September
2, 2003
THE
WORD IS THE FATHER'S
"The
word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent
Me" (John 14:24, NKJV).
Jesus
was continually receiving from the Father that He might communicate
to us. Not for Himself, but for others, He lived and thought
and prayed. From hours spent with God He came morning by morning
to bring the light of heaven to men. "The Lord God has
given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how
to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens
Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned"
(Isaiah 50:4). "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" (John 14:11).
Jesus
continually referred to His relationship with the Father.
"I and My Father are one"
(John 10:30). "If I do not do the
works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though
you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know
and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him"
(John 10:37, 38).
Jesus
on a number of occasions stated, "He
who receives Me receives Him who sent Me" (Matthew
10:40; Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48; John 13:20). In addition Jesus
stated, "Most assuredly, I say
to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he
who receives Me receives Him who sent Me" (John
13:20). What a privilege it is to be a child of God and to
be one of His messengers. We can have the same relationship
with God that Jesus has, because of what Jesus has done for
us. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to
us the word of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19).
God the
Father desires the relationship with us that He has with Jesus.
It is God's purpose to bring us into that relationship, if
we will allow it. "He has made known to us his hidden
purpose - such was his will and pleasure determined beforehand
in Christ - to be put into effect when the time was ripe:
namely, that the universe, all in heaven and on earth, might
be brought into a unity in Christ" (Ephesians 1:9, 10).
God's purpose is that we all come into unity with Christ and
with God, the Father. As They are One, we are to be One with
Them, in Spirit, in unity and in truth.
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