Many times, in life I have had people ask me, “Who is your father.” My Dad was a schoolteacher, retired from the military, a prominent member of several civic clubs, and a faithful servant to the Lord. He was a great father, but I am thankful I have the greatest Father of all in my heavenly Father. None can compare to the one who created everything. He is the author of my salvation, the giver of life, the joy to my heart, and I could go on and on. There is no end to all that He is to me. He is my Father, but He is not everyone’s Father. Who is your father?
Jesus addresses this question in John chapter 8 as He is speaking to the Jews. They did not recognize who Him as the Son of God they had been waiting for. He was the Messiah. He was God in the flesh. His mission was to convince them and convert them. Yet, their pride caused them to reject Him. In John 8:38 Jesus tells them that what He is teaching them is from His Father, but they are doing what they have seen with their father. They begin to understand that He is not identifying them with the God of Abraham. He makes a simple yet profound statement that teaches us that what we do identifies us with who our father is.
John 8:38 “I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.”
With a prideful attitude, they proclaim that Abraham is their father. The Jews take great pride in proclaiming themselves as ancestors of Abraham, and rightfully so. Abraham was a godly man. He knew God, his faith had been tested and he proved he loved God. Jesus rebukes them and tells them if Abraham was their father they would believe and behave as Abraham had. They were blinded by their desires and pride. They hated Jesus and sought to kill Him. This does not represent Abraham or God who they claimed was their father.
John 8:39-41 “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.”
Jesus had preached the truth to them, but they would not believe Him. They had a preconceived idea of what the Messiah would be, and it was not a humble servant born to a poor carpenter. They were profoundly religious, yet they had no relationship with God our heavenly Father. Jesus angers them even more when He tells them of their real father. They could not understand Him. Their disdain for Him grew because He told them their father was the devil. Mankind has only two choices when it comes to a spiritual fatherhood. They either are a child of God where they love, worship, and obey God, or they follow the devil in their own passions and actions. A child of the devil is a liar and seeks only what he desires. He calls them a murderer because Satan introduced death to mankind as he seduced Adam and Eve to follow him. God had already told them in Genesis 2:17 to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan comes to them and convinces them that God was holding out on them, that what he had to offer was better. They listened and disobeyed God and death entered the world. Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
We are to hear the same message that Jesus gave them. They claim to be God’s chosen people, for Abraham to be their father, and yes he was in their physical lineage. Yet, they are trying to kill God’s son. In John 7:19 Jesus asks them why they are trying to kill Him. He had just healed the lame man. A wonderful miracle had happened, but they found fault because He did it on the Sabbath. He again makes a great point. They are trying to kill the Son. If they were following the Father, they would know the heart of the Father and the Son’s actions and words would be meaningful to them.
He then proceeds to tell them they do not know Him because their father is the devil. The actions of their father are their actions. The devil is a liar and so are they. Their father is the author of lies.
John 8:42-44 “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.”
In verse 45, Jesus has told them the truth but they do not believe Him. He had seen the Father and was teaching directly from the Father, but they could not grasp these truths because they were not of the Father.
John 8:45-47 “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
So, who is your father? Who are you following and obeying? We have our heavenly Father’s letters to us, the bible. It is full of instructions and examples of how we are to live and things we are to avoid. Yet, many who call God their Father are not studying or seeking to know the truths of the Bible. They listen to the preacher once a week where he is expounding the truths of the Bible, but no internal change is made. Therefore, no external change is seen. The point that Jesus is making in John chapter 8 is that we mimic our Father. If we believe something it will be evident in our day-to-day life. You can scream from the highest mountain that you love God, but Jesus makes it clear in John 14:15 that if we love Him we will obey Him. It is one thing to say you know the Father, but it is very different if you know Him personally. Examine yourself and see if you pass the child of the Father test. Is He truly the one you mimic? Is He your Father?
