Today I continue our new series entitled, “Power of Fellowship.” In this series we will study how we can be ONE with God and ONE with man. We are starting out by learning how to be ONE with God. With that as our aim, we have looked at statements Jesus made (about being ONE with the Father) in John 5, John 6, John 8, and John 12. Today we will look at John 14.
The Bible says:
Philip spoke up, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be all that we need!” Jesus replied, “Philip, I’ve been with you all this time and you still don’t know who I am? How could you ask me to show you the Father, for anyone who has looked at me has seen the Father.
Don’t you believe that the Father is living in me and that I am living in the Father? Even my words are not my own but come from my Father, for he lives in me and performs his miracles of power through me. Believe that I live as one with my Father and that my Father lives as one with me—or at least, believe because of the mighty miracles I have done.
“I tell you this timeless truth: The person who follows me in faith, believing in me, will do the same mighty miracles that I do—even greater miracles than these because I go to be with my Father!” (see John 14:8-12 TPT)
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. What was available to Jesus is available to us.
a) Jesus was so close to the Father that He told Philip that looking at Him and seeing the Father was the same thing. Jesus is how in sync Jesus was with the Father. This is how much fellowship He had with Him. The greatest lesson here is that what was possible for Jesus, while He was in human form, is possible for us, while we are living as humans in the earth. The same level of fellowship and power is available to all believers.
b) Jesus spent so much time in fellowship with the Father that He said His words were actually God’s words. Not only that, but Jesus said that the works He performed were not really His works. Jesus gave the credit for the works to the Father. He said the Father was living inside of Him, giving Him the words and performing the work. If this were only reserved for Jesus, then it would not mean much to us. But it is not. Jesus said that we are supposed to do what He did. In order to do what He did, we must live like He lived. We are called to get to the point where the words we speak and the works we perform in the earth actually come from our Father in heaven. This is our mandate. When we get to this point we get to experience heaven on earth. We become human conduits of the divine. Everyone who comes in contact with us actually comes in contact with God.
2. Jesus said that we would do what He did, and even greater works.
a) Many Christians know that Jesus said we would do the works He did, and even greater works. However, many don’t realize the context in which He made this statement. The context surrounding the statement is a conversation about fellowship. Jesus made it clear that the Father was living inside Him. He was so close to the Father that the Father was giving Him the words to say and performing the work He did. If we want to do what Jesus did, we have to live the way Jesus lived. The power Jesus walked in emanated from the fellowship He had with the Father.
b) Jesus did not take credit for the miracles because He was not the one actually performing them. He was the container, but God the Father was the content. He was the conduit, but the Father was the source. After making this very clear, Jesus said that we would do what He did and even greater works. Think about how brilliant this is. Jesus was a perfect human. The problem is that He was the only perfect human to ever live. So if Jesus had operated out of His perfect humanity, He could not be an example FOR us or OF us, because none of us are perfect. But since He did not operate out of His humanity, and since it was the Father living in Him who gave Him the words and performed the work, then we can do what He did. Because we have the same Holy Spirit He had. Just like the Father lived in Jesus, the Father lives in us. Jesus like Jesus was a human conduit of the divine, we are human conduits of the divine. And just like Jesus had fellowship with the Father on a daily basis, we are supposed to have fellowship with the Father on a daily basis.
c) When Jesus was in the earth He was the only human operating the way He did. He was the only human filled with the Holy Spirit. He was the only human walking around with God on the inside of him/her. But after Jesus redeemed us with His death, burial and resurrection, 50 days later, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out and the New Testament church was birthed. There are now billions of people walking around on this planet with God on the inside of them. Billions of people filled with the same Holy Spirit Jesus had. If we (the church) could ever foster our relationship with the Father and fellowship with Him the way Jesus did, we will turn this world upside down. This is how the kingdoms of this world are going to become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. It will happen when we start walking with God. It will happen when we spend time with Him in fellowship.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me the importance of true and intimate fellowship with You. I am in You and You are in me. From now on I spend so much time with You that I get to the point where my words are not my words, and my works are not my works. I want to be able to say like Jesus, “It is the Father living in me. He gives me the words and He performs the work.” I shall get to this point because I develop my relationship with You in fellowship. I walk with You and You walk with me. As Jesus is, so am I, in this world! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
