The Object of God’s Love

Have you ever asked yourselves “Who is Jesus for God?”

When God looks at Jesus, what does God see? How does he view Jesus? The following verses give us clear statements from the very mouth of God about what he thinks about Jesus.

… a voice from Heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17).

… a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’ (Matthew 17:5).

From these verses we deduce Jesus is the object of God’s love. God loves Jesus, and he loves him because Jesus pleases him. Jesus does what God wants him to do—the consequence of Jesus’ behavior is that the Father loves him.

He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’ (2 Peter 1:17).

God feels great affection for Jesus, so much that God is proud to call Jesus his Son.

Ancient Love

This love God has for Jesus is nothing new. God has loved Jesus from before the Creation of the World. Jesus said so in one of his prayers:

Father… you loved me before the Creation of the World (John 17:24).

So, when we speak of God’s love for Jesus, we’re speaking of an ancient love. God’s love for Jesus is firm. We’re speaking of a mature love.

A teenager can get a crush. A child can feel puppy love. An emotionally unstable adult can be drawn into a romance scam or seduced. But God’s love for Jesus is real love. It’s the love of a father for his son. It’s a reliable love. It never fails. It is a love that has lots of history behind it, ancient history.

Stability in God’s Love

This same love God has for Jesus is the love we count on too. God’s love for Jesus gives us stability because we know that God loves Christ so that he’ll always love people like you or me, people who have trusted in Christ. That’s why Jesus spoke the reassuring words:

The one who loves me will be loved by my Father (John 14:21).

Now, knowing that God loves Jesus also gives us the confidence to pray to God. If we pray in Jesus’ name, that gives us certainty that we will get whatever we ask for. Why? Because God loves Jesus.

Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete…

… a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God (John 16:23-27).

God loves us because we love Jesus. To illustrate this reality, take the example of a little boy who goes to his neighbor’s house to ask if he can borrow a soccer ball. If the father of the house answers the door and his son says, “Daddy, that’s Johnny. He’s my friend. We can let him use the ball,” then the father will give Johnny the soccer ball.

But none of that conversation would be necessary if the father already identifies Johnny as his son’s friend. If the father already knows that Johnny loves his son, and that they are well-behaved when they’re together, then he’ll instantly give Johnny whatever he asks for.

God Gave Glory

So, we believe that God loves Jesus because the Bible says it. We believe the Scriptures, and that suffices for a sound faith. “The Bible says it, I believe it, and that does it.” But Christians have resources vaster than the Bible. We also know that God loves Jesus because there is evidence.

What is the evidence that God loves Jesus? The evidence is that God has glorified Jesus. God gave Jesus what God had and still has in himself: a divine nature. God gave Jesus divine glory. And according to the verse below, God gave Jesus that glory prior to Creation.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the Creation of the World (John 17:24).

God gave Jesus glory prior to Creation for a startlingly simple reason: Because God loved him! Did you catch that in the text? You’ll only see the reason for God’s glorification of Jesus if you pay close attention to the word because in the passage above. If you didn’t catch it the first time, read it again—and understand the meaning of the word because.

God’s Love for Us

It’s great to know that God loves Jesus, but it’s even more exciting to know that the ancient love God had for Jesus is the same love that God has for us today. God will answer all of our prayers. He will give us all things.

… no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him [Jesus] the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 1:20).

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he [God] not also, along with him [Jesus], graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

One of the most glorious truths of the Universe is that Jesus is the object of God’s love. God loves Jesus. And God will love us too, if we are in Christ.

God Loves Us in Christ

To be in Christ, you have to keep a clear conscience. You have to be the kind of person who examines his own heart and finds nothing in his heart that condemns him. If you are living with a clear conscience, then you can ask God for anything you want. Why? Because you are believing in Jesus and obeying Jesus.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he [Jesus] commanded us (1 John 3:21-23).

Does it sound like good news to you that God loves you this way? He loves you in Christ.

The Glory of the Church

Is it good news for you that God already glorified Jesus? He did that as an example and guarantee for all who follow Christ. So, God’s love for Jesus, established before the Creation of the World, is a foreshadowing of all the wonderful things that will come to us who believe. God’s pre-Creation love for Jesus is a preview of the glory of the Church.

Let God’s love inspire you today. God’s love lifts people up. It lifted up Jesus, and it will lift up anyone who loves Jesus.

For he [God] chose us in him [Jesus] before the Creation of the World to be holy and blameless in his sight.

In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves…

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the Hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the Dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

And God placed all things under his [Jesus’] feet and appointed him to be Head over Everything for the Church (Ephesians 1:4-6, 18-22).

God will glorify all who are in the Church—right along with his Son Jesus. That’s why, as we just read, God ‘appointed Jesus to be Head over Everything for the Church.’ If you will let God’s love become the fuel for your life, then you will be motivated by grace.

If you’re part of Christ’s Church, you will rule over all things with him.