The Father's Love part 1
There are a lot of pictures of God in the Bible. That's kind of the point of the book--showing us who He is. But the one that seems to be used the most--and used by Jesus, especially--is the picture of a loving Father. Even in the parable of the Prodigal Son, that's what we see... a father who loves his son no matter what. So that's the picture I always go back to. I like the picture of God as the light of the world. Of Jesus' life being the light of men. And I like the picture of God as a consuming fire--being totally consumed with His love so that there is nothing left besides that love. All such good pictures. Different aspects of the love that is God. But, again (and especially as a father myself), my very favorite, and I believe the very best, picture is the Father who loves His Son. That's so easy to understand. So relatable. Look at John 15:9 (NLT), "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love." To me, it's that simple. And that powerful. To me the ultimate truth of the universe is that God is love and He loves you. The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. It's the idea of the family business, right? Which, even from a young age, was what Jesus concerned Himself with. When Jesus was a boy, his parents lost Him. And I say it that way because Jesus wasn't lost. He knew exactly where He was and He wsa exactly where He was supposed to be. Which is what He said when His parents found Him. "And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49). And here's the key: Jesus always knew who He was. Because He always knew who His Father was. The love and approval and acceptance of a Father will always equip and empower a Son. When Jesus was baptized this came to fulfillment. "And a voice from heaven said, "You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy"" (Mark 1:11 NLT). Those Words propelled Jesus into His earthly ministry. Because before being baptized, there are no recorded events of Jesus doing any miracles. AFTER His Father publically approved and accepted Him... that's when things started to happen. Walking on water. Turning water to wine. Healing people everywhere He went. Multiplying fish and loaves of bread. From that point on Jesus did whatever needed to be done. And I'm of the opinion that a lot of the things we are blown away at, Jesus almost just took for granted. Like walking on water. I think, to Him, it was just the quickest way to get to where He was going. Multiplying the food... there were lots of people that were hungry, so He fed them. Problem solved. Because it seemed that Jesus was very matter of fact about His "miracles." He didn't stress out, or make a big deal out of things. He simply went about His Father's business. Because He knew who He was, He knew who His Father was, and He knew that His Father loved Him. Even when He spoke about loving people, it came back to His Father's love. "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me." Receiving and releasing. That's how Jesus lived His life. And that's how we can experience that same abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love. All we have to do is remain in His love. Understand and accept that as He is, so are we in this world. Jesus is our true identity. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. WE are the Father's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. WE have been equipped and empowered to love God (by loving people) because He first loved us! Everything flows from the Father's love to His Son!