The Son of God came to this planet to reveal His Father. Before He came, God wanted to be known as the Father of Israel nationally. He showed His mercy by offering Himself as Father of orphans. He promised to be a Father to Solomon, and to chasten him for iniquity (2 Sam. 7:14). The Lord would be the same to others also (Prov. 3:12). Israel may have wanted God as their Father, but they did not honor Him as such (see Mal. 1:6; 2:10; Jn. 8:41). No one on the record called God his Father in the Old Testament. The Son of God is mentioned only once (in Dan. 3:25), but sons of God are mentioned twice in Genesis, and three times in Job.
The Father identified Jesus as His Son when He was born and in manhood so all would know, (Lk. 3:22; 9:35; Heb.1:5). He revealed to the Baptist and to Peter the fact that Jesus was His Son (Jn. 1:33-34; Mt.16:17).
The Son spoke to the Father. The Son thanked His Father, the Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing deeper truth to spiritual babes. He thanked Him for hearing His prayer about raising Lazarus from death. His whole life can be summarized in His prayer, “Father, glorify Thy name,” but also in His words, Yes, (even so), Father. We have the Father’s words in reply only in John 12:28. But the Father objected to the proposal that His Son be given equal honor with Moses and Elijah.
The Lord often prayed to His Father, but the Spirit has not recorded His actual words for us.
The Lord spoke about His “heavenly” Father, who was perfect, and called Him righteous and holy in John 17, and merciful, in Luke 6:36. He knows our hearts and our needs. The Lord always did His Father’s will, and those who do the same are His brothers and sisters (Mt. 12:50).
The Father put all things in the hands of His Son (Lk. 10:22), and appointed Him the kingdom (Lk. 22:29). The Father is One with the Son, yet greater than all. And the believer is protected in the hand of the Father and the Son (Jn. 10:28-30).
The Father is Spirit and invisible (Jn. 4:24; 6:46), but to see the Son is to see the Father (Jn. 14:9). The Lord could speak of His God (Jn. 20:17), but this does not mean that the Son was created, or less than God. The Father is true and His Word is true (Jn. 7:28; 17:17).
The Father loves His Son and love gives. What then did the Father give His Son? God gave the Spirit to Christ without measure, and all things into His hand (Jn. 3:34-35). The Father gave His words to His Son, who never spoke as from Himself (Jn. 8:28; 14:10; 17:8, 14).
He sent His Son, giving Him this privilege and honor. The Father gave His Son work to finish and He always obeyed His Father’s commands (Jn. 5:36; 14:31; 17:4).
God gave the Son to have life in Himself, and He has authority to give eternal life to men (Jn. 5:26; 17:2). The Son has authority to judge all men (Jn. 5:27). The Lord received His disciples as a gift from the Father, and God is quite able to keep them (Jn. 6:37, 39; 17:6-12). He will rejoice over His Church as a bridegroom over his bride (Isa. 62:5b).
To save sinners Christ had to die, and the Father gave Him this cup of suffering (Jn. 18:11). So He has the honor of being Redeemer forever. His Father loved Him before the foundation of the world, but commanded Him to die for His sheep. Then the Father loved Him for obeying (Jn. 10:17-18). God is love, and the great, eternal, unchangeable, undeniable proof of His love to men is that He gave His Son. This also proves His love for His Son, because it brought eternal glory to Christ. The Father loves His children in the same way as He loves His Son (Jn. 17:23).
To receive the Son is to receive the Father; equally, to hate the Son is to hate the Father (Jn. 13:20; 15:23). Knowing and believing in the Father is knowing and believing in the Son (Jn. 12:44;). Father and Son knew each other and honored each other (Jn. 8:49, 54; 10:15).
The Lord promised to answer prayer, but told us to pray to the Father (Jn. 14:13; 16:23-24). The Son can do nothing of Himself, but everything which He sees the Father do, which is everything (Jn. 5:19). The Father’s will is that all men should honor the Son as they honor the Father (Jn. 5:23). The Father loves all men, but especially those who love His Son and keep His words (Jn. 14:21, 23; 16:27).
On the last night, the Lord said He was the true Vine, the disciples were the branches, and the Father was the Husbandman, the Vine Dresser. The Father wants fruit. He trims in part any branch which is dry, indolent, or out of touch with the Vine. This is called purging or cleansing. In the Old Testament, the same word is used for threshing grain. The Husbandman shows great patience (Jas. 5:7), and so does the Father, but finally He takes a branch away, when its potential for fruit bearing is gone.
The Spirit of God enlarged on this important teaching in Hebrews 12. The Father chastens every son whom He receives, a proof of His love. This is grievous, not joyful, but must be endured. The apostles were chastened (2 Cor. 6:9), as well as the church of Laodicea.
Later that night, the Lord endured the squabbling of His apostles, as to who should be the greatest (Lk. 22:24). He knew that one of them would betray Him, another deny Him, and all forsake Him. He asked His Father if it would be possible for the cup to pass from Him, three times (Mt. 26:44). The answer was in the negative and He said, “Not My will but Thine be done.” His own people bawled out that they had no king but Caesar, and that He should be crucified (Lk. 23:21; Jn. 19:6). They and their children are responsible (Mt.27:25).
While impaled on the gibbet, the Lord spoke to God three times: “Father, forgive them…” in their ignorance. About mid-afternoon, He cried as the Sin-bearer, asking God why He had been forsaken. The third time, He declared, “Father, I commit My spirit into Your hands.”
God sent His Son into this world, and the Son was delighted to do His Father’s will. So He gives us also the privilege of going to the world with the gospel (Jn. 17:18; 20:21). But the Son is now preparing a place in His Father’s home for all who believe in Him. The day and hour of His coming for His Bride is in the authority of the Father.
Now He says to us, This is My Father. We can know Him and His personal, individual love by knowing the Son yet more intimately.