Tag Archives: God the Father

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

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“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  (John 14:6 ESV)

“Wow, Jesus! Why did you have to say those words? Now, following you puts me in a pickle! It puts me at odds with my coworkers and friends because your statement is just not politically correct or socially sensitive!” If we are to be honest with ourselves, that’s the statement that many Christians today would like to tell our Lord! In a world that insists upon moral inclusiveness and religious plurality, Jesus calls us to exclusiveness and singularity! He didn’t say he was ‘a’ way! He didn’t say he was ‘a’ truth! And he didn’t say he was ‘a’ life! The articles are not indefinite; they are definite! Jesus made the claim and if we are to truly follow him, we must echo the claim of his exclusive and unique status.

Now logically speaking, if Jesus is indeed, just a way and there are indeed other ways to get to the Father, then his suffering on the Cross was not necessary! If there are indeed, other ways, then his life, suffering, death, and resurrection were pointless! When I was young and one of my siblings would try to exercise parental authority over the rest of us, we would ask them: “Who died and left you in charge?” That’s the question the world is asking of Jesus! As the Pharisees asked him: “Who gave you this authority?” Well, the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:6-11: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (KJV) On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter preached in Acts 2:36: “Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (KJV) It’s uncomfortable and it puts us at odds with the current consciousness, but if we are to be true to our Lord, then we must be willing to, as the Hebrew writer says, “. . . go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.” (Heb. 13:13 KJV) We must remember, Jesus said: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38 KJV) If we are ashamed of him now before the world, he will be ashamed of us before the Heavenly Father.

Now there is another aspect of this statement of Jesus that I don’t think many of us have really thought about! Look at the metaphors Jesus used. First of all, he said “I am the way!” What is the way? The way is the means of access! The way is the route, road, or the pathway! The way is not the destination; the way is the means to get to the destination! Many of us have made Jesus the destination, but in his owns words, Jesus said: “I’m not the destination you’re trying to reach! I am the means. I am the access. I am the way to get you to your destination!” And what is the destination? The Father God! Jesus came, lived, died, and was resurrected so that we might have a means of access to God!  

When we really look at this, the meaning is profound! Jesus was saying to us: “Don’t stop at me! Keep going! I’m just the way! I’m just the access!” He said to his disciples in John 16:23, “In that day (the day when the Holy Spirit comes to take permanent residence within you) you will ask me nothing, but whatsoever you ask the Father in my name and He will give it to you!” Now that is profound! Jesus was saying that, through me, you have the same access to God the Father that I have!

That is, I believe, one of the greatest statements in all of Scripture! Jesus didn’t come to bring men a new religion; men already had plenty of religion! Jesus came to renew the way, the means, the access, the truth and the life that leads to the Father that had been broken and destroyed by sin at the Fall in the Garden of Eden! We look at the life of Jesus as a means of salvation; and it is! But more importantly, the life of Jesus was and is a model for us to study and imitate! Everything he did was an example for us! Most theologians and commentators say that when Jesus calmed the storm, by saying; “Peace be still,” he was using his divine power. That might have been so, but I believe that when Jesus was on earth in the flesh, he didn’t function primarily as Son of God, but rather as son of man! In other words, I believe that when Jesus was on earth, he did not use any of his Divine prerogatives or attributes, but rather functioned as a man fully empowered and led by the Holy Spirit! For if Jesus functioned on earth as Son of God, then the statement recorded in John 14:12 makes no sense. There, he said; “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (KJV) Therefore, I believe that when Jesus calmed the stormed, he wasn’t displaying his divinity, but rather he was showing his disciples and us, through parabolic action, how to calm the storms in our lives!

The bottom line is that when Jesus made the statement: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes unto the Father but by me.” Not only was he saying that he was the only way to the Father, he was encouraging us to see him, not as the end, but rather as the means to the end! He did not come to glorify himself; he came to glorify the Father! Therefore, by looking at and using his life as example, a model, or a blueprint and by being empowered by the same Spirit that was in him and having the mind of Christ, we can also fulfill the specific purpose for which we were created. Most people, even so-called Christians, think that life is all about them, but it’s not! Humanity was created to be the physical, visible and practical expression of the Spiritual God in the material world! Whatever God does in this world, God does it through human agency! Man was created to glorify God! And how do we glorify God? Perhaps the answer is found in high priestly prayer Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of his passion. Jesus said: “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” (John 17:4 ESV) We bring glory to God by completing our assignment! Our assignment is our life’s purpose; our reason for being! Jesus had a specific assignment and so do you and I and every person in the world! Whether it’s preaching the Gospel, or helping people discover their talents, gifts, and potential, or working at the bank, every work is a divine endeavor! Every work is a means by which God seeks expression through our human personality!

Yes! In the statement, Jesus was saying he was the only way to get to the Father, but he was also saying that he was the way, his teaching was the truth, and his life was the example of how we might truly live the abundant life here and now on earth!

How Does God Feed the Birds?

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bird feeding“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”   (Matthew 6:26 ESV)

Jesus spoke these words to encourage his listeners not to stress and worry about acquiring the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing and shelter. The logic of the statement is that if God feeds the birds that are of lesser value, then surely he will provide for the needs of people who are of more value to him. Well, I’ve always looked at this statement and went on to the next verses, but a few days ago, I stopped and wondered: “How does God feed the birds?”

The birds don’t plant neither harvest crops, nor do they store food in barns, yet God feeds them! But exactly how does he do it? Well for one thing, he certainly hasn’t program worms to crawl up into the birds’ nest! No! And God does not directly feed the birds with a Divine bird feeder! But what he has done is pre-programmed the birds with the instincts to feed themselves! Birds instinctively know how to fly about and spot worms crawling around on the ground and they instinctively know how to sky-dive for fish swimming near the surface of lakes and streams! Now, working with the logic of Jesus’ statement from the lessor to the greater: Surely if God has pre-programmed birds and other animals with the instinctive knowledge and skills necessary for their survival, how much more has he already placed within us everything we need for our survival?

I would like to suggest that our key to success in life is not in someone we need to meet or in something we need to attain. Whatever we need; we already have it! God created and designed us at birth with a certain set of attributes, skills, gifts, talents, and abilities that guarantee our success in life! What we need is already within us! All we need to do is bring it out what God has placed within and develop it! Therefore, the final and greatest frontier is not really outer-space; it is inner-space!

Our success is within us! But we need to understand that real success has nothing to do with having a lot of money, being famous, or even having the admiration of people. Real success is being the person we were created and designed to be! It’s not real success to be a successful lawyer (according to society’s standards of success), when in fact, you were really born to be a doctor! Real success is fully developing what God has placed within so that we might fully be the person he created us to be!

So the look up, take a hint from the birds and be encouraged! If God feeds the birds by giving them the instinctive qualities that guarantee their survival, how much more has he given us the basic skills, attributes, and abilities needed to be successful at being the person he has created us to be!

The “Real” Purpose of Prayer

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prayer bibleHave you ever wondered what God’s purpose was in instituting prayer? I mean, think about it! Surely God did not institute prayer and the practice of praying simply as a way for us to inform him of our needs! Jesus said in Matthew 5:6-7 “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (NIV)  And again in Matthew 6:31-32 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” (NIV)  Clearly we can see from these passages that the Lord already knows our needs, therefore, the real purpose of prayer is not just to inform him of our needs. Now you might ask at this point: If God already knows what we need before we ask, then why should we ask? Good question! I think he wants us to ask because our asking helps us to recognize and acknowledge our dependency upon him. By the way, there is so much more to prayer than just “asking” God to fulfill our needs!

So, if the real purpose of prayer is not just to ask God to supply our needs, to rescue us from trouble, to heal our bodies, or to take care of whatever is wrong in our lives, then what is the real purpose of prayer? I think the answer can be found in the model prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray. In the prayer we know as: “The Lord’s Prayer,” the answer is found in the first words. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, saying “Our Father.” The word “father” implies relationship and the primary way to establish and sustain any relationship is with communication. And in any relationship, real communication is never just one-way! Therefore, real prayer is not just us talking to God; real prayer is also God talking to us! A real prayer is a conversation with God and no conversation is a real conversation if just one person is doing all of the talking! Have you ever been in any type of relationship in which the other person always monopolized the conversation? That relationship probably did not last because no real relationship can exist under such conditions! And there is no real relationship if the only time (or every time) you hear from the other person; they are asking you for something!

Therefore, I would like to suggest that the real purpose of prayer is communication, communion, conversation and company-keeping with God! Real prayer is God talking to us and us talking to God! By the way, I inverted the order on purpose! Real prayer is always responsive! It is God who always speaks first! God speaks to us through his word (the Bible) and we, in turn talk back to God through prayer! Therefore, real prayer cannot be done apart from the word of God. Often the failure of many in praying, in addition to a lack of faith, can be traced back to an ignorance of and an ignoring of God’s word. It is useless to ask God for an answer that he has already given in his word! Much of what many ask; God has already given an answer in his word, but people ask because they are ignorant of his word! The result is frustration because often they are waiting on God to do something he has already done, but they don’t know that he’s already done it because they don’t read and study his word! By the way, when we don’t read and study his word, we are like the rude person we use to be friends with that always monopolized the conversation!  Remember? We stopped being their friend because they were so selfish and self-centered that they only wanted us to listen to them while at the same time they wouldn’t listen to us! Well, we want God to listen to us; but do we listen to God? When we talk to God in prayer, do we get up immediately after we’ve finished and go on about our business, not allowing him to say anything?

And then, the real purpose of prayer is really not to “change things” but rather it is to change us! I’ve often heard people say: “Prayer changes things!” But when you really think about, in most cases, it is not so much a case of prayer changing things as it is of prayer changing people and changed people changing things! Neither is the real purpose of prayer to change the mind of God, but rather it is to change our minds so that we might have the mind of God.

Therefore, since the real purpose of prayer is about communication, communion, conversation and company-keeping with God, let’s stop being rude to God! Let’s quit monopolizing the conversation and listen to what God has to say! Let’s take time to read and study his word! In doing so, we will find that many of the questions we might want to ask; he has already answered and much of what we seek; he has already given! Try this: The next time you pray; don’t ask God for anything! Just thank him for what he has already done! Treat him like you should treat a good friend! Have your Bible open and just tell him: “I just wanted to say: ‘Hello, and to have a good conversation with you because I really enjoy your company! By the way; how are you doing today? Amen!”