The Love of the Father for the Son
The Father's love for the Son is the ultimate love, and it is extended towards us in every way and to its fullest extent.
Bruce Hulshizer preaches on the ultimate love of the Father for the Son, a love that existed before the foundation of the world and is unparalleled, extending to us as believers. The Father's love for His Son is compared to His love for us, emphasizing the depth of His love by sacrificing His Son for our sake. Jesus invites us to abide in His love, mirroring the love between the Father and the Son. Through Christ, we are called into a fellowship of mutual love, sharing in the divine love between the Father and the Son.
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The love of the Father for the Son is the ultimate of loves. In John 17, the Lord Jesus speaks of the Father's love for Him being before the foundation of the world (v. 24), showing that it preceded all creation, originating singularly in the Godhead, and being from eternity past. No other love is like this--a love between the persons of the Godhead in eternity past. The Father opened heaven twice to tell of this love that He has had for His Son: "This is my Beloved Son in whom I have found my delight." (Mt 3:17, 17:5).
It is this love which the Lord Jesus uses to compare other loves. He says, "Thou [the Father] hast loved them [the disciples], as thou hast loved Me" (v 23). No greater statement could be made concerning the Father's love for us! The same love He has had for His Beloved Son, such He has had for us, those He has chosen out of the world and given to His Son (v. 2, 6, etc). We would never dare to think this if it were not revealed in God's word; but it is true! And in this love we have seen His act, for "He has not spared His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all" (Rom. 8:32)!
Again, in emphasizing the greatness of His love for His own, the Lord Jesus uses the strongest of words, saying, "As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you: abide in my love" (John 15:9). The love of the Father for His Son has been extended towards us in every way and to its fullest extent. The Father has loved us just as He has loved His Son, and the Son has loved us just as the Father has loved Him.
And praise the Lord who does all things well, there is more! The Lord Jesus says He has made known the Father's name to the disciples "and will make it known: that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them" (v. 26). Such a truth, if it were not said in the Scripture, could never be imagined by a saint-- that the very love of the Father for the Son should be in me, so that I might love the Son as the Father loves the Son! And such is the Son's desire. What a glorious fellowship of mutual love for the Lovely Son! "God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (I Cor. 1:9). He has given us the same Love for the Son, so that we might love Him as well, and thus be full partakers in this glorious fellowship of love.
The Father has loved the Son. The Father has loved us as He has loved His Son. The Son has loved us as the Father has loved Him. And the love with which the Father has loved His Son is given to be in us. What a glorious place we have! What marvelous ways God has!
Sermon Outline
- I. The Love of the Father for the Son
- A. Preceded all creation and originated in the Godhead
- B. Demonstrated in the Father's words to Jesus at His baptism and transfiguration
- II. The Father's Love for Us
- A. Compared to His love for Jesus
- B. Shown in His willingness to spare not His own Son for us
- III. The Love of the Son for Us
- A. Like the Father's love for Him
- B. Demonstrated in His desire for us to abide in His love
- IV. The Fellowship of Mutual Love
- A. The love of the Father for the Son is given to us
- B. We are called into the fellowship of His Son
Key Quotes
“This is my Beloved Son in whom I have found my delight.” — Bruce Hulshizer
“As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you: abide in my love” — Bruce Hulshizer
“God is faithful, by whom ye have been called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” — Bruce Hulshizer
Application Points
- We can experience the love of the Father for the Son by receiving it and abiding in it.
- We are called into the fellowship of the Son's love, which is a glorious and marvelous place.
- We can demonstrate our love for the Son by loving Him as the Father loves Him.