A Cosmic Love Story

Every so often, it is helpful for our souls to be reminded and humbled by the truth that the universe and human history do not revolve around us but rather have been designed by God to display His goodness and greatness to all. And in this respect, it is to the benefit of our souls that we meditate upon a love story that existed before us; a love story that is the why behind all reality and the existence of the universe. I am speaking, brothers and sisters, about the love between the Father and the Son united by the Holy Spirit.

In His High-Priestly prayer in John 17, Christ opens His heart to us and speaks of how the Father had always loved the Son before the foundation of the world (John 17:24). The Son has loved the Father affectionately, having always been in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18); the picture of a Father and a Son lovingly embracing each other and delighting in each other's presence.

Such is the Father's great delight in His "beloved Son" (Matthew 3:17) that He has created all things in heaven and on earth through the Son and for the Son (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16). Therefore, all creation, and especially us human beings, were created from an outflow of their love for each other. This is why we see the imprint of Divine love in all creatures but particularly in us humans as image-bearers of this God through our families, friendships, and all other loving relationships.

And why did this loving Triune God make us, seeing that He was perfectly content in His Son? The Lord Jesus reveals in His prayer that His desire for all humanity since the beginning (ever since we were cut off from God by our wickedness) is that His people may "be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world." (John 17:24) In other words, God's desire is for His people to delight their souls in the love between the Father and the Son united by the Spirit of love.

And how do they express their love to each other since love is not merely an emotion but always results in action? The answer to this question is the astonishing and magnificent truth guiding human history: the greatest expression of their love for each other is through their love for us sinners. Dr. Sinclair Ferguson once spoke of how ever since our fall due to our sin, the Father has desired to gift His Son with a bride who is holy and pure. The Son has always desired to gift His Father with children who delight to do His will just as the Son does. And how do they achieve this? They love each other through their loving and washing of sin-stained sinners in redemption.

Therefore, in repenting of our sins and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are invited to witness and experience this cosmic love story between the Persons of the Triune Godhead: "I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26), and elsewhere He declares: “If anyone loves Me, they will keep My word, and My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our home with them." (John 14:23)

And human history will be consummated in their love for each other. When all evil has been judged and annihilated, the Father will "unite all things in heaven and on earth in Him (the Son)... and put all things under His feet." (Ephesians 1:10,22); that is, a new heavens and a new earth in which all things are made perfect and exist in harmony under the Lordship of Christ. And the Son will "deliver the kingdom to God the Father having destroyed every ruler, authority, dominion, and power."

What a magnificent reality we live in, my friends! We exist in a universe created by the Father, through and for the Son. A world, though ruined by our evil, that is being redeemed by the love between the Father and the Son. And it is a world that will be renewed by their love for each other, ushering in an eternity in which we will forever delight in the glory of God displayed through their love for one another!

Here is love, vast as the heavens;

Countless as the stars above,

Are the souls that He has ransomed:

Precious daughters, treasured sons.

We are called to feast forever

on a love beyond our time;

Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit

Now with man are intertwined.

~Here is Love, (additional verse by Sovereign Grace Music)