Topic: Jesus Shared His Father’s Glory [Thursday March 22, 2018]
John 5:18, “Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”
Text: John 5:16-27
When the Jewish authorities heard Jesus call God “my (own) Father”, they immediately understood that Jesus claimed for Himself deity in the highest possible sense of that term. That claim was either blasphemy, to be punished by death, or else Jesus was who He claimed to be.
Jesus never associated Himself with His disciples by using the plural pronoun “our” Father. Rather, He always used the singular “my” Father, since His relationship was unique and eternal, whereas theirs was by grace and regeneration.
We should ponder carefully our Lord’s own conception of who He was. He said “I am from above” (Jn. 8:23); “Before Abraham was, I AM” (Jn. 8:58); “I and my Father are one” (Jn. 10:30); “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9); and “I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:16). He also declared His eternal pre-existence and that He shared the Father’s glory (Jn. 6:62; 17:5).
We can’t just honor Jesus, but we have to honor Him “even as” (in like manner or the same way) we honor the Father. This is what separates true Christianity from the religions of the world. Most religions honor Jesus as a great man (examples: Islam, Unification Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.), but they are violently opposed to making Jesus equal with Almighty God (1 Jn. 2:23). The names and titles given to Jesus in John’s gospel clearly present Jesus as being equal with God. He is all you need Him to be.
This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).
