:12-21, 1 Corinthians 15:22,45 etc) that speak of Jesus as the Second or Last Adam. The first Adam being that which we are in and of ourselves, apart from God, after the fall and the Second Adam being that which we become, through our new birth of being born again, in our spirit, through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit in us, all of which is made possible through faith and trust in Jesus, with the resurrection of our new bodies to come. Adam in Eden, prior to the fall, restored.

I’m going to share a observation that I ran across a few years ago with you that was originally authored by J. Vermont McGee:

I can’t help but think (and I acknowledge that this is conjecture), that part of what has transpired, with Adam and Eve, in the fall, not to mention the previous revolt of Satan and one third of the angels in heaven joining that revolt, coupled with the restoration of all those who believe, through faith and trust in the accomplished work of the Last Adam (Jesus Christ), has something to do with us knowing the realities of the consequences of us following our own thoughts and ways versus coming to appreciate, value and love the reality of trusting in and following (obeying) the thoughts and ways of our Creator God, as exemplified and accomplished for us by Jesus, the Son, so that this never happens again.

I also take great comfort in knowing that when we are in the presence of God, after leaving behind these physical bodies that are prone to sin, that we shall know, even as we are known
(1 Corinthians 13:12).

John 14:8-9 NASB
“Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?“

Hebrews 1:3-4 NASB
“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.“

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!

 

 

 

 

 

7 comments

    • That makes two of us (thing of the past)! We’re doing OK for a couple of old folks. I was admiring the piles of flooring, I get tired just thinking about it! If you can survive renovations, you can survive anything! Blessings to you and yours Mandy!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. This might surprise people but we are late to the game. Before Creation God already had the plan for Jesus to die for sins. He already has the Idea of a Messiah, meaning He already knew of Davids throne and in fact it was his Idea.
    We have showed up late to the ball game. Some think Wow, Look at the solution God figured out to deal with sin. killing his son. isn’t that harsh. But God worked it all out in a huge master plan. He didn’t need our advice as to how it would work or if the sacrifice was to harsh or to much.
    And when the World is over and All things destroyed and his new Jerusalem on some Earth with no sea, He will still not need advice as to how things should end up.
    Some are wondering if God lost his play book and is running late. They wonder will he return. They question His ability or his faithfulness. I think God sees that lack of faith and understanding, Jibber Jabber. God has his plans. And they will happen.
    The question really is, Do we want to do it his way or be tossed into the fire for destruction, like a bad weed OR will will get on board, seek forgiveness for our contempt and sins and accept his forgiveness by the blood of the cross and his spirit and then do things his way.
    —
    I will give Philip a bit of slack. I don’t think they realized that God himself would come in flesh. I think they thought the Messiah was a Human filled with the spirit to guild Israel but they didn’t rap their head around the eternal nature of a single person sitting on the throne. They would have thought that a dynasty would take place. So Philip might have thought. Oh, he is the Messiah but then to say He is Almighty God who spans the heaven, How could that be. He never grasped the before Abraham was, I am or that Jesus was before the creation of mankind. He was already Lord but it really only matters if we ourselves accept him as Lord and saviour of our lives. Eternally He was always Lord, we just didn’t know it because we are late to the game.
    —
    May all blessing and Honour and Praise be to God thee almighty Maker of Heaven and earth and the Author of Eternal salvation to those who believe.

    Hebrews 5:9 King James Version (KJV)
    9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

    And for those not following Jesus now, Its not to late in the game yet to turn and follow him. But don’t delay, we do not make the schedule.

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