◄ What Does John 5:23 Mean? ►

There is only one eternal Creator of heaven and earth. There is only one Almighty God, and He has made it very clear that He will not share His glory with another, and yet we discover Jesus making the most astonishing claims which if not true, would be outrageous and even blasphemous.

Jesus not only claimed to be of equal status with the Father, but declared that He had the same authority to raise the dead and should be ascribed the same honour and glory as His Father in heaven.

Although He was fully God and possessed the same eternal power, authority, and attributes as the Father, the Lord Jesus was also fully human. He was fully man and, for a season, chose to lay aside His own will in order to live as God had ordained that man should live - in the beginning.

Jesus became the perfect example of how every man had been created to live; in complete dependence upon the Father, willingly submitted to His perfect guidance, and in utter obedience to His perfect will.

Despite being fully God, Jesus was content to do nothing of Himself which is why we read: "The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner."

After the Lord Jesus confessed that He "only carries out the will of the Father," He explained that although He is living His life under the authority and direction of the Father, He still retains His Deity. He is still God of gods. He is still the second member of the Triune Godhead.

As the eternal Son of God, He is coequal with the Father, and yet as the perfect Son of Man, He lived and died in utter submission to His Heavenly Father's will. The Son of God was obedient to the Father and carried out His perfect will for the sake of mankind, to save man from the eternal consequences of SIN.

As the obedient Son of Man, He was highly exalted and given a name that is above every name and a position that is above every man; that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that the Man, Christ Jesus, is God of all gods and Lord of all lords, for He lived and died as the obedient Son of the Father.

God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son to be the propitiation for the sin of mankind. The Son of God was obedient to the Father's will and became the Man, Christ Jesus. He honoured the will of His Father to the point of death, and the Father in like manner honoured the Son of Man with power over life and death, by raising Him from the dead.

Just as the Father raises the dead and gives us life, the Son also gives life to whosoever He wishes. And just as the Father commands honour from His creation, so His Son has the same honour and glory as the Father: "So that all will honour the Son in the same way that they honour the Father."

Every divine prerogative that Christ set aside when He took upon Himself the form of a man, was reinstated to Him when He rose from the dead, such that anyone who refuses to honour the Lord Jesus Christ, dishonours our Heavenly Father: "For He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father Who sent Him."

Heavenly Father, thank You for the amazing plan of redemption. Thank You that the only way that You could save mankind from eternal separation from Yourself was to send Your dearly loved Son as the sacrifice for our sin so that under Your authority He could live a life of dependence on You and die as a perfect, sinless Man. Thank You that He was obedient to the point of death, and has received all power and glory for His faithfulness. Praise Your holy name, AMEN.