Today’s verses remind me of those mazes in crossword puzzle books where you are to start at one side and draw a line through to the other. The challenge is avoiding the many deceptions and dead ends because there is only one way through to the other side.
Finding and knowing God is like that. Deceptions and dead
ends abound. Many religions and spiritual movements claim to be the way. Some
people even say that all of them lead to God, but this is not what God says. When
Philip, one of His disciples, asked how to know the way, Jesus said . . .
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
How could Jesus make this claim? It is because He
fulfilled an ancient prophecy . . .
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the
virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah
7:14, about 700-740 B.C.)
But as (Joseph) considered these things, behold, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear
to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy
Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will
save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord
had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew
1:20–23, 700 years later)
Incarnation is the way through the maze, the way to find God.
If anyone sees, finds, knows, accepts and believes in Jesus Christ, then they
have seen and found God. Here are the rest of Jesus’ words to Philip . . .
“If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show
us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with
you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen
the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am
in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak
on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of
the works themselves. (John 14:7–11)
Jesus made this remarkable claim many times. He could say
such things for God had promised to come and dwell among us, and He was the fulfillment
of that promise . . .
And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me,
believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who
sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me
may not remain in darkness. (John 12:44–46)
I’m sitting here thinking about this and letting Jesus’
claim grab hold and sink in. Christians believe it, but we need to focus on it;
I need to focus on it. I need to let the reality of who Jesus is continually permeate
my thoughts and govern my day, my plans, my entire life.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things
were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him
all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be
preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15–20)
Today’s devotional says that whatever I know about God comes
through Jesus. He is God’s revelation of Himself to me. He is also the only One
who takes the place of all my idols. He is reality, the way through the maze
and the way that I am to walk, the life that I am to live, and the truth that
rings true in all situations. When reality renders its verdict, it always
points to Jesus.
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