IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, RHE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT - ACCESS TO GOD

Until Jesus came, the Jews did not consider God as Father. They considered Him as Creator, Lawgiver, etc. but not Father. When Jesus affirmed that  God is Father, and He Jesus is God's Son, they considered the very idea anathema and plotted His death. 

"Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God."(John 5:18)

Jesus, however kept insisting, and regularly referred to God as FATHER, Himself as the only begotten Son and those who repent of their sins and follow Him as given "the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)

He taught therefore, that the God that has been served from ancient times is the FATHER, and the same now walks among them as the SON, and will remain with them until the end of the world as the HOLY SPIRIT. He is to be acknowledged as the same by whoever believed in Him:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," (Matthew 28:19)

Thus, Jesus validated the Scriptures as the true record of the interaction of God with the ancients. He likewise validated His own sacrifice and example, and the work of the Holy Spirit after His ascension. 

The Jews who failed to acknowledge Jesus as God rejected Him and contributed to His crucifixion. Their adherents are still waiting for the Messiah, and Jesus is of no value to them! We the followers of Christ find their actions inexcusable. Probably, they are waiting to encounter God as their forbears did at Sinai, but the writer of Hebrews says that is in the past: 

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;" (Hebrews 1:1‭-‬2)

They found the descent of the Almighty in human form exceedingly cheap and improbable, and were willing to prove their disdain by subjecting Him to the meanest of humiliations, death on the cross. Their mockery at His suffering clearly betray this attitude: 

"And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, 'He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.'”(Luke 23:35)

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit as God with us today? Do you believe that the One by whom the Scriptures came, and by whom as Christ the disciples received the perfect example of holiness is now showing Himself by diversity of gifts of the Holy Spirit in us? Will you crucify Him or wait for another?

Access to God the Father by the ancients cost them priestly animal sacrifices, etc. Access to the Son, Jesus Christ, in His days at least cost people some traveling distance, and some considered the 'lowered' cost proof of inferiority. Access to the Holy Spirit is even 'cheaper,' for He is everywhere you're willing to pray and serve.

Study the Scriptures, follow the example of Christ, and fan the gifts of the Holy Spirit in you into flames.

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