God’s desire is for you to know His Father-heart.
A Family relationship existed within the Trinity from before the foundation of the world. We’re invited into that family circle.
The Eternal Father and the Eternal Son have a special love relationship.
God wants to replicate that in you and me.
We have been welcomed into the family circle of the Triune God.
Bold assertions, right? Sounds like the kind of warm and fuzzy things we like to hear, right? So am I making this up? Prove it. Prove it with Scripture. Alright…
Eternal Father, Eternal Son
John 17 is an amazing passage in the Bible. We are allowed to eavesdrop on a conversation between God the Father and God the Son who have existed from eternity past. There was a time before time when the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had each other. Incline your ear to hear Jesus whispering to His Father,
"And now, O Father, glorify Me together [b]with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." (They shared glory, verse 5)
"...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You..." (They shared perfect unity, verse 21)
"You loved Me before the foundation of the world." (They shared love, verse24b)
We can understand a little tad of God’s Fatherly love because we can experience the love we have for our own child. God could have created new people by popping them from seed pods if He wanted to, but it seems to me He designed parenting so that we could know a taste of the Father’s love for the Son.
Spreading the Love with Many Sons and Daughters
God’s loving nature is expansive and overflowing. And so, He created a new race of beings to be His sons and daughters.
A person once was was advocating for a one child per family policy and challenged the Christian community by saying, “Jesus was an only child.” Referring, I guess, to the description of Jesus as God’s “only begotten Son.” “Au, contraire,” answered a Christian leader. “Romans 8:29 says ‘For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Apparently, God wants many sons and daughters.
(By the way, “sons” is used as a generic term for male and female children, so we can definitely include ourselves, girls, as Daughters of God.)
God’s desire is that we be conformed to the image of His eternal Son, so that He would have many children like Jesus. This means we don’t stay toddlers—we grow up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Jesus our Elder Brother. Not equal in essence, but made to be co-heirs with Him. Incredible!
A Place At the Table
Consider what this means!
"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1)
Let’s go back to John 17 for a sec and eavesdrop again as Jesus talks to His Father about our future as Daughters.
“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me." (verse 24a)
If we are where Jesus is, we will be at the right hand of the Father. If we are close enough to behold His glory, we are up close and personal. If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have a kitchen table in the Heavenlies where they laugh and share and spend time in one another’s company, this is the table we have been invited to pull a chair up to as welcome and beloved children.
Your identity as Daughter of God will be completely realized in that future in the heavenlies in His presence, but it starts now. If you want to know God’s will, know His desire for children who will be like His only begotten Son, Jesus. Revel in being His beloved Daughter, know who and Whose you are, commit to becoming who you were born to be!
Read all of the Kingdom Assignment blog series to date!