Jesus Reveals God to Us
ICS Daily Devotions
John 1:14,18 (NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
John 14:8-10 (NKJV) Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
God spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament, and Jesus proclaimed the truth of His oneness with the Heavenly Father. God has taken the initiative to reveal Himself to us through the life and ministry of Jesus in the New Testament. When we find it difficult to understand God’s way, we simply have to look at the life and ministry of Jesus because Jesus has declared God to us.
Jesus is the exact image of the Father—they are One. Jesus and the Heavenly Father were in absolute agreement during Jesus’s ministry on earth. Nothing that Jesus ever did or said was unaligned with the Father. There is nothing hidden; everything about God has been made known to us, including His will. He has revealed what He would and would not do for mankind. Therefore, we can know what God will or will not do by observing the life and ministry of Jesus.
Acts 10:38 (NKJV) how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
The above Scripture shows how the triune God was working as One. God the Father anointed His Son Jesus with the Holy Spirit. Jesus went about doing good and destroyed the devil’s work because God was with Him. The Bible reveals what the works of the devil and the works of God are. The devil kills, steals, and destroys. In contrast, Jesus wants us to have abundant life. Jesus had compassion for the sick, the lame, and the blind; He delivered the demon-oppressed and possessed; He healed the sick and fed the hungry. He told us not to worry about what we eat and where we live because He fed the birds and dressed the lilies in the field. Therefore, He will meet all our needs according to the glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
If Jesus healed the sick, that means God heals. If Jesus delivered the oppressed, that means God sets captives free. If Jesus fed the hungry, that means God provides. If Jesus wept at a grave, that means God cares.
Trust and faith in God develop because God takes the initiative to reveal Himself to us. It removes all doubt, unbelief, and scepticism in us.
Reflection: When you study the ministry of Jesus, how does it challenge your view of God? How does knowing that Jesus and God the Father are one reshape your understanding of God?
Sermon Series： Agreeing with the Word of God
