The Father's love

God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. — 2 Corinthians 5:19

In his autobiography, a well-known TV personality describes the time when he asked, “If God the Father is so all-loving, why didn’t He come down and go to Calvary?” That comment reveals how little he understood the love of a good earthly father and the depth of love revealed in the Trinity.

Consider the love an earthly father has for his son. In Genesis 22, we read that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. We can only imagine the agony in his heart as he and the boy climbed the mountain. Surely Abraham must have wished he could take Isaac’s place.

As a father and grandfather myself, I would choose to die in place of my offspring, if given the choice.

Our love as earthly fathers is but a faint reflection of our heavenly Father’s love for His Son and for us. Because of the close relationship between the Father and the Son, Jesus could say, “I and My Father are one” (John 10:30). And the Bible tells us that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Without a doubt, therefore, the Father did share His Son’s pain at Calvary.

How wonderful to know that we have a loving Father in heaven! Because Jesus died for us, we can be forgiven and personally experience the Father’s love. — Herbert Vander Lugt  

Died He for me, who caused His pain?

For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love! How can it be

That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? — Wesley                                            

READ: Genesis 22:1-14

The Father’s love knows no limit.

The Bible in one year:

• Ezekiel 8-11