That I may Know Him

One of the greatest things that a believer has an open door to, is knowing Jesus personally and moreover intimately. The Apostle Peter exhorts us to, "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ..." (2 Peter 3:18)  The Amplified Bible says it this way, "But grow in grace (undeserved favor, spiritual strength) and recognition and knowledge and understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the Messiah). This is very important for all believers if we are to replicate the ministry of Jesus as revealed in the gospels, which we are called to do until Jesus returns. Look at the conversation that Jesus had with his disciples shortly before His departure from earth to return to heaven. 

"Jesus said to him, (Thomas) "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves." (John 14:6-11)

Christ is the way, the truth (reality) and the life concerning all aspects of the Father. To know Christ is to know the Father. By studying the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, we will see clearly that He perfectly reveals the Father in all matters. If Christians fail to believe this truth concerning Christ as the one who perfectly expresses the Father's will in all matters, they will continually be overshadowed with doubts which means they will always struggle with issues that are clearly the Father's will concerning things such as healing, deliverance, provision and so on. Although, Jesus, through His death, burial, resurrection, ascension and glorification, has already set people free, which is especially true for all believers, many will say, "I believe this" yet doubt neutralizes what they say they believe.

While the entire Bible reveals the Father, much of His will, nature, character, purpose and plan remained hidden or a mystery until the the advent of Christ in whom these were perfectly revealed. The Apostle Paul tells us, "In Him (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself." (Ephesians 1:7-9)

The writer of Hebrews states that Christ reveals the Father in all matters in this way, "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. (Hebrews 1:1-4)

Look closely at verse three, "Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person..." A more literal translation of this verse would read, "Jesus Christ is the radiance or exact reflection of the Father's glory as well as the exact representation and reproduction of the Father's nature and character." So, with this in mind, we must conclude that the Old Testament, as well as the Epistles, cannot be properly interpreted without a clear understanding of what Jesus both taught and demonstrated in His life and ministry. No one ever revealed the Father's will, nature, character, purpose and plan perfectly in every way until Jesus Christ.

Without having a clear understanding of the relationship that Jesus and the Father had, the faith to carry on His ministry will be nonexistent and believers will simply proclaim nothing more to the world than a lifeless, powerless religion. Not only this, but, believers will never have enough faith to act on this next verse, which belongs to every believer, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." (John 14:12) Notice, Jesus says, "...he who believes in Me..." Though He is addressing the apostles, He did not say that this only applied to them but, "he (anyone) who believes in Me." He tells us this but it is contingent on the early part concerning our full understanding of His relationship with the Father. Therefore, ""If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also...He who has seen Me has seen the Father."

I pray that you take some quiet time to consider these truths concerning Christ's relationship with the Father and how it is in Him that the will of the Father is perfectly revealed. Although some of these truths may be somewhat difficult for some to comprehend, do not lose heart. Jesus said, However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth..." (John 16:13) By leaning on the guidance of the Holy Spirit concerning these truths, the doubts that have kept you from living in a totally victorious life will begin to wane and faith with begin to rise. May the Holy Spirit be permitted to guide us all into all truth as we "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...