In John 14:9, what is the meaning of the phrase “He who has seen me has seen the Father”?

The word “seen” in John 14:9 is translated from the Greek word “horao” and has the following outline of Biblical usage—

1. to see with the eyes
2. to see with the mind, to perceive, know
3. to see, i.e. become acquainted with by experience, to experience
4. to see, to look toto take heed, bewareto care for, pay heed to
5. I was seen, showed myself, appeared

In John 14:9, Christ is essentially saying to us that He is the embodiment of God in human form. What pleases Him is what pleases God. What makes Him angry is what makes God angry. He and our Father in heaven are one; inseparable. And we have Christ’s life as recorded in the Gospels to show us what God is like. For us today, in that verse, Christ is telling us (to paraphrase)—

“My dearly beloved, would you like to know what what pleases God or what His nature is? Look no further than at Me in the gospels- when I walked the earth as the Son of Man.”

Colossians 2:9 says of Him-

"For in Him the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead) continues to dwell in bodily form [giving complete expression of the divine nature]."

Another version says: "All of God lives fully in Christ (even when Christ was on earth)."

And what is Christ like? Beloved, throughout the gospels, we see that Christ healed, saved and delivered all who came to Him without giving them any terms and conditions to fulfill; no—

“Which sins are you committing”

“Did you give a tithe?”

“When was the last time you went to the synagogue”

“You need to fast for 70 days before I can help you with this issue”

No demands whatsoever. He gave His “no questions asked” salvation freely to all who came to Him— to the undeserving! The only people who could not receive from Him were religious folk who thought they could keep the law and thus deserve God’s blessings by virtue of their works.

Christ wasn't pleased with the ways of those religious folk who thought they had the might to keep even a tittle of the law in order to transform themselves from sinner to "godly." He was not pleased with the ways of those ones who put up barriers of rules and regulations plus works to accomplish or things to do before one can receive God's freely-given healing and every other blessing in Christ.

In fact, the only place in the gospels where the word "angry" is used to describe how Christ felt (Mark 3:1-6) references one of the self-righteous folk - a leader of a synagogue - huffing and puffing in indignation because Christ healed a woman without her fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law by her own strength! That woman's “pastor” was angry because Christ healed her when she was on the wrong side of the law aka despite her sin!

To put things in perspective, imagine your pastor telling you that you are neither qualified to receive Christ's healing and provision nor to "come boldly to the throne of Grace to receive mercy and find grace in time of need" because you are still struggling with certain sins, addictions, imperfection, zero fasting and an entirely blank tithe card— sins which Christ gave His life to free you and I from according to Titus 2 says:

“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”

Also Matthew 1:21- “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Beloved, let us take our blessed brains to church: How can the Physician and Medicine (Grace—Christ Himself) whom God gave for our salvation from our sickness (sins and their consequences of earthly ills and death) make us more sick (sinful)?

No, beloved. It is Satan’s seemingly good but deathly doctrine of SELF-MEDICATION — trying to obey the law (which kills and gives the knowledge of good and evil) by human effort in the bid to be made whole, sins-free and godly aka “be like God”— that has been the death of man since man first believed that false doctrine that is of Satan in Eden.

In essence, any pastor who tells you that your ability to live the abundant life that God gives us freely in Christ is hinged on your efforts at being on the right side of God's law, he is like the severely-religious, law-toting and Christ-despising Pharisees — rejecting the One who is the fullness of God in a human body. Beloved, beware of such preachers. None of the people who freely-received from Christ in the gospels were even born-again! Even the idol-worshipping Canaanite woman with the severely demon-possessed daughter benefitted from His Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. How much more you, child of God who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!

Beloved, you see those same sins and addictions which you struggle with and which self-righteous preachers and smug members of their congregation think you love to revel in (as if Peter could not wait to deny Jesus again; as if Judas gloried in his betrayal of Christ- the guy was depressed and suicidal like many in the church today who are being whacked with the rod of the law and demands for godliness via human effort/arm of flesh), even your inability to give tithe and offering, Christ gave His life to free us from them all-

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds." Titus 2:14.

Don't be deceived by the outward appearances of such religious persons who are always pointing out sin and acting as if they can obey the Ten Commandments or that God is blessing them because they obey the law, and try to force same down your throat as the path to attaining godliness. God’s Way is clearly written for us in Romans 10:1–5—

“Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God.”

Like the severely-religious and seemingly godly Pharisees who accused the adulteress before Christ, church leaders today who refuse to accept God’s Way but claim to be living godly lives by dint of human striving, they can never cast the first stone. Jesus Christ the Light of the world was right there to save the Pharisees; but they hated and rejected the Light and slunk back into their darkness of preaching the doctrine of Satan the the original liar and serpent: trying to be godly (be like God) by obeying the law which kills and gives the knowledge of good and evil like the tree of the same name in Eden. Meanwhile, they can never cast the first stone! These religious types are the ones of whom Christ speaks in John 3-

"19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

See The Passion Translation- "19 And here is the basis for their judgment: The Light of God has now come into the world, but the hearts of people love their darkness more than the Light, because they want the darkness to conceal their evil. 20 So the wicked hate the Light and try to hide from it, for their lives are fully exposed in the Light. 21 But those who love the truth will come out into the Light and welcome its exposure, for the Light will reveal that their fruitful works were produced by God.”

Christ is the Light. The religious Pharisees and their counterparts today who think that they can keep the law or produce even an iota of good by themselves are the ones who love their darkness. Christ showed them and they saw by themselves that they were no better than the adulteress whom they accused and wanted to kill. Instead of remaining in the Light who saves from sin and death as did the adulteress, they dropped their stones and slunk away from Christ the Light, into their darkness of pride in self/self-righteousness aka trying to be godly like God by human effort-an effort in futility according to Romans 3:20. Beloved, Ephesians 5 counsels us against associating with such lovers of darkness-

"11 And don’t even associate with the servants of darkness because they have no fruit in them; instead, reveal truth to them. 12 The very things they do in secret are too vile and filthy to even mention. 13 Whatever the revelation-light exposes, it will also correct, and everything that reveals truth is light to the soul. 14 This is why the Scripture says,

“Arise, you sleeper! Rise up from the dead and the Anointed One will shine his light into you!”

Beloved, believe God's Word when He says anyone who is posing as if he is good and righteous (like God) by his human effort at obedience based on the knowledge of good and evil and not by God's Grace alone (so he cannot boast) has the vilest sins undercover. Their sins are always in secret and as the Pharisees did to the adulteress who remained in the Light and received no condemnation but was saved by Christ, they slap the flock to death with laws that no man can keep and threaten the flock with condemnation and punishment when they drag you to Christ!

But as we see in His treatment of the adulteress, Christ has no condemnation (a legal term) so no punishment for the helpless sinner who looks to Him for salvation. He has only salvation, even salvation from sin and death. In Hom is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. If you have seen Christ, you have seen the Father:

God the Father has no condemnation (a legal term) so no punishment for the helpless sinner who utterly depends on Christ for salvation— even salvation from sin and its consequences.

Beware of any “pastor” who threatens you with hell for the sins which Christ came to save us from right in His presence aka in the church.

Also beloved of God, understand that in Christ, God will never punish you for your sins because Christ paid it all at the cross. Jesus is not going to come and die again for the sins that we might commit tomorrow— whether you sin ten million times a day or once, you can only die the death that the law demands ONCE. See this in Hebrews 9:27–

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many...."

Again, religious “churchy” types cannot but see this truth of Grace (unmerited favour) in the light of—

“So you mean I can just go out and murder someone and God will still see me as righteous?”

As if Peter could not wait for another opportunity to deny Jesus. As if Judas loved betraying Jesus and was somewhere splurging on sheep and stuff with his betrayal money. In reality, Judas was depressed and suicidal, like many who are trying to be godly by human effort,at obeying the law today— whether Christian or not. Are you looking for the next opportunity to commit sins? Why do we think that other people are different? All flesh is the same. People are not looking for an avenue to commit sins. People are looking for the Way out of sins but are being shown the law which was given for just one purpose—

“The law was given that sins might increase…” Romans 5:20.

Grace is the ONLY Way out of sins. Beloved of God, Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:

"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says:

“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Anyone who claims to be able to achieve as much as a tittle of the above job description of Christ by his human effort/arm of flesh — a doer of the law and not a doer of the word — that one is deceiving himself. So watch what you are hearing in your local church, beloved. The message of the cross — GRACE — it seems foolish and illogical to many. Little wonder,

“For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Beloved, whatever sins you have which Christ's light exposes, His revelation light will also correct, just as He did to the adulteress who remained in the Light and received no condemnation but was saved by Christ.

Like the Pharisees, such who depend on their own self-produced light can never cast the first stone. They only parrot the same false and deathly doctrine that Satan the original liar and serpent used to deceive Eve in Eden. No wonder Christ called such religious persons "Brood of vipers" aka children of serpents. No wonder He said to them in John 8:

"42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me."

Understand that these people whom Jesus called "you are of your father the devil" were not people who went about saying things like "there is no God" and promoting immorality. They were a highly religious people whose life was all about obeying God's law and doing its works, and generally trying to be godly/be like God by human effort- the same false doctrine which some "pastors" teach today. It is the desire of Satan to see everyone follow that seemingly good but in reality, subtle, false and deathly doctrine that he preached to Eve in Eden: that man can do anything at all by his strength/arm of flesh much less use the law which tells what is good from what is evil in order to attain godliness aka "be like God." That false doctrine is widely accepted as what it means to be a Christian in many places of worship. Many are trying to fast, obey and earn their way into being godly (like God) and getting God's freely-given blessings in Christ as well as to "not perish but have eternal life" by their human striving to be godly like God aka law-keeping. Notice Jesus Christ is no longer in their equation of salvation from sin and death? It is no longer what CHRIST has done but what MAN must do by his arm of flesh which God's word says will fail. Beloved, this is what it means to be on the broad road that leads to destruction. It is the way that Proverbs 14:12 speaks of-

"There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."

Doing one's best to be godly (be like God) by following the law seems seems right to man. But human logic cannot comprehend the message of the cross-

"18 For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Understand that "law" encompasses anything at all that one is doing IN HIS OWN MIGHT (arm of flesh) in order to get God to bless or to "not perish but have everlasting life." Those works which many depend on to get one into God's good graces are dead works. Isaiah 64:6 describes such obedience or self-produced righteous acts which many are doing in order to get God to bless, save or deliver thus—

“We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight." Isaiah 64:6.

Beloved, Christ took care of our designation as “good" forever when we believed that He laid down His life for us. Christ says:

“There is none good but God.”

Being good (like God) is a godly characteristic which no man can lay claim to through human striving or by choosing a course of action based on the knowledge of good and evil. Just look where that attempt got Adam and Eve.

Through Christ's shed blood, God sees you and I who believe Jesus as godly/righteous despite our many failings, only because we believe Jesus:

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God." Romans 5:9.

No amount of good works or obedience counts towards making any good (like God the Righteous) in God's sight. Only the blood of Jesus matters. This truth is too much to bear for the self-righteous who, like Peter before he denied Christ, think that they can be good by themselves or that some sins are beneath them. Works produced with such a mindset are dead works, akin to Peter slashing off someone's ear in Gethsemane to prove that he was ready to follow Christ to prison and to death as he'd boasted; a work that Christ did not appreciate-- He fixed the ear. Like many religious folk today who think that they are being good by themselves, Peter had no idea that the reason why he was not committing particular sins was because God kept him from being sifted by Satan. He thought Christ was wrong about his then upcoming denials.

Like many churchgoers who think that they can produce even an iota of good (be like God) by human striving, Peter's thought exalted itself against the knowledge of God. With his trial, his eyes were opened to understand Christ's "There is none good but God" and his utter weakness. Such trust in one's ability to produce or maintain good aka boasting in self/the flesh “exalts itself against the knowledge of God” and only opens the door for Satan to sift a person like wheat for that good that he claims to have when Christ says “There is none good but God.” So let he that is standing take heed lest he falls.

Good works are the evidences of salvation in Christ, not conditions. This is why Christ gave His life for you and I-

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds." Titus 2:14.

Beloved, God gave His own Son up for us to make us godly/like God the righteous. See this in Isaiah 53:11-

"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."

It does not please God to see any on that broad road that leads to destruction aka trying to be godly by human striving so as to merit His Salvation because it destroys the world that He so loved. By Grace, beware of ministers of Satan. Their trademark is preaching that there is something that you can do in your own strength (law-keeping) to attain good/godliness- the same deceit that Satan sold to Eve in Eden. Like the Pharisees, their lives seem to revolve around obeying God’s law and wanting you to be godly, but they preach Satan's deceit of trying to be godly/be like God by human effort - glorifying the arm of flesh (human effort) over God's saving Grace- His undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. These are the same preachers who try to link Grace with believers committing sin with reckless abandon! Beloved of God, God's Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:

"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says of Grace: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”

How can Grace- Christ Himself who saves from sins- be a promoter of sinful living? How can Grace prevent you from tithing/supporting your pastor whose job it is to help you see more of Grace without whom we would have/be nothing?

Beloved, all you need to do to express the utter sinfulness of man is be yourself— trying to be good (be like God); be apart from God’s mercy and grace aka the “Skeleton” that is still preventing many from devolving into the helpless mass of sins-ridden flesh that man is of himself as self-trusting Peter did with his denials.

Unless you know that you freely receive from God, you simply cannot freely give. Beware of "Grace-less" aka Christ-less pastors today who whack the flock with Malachi tithing and threats of the devourer in order to force the flock into that brand of giving that is driven by fear of the devourer and insult God by preaching that it is man's measly 10% that causes God to make rich and not His Grace-

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." 2 Corinthians 8:9.

Beware of those who teach that God who freely gives us all things with Christ (Romans 8:32) will only bless you via that horrid trade-by-barter system of paying Him in exchange for His protection from the devourer and curses that Christ has given us victory over. Tithing in order to get God to rebuke the devourer and bless is just one law, not even among the Big Ten. Not committing adultery is just one law. Not bearing false witness is just one law out of over 600. The one who is keeping one law IN ORDER TO GET GOD TO BLESS has to keep ALL of the rest perfectly for his tithing/seed/obedience to matter-

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble at one point he is guilty of all." James 2:10.

God loves a cheerful giver so He makes cheerful givers of all who utterly trust in His Grace for salvation. The blessing comes first. Christ has fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law for all who believe in Him. Beloved, trust Him to carry you in His strength and you will find yourself transformed into giving even BEYOND the lawful regulation of the tithe, yet not you but Christ in you. He will shock you with your generosity and godly living in general, beloved. You will know that it simply is not you but Christ in you. You will find yourself unable to boast in that horrid and CHRIST-LESS "I sowed my car and God gave me a jet" manner. Christ gets all the glory.

Still on the topic of what God is like, Luke 15 tells us about the kind of people who followed Christ who is Grace-personified and in whom is the fullness of God in a human body—

"Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!" Luke 15:1-2.

That is who God is— drawing near to notorious sinners who see their need for salvation. Religious people who claim to know Him can neither abide nor understand this. Such have no idea that in Christ, we never remain the same. He is Saviour from sins. In response to their self-righteous agitations, Christ gave the Pharisees and teachers of religious law the Parable of the Lost Sheep where we see what pleases God- the same thing that makes Christ in whom is the fullness of the Godhead bodily rejoice-

4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

The above parable tells us what repentance is all about/ beloved, when we think "Repentance," let us think the sheep in the Parable of the Lost Sheep: Christ shows us in the parable that repentance simply means turning to Christ — away from trying to fend for ourselves, even in the area of attaining godliness — and consenting to be carried all the way home in His strength and not ours from our own obedience and 70 days fasting which is the mixture doctrine that is being peddled from many church pulpits today. In reality, there is no one who does not need repentance. All of us had gone astray-

"All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6.

There is none righteous and none who had not gone astray, no matter how "good" we seemed to be doing before Christ found us. Christ says "There is none good but God." The one who thinks that he is "good" by himself is like the physical flesh/skin and muscle boasting that it can stand apart from its skeleton. He is no different from pre-denial Peter who thought he could never deny Christ- standing on the false and sandy foundation of the arm of flesh that will fail and opening himself up to Satan's sifting. God's restraining hand is the skeleton that is preventing any who thinks that he is good or righteous by himself aka the self-righteous from crumpling into the sins-ridden mass of flesh that man is of himself. God's word addresses this truth in Romans 1 where a group who “suppress the truth” of righteousness by faith (verses 16-19) devolved into sin after “God lifted off His restraining hand…” —

“24 This is why God lifted off His restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires…”

If God lifted off His restraining hand which restrains man from devolving into committing heinous sins and let any rely on his human effort and will-power at keeping the law or doing good works to prove his faith or for whatever reason, like Peter who trusted himself to keep the two greatest commandments plus the Eighth Commandment (You shall not bear false witness...) before falling flat on his face three times, we would all devolve into sin and see how utterly lacking in good we are of ourselves. Pride (in one's ability to keep the law) goes before a fall.

It is because of God's mercy that we are not consumed by the vagaries of Time and Chance and Satan's sifting which lead to the one who trusts himself as Peter did falling flat on his face when trials come. Only in and on Christ the Rock do we stand. From pastor to pew warmer, we who believe, we all need Him right now just as much as we needed Him before He found and put us on His shoulders- and to the same degree. He is the "Skeleton" who keeps us upright and the Life of our "Marrow" who produces our life-blood. He is our very breath. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

What pleases God is us realising our utter helplessness apart from Christ and UTTERLY relying on/receiving Christ as our Righteousness and Strength; our Foundation and Life like the sheep in the Parable. On the Strength of His shoulders is where we are protected, provided for, cherished, corrected, disciplined.

Recall Christ says -

"... there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!"

According to Christ, the lost sheep REPENTED. But check out the parable- the sheep did nothing except go astray and consent to be carried in the state in which it was found by the Good Shepherd! It did not try to arrange itself, clean up its poop, fast, sow seed or present tithe card in order to get the Good Shepherd to save it from devourers or provide it with the best of the best. And that is where we find the true meaning of repentance towards God- us consenting to be carried ALL THE WAY in the strength of Christ; it is not that breast-beating/conscience-wrangling and prideful "How could I have done that? I have to do something to make God see that I am really sorry. I will never do it again" kind of attitude that is being passed off as repentance today. Judas did just that. It resulted in him becoming depressed and suicidal as it does those who are being levied with demands of making themselves worthy and presentable with useless works of the law before Christ will agree to carry them with all of their burdens and love them into wholeness.

On His shoulders, we rest as we go further than we ever could, and in the right direction too. And He FREELY carries all who acknowledge their utter helplessness and consent to His Salvation. That is who God is.

When your believing is right, right living will follow.