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Out of Darkness

Out of Darkness
Words of Faith 1-10-17
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2017
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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[44] Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. [45] When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. [46] I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

I recall a youth program years ago in which a leader asked who it is, what name for God, that you pray to—Father, Jesus, or Holy Spirit? It is an interesting question.
But from there the study seemed to go astray suggesting that we have different choices in terms of who we want to make the focus of our faith—God, Jesus, or the Spirit. Jesus seems to suggest otherwise.
"When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.” We don’t know exactly when this statement occurred, but it must have been important. John reports that Jesus “cried out” or “called out” this critical truth. The point is made: “When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.”
In John’s Gospel, we see many times the importance of belief. But exactly who or what is the object or focus of this “belief”? Jesus makes it clear. He equated belief in Himself with belief in God. We will hear it again later-- "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me” (John 14:1).
John will later restate this in his First Epistle, "No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:23).
The Father and the Son are inseparable. Though they are two personalities, they work as one being. Jesus spoke of the Father as the One who had sent Him, and He claimed to be the light that illumines the darkness of those who are without God.
Jesus is the perfect manifestation of God, the One who sent Him, so that to believe in Jesus is to believe in God. This is not an optional theological addendum or an optional asterisk. This is the central truth of the Gospel. Jesus is God with skin.
People do not have a choice between two objects of faith: God and/or Jesus. They are one in the same. When one sees Jesus, he sees the Father who sent Him.
Jesus came to lead people out of Satan's kingdom of darkness into God's kingdom of love and light. “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”

Dear God my Father, Lord Jesus, precious Holy Spirit, hear my prayer. I ask that I might know You more fully and clearly than ever. I pray that You would lead me by the power of Your Spirit into the Light and out of any darkness. May Your Light shine in me that other may know You. In Jesus’ Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2017
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.