Frank Retief was pastor at St James Church Cape Town for 31 years, having planted the church in 1968 with his wife Beulah. He became the Presiding Bishop of the Church of England in South Africa until he retired in 2010. Frank remains active in ministry through preaching, teaching, pastoral work & writing, and has authored a number of books.
Mystery of the Son
Luke 10 v 22. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
The Son of God has within Himself everything that we sinners need for our salvation. He is endowed by the Spirit of God. That means He has the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and the fear of God.
He has all these qualities and more, entrusted to Him by his Father so that He could become our mediator. He is the great Fountain out of which flows the Father’s grace and love to needy sinners. His riches are inexhaustible. He is so great that only the Father can truly know Him. Only God can penetrate to the essence of the being of Christ. Likewise, so great is the Father that no one but the Son can know who He is. These are great mysteries.
But consider this, when Jesus was on earth none of these things were discerned by the disciples. It is true they caught glimpses of his uniqueness from time to time, but of His true greatness they knew very little. Imagine you were a listener to Jesus’ conversation when he uttered the words printed above. If you were Jewish you would be astounded that such claims could come from the mouth of a human being. If you were not a Jew but a Gentile you would shrug it off as the ramblings of a deluded person. But what if these words are true?
In that case the one person who truly knows God, came to earth and lived among us. Would it not make sense to hear him out and make a decision based on fact and not emotion? But this is exactly what the people of Jesus’ day did not do. They argued with him at every point.
But at the end of the day, God is the One who opens the eyes of those who believe and they are saved. Why does God not open everybody’s eyes? We do not know. The important question is are your eyes opened, do you believe and do you live accordingly?
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