Creator, Father, King #85

I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so.

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROM all walks of life saw Jesus during his earthly ministry. But very few fully understood his true nature or one of the main reasons for his mission while he was on earth.

Even his own disciples struggled to understand this. During the Last Supper, Jesus told Thomas, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him” (John 14:6-7).

His disciple Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!” (verses 8-9).

This, dear reader, is an amazing truth! For the last three days, we’ve been discussing how God has revealed himself to us through his holy Word, the Bible. But he also revealed himself to us through the incarnate Word—his Son.

What’s It Mean?

When Jesus descended to earth to be born in Bethlehem’s manger, the Second Person of the Trinity—God himself—incarnated into humanity. That’s the message the apostle John beautifully conveys in John 1:14: “The Word became human and made his home among us.”

Jesus did this, of course, to fulfill the Father’s eternal plan of redemption for lost sinners like us. But he also came to reveal the Father to us in ways that weren’t possible otherwise. As Jesus prayed in his High Priestly Prayer, “I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so” (today’s verse).

While he walked this earth, Jesus gave us a living, breathing example of what the Father is like. Colossians 1:15 says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” In Jesus’ incarnation, we see God’s unfathomably deep love for us in ways that wouldn’t have been feasible from a distance. In the Cross, we see God’s overwhelming mercy, grace, and forgiveness toward us. In the empty tomb, we see God’s breathless power over sin, death, and the cosmic forces of evil for our sake.

Praise God for revealing himself to us through his Son!

Now What?

Read the following Bible passages to see how the Father reveals himself through the Son: John 1:18; Philippians 2:6; Colossians 1:19-20; and Hebrews 1:3.

Did You Know?

Jesus said the only people who truly know the Father are “those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).