Brothers and sisters, how do others see you? How do you see yourself? Most importantly, do you have a clear idea of how the Lord sees you now? The most important is how He sees us and what the truth is. It’s infinitely precious that the eternal Lord, the infinite One, is my true Beloved! I’m truly the eternal and most precious love gift Abba has given to the Lord. In the Lord’s prayer before His crucifixion, He told us that the Father has loved Him before the foundation of the world. Because of this love for His Son, the Father has the most beautiful love dream of giving you and me to the Lord as His eternal ultimate love! This is indeed final, nothing beyond.
It’s so precious that the Lord opened His heart in that prayer. He revealed the secret before the foundation of the world. Of course, He also talked about our deepest relationship with Abba—Abba loves us with the same love as how He loves the Lord. Moreover, that same night, the Lord expressed it very clearly–we are given to Him by the Father. In His prayer, He mentioned about it seven times. “Seven” represents perfection in the Bible. Have you ever tried praying for the same thing seven times in a prayer? It’s very precious that there is a new meaning each time He mentioned it. For the first time, He talked about granting eternal life to those given to Him by the Father. Now you know what eternal life is: to know and experience the Father and the One sent by Him. This is the greatest treasure on earth. As Paul said, “…the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” (Philippians 3:8) Paul desired to know the Lord. For us, the Lord became Jesus, the Christ. It is already very stunning that the Lord has become our priest, whom the Father appointed by an oath. This speaks so much! It expresses the earnest determination of the Father to love us; He caused the Lord to be a Man forever and to die for us. Moreover, He caused the Lord to live for us as our priest. This oath reveals that the Lord would come, and also die for us and live forever. No words can fully describe this love. It’s more than “strong” and “steadfast”.
Actually, Abba’s oath in setting the Lord as our priest forever was also expressed to the Lord, to satisfy Him. The Lord shared the same determination of Abba to be our priest. He desired to become a man for us, to die for us, and to live as our priest forever. He desired to bring us back to Himself and the Father so that we could enjoy Him and Abba. Likewise, Abba knew the Lord’s heart most: how He chose to be a man forever and to die for us, so that we could most deeply enjoy Him and Abba. Therefore, Abba swore and would not change His mind, and at the same time, the Lord’s determination was as strong as Abba’s. He desired to be a priest forever, to be a man forever, to die for us, and to live for us forever. And now He even lives in our hearts! Not only does He rule over all things for us, He also lives in us and provides for us. Moreover, He lives with us so that we can live out the deepest love relationship.
The Father’s and the Lord’s steadfast love is so precious! As is described in the Song of Solomon, “…for love is as strong as death.” (Song 8:6) It’s the strongest, beyond words can tell. The Father and the Lord are one. This expression will help you understand this better: Even the Lord Himself would say, “I swore and would not change my mind, I desire so much to be a man forever and to go to the cross!” The Song of Solomon tells us that our Beloved came leaping over the mountains. (Song 2:8) He came without a trace of reluctance. In Luke 12 the Lord said, “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!” It was the baptism of the blood and suffering on the cross. This is the zeal in the Lord’s heart, the flaming love of Jehovah!
Brothers and sisters, this love is truly amazing! He is indeed the eternal, infinite One.