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. | John 14:8-10
In our last lesson we learned how God told men to write a book, the Bible. God gave us the Bible so that we can learn about Him and know Him. God talks to us through the Bible. It is a wonderful book!
But God wanted us to know Him even better. He wanted us to know Him not only as the God who made us, but as the heavenly Father who loves us. He sent Jesus, His Son, down to earth. Jesus told us all about God, and showed us what He is like. Jesus came to God’s special people, the Israelites. He walked all through their country. He told the people about God and God’s great Kingdom. He told them that God loves us. Wherever Jesus went He did good. He healed the sick. He made the blind see. He gave food to the hungry. He was a friend to those who were sorry for their sin.
One day, when Jesus was talking to His disciples about His Father in heaven, Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father.”
Jesus said, “I have been with you a long time, Philip; you know Me, don’t you? Well, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father!”
What did Jesus mean? Why, He meant to tell Philip, and to tell you and me, that God, our Father in heaven, is just like Jesus, His Son!
Now, we know that Jesus was very good and kind. He did great and wonderful things, too – healing the sick, making the blind see, and sometimes even raising up the dead to live again! When Jesus did such things, He showed us how good and kind, and how great and wonderful God the Father is.
These stories about Jesus are written in the Bible –in the New Testament part of the Bible. So reading the Bible is still the best way of learning to know about God. We learn about Him by seeing what He made – the earth and the heavens and everything that is on earth or up in the sky. But we learn to know God best of all my reading His book, the Bible. That tells us what He said to men of long ago. And it tells us about all the wonderful things Jesus did, especially how He died for us.
When we think how much Jesus loved us, we must remember that God the Father, up in heaven, loves us just as much. We can be sure about that, because Jesus said:
I and my Father are one.
Something to talk about:
- How did Jesus show us that God is good and kind?
- How did He show us that God feels sorry for the sick?
- How did He show us that God loves sinners?
- How do we know that Jesus is God?
Memory verse:
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I and the Father are one.” | John 10:24, 30