JESUS—OUR MODEL FOR SONSHIP
While it’s critical for our spiritual sanity to imagine Jesus as our joyful Savior and Friend, it’s just as important for us to understand the source of His joy. Jesus’ joy was derived from the warmth of His Father’s love and tender affections. Furthermore, it was the Father’s love that would sustain Him throughout His life.
Jesus was born into an “orphaned” planet and forced to deal with the deep, dark abyss of human existence. Rejection and pain seemed to stalk Him from the very beginning. He was rumored to be the child of a troubled, teenage girl. The Scriptures also strongly suggest that there was nothing physically attractive about his appearance (Isa. 53:2). Religious leaders thought he was demonized, and others called him a glutton and a drunkard. He was even rejected by members of His own family and eventually crucified as a common criminal.
Yet, the one thing that enabled Christ to deal with the emotional trauma He experienced was the love and approval of His heavenly Father! As a man, it was absolutely essential for Jesus to feel loved and affirmed by Him. This is why His Father, on a couple of different occasions, publicly proclaimed His love for His Son. For example, at the baptism of Jesus, His Father spoke these powerful words: “‘…You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased’” (Luke 3:22). This is how Christ began His ministry in Galilee. Before He had preached one message or performed one miracle, He heard and experienced a deeply profound affirmation from heaven. Yet, His Father’s approval was not based on anything He had done or accomplished; instead, it was deeply rooted in the reality that He was uniquely loved by His Father and that they had a very special relationship with each other.
Again, at Christ’s transfiguration (Matt. 17:5), the Father echoed the same words He had spoken at Jesus’ baptism. It was these very words that would give Jesus the security He needed. The paramount passion of His life was His Father, and this would be the reason for His success in life and ministry.
Nevertheless, things would not be easy for the promised Messiah. His Sonship would constantly be called into question, and the adversary even tempted Him to “prove” He was God’s Son. Jesus was challenged to turn stones into bread, throw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple to be caught by angels, and accept the accolades that would be due Him by embracing Satan’s offer of the kingdoms of this world. Yet, Christ resisted the temptations to prove His Sonship; in fact, He knew He didn’t have to prove anything because He lived out of His true identity as the Beloved of the Father.
LIVING OUT OF THE FATHER’S SMILE
One of the primary reasons for Christ’s mission to planet earth was to introduce us to His Father so we could experience the joy of being loved by Him (John 14:6; 17:3). He even reiterated this truth by suggesting that to see Him is to see the Father (John 14:9). Jesus also modeled for us a relationship between a Father and a Son in order that we could learn from His example and live free as Father’s sons and daughters. In fact, this was the basis for His prayer in John 17: 22-23, 26:
‘I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them’ (emphasis added).
Still, the Father knew it would be difficult for us to grasp the measure of His love for us, so He chose to give us an incredible gift that would help us feel and experience the joy of being His sons and daughters (Luke 11:13). He sent the Holy Spirit to live within us and to constantly remind us of who we really are:
So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God’s very own children, adopted into his family—calling him ‘Father, dear Father.’ For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God’s children (Rom. 8:15-16, NLT).
The Holy Spirit is continually attempting to remind us that we are Father’s sons and daughters, not orphans. He is forever trying to drown out the accusing voice of the “father of lies” who always tries to suggest to us that we’re unlovable. As the Spirit of Truth, He not only wants us to accept the fact that we are Father’s children, but He is doing everything He can to help us feel and experience what Jesus felt!
This blog is taken from S. J.’s new book, WHAT’S GOD REALLY LIKE?, Unique Insights Into His Fascinating Personality, published by Energion Publications.
