A Library Of Resources For Spiritual Growth
God the Father is intimately involved with the economy of salvation but not by being sent. Even when Jesus promised that the Father would come to those who love the Son, he did not say that the Father would be sent: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). Jesus went on to talk about how the Father had sent him (vs. 25) and would later send the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name (vs. 26). The Father loves by sending; the Son and the Spirit love by being sent. In the diagram above, the Father’s indirect, or unsent, presence in the economy of salvation is indicated by the fact that the Son and the Spirit actually come to occupy laces on the grid of salvation history, and the Father is the source who remains intimately and inwardly connected with them. “He who sent me is with me,” said Jesus. “He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (John 8:29). You could say the Father is not here, but it would be better to say he is here in the Son and the Spirit or he is here by sending them. The way God gives himself to us is that the Father gives the Son and the Spirit, sending them to redeem us and reveal the Trinity.
The Deep Things of God - Fred Sanders
All quotes are randomly selected from our Topical Quotes Treasury using this schedule.
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