Theology of Prayer &
The Eternal Purposes of God
Part 2
Do you KNOW that God the Father loves you in the same way that the Father loves Jesus!
Take a look at John 15:9 and 17:26 and you will discover two astounding truths.
First, that Jesus loves us in the same way that his Father loves him (Jn. 15:9)!
Wait, what?! Yes…read it again! Jesus loves you the same way that the Father loves him. And you are called to abide in that same love.
Second, Jesus prays for you! Look at Jn. 17:26…read it carefully!
The prayer of Christ for you is that the love that exists between him and the Father would be put into you!
God wants your prayer life to be a living exchange of the love that exists between Himself and his Son Jesus. You are called to believe that and reach for it! Let’s dive into these truths.
“The life that God lives as Father, Son and Spirit is not boring and sad and lonely. There is no emptiness in this circle, no depression or fear or angst. The Trinitarian life is a life of unchained fellowship and intimacy, fired by passionate, self-giving love and mutual delight. Such love, giving rise to such togetherness and fellowship, overflows in unbounded joy, in infinite creativity and unimaginable goodness. The gospel begins here with this God and with this divine life, for there is no other. Before time dawned and space was called to be, before the heavens were stretched out and filled with a sea of stars, before the earth was summoned and filled with people and life and endless beauty, before there was anything, there was the Father, Son and Spirit and the great dance of Trinitarian life. The amazing truth is that this Triune God, in staggering and lavish love, determined to open the circle and share the Trinitarian life with others. This is the one, eternal and abiding reason for the existence of the universe and human life within it. There is no other God, no other will of God, no second plan, no hidden agenda for human beings. From the beginning, God is Father, Son and Spirit, and from the beginning, this God has determined not to exist without us.”
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Test Yourself
Answer
Respond to Video:
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1.3 – The Eternal Purposes of God – Part 2
Respond to the following prompts in paragraph format:
- Paraphrase in your own words without changing the meaning of these verses. Jn. 15:9 and Jn. 17:26.
- In a time of prayer, take time to write down the phrase below and say it out loud several times, pausing in between each time you speak it. Speak it out loud so your ear can hear what you are saying. Write down the effect of this prayer time.
Say this phrase, “Father God, you love me in the same way you love Jesus.”
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3 Replies
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In no way do I doubt the love of the Father for the Son. In fact, it is clear to me that such love is unimaginable to me. I hear in John 15:9 that Jesus loves me with this same, unimaginable love! Jesus loves me the same way, with the same love as, the Father loves Jesus. As if this wasn’t awe-inspiring enough, John 17:26 reveals that God’s love is now in me!! When I was baptized into Jesus’ Name, I was baptized into His death, resurrection and Life! I am in Him and His Spirit is in me! This is how I am able to keep the greatest commandment to the love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind and strength. The love by which I love God with is not the product of human love … it is the Love of God for God that I get to participate in being now “in Christ”! Mr. Anderson is correct, such truth is only understand through prayer and revelation.
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Jesus’s prayer is that we may know that the Heavenly Father loves Him and that the Heavenly Father loves us with the same love that He loves Jesus. Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” There are two aspects of this verse that I am reflecting on now. The first is to pause after the first period (which in the Greek literally would read “and I also you I loved”)–to stop after this phrase and let this sink in. Jesus has loved us, loved me. After letting this hit me, I was struck by the phrase “remain in my love.” Noting that this is an imperative, I reflected on what that could mean and decided to look it up in a commentary. I found this: As in v. 4 this aor. is constative, underlining the urgency of the command for a cus- tomary practice (Fanning 369–70): “You must remain” (cf. Jude 21).Ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ τῇ ἐμῇ, “in my love” = “in the love I have for you.” Remaining in Christ’s love will mean “rejoicing in its reality, depending on its support, doing nothing to grieve it, but on the contrary engaging in that which delights the Lover” (Beasley-Murray 273). Yes, I truly rejoice in the reality that Jesus Christ loves me as the Father has loved Him and I certainly desire to do nothing that would grieve the One who loves me so in such an amazing way. Amen.
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Wow – as the father has loved me, so have I love you , now remain in love – my words – you have a father that loves you a love that is beyond measure – beyond what the world even can comprehend – you are to carry this love and give it freely to others as you stand in it like a overfilling cup that never gets empty.
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