See Christ and you See God

We’re exploring the topic “Knowing and Enjoying God,” complying with the Scriptural challenges listed in 2 Peter 1:2-4; Proverbs 9:10; Hosea 6:6,3; Jeremiah 9:23-24 and 1 Timothy 6:21, passages that we’ve written out in previous posts.

Summarizing these passages, God is saying to you and me, “I want you to know me. As you know me better, I’ll give you everything you need for living a truly good life, I’ll give you understanding that is supernatural and will even give you my own character. So, if you’re going to boast, boast about understanding and knowing me, then you will not have missed the most important thing in life – knowing Me.”

Our pursuit of knowing and enjoying God takes a different route now. John, chapter 14, speaks of Christ and God being one. If you know Christ, you know God. Consequently, let’s investigate what Christ says about Himself so that we can more clearly see the Father, knowing and enjoying Him better.

Consider the fourteenth chapter of John with me. John 14:1 Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. Jesus speaking here predicts adversity. The antidote is trust in God. Trust in Christ.
John 14: 2-4 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” Hope and security that Christ offers – a permanent home with the Father.

Thomas’s vulnerability and honesty are observed in verse 5. No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus responds to Thomas’s question in verse 6 . Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. That is certainly not a politically correct statement for our day. It is more acceptable to be all inclusive, “all roads lead to God.”

Even some theologians believe there is more than one way to God, but Jesus makes it clear that He is THE way to come to the Father. Let’s verify this bold statement of Christ with supporting scriptures.
Acts 4:11-12 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Hebrews 9:15, 24 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.
John 3:36 And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”
John 10:9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures
John 13:20 I tell you the truth, anyone who welcomes my messenger is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming the Father who sent me.”
Other supporting passages of Jesus being the way to God are: 1 John 2:1; John 5:24 John 6:40 Hebrews 10:19-20; John 11:25
One possible exception to “Christ being the only way” is observed in Romans 1:20 and 2:15 which indicates that God has placed an awareness of Himself in nature and in people’s hearts, “so that they are without excuse.” This writing is not to hammer out meanings of these two verses; however, taken in context with the “Jesus the only way” passages, coming to God through nature pales in significance to Jesus saying “I am the way.”

In tomorrows post we’ll begin with John 14:7 . If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”