ICS Daily Devotions
Spiritual Emptiness Without God
John 14:7-11(NKJV) If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” 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. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
The world is suffering and the Church needs to be like the lifeboat to bring unbelievers onto the ship. We need to speak confidently about the gospel and the goodness of God with conviction. We have no excuse to claim that we do not know about the work of Jesus as New Testament believers. We have the full counsel of the Word and the Holy Spirit as our teacher.
We are aware that the Bible is the progressive revelation about God and the salvation plan. Prior to this passage, Jesus was assuring the people and the disciples about the eternal home in heaven where there are many rooms. Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us. It is our eternal home. We must not emphasize too much about this temporal home and the things that we have on this earth. It is meaningless and chasing after the wind.
V9. Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Philip uttered the cry of everyone, that is, to see the Father. There is a longing in the heart of everyone to know God. There is longing in the heart of every man though not everyone will know what it is exactly. This is the reason why many people go on a quest to satisfy the emptiness of their souls with material goods, the pursue of significance and religion. Nothing will be able to satisfy this emptiness and longing in the heart until God resides in it. The eyes of the disciples were not fully open to know and understand that Christ is the Messiah until the confession of Peter that He is the Christ who is the Son of the living God.
The people in this world might not be asking the same specific question like Philip but there is definitely a search for the meaning of life. There is still an emptiness in the heart of the people. There are many people who are lonely and spiritually lost. Therefore, let us remember to share the good news! We are able to witness the decline of Christianity in post Christian nations where most of it is reduced to traditions, rituals, liturgy with all its form but lack the life with God. Everything is done and practiced in the name of being relevant to the current era and acceptance or tolerance. This is the reason why we have witnessed the church compromising with the world with its values and principles.
Luke 19:10 (NKJV) For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
We need to realize that the reason Jesus came was for us to know Him, walk with Him and to make Him known by pointing to people the way back to God. That is the true meaning of life. We are to remember that Christ will come again. We are to remember that He has empowered and enabled us to live a godly life. We are to remember that we have a covenant with Him. We are to remember that He will come back like a thief in the night and we should busy ourselves with the work that He has entrusted us: the sharing of the gospel and the growth of the church which is His body and the bride. We are to remember the redemptive work of Christ and to live our lives to glorify Him as a witness in the world. We are to remember that He has given us a new life and a victorious life through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Sermon Series: He Came to Show us the Father
