Transcript I and The Father Are One - Knollwood Church of Christ

I and My Father
Are One
“I and My Father are One.”
{John 10:30}
Ecumenical Thinking
• Three major religions
– Jewish
– Christian
– Muslim
• We all worship the same God—we just
follow different paths.
• Different faiths; different doctrines; yet,
we will come out in the same place.
Jesus Only
• There is only ONE God.
• Manifested in three ways—
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
• The Bible speaks of ONE God—in
three distinct Persons.
• Physical sense—Father/Son
• Yet, two different people!
Cannot Separate Father/Son
• If one doesn’t believe in the Son, God’s
wrath is upon him.
– “He who believes in the Son has
everlasting life; and he who does not
believe the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abides on him.” {John 3:36}
Cannot Separate Father/Son
• Those who do not believe in the Son
will die in their sins.
– “Therefore I said to you that you will die in
your sins; for if you do not believe that I
am He, you will die in your sins.”
{John 8:24}
Cannot Separate Father/Son
• We must believe in the Son; He is our
only access to the Father.
– “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me.’” {John 14:6}
Cannot Separate Father/Son
• Only one name ever given for
salvation—that given by the Father to
the Son.
– “Nor is there salvation in any other, for
there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved.”
{Acts 4:12}
What About John 14:28?
• Some think that they have found a hole
in the equal argument:
– “You have heard Me say to you, 'I am
going away and coming back to you.' If
you loved Me, you would rejoice because I
said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My
Father is greater than I.” {John 14:28}
Can We Understand…
• The President and I are one.
• Is this a correct statement?
– “And He has made from one blood every
nation of men to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and has determined their
preappointed times and the boundaries of
their dwellings.” {Acts 17:26}
Can We Understand…
• The president and I are equal.
• Is this statement correct?
– “And if you call on the Father, who without
partiality judges according to each one's
work, conduct yourselves throughout the
time of your stay here in fear.”
{1 Peter 1:17}
Can We Understand…
• Husband and wife are one.
• Is this statement correct?
– “So then, they are no longer two but one
flesh. Therefore what God has joined
together, let not man separate.”
{Matthew 19:6}
Can We Understand…
• Husband and wife are equal.
• Is this statement correct?
– “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus.” {Galatians 3:28}
Can We Understand…
• The husband is head of the wife.
• Is this statement correct?
– “For the husband is head of the wife, as
also Christ is head of the church; and He
is the Savior of the body.”
{Ephesians 5:23}
Can We Understand…
• Paul and Apollos were one.
• Is this statement correct?
– “Now he who plants and he who waters
are one, and each one will receive his own
reward according to his own labor.”
{1 Corinthians 3:8}
Can We Understand…
• Paul and Apollos were equal.
• Is this statement correct?
– “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female; for you are all one in Christ
Jesus.” {Galatians 3:28}
Can We Understand…
• Paul was greater than Apollos.
• Is this statement correct?
– “For I consider that I am not at all inferior
to the most eminent apostles.”
{2 Corinthians 11:5}
Line of Authority…
• Even in the spiritual sense, there is a
line of authority.
• Is this statement correct?
– “But I want you to know that the head of
every man is Christ, the head of woman is
man, and the head of Christ is God.”
{1 Corinthians 11:3}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Action
– “But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been
working until now, and I have been working.
Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him,
because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also
said that God was His Father, making Himself equal
with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them,
‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do
nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do;
for whatever He does, the Son also does in like
manner.” {John 5:17-19}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Power
– “For as the Father raises the dead and
gives life to them, even so the Son gives
life to whom He will.” {John 5:21}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Judgment
– “For the Father judges no one, but has
committed all judgment to the Son... and
has given Him authority to execute
judgment also, because He is the Son of
Man.” {John 5:22,27}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Honor
– “That all should honor the Son just as they
honor the Father. He who does not honor
the Son does not honor the Father who
sent Him.” {John 5:23}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Reconciliation
– “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who
hears My word and believes in Him who
sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not
come into judgment, but has passed from
death into life... For as the Father has life
in Himself, so He has granted the Son to
have life in Himself.” {John 5:24,26}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Business and will
– “For I have come down from heaven, not
to do My own will, but the will of Him who
sent Me. This is the will of the Father who
sent Me, that of all He has given Me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up
at the last day.” {John 6:38,39}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Word
– “He who rejects Me, and does not receive
My words, has that which judges him--the
word that I have spoken will judge him in
the last day. For I have not spoken on My
own authority; but the Father who sent Me
gave Me a command, what I should say
and what I should speak.” {John 12:48,49}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Fellowship
– “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who
receives whomever I send receives Me;
and he who receives Me receives Him who
sent Me.” {John 13:20}
– “That which we have seen and heard we
declare to you, that you also may have
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son Jesus
Christ.” {1 John 1:3}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Rejection
– “He who hates Me hates My Father also.”
{John 15:23}
– “Whoever denies the Son does not have
the Father either; he who acknowledges
the Son has the Father also.” {1 John 2:23}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Knowledge
– “Then they said to Him, ‘Where is Your
Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know
neither Me nor My Father. If you had
known Me, you would have known My
Father also.’” {John 8:19}
– “If you had known Me, you would have
known My Father also; and from now on
you know Him and have seen Him.”
{John 14:7}
Father and Son Equal in:
• Eternal Life
– “And this is eternal life, that they may
know You, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom You have sent.” {John 17:3}
– “And this is the testimony: that God has
given us eternal life, and this life is in His
Son. He who has the Son has life; he who
does not have the Son of God does not
have life.” {1 John 5:11,12}
We Know…
• Keep the Commandments
– “Now by this we know that we know Him, if
we keep His commandments. He who
says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is
not in him. But whoever keeps His word,
truly the love of God is perfected in him.
By this we know that we are in Him.”
{1 John 2:3-5}
Concluding Thoughts
• What is your attitude toward this
relationship?
• Are you a sunshine Christian?
– When all is well, you’re with Him.
– He can’t really count on you.
– If someone offends or hurts you, you do not
continue to walk with the Lord?