The Father.2

"No one knows who the Son of God is, except the Father in heaven; 

and no one can know who the Father is, except the Son; 
and those to whom the Son will reveal him. 

Until now you have not known him as I do; but I have come, sent from him to you." 

-Jesus

A Duty To Know

There is a nearly perfect icebreaker for small group discussions called "The Quaker Questions" that really help people get to know one another. The questions go like this:

1. Between the ages of 7-12 where did you live and how many siblings do you have?
2. During that same time period, what transportation did your family use?
3. Who were you personally closest to during that time period?
4. At what point in your life did God become more than a name for you?

The answer to the last question reveals the many ways God makes Himself known to people. Whether its a magnificent mountain view, an inspirational speaker, a brush with death, a terror in the night, an enlightened moment when the Word of God came alive, the vast majority have some point in life when an event happened that the only way to account for it was in seeing some aspect of God made real.

Jesus reproached people, especially those who considered themselves spiritual guides, for not perceiving the character and calling of God revealed in the Son of God.

Do people have, in fact, a duty to see God in Jesus? Could we see Him were He to visit this planet in physical form today? Would we be such that He would care to reveal himself? Who are those He would and could reveal Himself to?

Now, as then, it would of course be the childlike in heart, the truest, the least selfish. 

It would not be:

• the highest in the estimation of man or church
• those intent on knowing Jesus' history rather than knowing Jesus' heart 
• neither necessarily denominational or non-denominational churchman
• no one with so little of the mind of Christ as to imagine Him caring about stupid outside matters
• not the man who holds fast to his 'plans of salvation', systematic theology, or legalistic rules of righteousness
• not the one who refuses the leading of God's Spirit to take him to unfamiliar places
• those barren of soul who cannot receive the meaning and will of the Master because they will not do what the Master tells them

But it would be:

• those who are most like the Master in helping, healing and saving
• that do the Will of the Father
• that build their house on the Rock by daily putting His words into practice

The question today as then: "Are there enough like Him to know Him at once by the sound of His voice, by the look of His face?"

There are multitudes who would at once be taken by a false Christ fashioned after their fancy, and would at once reject the Lord as a poor impostor. One thing is certain: they who first recognized Him would be those that most loved righteousness and hated iniquity!

Let us be those people!

(adapted from The Knowing Of The Son, Unspoken Sermons III, George MacDonald)