Really, what do you think the Father is like?

[donkeesee]

I have some thoughts, but would like to read more.

Jesus has just said (see John 13 and 14)that He is the only way to the Father. Philip, as we do, has a drive to know God the Father. He asks Jesus to show him the Father. But he hasn't seen the truth that has been in front of him for years, that is, that Jesus is the outshining of the Father, the exact image of the Father's nature (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus asks Philip if he has been with Him all this time and doesn't yet know Him, for when one has seen Jesus, he has actually seen the Father. God the Father shines through Jesus, God the Son. The Son is just like Him. When we see the Son, we have seen the Father.

This is not generally the way many people see the Father. They see Him as different than Jesus, perhaps more harsh, perhaps more distant and more demanding. Less forgiving. Less like a good earthly father. But once and for all, Jesus clearly reveals the truth: the Father is like Him. The nature of the Father is not different from the nature of the Son. They are the same.

(More thoughts-- www.AllNations.Podomatic.com , and in the form of fiction--at http://www.ranlives.com)

John 14:7-9:
7: If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him.â€Â
8: Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.â€Â
9: Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father, and how do you say then, 'Show us the Father'?ââ‚Â

 

[JoJo]

This is not generally the way many people see the Father. They see Him as different than Jesus, perhaps more harsh, perhaps more distant and more demanding. Less forgiving. Less like a good earthly father. But once and for all, Jesus clearly reveals the truth: the Father is like Him. The nature of the Father is not different from the nature of the Son. They are the same.

Excellent point. I think our faulty views of the Father stem from a couple of things. Either A) we were raised in a church that consistently presented the Father as the Scary Mean Judge or, B) we were raised with earthly fathers that gave us a faulty view of fatherhood in general. And then there are people like me: I was raised by my mother and was left with a very vague view of fatherhood. I've had to learn about the Father's Fatherhood without the background of a clear understanding of what a good father is about.