THE LOVE OF THE FATHER

I wonder how many of God's people today can sincerely cry out to our blessed Lord, "Glorify me with thyself! Bring me into oneness. I yearn to be closer, more intimate. Master, it is you that I want. More than signs or wonders, I must have your presence!"

Hear his exalted plea: "Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24).

The glory Jesus is talking about has to do with a very intimate kind of love—a love that permits no distance or separation from the object of its affection. It desires a complete oneness, an eternal union. This divine love between our Lord and the Father was so all-important to him, he eagerly longed for the day all his children could behold it with their own eyes.

Glory be to the hallowed name of Jesus Christ for such a glorious thought! Christ is so overjoyed with the glory of his intimate relationship with his Father, he yearns to bring all God's children to heaven to behold it.

Actually, our Lord was praying, "Father, they must see this glorious love we have. They must see for themselves how fully you give yourself to me. I want them to know how greatly I am loved—from before the world was created."

Won't that be something when we, the redeemed, are brought into God's great banquet hall, to the heavenly feast, and are permitted to behold the love of the Father for his dear Son and our blessed Savior? I see on that glorious day our Lord's prayer answered, when he looks to his blood-purchased children and joyfully proclaims, "See, children, is it not so? Did I not tell you the truth? Does he not love me so? Have you ever beheld such great love? Is it not truly perfect love? You now see my glory, my Father's love for me and my love for him."

Do you not see, saints of God, that beholding the glory of Christ on that day will be the revealing to us of God's love for his Son? What a joy to know we serve a Savior who is loved. And is it not terrifying to contemplate that Lucifer cut himself off from such glory? He is without love. He has no father.

Surely, this was his greatest loss. It is the great loss of all Satan's children, to exist without a witness or sense of a heavenly Father's love. In contrast, God's children are embraced in oneness with Jesus while still on earth. God loves us as he loves his own Son. This truth ought to make us come into rest.