The Express Image of the Father

Dear friends,
I pray that you are walking in the reality of the Lord's presence. I haven't written in a while because I have been so busy. Part of that has been preparation for my youngest daughter's wedding. She is getting married August 1. Much has been done and there is still a lot to do, so lately most of my scheduling has had to be ATW (after the wedding). The Lord has laid something on my heart so I want to share a few thoughts with you about where the body of Christ is headed. I hope this will encourage you.

And the express image of His person....

This is a portion of scripture taken from Hebrews Chapter 1 verses 1-4 speaking of God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the express image of the Father. We could say He was the expressed image of the Father. If we want to know what the Father is like, we need only look at Jesus. Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. He came not only to represent the Father, but to re-present the Father.
"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him,"Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say,'Show us the Father'?" John 14:7-9

Jesus makes it very clear that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, so if we see Him we've seen the Father. What implications does this have for the church and its destiny? "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one ,as You, Father are in Me and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. John 17: 20-21. We are to be one with Jesus and the Father. In being one with Them we present a witness to the world that Jesus Christ came from the Father that they may be reconciled unto the Father.

Our journey in Christ has as it destination, the Father. The Father is where we are headed. Some time ago I wrote about the kingdom being about the Father. It was the message of John the baptist which was to restore the hearts of the children to the fathers and vice versa. The only way that will effectively happen is the hearts of the fathers and the children being restored to the Father. What was this message that was to bring this restoration? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! I talked about how the failure to preach the kingdom had brought about the curse of fatherlessness we have experienced in our land. See Malachi 4:6. The kingdom message is about the restoration of all things to the Father.

Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For "He has put all things under His feet." But when He says "all things are put under Him", it is evident that He Who put all things under His feet is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him Who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. 1 Cor. 15:24-28

All things have their beginning and ending in the Father. The coming of the kingdom in it fullness results in all things being subject to the Father. Our destination is the Father.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:28,29

In the redemptive purposes of God all things may be used in conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is the express image of the Father and we are being conformed to the image of Christ then whose image will be ultimately expressed? John says of Jesus that they beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Jesus said that the glory the Father had given Him, He had given us that we might be one, one with Him and the Father and one with each other. We must become one that the world may see the glory of the Father in the corporate man and know that the Father sent the Son. We have been called to re-present the Father and the Son to the world.

We are heading to the Father. That is our destination and no one can come to the Father but by the Son. In Christ we are seated in heavenly places at the right hand of the Father far above all rule and authority. In His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures forever more. Positionally we can taste those blessings here, but ,oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Jesus Christ is the way(the path,the road, the means) and the destination is the Father.

Be blessed of the Lord today. He has everything under control. He is not wringing His hands over the economy or the national deficit. He bids us to come unto Him and find rest. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. You are a blessing to me.
In His love,
Herb Dean