GOD’S WORD FOR MAY 15
GOD’S WORD FOR MAY 15 ~ ~ John 17:24 ~ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Continuing with excerpts from John Piper’s book, “The Pleasures of God”
Co-Creator:
Although the qualities of lowliness and meekness were not manifest until the incarnation,(when Jesus became a man) they were nevertheless part of the Son’s character from all eternity. He did not undergo a conversion before he submitted to the Father’s will that He die for sinners.
This is why the love that the Father has for the Son goes back to before creation. “Father, You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24) There never was a time when the Father was denied the pleasure of delighting in the glory of His Son.
God also loved His son in the very act of creating the universe. He enjoyed His Son as His own Word of Wisdom and creative Power in the act of creation. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1-3).
The Son was the wisdom of God creating, with God, all that is not God. And, as Proverbs say, “A wise son makes a glad father” (Proverbs 10:1; 15:20) God was glad in the wisdom of His creative Son.
I wonder if there was a faint resemblance of this creative camaraderie between Father and Son when Joseph and Jesus worked together in the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth. I picture Jesus about fifteen years old, humming as He worked. The plank is cut with masterful strokes, carved with three small posts protruding in their appointed places, and then fitted perfectly into the joining board to make a solid bench. Jesus smiles as He smacks the wood with pleasure.
All the while Joseph has been standing at the door watching the hands of his (step) son. He sees the image of his own workmanship and his own life. The skill of his (step) son is evidence of the joy. And when they put their energy together to lift a finished table for the synagogue, their eyes meet with a flash of delight that says, “You are a treasure to me, and I love you with all my heart.”
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Infinite Intimacy:
No other relationship comes close to this one. It is utterly unique. The Son is absolutely unique in the affections of the Father. He is the “only begotten” (John 1:14&18; 3:16&18)
There is THE Son by eternal generation, and there are other “sons” by adoption. “ When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son…..to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive “adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5)
Jesus often referred to God as “My Father” or “The Father” but He never referred to Him as “Our Father” except once, when He was teaching the apostles to pray.
Once He used a remarkable expression, “My Father and your Father….My God and your God” (John 20:17) The relationship between God the Father and His eternal Son is utterly unique! (They alone truly know one another and truly love one another)
It is impossible to overstate the greatness of the fatherly affection God has for His one and only Son.
Live in the Light of Our Lord 