In John 14:9, Jesus told His followers, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
Now, God is Spirit, so we don’t have a physical image to look at to see what God is like, but Jesus, the second part of the Godhead, the Son of God, put on human flesh to display the characteristics, the mannerisms of God, the Father. He said that to see Him was to see the kind of Father that God is. So, to understand what God’s all about we can look at Jesus and the way He lived.
How did He approach people? The Word tells us He was full of grace and truth, John 1:14. God is full of grace and truth. He doesn’t sugar coat anything, but He isn’t harsh. He doesn’t throw His weight around just because He could. His nature is gracious. God isn’t interested in defining you by your failures but by the future that is yours in Christ. His focus is on our recovery. If you are a Child of God, you are in recovery. You are learning to recover God’s ideal for your life! What was broken by sin, becomes repaired through relationship with God and you begin to recover what God intended for you from the beginning. That’s worth shouting over right there, folks.
The fact that He is FULL of grace and truth means you don’t get grace one day, but no truth or truth on one day, but no grace. It means you don’t get partial truth, bits of the truth or shadows of the truth when you walk with God. It means that you don’t get truth without grace. It means truth and grace will both overflow into your life at the same time. The Truth helps us know what the path is supposed to look like. It gives us the target we are shooting for, and the grace takes the sting out of God’s discipline and empowers us to get back up when we fall.
Both of these characteristics help shape us into fruitful children of God. Grace is God’s unmerited favor. Grace is power to change. It is the opportunity for a new and fresh start every day. Both grace and truth flow from God’s perfect love. I John 4:8 tells us God is love. How do we see the love of God when we look at Jesus?
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:16-17
We see the generous and sacrificial nature of God the Father in the giving of Jesus to be the propitiation, the payment, for our sins. Through His sinless life and sacrificial death on the Cross, He put himself through what we should have endured because of our sin. Why because of God’s deep love for us. Sin separates us from God, but Jesus, God incarnate, became the bridge between us and God the Father. In love, God literally took our place and the condemnation and judgment that should have been leveled against us was placed on Him.
That’s a pretty amazing love. It’s deep, personal and costly. Jesus not only laid down His life for us, but He offers us His life. He is willing to make His home in us and to express His life through our lives. It is so next level that it is mind blowing. II Corinthians 5:17 tells us that when we are in Christ, we are made new. Our sin is forgiven. We have a clean slate with God, and we have a new life in Christ. We are no longer floundering through this life alone, but we are partnered with Christ, and His victory is our victory! Hallelujah! Our life is His life, and His life is ours.
God the Father wants to champion your life. What good parent wouldn’t want to see their children succeed? Like a proud parent in the stands at an athletic event or in the crowd at the Spelling Bee or the Dance Recital, He wants to root for you.
I love God the Father’s support of Jesus at His baptism. Scripture says that when Jesus was baptized, the Heavens were opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him to anoint Him for ministry, and God the Father, loud and proud declared from Heaven, “This is my Son! That’s my boy! In Him, I am well-pleased.” Such affirmation from His loving Heavenly Father. What an atta boy God the Father gave Jesus, His Son, at the beginning of His earthly ministry. Do you know that kind of affirmation today? Can you say God is your champion and cheerleader?
Have you encountered the deeply personal love of the Heavenly Father? Are you experiencing the full measure of the Father’s love in your life? Jesus has shown us what the Father is like, but don’t just take Jesus’ word for it. Experience the love of your perfect Heavenly Father for yourself. You can know for yourself what the Father is like.
