We need to be reminded of the distinct present blessing which it is our privilege to enjoy, resulting from the knowledge of the love wherewith the Father loves the Son. It might well stagger the soul to hear that the love wherewith the saints are loved of God is according to that with which He loves Jesus-"as Thou hast loved Me." Our companionship with the Lord in glory will be the manifestation of this; then, even the world shall know it. But, without waiting for that day of manifestation, Jesus speaks in John 17 of ministering to us, by the Spirit, the present joy and comfort of it.
How is the love of the Father toward us shown? In giving His Son to be "the propitiation for our sins."
This is well known. But we can go on further and speak of the Spirit's enabling us to believe on and prize the Son. "The spirit of a man" is not capable of appreciating "the Son," that best and blessed gift of God. We do not prize as we should the grace which has led us to believe. All of us know, too, that this grace was not of human origin, but that it came from whence Jesus came; it followed the gift. We need to remember also the love of the Father to the Son, of which we partake through our union with the Son. The grace which led us to receive the Son has put us on ground where we may learn more of the fullness and depth of love. The special love of the Father is ours. I am not speaking now of Christ being ours, but of that which is Christ's being ours.
Notice John 17:25, 2625O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:25‑26). Here a love is spoken of as resting upon us because we have believed on and love Jesus. We all acknowledge that we could not love the Lord Jesus but by the Spirit. When we have met Him as our Savior, we can see that beauty in Him in which the Father can rest with delight and favor. The heart that rests on Jesus and God's delight in Him meets the full love of the Father. Resting on the Lord Jesus, we are to expect a fuller manifestation of the Father's love.
John 16:26, 2726At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. (John 16:26‑27) tells us, "I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God." What is the meaning of this? Is it to take from us the comfort of the intercession of Jesus on our behalf? No, but it is intended to remove from the heart the feeling that the Lord Jesus is the originating cause of the Father's love. The Lord Jesus has given liberty to that love-made the way for it to flow out. It is a most mistaken, most mischievous notion, that the standing of the Lord Jesus toward us is that of averting the judgment of an angry God. The love of God could not, it is true, flow out fully till the work of the Son was perfected, but the gift of the Son originated in the love of God.
"If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him." John 14:2323Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23). Here we see communion with the Father and the Son connected with obedience; it shows a further joy of the Father's love consequent upon obedience. Obedience itself must be the result of love, but then it introduces us into a fuller sense of the Father's love. This was the particular kind of love in which Jesus Himself dwelt when here, for He says, "I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." This is the plainest announcement that we likewise, by virtue of union with Him, may so walk as to enjoy this full manifestation of the Father's love. The question might naturally arise in the mind, What amount of disobedience will hinder? I believe that this manifestation of the Father and the Son unto our souls will be just in proportion to our obedience. The realization of our union with Jesus at the right hand of God will work obedience in us. Then every step that we take, every act of love, every expression of love in intercession for others, makes way for this further manifestation of the Father's love. The soul urged forward by love to Him who has loved it with such a love, is introduced into a further enjoyment of love. It is one act of God's grace to urge forward the soul to obedience, another act of the same grace to meet and bless it in obedience.