2022-04-14 The Holy Union Of God

John 12:44  “Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me45  And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.

The sense of this passage is that, to believe on God the Father is to Believe on God the Son and to Believe on God the Son is to believe on God the Father, for they are one.  It is certainly true that our limited human mind can only superficially understand such a thing.  This is why our Lord also said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46); that is, one of the reasons He came into this present world was to strengthen us in “light” [greater understanding] of God.  Even His apostles were troubled by such a thing, for on the very night before He was crucified, “Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?  10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.  11  Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” (John 14:8-11).  This Holy Union is actually a Triune, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” (I John 5:7).  To be Triune is to be far more than just simply three that are in harmony or that works closely together.  The best that I can understand it; is that for functional purposes, God presents Himself as the Father which does certain things and the Son which does certain things and the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit that does certain things.  While each are Divine Persons, they are yet entirely unified in every respect.  The Presence and Sacrifice of the Son of God, to the enlightened Child of God, is a source of extraordinary strength and motivation to worship and serve the Lord our God.  In a sense that we can understand, Jesus Christ, illuminated His “born again” (John 3:1-8) Children with a personal and loving knowledge of God.  Paul calls it a constraining love (II Corinthians 5:14); a love that strongly draws and moves us forward in the Lord’s service.  Furthermore, Jesus Christ broke down the old barriers and opened a warm and tender and loving privilege of communication for us, whereby we can individually speak directly with God, right there at His Holy Throne (Hebrews 4:16)!  Thus, the Apostles “daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42)!  We should do likewise!