“All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
Luke 10:22
There is only one eternal Creator of heaven and earth. There is only one Almighty God, and He has made it very clear that He will not share His glory with another. And yet we discover Jesus making the most astonishing claims, which if not true would be outrageous and even blasphemous. After His Resurrection, and just before He ascended into heaven, Jesus spoke to His eleven disciples, and said, “All authority has been given to Me, in heaven and on earth.”
Jesus not only claimed to be of equal status with the Father, and to have been given all authority in heaven and on earth, but He declared that He had the same authority as His Heavenly Father, to raise the dead and to Him should be ascribed the same honour and glory, might, majesty, dominion, and power, that is given to the Father in heaven.
Although He was fully God and possessed the same eternal power, authority, and attributes as the Father, the Lord Jesus was also fully human. He was fully Man… and for a season chose to lay aside His own glory, in order to live as God had ordained that man should live, from the beginning. The second Person of the Trinity became the man Christ Jesus, and set a perfect example of how every-man should live - in complete dependence upon the Father. He lived in willing submission to the Father. He chose to live in utter obedience to God’s perfect will.
Because He had carried out the redemptive will of His Father, to be born into the human race, to become a Man, to live a sinless life, and to die a sacrificial death for the sin of the whole world, He was able to proclaim, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
Despite being fully God, Jesus was content to do nothing of Himself, which is why Scripture tells us that, “the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” Although fully God, Jesus lived His life as a Man. He lived His life depending on the Father, as an example to us… and to reveal God to us. As a result, God gave all power and authority to Him.
The Lord Jesus lived in total unity of Spirit with the Father and confessed many times that He, “only carries out the will of the Father.” He explained that although He is living His life under the authority and direction of the Father, He still retains His Deity. He is still God of gods. He is still the second member of the Triune Godhead. Nevertheless, He ONLY said those things He heard from the Father and He only did those things that he saw His Father do. Jesus did all things in the power of the Holy Spirit - as an example of how we ALL should live our lives.
Because of Adam, the human race was at enmity with God and failed to carry out God’s will. Man failed to execute dominion over the earth as God’s appointed regent. The second person of the Trinity came to correct that failure, and did everything the Father willed… and as a result, ALL THINGS were handed over to Him, by the Father. He was given authority to reclaim the dominion Adam lost. Only God the Son, Who became the Son of Man had the credentials to govern the earth. Only He was good enough to pay the price of sin. Only He could shed innocent blood. And because Christ was obedient - even to death on the cross - “All things have been handed over to Him, by the Father.”
Jesus, the incarnate God could certainly claim that no one knows Who the Son is except the Father, because He was in the beginning with the Father. He alone could claim that no one knows the Father, except the Son, for He and the Father are united in purpose, and equal in power. He alone was worthy to open the seals and He alone could legitimately reclaim ownership of the earth. And God gave Him ALL power to govern the earth, to judge the world in righteousness and, to reveal the Father to anyone the Son choses to.
As the eternal Son of God, He is co-equal with the Father. And as the human Seed of the woman, He was born into the human race as the sinless Son of Man to show us the Father. He lived His life and died His death in utter submission to His Heavenly Father’s will. The Son of God was obedient to the Father - obedient even to death. He carried out God’s perfect will for the sake of mankind - to save all who would believe on His name.
Jesus came to make known the immortal, invisible Father to the lost race of man. And as we look to Jesus by faith, and trust in His work at Calvary, He returns us into fellowship with the Father and will open the eyes of our hearts to know Him more and to love Him better.
Thank You, Father, that Jesus was prepared to set aside His ever divine prerogative, and take on Himself the form of a Man, so that by faith in Him I might be brought into Your family. Thank You that through Him, I have been returned into fellowship with You. I pray that I may come to know You more and to love You better with every passing day. Thank You for forgiving my sin and covering me in Christ’s perfect righteousness. May I live and work for Your praise and glory in this life, and in the ages to come. This I ask in Jesus’ name, AMEN.