Belief in God the Father

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whosoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me (John 12:44)

One of the things Jesus is determined to promote is his Father. All that Jesus did and said stems from God his Father.  Ultimately, the Father, not Jesus himself, will have a final say over us in accordance with the teaching of Jesus our Lord.

And Jesus cried out…

1. Jesus puts all the stress on what he says
2. In all emphatic manner, he speaks out the supremacy of God the Father
   1. It is the Father who sends Jesus
   2. It is thus the Father we all must believe in
3. Truly believing in Jesus should see a person end up in believing in God

But in him who sent me

1. Believing in God is an expression that confirms
   1. The true followership of Jesus
   2. The true believing in of Jesus as the Messiah
2. It therefore is not a choice between God the Father and Jesus the Son
3. It rather is the reciprocal nature of the Father-Son relationship, for that matter, inter-Trinitarian relationship

GOD THE FATHER IN CONTEXT

1. Seeing Jesus is seeing the Father (John 12:45)
2. Rejecting the word of Jesus is equal to rejecting the very word of the Father (John 12:48-50)
   1. Jesus speaks as he is commanded by the Father
   2. Jesus says as he is told by the Father
   3. Jesus utters words as is authorized by the Father
3. The Father, not Jesus, is the Judge
4. It is the Father who will judge us all on the basis of the teaching of Jesus

REFLECTIONS

1. Let us bring ourselves up to believe in Jesus and his word
2. May we end up believing in God the Father who
   1. Has sent Jesus the Messiah to us for our own good
   2. Has actually spoken to us in Jesus His Son
   3. Will finally judge us according to Jesus
3. May we learn to take heed to what the Lord Jesus has told us with a strong and emphatic note!