1. Revelation
(John 14:7 NKJV) "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
Jesus invested over three years with his trainee apostles. In this passage, he told them that if they knew him, they would know his Father also. Then he said, "from now on you know Him and have seen Him." In other words, from now on Jesus reveals the Father to all who know him.
From what follows Jesus's statement, we infer that Philip didn't quite hear or understand what Jesus just said. In fact, he asked for the very same revelation that Jesus said that he had already received:
(John 14:8–11 NKJV) Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." (9) Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (10) Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. (11) Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."
Jesus assured Philip that seeing him and knowing him is to receive a revelation of the Father.
We too can receive revelation of God the Father, his heart, his love, and his plans for us by knowing Jesus; this works on several levels:
First, we need to meet Jesus, walk with him, get to know him, and see what he reveals to us of our Father. In other words, we first must turn to Jesus from our old life, receive him, and confess his Lordship over us:
(Acts 11:20–21 NLT) However, some of the believers … began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. (21) The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.
(John 1:12 NKJV) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.
(Romans 10:9 NKJV) That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
When we receive Jesus in this way, he mercifully forgets our old life and graciously gives us his new birth:
(Titus 3:5 NLT) He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
Then, after we have received this, we walk with him—lovingly obeying him, being led by his Spirit:
(John 14:15 MSG) "If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you."
(Romans 8:14 NKJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Second, to receive revelation of the Father, as well as walking so close to Jesus that we get to know him, we also need to be intimately acquainted with the living Word. After all, Jesus is the Word—the Word made flesh:
(John 1:1, 14 NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... (14) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Scripture exhorts us to invest into God's word, reading, meditating, studying, and taking it to heart:
(Psalm 1:2 NKJV) But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
When we invest in God's word as he prescribes, the Holy Spirit reveals what he wants us to see. This is spiritual revelation, and it comes from God's Spirit via the word into our spirit:
(1 Corinthians 2:9–10 NKJV) But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." (10) But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
In Jesus's conversation with Philip in John 14, he spoke of this wonderful work of the Holy Spirit:
(John 14:15–17, 26 NKJV) "If you love Me, keep My commandments. (16) And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— (17) the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. ... (26) But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
(John 16:13 NKJV) "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."
Crucially, we need to understand that bringing revelation is one of the Holy Spirit's ministries to us, and that this works in conjunction with God's word. Peter, who was also a witness to Jesus's conversation in John 14, later clarified this for us; writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he said:
(2 Peter 1:19–21 APE) And we have also the true word of prophecy, upon which you do well to gaze, as at a lamp that shines in a dark place, until the day will shine and the Sun will rise in your hearts, (20) While you first know this: No prophecy is its own exposition of the Scriptures. (21) The prophecy came not by the will of man in the ancient times, but when holy men of God spoke, being compelled by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit inspired God's written word (See: 2 Tim. 3:16); he "compelled" the writers to write what they wrote. The Holy Spirit put his word in seed form for us; it's like a seed we receive as we read God's word, meditate on it, and receive it into the soil of our hearts. Watered by prayer and faith in God, the Holy Spirit is then able to grow it into a manifestation of what he originally hid in it for us. After all, the things of God's Spirit are "foolishness" to those who haven't yet received God's new birth and Holy Spirit:
(1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Revelation like this comes before manifestation of God's presence, glory, and works. We are currently in a season of great revelation from God. This will lead to more and greater manifestations of his glory and tangible presence. With this, comes signs and wonders, understanding of his love, heart, unity, and overwhelming conviction on sin.
Today, to help us begin to receive God's Holy Spirit revelation or to grow in receiving it—as we get to know Jesus through his word—we can pray this prayer from Ephesians 1:
(Ephesians 1:17 NKJV) That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.
Provided you are born again and walking in right relationship with God, this prayer will open your eyes to see a revelation of what the Holy Spirit wants to show you, as you invest into God's word with your whole heart. Today, I exhort you to plunge fully into God's word, growth in your relationship with Jesus, Father, and the Holy Spirit, and into receiving his revelation.
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