Face To Face With The Father In Jesus
Centered in the Son, welcomed by the Father, the music of grace fills the room.
Devotional Credit: In Christ, E. Stanley Jones
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Paul’s greeting to the Thessalonians carries two anchors. To the church in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. E. Stanley Jones pauses here and says, keep both emphases. If you only say church of God, you dim Jesus. If you only say church of Christ, you dim the Father. Together they make an exclamation point, not of noise, but of union, God with us in His Son, and us in God through His Son.
I love how Jones turns a greeting into a window. He walks us through the varied salutations in the letters, then brings us back to the simplest truth. We live in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus. Both held together. Not a tug of war. Not a hierarchy of favorites. The Father is seen in the face of Jesus. Jesus is received to the glory of the Father. Grace is never bare power. Grace is the Father’s heart revealed in the Son who indwells His people.
This steadies everyday faith. I am not chasing a label. I am receiving a life. When I pray, I come to the Father in the name of Jesus. When I serve, I do all in the name of Jesus, giving thanks to the Father. The Spirit keeps my eyes on the Son, and by that gaze He warms my heart toward the Father who sent Him.
So here is the invitation. Let Jesus put a face on God for you today, as Jones says. Look at the Father through the Son, and look at the Son and see the Father. Rest your life inside their love. There you will find clarity for decisions, courage for conversations, and a gentleness that fits the family you belong to.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I open your eyes to see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. In him all the fullness of deity dwells bodily. Whoever has the Son has the Father also. I draw you to the Father through the Son in one Spirit, and I set you in the fellowship where Christ is all and in all.
You are my church in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus. I have placed all things under his feet and made him head over all for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Abide in my Son. Apart from him you can do nothing, yet in him you bear much fruit. Whatever you do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I unite you with the death and rising of the Messiah. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to me in Christ Jesus. Live the life you now live by faith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you. I seal you as mine, and I strengthen you with power in your inner being so that the Messiah may dwell in your heart through faith. Every promise finds its Yes in him, to the glory of the Father.
Walk in this. Confess Jesus as Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Know that the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ dwell in you. In me you share one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of a stereo with two speakers. When only one side plays, the sound feels thin. Turn the balance knob to center, and the music fills the room. Depth returns. The song was always rich. You simply heard it as it was meant to be heard.
Life in God is like that. The Holy Spirit centers our hearts so we delight in the Father and the Son together. Today, before a key decision, take the posture of trust. Say in your heart, Lord, I trust you to align my thoughts with your Son, honoring the Father through what I choose. Then move forward with a calm step, confident that Jesus in you brings the Father’s heart to bear on the moment.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank you that in Jesus I see your face. Thank you that you have placed me in yourself and in your Son, and that your Spirit makes this real in daily life. I bless you that every promise is Yes in Jesus, to your glory. I receive this day as a gift. Let my words and work be done in the name of the Lord Jesus with gratitude rising to you.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Colossians 2:9, 1 John 2:23, Ephesians 2:18, Colossians 3:11, Ephesians 1:22-23, John 15:5, Colossians 3:17, Romans 6:4-11, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 3:16-17, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Philippians 2:11, Romans 8:9-11, Ephesians 4:4-6, John 14:9, Colossians 1:19-20