The Gift of the Father's Love
Greetings, brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series where we seek to
explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years, the heavenly
Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them with you. This
morning we seek to understand the gift of the Father's love.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Gift of the Father's Love
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at
the last day." John, Chapter 6, Verse 44.
Brothers and sisters, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. The Son springs from the
Father while the Father gives life to the Son. Every human being comprehends the Son since every
human being springs from a human father; but to comprehend God, the Father, the human being
must become a parent to a human child. Only a common experience can yield equality of concept.
The concept of Father cannot really be understood from the Father's point of view unless the human
being becomes a father or a mother.
And so it is with the love of the Father and of the Son. The love of Jesus can be comprehended by
any human being because he/she shares a common experience, but realizing the love of the Father
requires us to function in the parental role. In His divine wisdom, the Father has made it possible for
human beings to experience fatherhood, either by direct reproduction or by being parent to a child
that is already in existence.
The presence of a helpless child who is dependent upon the parent for everything causes a certain
modification in character. The experience of rearing a child requires certain modification in the
human instinct to be selfish. A child stimulates unselfishness in the parent. The child causes the
parent to modify certain expectations and assumptions about life. The child in its helpless state calls
forth those tender emotions of love, unselfish love for initially the child in can only receive; it has
nothing to give. But even during this period, the parent begins to see itself in the child, though it be
just a flickering of physical resemblance.
It is impossible to see ourselves as others see us, but in their offspring each parent may see
him/herself, for in truth one is present in one's child. The child is the joint product of the life of the
parents. As the child develops, he displays the character traits of the parents. Sometimes traits appear
in the child that are not apparent in either of the parents. In the child one can see one's good qualities
as well as those qualities that are not so good. The child can thus serve as a stimulus for the parents
to improve their own characters.
As the child develops, it begins to love its parents unselfishly and accepts them unconditionally.
Consider that even the husband and the wife do not love each other with this level of quality. The
husband or wife may love each other with a brotherly or romantic love, but to the child they display
a Fatherly love. Brotherly love requires that one loves as one loves one's self. But Fatherly love
requires that we love others the way the Father loves us--unconditionally and unselfishly. In
parenthood, we come to experience Fatherhood. In this way the character of the Father becomes real
as the parents are able to distinguish the quality of the Son from the quality of the Father. They
observe this combined love of the Father and the Son in their offspring just as the love of the Father
and the Son are united in the Spirit.
The Father visualizes this gift of love to us so that we may better comprehend Him who is unseen.
When we tether this experience to faith, the Father becomes a living spiritual reality in our daily
lives. As parents struggle to provide for their offspring, weathering the ups and down of mortal
existence, experiencing anxieties, the uncertainties, the sorrows and disappointments, the joys and
the successes of parenthood, and as they watch the child develop from a helpless babe through the
disappointing and frustrating stages of life, they cannot help but think that just as they watch over,
nurture and love their offspring, the Father in heaven loves them with a far-seeing and endless
affection.
They come to appreciate the ceaseless watchcare the heavenly Father provides. They come to realize
that the Father knows their struggle and provides wise assistance just as they do with their offspring.
They perceive finally that the Father truly loves them.
This concludes today's message on the gift of the Father's love. We hope you find something in this
message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. Until next time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Gift of the Father's Love
