[Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God] (1 John 3:1).
[In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him] (1 John 4:9).
From my favorite book, [Early Writings] on page 151, I once read, "Think ye that the Father yielded up His dearly beloved Son without a struggle? No, no. It was even a struggle with the God of heaven (our Father) whether to let guilty man perish, or to give His beloved Son 'who knew no sin' (2 Cor. 5:21) to die for them." Yes. It was an unbearable, agonizing, and sorrowful situation to the Father of infinite mercy and love, whether to give His innocent Son to the world of darkness abounding with evil spirits (Satan), to be torn by wicked hands and slain mercilessly by them or not. On page 126 it is written, "I then saw the lovely Jesus ... approach the exceeding bright light which enshrouded the Father ... The anxiety of the angels seemed to be intense while Jesus was communing with His Father. Three times He was shut in by the glorious light about the Father, and the third time He came from the Father, we could see His Person ... He then made known to the angelic choir that a way of escape had been made for lost man."
After having read this book, I was often moved by the thought of what a great pain and sacrifice our Father paid in sending His Son to save us! The news that earthly children had fallen by transgression filled all heaven with sorrow and astonishment, and in the heavenly courts, there was mourning and woeful silence. The sorrow and perplexity of our heavenly Father was too great to be described in words: whether to let man perish in their sins or to give His beloved Son who knew no sin to die for them. These were sorrowful and tormenting hours of agony. Jesus who had been waiting outside the sanctuary with the angels in deep sympathy with the Father, could wait no longer and went to the Father in the sanctuary, entreating Him earnestly for permission to give His life as a ransom for the children of earth. Now imagine the countenance of the Father beholding His Son, beholding His Son entreating so earnestly. How can He lose His Son so lovely? The Father asks to be left alone for more time to think. And more hours of agony and struggle pass on. But the Son aching at the sight of the Father's great pain, can wait no longer and goes to Him, to entreat once more. The Father who beholds the face of His Son standing before Him can never, never give up His Son who is innocent of sin; He once again asks His Son to leave Him alone for more time to think of a solution. And the terrible hours of agony and struggle begin. But Jesus waiting outside the sanctuary for the Father's decision, with the angels equally absorbed in the same sorrow, can no longer merely watch the ever deepening agony and unceasing struggle, so with a firm resolution, He goes in to see the Father for the third time, and pleads all the more earnestly. Beholding His countenance and listening to the pleading of His Son, God finally yields. God was to give His only Son, [that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life] (John 3:16). What a tremendous sacrifice and agony for the Father it was! There are many who speak about the agony of Jesus on Mount Gethsemane, but few speak about the agony of the Father which had taken place in heaven beforehand. The agony of Jesus on Mt. Gethsemane was only for the sinful children on earth, but the Father was moaning in agony pressed down by double burdens. He was under a tremendous agony for Jesus His only Son "who knew no sin," on top of His enormous anxiety for the fallen race. Oh what a grievous agony for the Father it was! As Jesus the Son of God fell prostrate in agony, He at least had the presence of the Father by His side to reply to His prayer and the attendance of angels to give Him strength and encouragement, but the Father who had been agonizing over this tremendous double burden had no such help. How many are there who give sincere thanks to the Father for His tremendous sacrifice? So immeasurable is the love of the Father for sinners, and so great is the suffering in sacrificing His dear Son. God's boundless love is a mystery hidden from the sinners of earth and from the angels of heaven - a love that neither earth nor heaven can comprehend. Let us at this moment bow down and give thanks to the heavenly Father. His love is [higher than the heavens - what can you do? ... deeper than the depths of the grave - what can you know?] (Job 11:8, NIV).
[He is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish,] [as the heavens are higher than the earth] (Luke 6:35, Isa. 55:9).
I would like to introduce a passage from another favorite book titled, [The Desire of Ages] which particularly illustrates the life of Jesus. It is written on page 478, "In all ages, philosophers and teachers have been presenting to the world theories by which to satisfy the soul's need. Every heathen nation has had its great teachers and religious systems offering some other means of redemption than Christ, turning the eyes of men away from the Father's face, and filling their hearts with fear of Him who has given them only blessing. The trend of their work is to rob God of that which is His own, both by creation and by redemption. And these false teachers rob man (soul) as well. Millions of human beings are bound down under false religions, in the bondage of slavish fear, of stolid indifference, toiling like beasts of burden, bereft of hope of joy or aspiration here, and with only a dull fear of the hereafter."
What a terrible and miserable religion it is! What a great disappointment and distress it must be to our Father and Jesus! Therefore, it was to remove this absurd fallacy, to reveal to the world the infinite love of God, that Jesus came to live among men. It was to make manifest the Father that the Son of God came from heaven. [No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him] (John 1:18). [No one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him] (Matt. 11:27).
Jesus wanted the children of earth to know how much God loved and cared for them. He taught them that God is in search of every lost child, [As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him] (Ps. 103:13). Though this kind of God had never been introduced to the world by any other religion, it has always been ready to be revealed in the Bible. But churches falsely represented God, not as the God of love, but as an evil God who is pleased with sacrifices. Even the Israelites were ignorant to the extent of God's love taught by His prophets. This revelation of the parental love of God is a new, precious gift to the world.
Just before His crucifixion, Jesus said to His disciples who, though boasting of their loyalty to their Teacher, would flee away for their lives, leaving Him alone, [Indeed the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave Me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me] (John 16:32, RSV). Yes. When the God of mercy and love sent His Son to save sinners, He did not send Him alone to this world of darkness full of evil spirits (Satan), but He came together with His Son and was at His side from the manger in Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary. Even the evil, corrupt parents of earth do not allow their own children to go through rough paths and dangerous places alone. They rather carry them on their backs, hold them in their bosom, or grasp their hand. Then how much more would the loving, merciful God let His Son, who is as innocent as a lamb, to enter this cold world alone. Jesus said, [He who sent Me is with Me: The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to Him] (John 8:29). He again said, [I am not alone but I am with the Father who sent Me] (John 8:16).
Perhaps you remember Matthew 27:35, [They crucified Him.] This verse fills me with aching sorrow and makes me drop my head. The thought of the ungrateful, outrageous mob jumping at Jesus like [brute dogs] (Ps. 22:16), nailing the tender hands of the Son of God to the cross so mercilessly who had given up His position as a heavenly Prince to come down and save them. Now behold the Father standing beside His Son, never having left Him alone, not once. He who had always been with Him was now watching His Son's last hour, watching with pain how His Son was being treated. As I imagine the Father's countenance, I cannot help but drop my head. The outrageous mob cruelly nailing the hands and feet of the Son of God ... the sharp pounding heard echoing amidst their laughter - who are completely ignorant to who He is, not knowing that they are also nailing down and piercing the heart of God as well. The Father who is grasping His Son ever tighter with heart-wrenching agony... As I imagine the scene, I am unable to lift my head, too overcome with sorrow. How can mere words express the torment?
And there is a verse that makes me weep with tears, Matthew 27:46, [My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?]
Here Jesus the Son of God, after this final cry of agony, dropped His head and breathed His last. As I behold the Father holding His Son [who knew no sin] (2 Cor. 5:21), my heart feels as though it will burst with grief. For Jesus the Son of God, everything ceased with His innocent death, but now behold the wailing Father hugging the dead body of His beloved Son who was slain unjustly without sin.
On how He loved the world so much! [Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him] (1 John 3:1). [In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him] (1 John 4:9). [In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins] (1 John 4:10), [For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him] (2 Cor. 5:21). [For surely it is not with angels] of heaven [that He is concerned but with the descendants of Abraham (sinners)] (Heb. 2:16, RSV), to [deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage] (Heb. 2:15, RSV). [For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son...not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him] (John 3:16, 17).
But it is the darkness of the misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing the knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy and truth.
This is the work outlined by the prophet Isaiah in the words, [Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'] (Isa. 40:9, RSV).
All heaven is waiting for the sons and daughters of God who will go forth into the world with the love of the Father and proclaim it. This is the final, glorious work to occur at the end of earth's history prophesied by the prophet Malachi, [Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse] (Mal. 4:5, 6).
May the Elijahs of today raise up their hands and answer to the voice of the Lord. [And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, `Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?'] (Isa. 6:8) .
Oh, the agony of the Father greater than that of the Son! The struggle of the Father more intense than that of the Son! The love of the Father thicker than the blood of the cross! The love of the Father stronger than the death of the cross! The love of the Father broader and wider than the whole universe! The love of the Father that neither, the world nor sinners can ever fully comprehend! The love of the Father that neither righteous people nor angels can ever know! The love of the Father that is unknown to both heaven and earth! The love that [no one knows except the Father] (Matt. 11:27). Where are the Elijahs today who will go forth with this love? [And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, `Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?'] (Isa. 6:8).
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