Facing All of Life as Jesus Did
 "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...As
the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he
who feeds on Me will live because of Me."
(John 14:10 and 6:57)
We are to live by trusting in
the goodness of the Lord. "Oh, taste
and see that the LORD
is good; blessed
is the man who trusts in Him!" (Psalm 34:8). Jesus is the ultimate example
of living by such trust. When we think of being
like Jesus (or we ask, "What would Jesus do?"), the biblical
perspective is far more profound than prevailing opinion might provide.
Jesus lived by depending
upon the intimate relationship He had with the Father. "I am in the
Father, and the Father in Me." When Jesus spoke or took action, it
was not on His own initiative or by His own resources. "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." Although Jesus was God coming to earth
as a man, He did not live by exercising His deity: "Who, being in the
form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself
of no reputation, taking the form of a servant"
(Philippians 2:6-7). Jesus lived as a dependent human
servant, trusting in the Father to work in and through Him. The prophets of old
predicted this path, as they recorded the confessions Messiah would make about
His ministry here on earth. "For I [that is, the Messiah, Jesus] shall
be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and My God
shall be My strength...The Lord
God will help Me [that is, the
Messiah, Jesus]; therefore I will not be disgraced" (Isaiah 49:5; 50:7). Jesus would depend upon the Father.
Jesus eventually applied this
kind of dependent relationship to us. The structure of His
teaching was "As... so."
As it was between Jesus and the Father, so it is to be between Jesus and us.
Jesus lived His life by depending upon the Father. Without ceasing to be God,
He lived as a man, showing us how man is to live. "As
the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father."
Jesus lived by trusting in the Father to work in and through Him. We are to
look to Jesus to do the same through us. "So
he who feeds on Me will live because of Me."
Jesus taught that feeding on Him involved coming to Him in trust. "I
am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall
never hunger, and he who believes
in Me shall never thirst"
(John 6:35).
Lord
Jesus, my hope and my strength, I want to live in true Christ likeness. Enable me always to face
all of life as You did. I want to learn to depend upon You, even as You
depended upon the Father. Teach me, Lord, I pray in Your name, Amen.
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