Friday, September 25, 2009

No Man Comes To The Father But By Me

This seems obvious to many but the traditional way of looking at it doesn't work for me. We don't say this in English, at least not anymore. What did it mean then? The word "by" in this case, according to lexicons and such, means basically "by way of" or "through". That supports the usual view but what sense does it make?

We might say, "I met this guy through my work," or "To get an appointment with him, you'll have to go through his dragon of a secretary first." So we get to the Father through the Son? Almost makes sense but people had been able to communicate with the Father many years before Yeshua was born. Plus Yeshua said we were to pray directly to the Father.

Okay, maybe it's that I AM gave all authority to the son, we now are the son's problem to deal with and the Father told him he didn't want his son losing any of us. So now we supposedly can't get to the Father at all without the son introducing us? The son is supposed to make us presentable first, then we can go in? Maybe.

Even that has a problem though. Yeshua said, "No man comes to the Father..." not "no man is allowed in to see Him". We are only drawn to the Father by way of the son, that's the method He uses to call us. That would have nothing to do with imputed righteousness, sacrifice, none of the things I've been taught to believe it means. Since the son is "the way, the truth, and the life", he is the embodiment of life with the Father. I found the following at a place called christianspirituality.org:

One receives that Life by following the Way, the Way that He demonstrated and taught because He was the embodiment of the Way, He was the Word made flesh Who was the walking and living Human Example of the Way.

Those who met him were drawn to the Father because they saw the Almighty in him. We are to follow that same way and draw others to the Father because of the spirit in us - that's why the comforter, the holy spirit was sent after Yeshua died and rose again. How could we walk as he did, live as he did, drawing others to I AM without the same spirit that was in the Son? That's how we come to the Father "by" Jesus/Yeshua.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you. I've been trying to make sense of that verse for a long time.
    (I only put anonymous cos I dont know what the others mean!)

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  2. Thank you for your commenting and I'm glad it helps. Any thoughts on it?

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  3. "For so God loved the world that He sent his only begotten Son that Man might not die, but have everlasting life."

    When Mankind was ready, God built a bridge between Heaven and Earth. He named it Jesus. "Straight is the gate, and narrow the way" but All Who See may cross. God isn't quoted as saying, "So Christians might not die... ..."

    Jesus said, "I am the bridge, and no man crosses the river of life and death without crossing the bridge." This wasn't some kind of injunction, or statement of limitation, he was stating a physical-metaphysical fact. If you want to live forever, cross the bridge. That's what it's there for and it is for Everyone.

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