The Father

“I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things” (John 8:28). When Christ ministered on earth, he enjoyed full access to the Father. He said, “I can do nothing on my own. I do only what the Father tells me and shows me” (also see John 5:19, 30). Moreover, Jesus didn’t have to slip away to prayer to obtain the Father’s mind. Of course, he prayed often and intensely, but that was about fellowship with the Father.

“Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:19-20). We are now living in “that day” Jesus speaks of; in short, we are to understand our heavenly position in Christ. Of course, most of us know our position in him — that we are seated with him in heavenly places — but only as a theological fact. We know it as an experience.

What does God look like? We know he is spirit and that he is invisible to us; in fact, the Word says, “No one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18).

Part of Jesus’ mission on earth was to reveal the heavenly Father to us. When Christ was about to return to heaven, he told his disciples that they knew where he was going and they knew the way. However, Thomas countered, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). In other words, “If you leave us, how will we ever get to the Father? You told us yourself that you’re the only way to him.”