Tuesday, May 02, 2006
THE EXCLUSIVITY OF CHRIST
V27. "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Here Jesus gives commentary on His doxology found in verse 25. He now turns to the crowd and explains the election of God before He gives an open invitation in verses 29-30.
"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father is a bold statement in that Jesus is claiming co-equality with God by calling Him, “My Father.” All things would have to include the miracles performed that obviously obtained their power from outside the physical realm. Jesus power had its origination in the Father as He plainly states.
No one knows the Son, except the Father is the bridge that spans heaven and earth. There is a direct line of communion so perfect between the Son and Father that man cannot comprehend. Divinity is something arbitrary to man; he can understand the concept but will never have a perfect understanding because he can only see God by looking at Jesus. Man’s dilemma is the sin factor; his nature. Because of this nature he cannot fully grasp the magnitude of grace and redemption we have through the Son.
And the contrary is also true; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son. A relationship from eternity past has existed within the Godhead that could not be known to man unless God was willing to forfeit His privacy to let man in on His existence. John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was in the beginning with God. 3. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Our needs, as sinners, are known to God alone. We may play our little charades and fool those around us but we cannot fool the omniscient God. Our thoughts are laid bare to His eyes and our motives seeking to glorify ourselves will not escape His understanding.
Nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. This statement is Jesus’ claim to be the sole mediator of the knowledge of God. This is not saying that He is stingy or reluctant to reveal the Father but, from start to finish, salvation is based on sovereign grace. Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Calvin writes, “The passage may be thus summed up: First, it is the gift of the Father, that the Son is known, because by His Spirit He opens the eyes of our mind to discern the glory of Christ, which otherwise would have been hidden from us. Secondly, the Father, who dwells in inaccessible light, and is in Himself incomprehensible, is revealed to us by the Son, because He is the lively image of Him, so that it is in vain to seek for Him elsewhere. And, Martin Luther has said, “Here the bottom falls out of all merit, all powers and abilities of reason or the free will men dream of, and it all counts nothing before God. Christ must do and give everything.”
Here Jesus gives commentary on His doxology found in verse 25. He now turns to the crowd and explains the election of God before He gives an open invitation in verses 29-30.
"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father is a bold statement in that Jesus is claiming co-equality with God by calling Him, “My Father.” All things would have to include the miracles performed that obviously obtained their power from outside the physical realm. Jesus power had its origination in the Father as He plainly states.
No one knows the Son, except the Father is the bridge that spans heaven and earth. There is a direct line of communion so perfect between the Son and Father that man cannot comprehend. Divinity is something arbitrary to man; he can understand the concept but will never have a perfect understanding because he can only see God by looking at Jesus. Man’s dilemma is the sin factor; his nature. Because of this nature he cannot fully grasp the magnitude of grace and redemption we have through the Son.
And the contrary is also true; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son. A relationship from eternity past has existed within the Godhead that could not be known to man unless God was willing to forfeit His privacy to let man in on His existence. John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. He was in the beginning with God. 3. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
Our needs, as sinners, are known to God alone. We may play our little charades and fool those around us but we cannot fool the omniscient God. Our thoughts are laid bare to His eyes and our motives seeking to glorify ourselves will not escape His understanding.
Nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. This statement is Jesus’ claim to be the sole mediator of the knowledge of God. This is not saying that He is stingy or reluctant to reveal the Father but, from start to finish, salvation is based on sovereign grace. Eph. 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Calvin writes, “The passage may be thus summed up: First, it is the gift of the Father, that the Son is known, because by His Spirit He opens the eyes of our mind to discern the glory of Christ, which otherwise would have been hidden from us. Secondly, the Father, who dwells in inaccessible light, and is in Himself incomprehensible, is revealed to us by the Son, because He is the lively image of Him, so that it is in vain to seek for Him elsewhere. And, Martin Luther has said, “Here the bottom falls out of all merit, all powers and abilities of reason or the free will men dream of, and it all counts nothing before God. Christ must do and give everything.”
# posted by Castusfumus : 3:40 PM
