Knowing Jesus

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. –John 14:20

It is only by submitting to Jesus through the Spirit that we come to know who he and his Father truly are. Jesus is not simply talking about the single day of Pentecost in this text, but rather the whole event of the outpouring of the Spirit that continues to this day. The disciples only understood in part the relationship of the Godhead; they would not know what the relationship meant until they were made to know. They were fully dependent on Jesus for this knowledge, but it was knowledge he would, and still does freely bestow.

Many people read the Bible without understanding it. This is because, as we read a few days ago, they read it with dead eyes and hearts. Hearts must be enlivened by Jesus through the Spirit if they are to receive to the truth. The Spirit enlivens us through the Word. It is the Spirit that brings us under conviction and makes us understand the grace we have in Jesus. Because we are in Jesus we are able to come before the Father. His works make us acceptable and presentable in the Holy of Holies. The Father bestowed all blessings, and in the Son those blessings have been given to us.

We live because Jesus lives. He is working life in us, which becomes more and more evident the more we grow in the Word, and have our lives conformed to him. This is a process that occurs throughout the course of our lives, but that we know him even as we do should encourage us as to his faithfulness to his promises. He has made us know him and the Father, and he will continue to reveal himself because we are in him, and he is in us.