28 A Living Path to the Father
A LIVING PATH TO THE FATHER
When you think about the Trinity, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, to whom do you relate best?
I know what you’re thinking: It’s a trick question—they’re all the same. You’re right, but I know many of us relate to the different Persons in the Trinity in different ways.
I heard of a woman, for example, who was terrified of God the Father. She read all about Him in the Old Testament, how He commanded His leaders to destroy entire towns, how He slammed down an angry fist against sin, how He demanded a high and holy standard. She couldn’t relate to God the Father, much less praise Him.
But, she said, she could praise Jesus. She more easily related to Him. Jesus spent time reaching out to the hurting; He talked to disabled people at the temple; He took a few minutes to chat with children; and He was always on the lookout for the underdog. Jesus was sensitive, kind, and compassionate—and this woman felt drawn to God the Son. She sensed no condemnation from Him, even when she stumbled and fell into sin. She prayed solely to Jesus, opening up all conversations with God with the name of her Savior.
But then something amazing happened.
She read the first chapter of Hebrews and learned that Jesus is the exact representation of God. She noticed a cross reference and flipped over to John 1:18: “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
The woman was fascinated. She then realized that knowing Jesus was the same as knowing the Father. She had no reason to dread or avoid the Father; she could relate to Him because He and the Son are one and the same.
Maybe in the Old Testament people were afraid to approach God, but Jesus threw wide open the door of access to the Father. That alone should cause us to praise. What freedom. What confidence. We have no reason to shrink away from the Father, and every reason to trust Him and give Him adoration and worship. He invites us into intimacy.
A Step Closer
My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself. We have a great high priest who is in charge of God’s house. So let’s come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith.
HEBREWS 10:19–22, CEV
Let’s pray. Father, making a path through the Red Sea
was as nothing compared to the path You created
for sinners like me to come into Your presence.
“Come near to God”? O Father, how could it be?
I could have never come near You in a trillion years if You
hadn’t created a pathway … through the life and body
of Your own dear Son, who died in my place.
And now, because of Him, because He spilled His blood for
me, I can come before You with confidence and feel Your
embrace. How could I ever praise You enough?
Even so, I do praise You, in my Savior’s name.