Vol. 16 No. 5
May 2, 2017
Dear Friend,
Some years ago I was driving on an interstate listening to a recording
of my wonderful New Testament Greek professor Cullen Story talking about the
marvelous John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.”*
He observed that the Greek for “with God,” pros ton theon, in English is literally, “toward the
God.”
So, the Word, Jesus, was “with” God in the sense of being face to
face with God.
The picture is of Jesus and the Father, face to face, loving one
another, enjoying one another, communicating with one another.
What an incredibly intimate, loving, wonderful, and ongoing
relationship there is between the Father and the Son.
I was so taken with that magnificent thought that I lost track of
where I was driving and missed my exit by twenty miles, but never regretted it
for a moment.
We who put our trust in Jesus are literally “in Christ” and have
the privilege and joy of facing the Father with Jesus in intimacy and love.
Take a moment to bow your heart in honor and lift your face in
delight. Spend a few moments simply enjoying the wonder of the face to face
relationship with God that you have been given in Jesus.
"’Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’ Your face, LORD, do
I seek” (Psalm 27:8).
E. Stanley Ott
