A Love Relationship
I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. ––John 17:4-5
Ask a 100 men to use one word to describe God, and you’ll get as many varied answers as an episode of Family Feud. What’s the first word that pops into your head when you think of God? Arguably one of the most under-represented words? Relational. Our God driven by relationship—seeking relationship with His prize creation, humankind. He sought it with Adam and Even in the cool of the afternoon in Eden; He seeks it with us today.
He had it—and has it—with His beloved son, Jesus, as well. The Scriptures reveal the fact that Jesus is not acting out of duty, identity, or responsibility to the Father’s will. He gives us a more personal sense of His motivation: the act is out of love for his “Abba Father.” Jesus does nothing on His own but speak what the Father has taught Him (John 8;28); He knows that His Father is with Him and that God has never left Him alone, and that He always does what pleases God (v. 29). There’s an awareness that Dad’s watching His life and relating to Him as a Dad.
Jesus Christ had an exclusive relationship with the Father and no one knew Him better. The ground was sacred, and they shared a deep and satisfying connection unique just to them. What made it special was the inside knowledge of the other. God’s man is ushered by Christ into this same exclusive relationship with the Father, to possess and treasure a unique bond with the Father just as Jesus did. “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).
That’s you, God’s man. Have you realized your intimate relationship to the Father?
Father, Help me to realize the intimate love You have for me.