When I painted my sister’s dog Maple I copied a snapshot from the prior prior winter season. The image depicted Maple in the snow. Enjoying snowfall, she had the most adorable look on her little dog face. One morning I walked into my art studio to pick up where I had left off the other day when I suddenly realized that I had painted her legs all wrong. In an attempt to capture the dog’s facial expressions I had taken my eyes off the original photograph. I ended up with a cute dog face and four crippled legs.

Translated into the realm of faith I find there is a small analogy: Our faith loses substance and soon becomes crippled and frail when we take our eyes off the original Godhead. Drawing closer to God we interact with the Trinity – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If you have trouble with the Trinity, here is a question for you: All life forms are nuanced and complex; how much more God, the originator of life?

Fixing our eyes on the Son, we gain access to the Father and the Holy Spirit; Jesus is the spitting image of the Father, and the Holy Spirit talks about Jesus all the time. Thanks to the Trinity’s work and enthusiasm we are believers. Jesus saw His earthly mission through and initiated a worldwide movement of renewal and reconciliation. His thumbprints are all over our faith, which makes Him the Author of our faith.

On The first day of the week outside His empty tomb Jesus met with Mary Magdalene. She was clearly overwhelmed seeing the Lord alive after His horrific death on the cross. And so she held on to Him refusing to let Him go. But Jesus took her hands and His parting words to her were (John 20:17):

“Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Jesus becomes our brother when we believe in Him. – His God is our God and His Father is our Father.