JOHN 8:42-47 WHO IS YOUR FATHER?

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus and the devil – one comes from God and the other has turned away from God. Jesus has repeatedly expressed his dependence upon the Father in his debate with his opponents. In contrast, the devil is always asserting his independence from God and calling us to do the same. From his original rebellion against God, to his words to Eve in the garden, to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, to his work among us today, the devil is the promoter of the lie of exaltation of the self. Whenever we buy into the lie, we demonstrate that the devil is our father, because he is the source of our attitude and his character is reproduced in us.

When we become absorbed in our selves, our own voice speaks so loud that we cannot hear the objective voice of God from the outside. Also the lie becomes our major weapon of preservation. If we can eliminate the truth or any source of the truth, then we can be comfortable with who we are and what we do. Since the truth is the source of life, the effect of the opposite of the truth, the lie, must be death. Again that is the story of our first parents in the garden. It is also the story of the first siblings, Cain and Able. It is the story of the whole human race, throughout history; every dictator, every gossip, every false witness, every time we stretch the truth, every self-serving interpretation of the Bible.

The greatest lie is the lie of independence itself. Although we succumb to the lie because we think we will be free, the actual consequence is that we enter into bondage. We are created as dependent beings – that is our essence. The question is just which source of authority we will choose. Who is your father? May our choice be that of Joshua (Joshua 24:15).

May you always be my Father, O God. Purge me of my self-centeredness and my need to exalt myself at the expense of others. When my attitudes and behavior do not align with your will as it is revealed in Scripture, strengthen me by your Spirit to repent and choose to follow your perfect will. Amen.