That’s a common saying isn’t it? A lot of the time it’s true to some extent, many of us have traits of our parents whether we want them or not, but we’re rarely exactly them. In the case of Jesus, it’s true that the Son is exactly like the Father. Colossians 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God”.
We’re in John 14 today so right away look at that first verse in our passage, John 14:1. “Let your hearts not be troubled”. Why? Jesus is trying to tell them that he and the Father are one. Believe in God, believe in me. I’m going to prepare a place for you in my Father’s house and then I will come back for you and take you to where I am”. Do you see that Jesus is saying “I’m Him” I am God. You can’t get to the Father except through me because he and I are one. Look at his statement there in verse 7, “If you know me you know the Father, and if you’ve seen me you’ve seen Him” again because he is the image of the invisible God.
So we need not be troubled, this was not just some man, some prophet walking the earth, this was God incarnate, with all the power, truth and life of God. In other words he’s saying you can trust me completely. God bless you if you could say that about your earthly father. So many people grew up with fathers who were absent or non-existent, maybe they were abusive, and as I saw so often as a counsellor, many grew up not knowing if their father really loved them or approved of them. That is such a great need in every human being and it’s why a relationship with our loving, forgiving Father in heaven is so important for so many.
You know dads, fatherhood is a role that I believe is God ordained, and every human is born with a need to find love and approval in their father’s eyes. Maybe that’s a reflection of the hole that’s in our souls that only God the Father can fill, yet he gives us an opportunity to be in essence, surrogate fathers while we have our children. Dad’s if you have never told your children you love them, or that you’re proud of them, you need to, and I have found out that it’s never too late. It doesn’t matter how old your kids are.
What does our heavenly Father say to us through Jesus? I love you and even though you have rebelled, and avoided me, I will always take you back. I am proud of you if you are in my son, because I am so proud and pleased with my son. Remember he said that this is my Son with whom I am well-pleased. Nothing makes a father happier than to see their son, or daughter, be obedient and successful in life, and this includes God as a Father. Not just a Father to Jesus, but to us as well. Scripture says that we are now children of God, heirs with Christ if we have put our lives in Christ. Think about that one, we are going to share everything that Jesus has.
But a good father doesn’t necessarily make it easy for their children. God literally put Jesus through hell, and most good fathers will discipline their children and give them rules and guidance, and let them experience some consequences of their disobedient behaviour. The bible says that God disciplines those he loves.
So in God we have this example of a good Father, and a good son. We can be both as well because of the instruction and example that God has given us. But the world sure wants to throw us off course, and it can be very difficult to be a biblical father or biblical child in our day.
The question becomes in the realm of parenting and being obedient children, do we stand up and be what God the Father tells us to be, or do we cave into the world’s pressures. More and more Christians are being asked to stand up for marriage, parenting, sexual purity, and so on, and we are only being somewhat successful. Is that because our trust in God might be a little shaky as the world turns up the heat on us?
So right after Jesus says if you have seen me you have seen the Father, in verse 8 Phillip asks Jesus to show them the Father. Was he not standing there when Jesus said if you’ve seen him you’ve seen the Father? But I think this question is one that we ourselves ask in different ways. We want to see the Father in all his power and glory, not as a humble man walking around the earth homeless. Jesus responds with some exasperation in verses 9 and 10, have I been with you so long and you still don’t know me. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?
How can you say show me the Father, if you have seen me you have seen the Father, like Father like Son. Now we get to it. Jesus says, I do not even speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Verse 11, now if you can’t believe that the Father is in me just because I say so, look at what I do, and then judge for yourself.
Oh Christians, do you see what Jesus is getting at there? Let’s continue, verse 12, Truly, Truly I say to you (that was Jesus way of saying listen up, this is important), whoever believes in me will do the works I do. Seriously Jesus? Yeah, and even greater works will he do because I am actually going to the Father. In fact, whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. Whoa!
Then in the rest of the chapter he essentially says over and over again that if you love me you will do what I say, and that’s when you will experience my Father and I in you. Do you see how this whole passage is comparing Jesus’ relationship with His Father, with our relationship with Jesus?
Jesus loved the Father and did everything He said. Everything he asked for from the Father he received. You might say well actually remember when Jesus asked in the garden if this cup could be taken away, that maybe he wouldn’t have to go through with the whole torture and crucifixion thing? But what was the bigger request? Jesus wanted to save mankind, he did not want any to perish, and that was the only way it could happen, and Jesus knew it and he conceded, and his big request was answered. But not my will Father, yours be done. I trust you that much.
Again there’s a picture there. How often do we know what God wants us to do, but we argue, plead, and often in the end don’t follow through? It tests our trust and our hearts. Jesus is showing us that even he didn’t really want to go through some of the things that are going to happen if you obey God, but even though going through it might be the most difficult thing you’ve ever endured, if you endure and stay faithful you can trust the end result. Remember it says in Hebrews 12 that for the joy set before him, he endured the cross and now he sits at the right hand of the Father. The cross wasn’t joyful, but he knew that the joy set before him lie on the other side of the cross. And he says pick up your cross and follow me, and you will get what I have.
So I need to clarify a couple things from that passage. First of all where it says whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. That word believe is very important. Christianity has thrown this word believe around a lot, and the truth is that even Satan and the demons believe in Jesus, but they certainly don’t do what Jesus did, or get their prayers answered, and they’re not saved.
No that word “believe” in the New Testament means to put in trust with. So it’s like when you put money in trust with someone, you are giving it to them to look after until a later time, you are trusting them to take care of your money. This word “believe” is the same as putting your life in trust with Jesus. So you are giving it to Him trusting him to take care of it. This is why I believe there are many in the church in our day who are not really saved. They were told you just need to believe that Jesus existed and died on the cross to forgive you. But many are never told that you actually have to put your life in His hands. That he actually purchased you and the church through his death as we read in Acts 20 and 1 Corinthians 6, and we must surrender to Him. That’s real repentance and there is no salvation without repentance.
There are many who believe intellectually in Jesus, but have never surrendered their lives to Him as Lord. And that is the only way you can become like him. What does the famous salvation passage say in Romans 10:9, Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord (not just savior but Lord and master), and believe (trust) with all your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. The implication of that is that you no longer own your life. He is Lord, and because he raised Jesus from the dead, you can trust that if you die to self you can live with Him and in Him. And if you are this surrendered you will do what Jesus did.
Secondly, what does it mean to ask in Jesus name? Is it just tacking that on the end of our prayers? Well let me ask you. Have all your prayers been answered that you said “in Jesus name” at the end of? No. So what does it mean?
Well let’s do another little word study. That word “name” means the following: authority or character; everything for which the name covers, everything the thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing or remembering the name. For example one’s rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellences and deeds.
So it really has nothing to do with what we say during or at the end of our prayer. There’s nothing wrong with saying in Jesus’ name, but are we really in Jesus name when we pray? What it really has to do with is, are we as people in Jesus character and authority when we pray. Are we being completely loving and forgiving. Are we being completely obedient and selfless? Are we being everything that the name of Jesus brings to our mind? So what he’s really saying is, “I will answer anything you ask, if you are in my character and under my authority”. That puts a whole different slant to it doesn’t it and maybe explains why we don’t see all our prayers answered.
In other words he’s saying if you are like me, like father like son. You will do what I did, and even greater things than I did. If you are in me and I in you like I was with my Father, nothing is impossible for you. However, that means that you will have the same desires as me, the same will as me, your goal will be to be completely in the will of God and completely under His authority to the point that you will even speak what I speak. And of course he makes it clear that this will be through the helper that God will send, the Holy Spirit. You can’t just pretend under your own power, he has to transform you through the Spirit.
Remember Luke 11 where Jesus says if you who are evil know how to give your children good gifts, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. There’s a thought. If everyday your child asked you if they could have cookies for dinner, would you give them what they asked for? What do we ask God for? Are we asking for the Holy Spirit to fill us and take over our lives?
The Christian life and the life and character of Jesus have to do with surrender, and yet this is often the thing that Christians do the least. Jesus surrendered all his rights, all his human will and desires to God. If you had a perfect father, you would surrender to him because you trust him to know better than you. Where did the saying “father knows best” come from? I bet it started with the Bible.
So because you trust completely in the Father and therefore in Jesus, you put your life in trust with Him and you do everything he tells you to do because there is no other Lord in your life and no one including yourself, that you trust as much as God.
I said earlier that Scripture tells us that Jesus is the very image of the invisible God the Father. Well it also says that we were created in God’s image. Obviously that got a little cloudy after the original sin. But salvation is designed to reconform us into His image. Romans 8:29, “For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.”
2 Cor 3:18 says, “We all with unveiled faces beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit”.
The best way to tell if someone is really a Christian is to see how over time they are becoming more like Jesus, like Father like Son. It’s easy to say you have faith, but James says show me your faith. It should be visible as you surrender more and more to your Lord.
So let me just say a little about discipleship, which is the ultimate purpose of the church according to Jesus. He discipled by example, as well as by teaching, and giving opportunities for his disciples to practice being like Him.
Father’s we can take his example and starting in our families, we can disciple our children by being like Jesus, as Jesus was like the Father, through surrendering to the Holy Spirit. We can teach and give opportunities to practice to our children. And in the church it’s no different. Disciples who are obedient followers of Jesus can disciple others through being like Christ, and teaching people about Christ. That is the biblical model of discipleship. Then we unleash those people to practice being like Christ and making disciples themselves.
That’s how church should be. Disciples being made in the church who then disciple others, and then as more and more people become like Christ, the church has a powerful witness and more come in to be disciples and the multiplication happens.
So here’s what I was asking myself all week and what I ask you today. Are you like your heavenly Father who showed himself in Jesus? Are you more like your earthly Father than your heavenly Father? On Father’s day we honor the fathers in our life and in our church, so shouldn’t we also be honoring our heavenly Father? Children honor your father and mother. There is no greater honor than imitation and obedience.
Father’s the more we commit to being in the will of Jesus and becoming like him, the more our wives can biblically submit to us being obedient to Scripture, and the more our children can honor and obey us. But we need to lead like Jesus in our family.
