Long Island Abundant Life Church長島豐盛生命教會
  • Home
    • About Us 關於教會 >
      • Mission Statement - 使命宣言
      • Statement of Faith - 信仰立場
      • Biblical Marriage - 合乎聖經的婚姻
      • Church Leadership - 教會同工
      • Doc, membership - 文件, 會員
      • Contact Us - 聯絡我們
      • Directions - 路線圖
      • Ministry opening - English Pastor
  • Chinese Ministry 華語事工
    • 崇拜
    • 講道集 >
      • 主日信息
      • 特會 / 講座
    • 主日學
    • 門訓小組 >
      • 門訓小組介紹
    • 團契
    • 讀經
  • English Ministry 英文事工
  • Youth 少年事工
    • Worship
    • Sunday School
    • Youth Fellowship
    • Events
    • Our Vision
    • Connect with Us
    • Parent Resources
    • Youth Prayer Requests
  • Children's Ministry 兒童事工
    • Children's Worship - 兒童崇拜 >
      • Children's Songs - 歌曲
      • Junior Worship, Archive - 學習內容
      • Junior Worship, Current - 學習內容
      • Preschool Worship, Archive - 幼兒崇拜
    • Sunday School - 主日學 >
      • Preschool - 低年級
      • Middlers, Current - 高年級
      • Elementary, Archive - 高年級
    • VBS-特别暑期聖經班 >
      • EVENTS- 特別活動
    • Nursery - 幼兒照顧
    • Resources - 資源
  • Missions/Evangelism 宣教/佈道
    • *Global Missions 全球宣教
    • *Missions Ministry 宣教事工
  • Chinese School 中文學校
  • Church Activities / News / Calendar 教會活動 / 消息 / 行事曆
    • 教牧心聲Pastoral & Coworkers' Sharing
    • 教會事工Church Ministry
    • Special/urgent 特別/緊急
    • Calendar 教會行事曆
    • Bulletin 週報
    • Archive 檔案 >
      • Pray for Hindus 2018 為印度人禱告
      • Seek God 2019 尋求神
      • Misc. 其他
  • Chinese Student Ministry 学生事工
    • Campus Ministry 校园事工
    • CSF 衣
    • CSF 食
    • CSF 住
    • CSF 行
  • Links 资源鏈接

John 14:15–31

6/12/2012

 
Click here to read today's passage on Bible Gateway.

The Father is Greater?
Today we have a difficult little verse with 14:28b: "I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I."  If you've ever thought or read or sung about the Trinity, this probably seems off to you.  Whatever happened to:

"There is one God, the Creator and Preserver of all things, infinite in being and perfection. He exists eternally in three Persons:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, who are of one substance and equal in power and glory"?

Is Jesus saying that He isn't equal with the Father in substance?  This was the idea of the heresy called Arianism. Arianism says the Jesus isn't "God", but "a god".  Jesus' "substance" is "like" God's, but it is not the same as God's.  This was condemned as heresy way back in 325 AD at the Council of Nicaea.

So what about this verse?

    "Taken in isolation, this may appear to be the meaning of 14:28b; but if so, this verse jars the overwhelmingly divine portrait we have of Jesus in this Gospel. Making Jesus a lesser divinity or a lesser God would offend the solid Jewish monotheism of the Gospel...
    ...The Father’s greatness springs from his role as the origin and sender of Jesus, just as a ray of light might refer to the sun from which it came.
    The word picture Jesus often uses to describe his life is the agent sent on a mission (17:4–5) and completing the assignments of his Sender (4:34; 5:30; 6:38–39; 9:4; 10:32, 37; 17:4). Within this agent/sender relationship, the originator of the mission has greater authority. In 13:16, Jesus cites the proverbial saying: “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” Later he repeats it for his disciples, who will be his agents in the world (15:20). As courier of God’s message, as the agent devoted to divine service, Jesus is acknowledging the relationship, the source, of what has brought that message to life (14:24b, 31a)." [1] (emphasis mine)

What is being spoken of in this verse is not "essence" (the substance of which something consists), but "function".  The persons of the Trinity are equal and one in essence, but different in function.  As Jesus is eternally "begotten" by God (that is, proceed from or generated by God), His function and authority are different.  His essence and being are not. 

If you didn't totally understand that last paragraph, it's because this is a difficult (but important!) topic.  The language used needs to be very precise - read the paragraph again slowly and if you have any questions on this topic, make sure you let me know in the comments!

[1] Gary M. Burge, NIV Application Commentary: John (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), 400-01.
Andrei
6/12/2012 06:28:35 pm

I had a question about verse 30, which was confusing. Jesus mentions a 'ruler of the world' and that 'He has no claim on me.' Is Jesus referring to Satan? As a 'ruler of the world' in the sense of the sinful, fallen world that we are in?

Greg
6/13/2012 03:57:21 am

Absolutely correct. See also John 12:31 and 16:11, as well as "prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2).


Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.