FATHER AND SON
William Mealand

IF WE STUDY the many references to God and Christ as set forth in Scripture, we perceive a divine unity of being and purpose. In their character as Father and Son, the relationship is truly ideal. What better opening, then, to our theme, than the words quoted in Hebrews 1:5,

"I shall be to Him for a Father,
And He shall be to Me for a Son."

What a blessed relationship! And how far-reaching the exquisite nearness existing between God and the Son of His love! It is a great tie, a wondrous filial bond. The expression, "My Father," occurs in John's narrative 35 times, and the Father 121 times. The phrases blend as it were, to the praise of both Father and Son.

"The Father is loving the Son and has given all into His hand" (John 3:35). The Father is loving. How simply yet finely expressed. And how understandable that He should give all into His hand. What confidence is reposed in the Son of His love! Think of the magnificent issues of such love, all of them being wonderful to God's praise and the ultimate delight of His vast creation.

"The Father is fond of the Son and is showing Him all that He is doing. And greater works than these shall He be showing Him, that you may be marveling" (John 5:20,21).

Here indeed we have a nearness, a closeness and correspondence befitting such divine unity. Yet withal, there is the sublime acknowledgement, "The Father is greater than I" (John 14:28), an expression of a true acceptance of the place of a Son. And though He were a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things He suffered. He came to do God's will, supremely and perfectly,

"In the summary of the scroll it is written concerning Me--To do Thy will, O God" (Heb.10:7). And from first to last His lips proclaimed this truth, His life in every aspect supporting, and the manner of His death confirming, the marvel of such an utterance. How removed from human willing the continuous desire of the Son of God! For, said He, "I am not seeking My will, but the will of Him Who sends Me" (John 5:30). How perfectly free from aught of self-seeking, an example indeed for all who name the Name of Christ.

How excellent, too, the companion words, "I have descended from heaven, not that I should be doing My will, but the will of Him Who sends Me" (John 6:38). And so complete is the union of the two wills, so wondrously in unison, that our Lord could truly say, "I and the Father are one." Yet He could also say, "The Father is greater than I." Both are sublime statements reflecting divine understanding between Father and Son.

Now, there is one great statement made by Christ to the Jews who were always trying to belittle His claims. "No one can come to Me if ever the Father Who sends Me should not be drawing him" (John 6:44). And yet, in the face of so clear a truth, there are many who speak of themselves "coming to Christ," ignoring the fact that God by His spirit must move upon them, and thus be drawing them. It is of God supremely, and not the will of the flesh. This is the great lesson Christ conveyed, and is as true today as then. The experience and teaching of Paul fully bears this out, and all to the praise of Father and Son.

How finely intimate, too, the words of Christ to Miriam Magdalene. "Lo! I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God" (John 20:17). How great the honor accorded her, that she should be the bearer of such tidings to the disciples! Could words more clearly set forth the ideal relationship of God and the Son of His love? Have we not, in all these utterances quoted, a telling expression of oneness, and of divine unity? And it is all so simply stated. There are no mystifying phrases to confuse the minds and hearts of His followers. And what revelation is withheld, is intimated as in the following words:

"Still much have I to say to you, but you are not able to bear it at present. Yet whenever that may be coming, the spirit of truth, it will be guiding you into all the truth, for it will not be speaking from itself, but whatsoever it should be hearing will it be speaking, and of what is coming will it be informing you. That will be glorifying Me, seeing that of Mine will it be getting, and informing you. All, whatever the Father has, is Mine. Therefore I said to you that of Mine is it getting, and will be informing you" (John 16:12-15).

It may well be, then, that in the epistles, and especially in Paul's, we have this greater glorifying of the Son, and of the Father, too. In Paul's Ephesian letter alone, we have a transcendent linking of Father and Son which well bears out Christ's reference to greater and deeper truth. It is indeed a writing of rare illumination for God's own in this era of grace. Note the interweaving of the names, Christ Jesus, Lord Jesus, and that of God our Father, the Father of glory. The marvelous prayers of the apostle, also, that realization may be ours of the glories so attaching to Father and Son.

All this wonderful illumination of heart and mind waited upon Christ's revelation to Paul, choice instrument of the Lord Christ. And what an instrument, what a vessel for honor was the great apostle! As no other he set forth the excellencies of his Lord and ours. Indeed, nothing is clearer than the fact that Christ, during His earthly ministry, could not impart to His disciples such truth and revelation as He could, and did later, to Paul.

It is, therefore, of God, the Father, and in the wisdom of His purpose, that higher and greater unfoldings were accorded to the apostle of the nations. His letters clearly show this. See how again and again he uses the phrase, "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." It occurs in the opening lines of 2 Corinthians, Ephesians and Colossians. And how eloquently is the filial tie set forth! God's purposeful love underlines every reference.

And for Paul, God never fades away into the mere "infinite," the great all, pure being, or principle. He is not impersonal, uncaring, oblivious of our interests. Far from it, for are we not ourselves "of God, in Christ?" And is not our present liberty of godly walk and life, our future service, also, of Him, God of all grace, and Father of glory? Truly, it is all of God, in Christ, most blessed Son of His love.

Down here, our life in Christ, with the expression of it we would fain show, is circumscribed by environment and circumstance, but in the celestial sphere we shall be truer exponents of the Father's grace. Life and power will go forth in continuous streams of wonderful light and knowledge. The divine unity of Father and Son will be displayed and seen in high degree.

Paul touches upon this perfection with an ideal frequency in his writings. Think, for instance, on one profoundly clear expression of it. "For us there is one God, the Father, out of Whom all is, and we for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom all is, and we through Him. But not in all is there this knowledge" (1 Cor.8:6,7). How truly informing and far-reaching are these words. Note the fullness of the divine embrace. All is out of the Father, and all is through the Son. Then, in a wondrously unique sense, we read, we for Him--for God, the Father. And, to complete the assuring thought, Paul writes, we through Him, the illustrious Son of the Father, His Well-beloved.

Another shining statement, worthy of recall, easily comes to mind. "Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through Christ, and is giving us the dispensation of the conciliation, how that God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation" (2 Cor.5:18,19).

Now, when we read that "all is of God," assurance is surely ours that all are in His hands, and that for final good. He it is, "Who conciliates us to Himself through Christ." How blessed then is the gift streaming forth to the whole wide world! "The dispensation of the conciliation." This is here and now, a gift reposed in all God's true evangelists, a full evangel to herald forth. See how perfectly the apostle phrases it. "God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation."

What a word to dwell upon! Truly, a theme for eloquence. God in Christ, Father and Son, supremely concerned in the issue of so great a word. A word which, at long last, passes to its unforgettable complement, the divine fullness of reconciliation. God becomes All in all, an effect He has Himself designed as the glorious consummation of the purpose of the eons. Then, indeed, is He Father of all, acknowledged and loved by all. And what glorious reward will be His, Son of the Father's love, Who gives up the kingdom to His God and Father! In what an august way will He grace that kingdom! Then indeed will He have come into His own, to lay it as it were, at the feet of God, His God and Father. Fruition indeed of the Father's acceptance of His work and worth. Divine unity, and how beautifully expressed by our Lord Himself: "Lo! I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God."