Spiritual Growth

God Is The One and OnlyGod

Quarter 1 Unit 1 Lesson 4

John 14:6-27

God is the one and only God,

and He wants you.

Memory Verse: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

Jesus told people He was the only way to come to the Father. In John 1:11, 12, you can read about a special invitation that you can choose to accept: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

What is a very unique invitation you have received?

• Why did you receive that special invitation? 

Maybe you had to be a friend to someone, or just know that person, or maybe you had to do something to get the invitation.

What would it be like if you were invited to sing on stage with Brandon Lake for one month?

Katie Beth was invited to open for Charity Gayle. 

What is Jesus telling us we are invited to do?

John 1: 11-12

11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

This invitation is open to all.  You don’t have to do anything.  This is your right. 

John 14:2-3

2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 

After thinking about the invitation offered by Jesus in John 14, maybe some of you have never received this invitation -to become a child of God. Others of you have received the invitation and responded to it and – like me–can’t wait for Christ’s return. 

Once you have received your invitation and accepted it, it is now your responsibility to pass it on. Make sure everyone you know at least knows the invitation is open to them. 

My Aunt went to church for over 50 years and was never told she had to accept Jesus and be saved. 

Church is not enough. 

Isn’t it amazing that the one and only God-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit-wants to have a relationship with you? You are invited to become a child of the living God.

Jesus is equal with God the Father. This means He has all the power that God has.They are one. 

Matthew 7:28-29

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things,the crowds were amazed at his teaching,29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Matthew 8:24-27; 

24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

John 1:3; 

3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Hebrews 1:3; 

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Colossians 1:16-17.

16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Following the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all at once sounds like other religions where people follow many kinds of gods or spirits. How is Christianity different from those other religions?

Main thing to know is that Christians believe in and follow only one God. When you read the Bible-that’s all one God. When you direct your prayers through Jesus and the Spirit -that’s all one God. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will never say different things from one another. They speak the same single message, and the main point of that message is that God loves you and wants you to know Him.

John 14:6-7

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

What does this passage tell us about Jesus? How does Jesus describe Himself?

John 14: 8-14

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Jesus is explaining to His disciples part of the mystery of the Trinity. He makes it clear that He is one with the Father, but also that people come to the Father through Him. Jesus and God are one, but they have separate roles and are separate persons.

In My name is not a magic incantation of prayer; it speaks of both an endorsement (like a bank check) and a limitation (requests must be in accordance with the character of the name). We come to God in Jesus’ name, not in our own.

“The test of any prayer is: Can I make it in the name of Jesus? No man, for instance, could pray for personal revenge, for personal ambition, for some unworthy and unchristian object in the name of Jesus.” 

John 14: 15-21

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him,because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you.

18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, and He is also God. 

The Holy Spirit has a specific role as our advocate (sometimes used as a legal term for someone who helps a person navigate the legal system). 

He is just as much God as God the Father and as Jesus the Son. We have learned about all three persons of the Trinity, and we know that they make up the one true God who loves us.

John 14:22-27.

Then Judas (not Judas (scariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

What do we know about the Trinity?

• three distinct persons that all exist eternally at the same time.
• all equally God -whom we worship, pray to, and follow.
• not partly God–they are all wholly God.
• not three different Gods -together they make up the one true God.

Trying to comprehend God may blow our minds- but it certainly doesn’t defy truth. That’s one of the reasons it’s important to keep going back to God’s Word, so we can get to know Him better every day. 

You don’t have to understand everything about God to follow Him. No one should feel stupid for being confused about aspects of the Trinity. Christians have been discussing the idea of the Trinity since Jesus came two thousand years ago, and still no one can explain it fully. 

But it’s important for us all to be clear on how the Christian understanding of God is very different from other religions. It’s important to be clear on what God is not and who God is to us.

The main thing you can always be sure of about God is that He is the one and only God. 

He loves you, and He wants you to be with Him.