See Jesus, See the God the Father

Jesus had an interesting conversation with Philip in John 14.

Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. (John 14:8-11)

Philip desires to see God the Father. Jesus essentially says, “Here He is! He’s standing right in front of you.” (vs. 9) This was a startling revelation to Philip who, based on the context, was obviously looking elsewhere for the Father.

Jesus further confirms that when He speaks, God speaks. (vs. 10) So Jesus’ words are the very words of God which bring about the works of God. This is because Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him. This emphasizes the close relationship between the Son and the Father, similar to that referred to in the previous lesson in this series.

For this reason, Philip should believe that Jesus and the Father are one in the same based on the confession of Jesus Himself. (vs. 11) Otherwise, Philip should at least believe “for the very works’ sake.” Philip, nor anyone else, could argue against the works performed by Jesus being the work of God, due to their miraculous nature and the power displayed.

This passage is just one example of Jesus attributing deity to Himself. There are scholars who state that Jesus never claimed to be God, but they do this only by discounting Jesus’ own words. On the contrary, Jesus said it and we need to accept it.

Smoke and Mirrors Exposition

I am sensitive to politicians who misuse Scripture. (Please note that a lot of politicians do this, regardless of political affiliation.  I fault any who do this, regardless of what letter they have after their name.)  Today I read a news article where a presidential candidate used a verse inappropriately.  I’m going to call this particular error “Smoke and Mirrors Exposition” which I define as taking a verse out of context to support an issue in which the verse has no bearing on the issue at hand.  With this particular error, oftentimes the same issue supported by the politician is clearly condemned by other passages of Scripture. Continue reading

Ancient Rhino Surprises Scientists

A giant “Siberian unicorn” was previously thought to have lived over 350,000 years ago is now thought to have gone extinct around 29,000 years ago.  This means that they “may have roamed the Earth at the same time as humans”.  They could have just asked me and I could have told them that all land animals were created on the sixth day of creation, which means they did exist at the same time as humans who were also created on day six.
Although the scientists’ dating is still off, they are much closer to the timeframe of the Bible.

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How Christians Determine Truth

Keith Mascord, an Anglican pastor in Australia, wrote an opinion piece entitled “The Bible is the true prejudice in Christian opposition to marriage equality”.
When I read the title, my response was “Yes, that’s true.”  But he uses the article to argue that Christians basically need to get over the Bible’s opposition and just accept that same-sex marriage is okay.  After all, he argues, the Bible is full of ancient, outdated thinking which we need to just move beyond.  And science and experience has shown it to be full of misinformation.  Wow!  This is news to me.  The Bible has been around a long time and has been attacked and critiqued by many.  Yet it has survived.  The reason is that it is God’s Word.  It has been shown to be true time after time.  This sets it apart from every other religious text.

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