God-Man

If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”  Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. John 14:7-15

At the incarnation, God the Son, the Second person of the one triune God, was forever joined to true humanity. This joining together has been designated as the hypostatic union. Hypostatic is from the Greek word hupostasis which is found in:
Hebrews 1:3 (NKJV) who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, (hupostasis) and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) Now faith is the substance  (hupostasis) of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hupostasis means: "substance or essence." In theological language, it means person. So the doctrine of the hypostatic union is the doctrine of the personal union of the two natures, the divine and the human, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man. This is where we get the theological term "theanthropic" which comes from theos, which means: "God" and "anthropos," which means: "man." Jesus Christ is the God-Man. He is One person with two natures.

In the koine Greek language which is the original language of the New Testament, the little word “if” can have much more specific meaning than we English speakers are accustomed to. There are four conditions: 1^st class—if and it is true. 2^nd class—if and it is not true. 3^rd class—maybe it’s true, maybe not. 4^th class—I wish it were true, but it isn’t.

After Thomas asked in verse 6 “how can we know the way?” and Jesus made it clear that He, Himself is the ONLY way, He then began to try to make them see His deity. Verse 7: “if you had known Me (2^nd class condition—but you didn’t), you would have known My Father..”

They had seen only His humanity these three years, and though they believed He was the Messiah, the Son of God, they just didn’t have the capacity to understand that He also IS God. Not half and half, but all and all. They knew Him as Master and Lord. They loved His compassion and His power and His authority; they had seen the miracles, and even participated in some, but their minds were limited to the physical, visible being before them. The all-powerful, all-encompassing spirit that is God the Father was beyond their mentality. It would take growth in grace through the Holy Spirit’s enablement for them to grasp Who this Savior really was.

Jesus assured them that they would soon realize they had known God the Father, and had actually seen Him. Philip pressed the issue: “show Him to us.” Jesus’ answer: “I am here before you, Philip.” My words are the Father’s words. My works are the Father’s works. You have heard the words and seen the works, and you know they are real. Not only that, but you who believe in Me will do these same divine works, and in greater quantities, because I am going to the Father.

As long as Jesus remained in His earthly body, the power was localized in Him. He would now return to the Father, and by so doing would be commissioning His Church and sending them out to perform His works on a global scale, through the multiplication of grace in spirit-led believers.

Here’s how: we ask in His name, meaning on His authority. We requisition what we need for His work from Him, Who supplies our knowledge and equipment. It is a new system for a new dispensation. It is advanced spiritual technique. Of course, they couldn’t understand this, but they would remember it and apply it in the very near future.

There were more “ifs:” verse 14, “if you ask Me anything” (3^rd class condition—you believers may do this, and maybe you won’t. Some will. Prayer is volitional.) “If you ask in My name, I will do it.” We cannot accomplish any divine good in our own power. Any divine work we do must be done under the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as creation is God’s work and our salvation is God’s work, the building and growth of His kingdom is God’s work, and can be done only through Him.

Verse 15: “if you love Me” (3^rd class condition—maybe you’ll love Me, or maybe you won’t.) (!) What?? A born-again believer who does not love Jesus? Yes. We cannot love whom we do not know, and some who have believed in Jesus for salvation just don’t follow through with learning about Him, living day to day for Him, making His word the priority of their lives. Love gives. Love cherishes. Love keeps—His commandments. It means to guard, preserve and practice His principles of life.

There are a lot of “ifs” in the Christian life. We are not clones, or robots. Submitting to God’s will, learning to know and love our Lord, are conscious decisions on the part of the individual believer. The world judges us by what they think they know about Jesus’ teachings. We who believe in Him and are fashioning our lives to conform to Him are operating on these divine assets He introduced, privately, to the eleven. The world doesn’t know Jesus. We who are learning to know Him have a way of life the world can never comprehend. It is an intimate brotherhood of love.