This is My Beloved Son

These boxes here are for offerings in case you didn't know, but we don't take an offering

as such. If you want to make an offering, the boxes are always there.

Okay, so I want to talk about this teaching called This is My Beloved Son. This is the

kind of teaching that sometimes can change how we function with God. It can just completely

change how we function with God. It can change how we function with God. It can change how

we function with God. It can change how we function with God. It can change how we function

with God. So before that, these are the guys who have to meet me after the service. You're

in trouble. It's Remy Hamari and then Remy again. Yeah, double. And Evan, Betty, Jeremy,

and Sure. I think, yeah, those are the guys in trouble immediately. So if you can meet

me after the service, we can take it from there. So this is My Beloved Son. One man

who really knew how to be loved or what it was to be loved was John. So a lot of scriptures

from the Gospel of John because he was a man who knew, a man who knew what it was to be

loved, what it was to be loved by Jesus. Loved by Jesus. That's saying something, eh? I mean

Jesus had 12 disciples. He sent out 72. He had 120 in the upper room. But there was this

one man who knew or who knew what it was to be loved by who? By Jesus. That must have

been nuts, man, because you're talking about the most perfect loving human being on earth

and he had 12 around him, but nobody else consistently designated himself as the one

who Jesus loved the most. That's how he used to refer to himself. So here is God walking on

earth in flesh and here is this man called John who must, who was perhaps the youngest of the

disciples and he knew what it was to be loved by Jesus. It's not that Jesus wasn't loving to the

others also because he was not partial. He was, Hamari, you missed the announcement. You have to

meet me after the service. Big trouble. Yeah. Yeah. So he had all these disciples, but yet John

seemed to have gotten to a place where he knew what it was to be loved by Jesus. Why am I

laboring the point? Because you can have 100 disciples, 150 people in this place and yet there

are those that can get to know what it is to be loved by him, eh? And that's a privilege.

That is afforded everybody, but we may not all take advantage of it. And so he would, he would

refer to himself and this is crazy. I mean, the two people that I think did, were amazingly honest,

but you would think they were presumptuous. Now one was Moses. Moses writes about himself as a

humblest man on earth. And John writes about himself as he refers to himself as one whom Jesus

loved. So he used to refer to himself as one whom Jesus loved. That must have driven the others

crazy, eh? Hey, Tooney, who are you? I'm the one that Jesus loves the most. Can you imagine that?

That's what John meant by doing. And so we know that it became his very identity. It became his

very identity. So just remember that it is possible. It is available for all, but it's only

some that actually press in to know that love the way it should be known. So let's read John 1420.

It's crazy, eh? When I say a scripture, it comes up on the thing. We're getting high-tech now. So

let's read John 1420. Hey, it says it again. Oh, it doesn't. Okay. John 1723 and John 159.

Okay, so we'll read those three scriptures. And from those three scriptures, we'll derive two

equations that will help us. Okay, so let's read the first three scriptures.

Okay, so John 1420 first. We'll just read them.

So here's what it says in John 1420. Let's start at 19. In a little while, the world will no longer

see me, but you're going to see me because I am alive and you're about to come alive. And then 20.

At that moment, you will know absolutely that I am in the Father and you're in me and I am in you.

At that moment, you will know absolutely, as in there'll be no doubt, you will know absolutely that I am in my

Father. Jesus is speaking, so he's saying, I, Jesus, I'm in the Father. You, Jacob, are in me. And I,

Jesus, I'm in you, Jacob. So that's the first scripture. The next one, John 1723. John 1723.

Jesus again speaking, I in them and you in me. Then they'll be, let me read it from the NIV.

John 1723. I in them and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity.

So that they may be brought to complete unity. So that they may be brought to complete unity.

I in them and you in me, so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you

sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. One more time. I in them, or if you were to take

yourself as an individual, I in Derek and Derek in me. So that they may be brought to complete unity.

So that they may be brought to complete unity. Who? Derek and Jesus. Then the world will know that you

sent me and have loved them even as you have loved them. Next one. John 159.

John 159. As the Father has loved me, Jesus, so have I loved you, Jonathan. Now remain in my love.

As the Father has loved me, Jesus, so have I loved you, Jonathan. Now remain in my love.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

Those are the three scriptures we are looking at. They're all spoken by Jesus.

And here are the equations we can derive out of it. Okay? The first one. Jesus is in the Father.

The Father is in Jesus. That's the first part. Next one. Jesus is in me.

I am in Jesus. That's the first equation.

What about Jesus? Jesus is in me.

I am in Jesus. That's the first equation.

What are we looking at here? We're looking at perfect oneness. Perfect inseparable oneness.

Perfect inseparable oneness brought to us by the Spirit.

By the Spirit. Where do we find that? We find that in 1 Corinthians 6.17,

which says that your Spirit and God's Spirit have become one.

So just look at that before we go on to the next one.

Jesus says, Jesus is in the Father. The Father is in Jesus. So that's part A. Part B.

Part B. Jesus, the King of the Universe, is in me, Jacob. And Jacob is in Jesus.

What are we looking at here? We're looking at perfect inseparable oneness.

Whether we experience it or not, whether we realize it or not, whether we accept it or not,

is not what we're trying to debate here. We are saying this is the truth.

The degree of oneness is crazy. He's a transcendent being.

And yet he chooses this for himself and for us. Any questions? I can't hear you.

I can't hear you. Yeah. True. Absolutely. Absolutely. The oneness is just remarkable.

Anybody who has received Christ into their lives, recognizing him as the only God,

I need more volume guys, without the echo, recognizing him as the only God with no other God,

every other God not being a God but Christ alone God who came down to the earth in flesh,

was born of a virgin, died on a cross, rose again. Anyone who receives Christ becomes part of this equation.

Playing around with Christ as in, yeah, he is a good teacher or he is one of the gods, that doesn't fit.

There are absolutes in this world and this is one of those absolutes.

But this is the degree of oneness we are talking about. Any questions?

So just think of it right now. As I stand here, this is true for me, that Jesus, the creator,

that Jesus, the king of the universe, is in me, I am in him. Act 1728 talks about it.

It says, in him I live and move and have all my being. And not just that, Jesus is in the Father.

So like Diana is saying, I, the Father, Jesus and the Spirit have a commonality.

It is a oneness that is inseparable, inseparable, inseparable.

And the sooner I come to grips with this, and that's why I said some of us will have to go sail off on this,

as in I need to go home and ponder because this is not something the mind can understand.

But this is certainly something that we can comprehend and begin to experience as we begin to think about it.

Inseparable oneness. It begins to stop us from looking for God outside.

It begins to stop us from looking for God even in this place.

We should get to a point where even references like he is in this place will become moot because he is yes in this place.

He is yes in this place. He is yes in the heavens.

But there is somewhere that he is more one than anywhere else and that is me in him and in he in me.

This is brilliant math.

That only those who failed in math will understand. I did.

Amen? Yeah.

Any questions?

Okay. Next equation. I love saying equation. I was never good at them when I was in school.

Next one.

Next one goes like this based on the scriptures we read.

Jesus loves me just as the father loves him.

That was in John 1420 I think.

And then in John, sorry that was in John 159, in John 1723 it says the father loves me just as he loves Jesus.

What are we talking about here?

Perfect, inflexible, really it's inflexible. Perfect, inflexible love.

Again by the spirit when you read Romans 5.5.

One version puts it as endless cascading love that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts.

But think of this equation now.

Jesus loves me and we'll explore what it even means.

But Jesus Christ, the King of the entire universe, 400 billion stars in the Milky Way are galaxies and trillions of galaxies.

Jesus Christ, the King of the universe loves me just as his father loves him.

And then the next part is the father loves me just as he loves Jesus.

This kind of love, it's perfect, it's inflexible and it is poured into my heart by the Spirit.

Taste it man. It is just ridiculous the oneness and the love that you and I actually have, not will have.

It's just, it'll make you a different species if you actually think about it.

Any questions on this one?

Romans 5.5 says, and we are not disappointed because the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts the love that the father has for us.

So he makes us aware of it.

Again, John knew how much he was loved.

It is possible for us to know this because of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and he lives in everybody who has received Christ into their lives.

So it's absolutely possible.

Any questions?

Cool.

So how does the father love Jesus? That's the question.

So the father loves me, the father loves you just as he loves Jesus, Jesus loves you just as he is loved by the father.

So what or how does the father love Jesus?

That's what we look at for the rest of the evening.

So one, this is an important and difficult one, his love is an outflow because of your inherent created value.

We'll have to explain that.

Guys, we assign value, we grade deservedness and love based on performance, based on usefulness, based on outcomes, based on reciprocation.

That's how we assign value.

That's how we grade deservedness and love.

That's how we grade it.

That's how humans have learned to live and behave.

Here's the thing.

What if you were absolutely, not what if you were, what if I was absolutely useless to God?

What if I did not reciprocate what he gives me?

What if all my outcomes were pretty dismal?

And what if my performance was really bad?

How do I then receive this love?

If I'm not of any use, if my performance is abject,

if my outcomes are dismal and if I don't reciprocate, what gives me, why is it that he assigns value to me?

If you actually think about it, it will break you and it will ruin you.

It'll ruin you.

It'll ruin you.

Because everything we do, everything we do is based on deserving things because of our performance, because of our usefulness, because of outcomes, because of reciprocation.

Try not doing anything and yet knowing you are loved, you will beg for a reason.

You will ask for a reason. Tell me why you like me when I have not done anything for you.

Tell me why you like me when I have not shown any gratitude back.

Tell me why you like me when I'm not used by you.

Tell me why you like me when there is no outcome in my life that brings anything to you.

If you can get to that point, at that point, you will know what it is to be loved by him.

Until we get to that point, we will not be able to receive the fullness of his love.

This is why only children are like this.

When I thought of this once, I started crying because I thought to myself, what if this was true?

Why would you still like me? And it exposes who you are.

It exposes how much value you assign to what you are for God.

It will ruin you.

This is what happens sometimes. I'm just giving this as an example.

Sometimes you have husbands or wives that are caught in adultery.

Once the adulterous relationship is exposed and their wife still comes and loves them and loves them as they used to love before the adultery was found out, it ruins the husband usually.

It just breaks him. It's like, why would you still like me after what I have done to you?

It's that kind of thing.

Sela.

If my value does not come from usefulness, if my value does not come from reciprocation, outcome of performance, then how do you assign value to me, oh God?

How do you assign value to me?

What is it about me that then you have that makes me worthy of love?

What are we talking about? We're talking about how does the father love Jesus.

You must realize that the father loved the son. The son was not created. He is creator.

But the father loved the son before any act of creation or any kind of act of love.

Creation or redemption?

When you read John 3, 35 or when you read Jeremiah 31, 3, you see that.

Why do you love me? I need a reason. Otherwise it will break and ruin me.

Go to John 3, 35.

In the NIV it says the father loves the son and has placed everything in his hands.

In Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 31, verse 3.

Jeremiah 31:3

It's Jeremiah talking about how God loves the son and God loves Israel because Israel was also called the son.

The Lord appeared to us in the passing, I have loved you with an everlasting love.

I've drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again and you, virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.

Again you will take up your timbrels and go out and dance with joy.

Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria.

The Lord appeared to us in the passing, I have loved you with an everlasting love.

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Is it possible for you, and trust me guys, this is a common problem all across this room.

Is it possible for you to be loved without doing anything?

Is it possible for you to know you are deeply loved without doing anything?

Is it possible for you to experience his love without praying, without doing anything?

The answer is usually no.

Yeah, how do you then take stuff like we have to repent and believe in the son and so on?

Guys, the fundamental scripture behind this is he first loved me.

And so without knowing what it is to be loved, all those things are just borderline religion and spirituality.

It's at that borderline. It's like when you cross from Canada to the US, there's that line, invisible line.

It's right there and keeps fluctuating up and down.

But we don't want to live there. It should be this burst that comes out of it.

And this is the same with our relationships with people too.

What we do with God, we've already done with people.

Outcomes, reciprocation, deservedness is something that measures our love for people and measures their love for us.

And it will always collapse because no human is perfect.

It will always hurt.

It will always hurt.

You are, as in you exist today, you are here, not as in you're present, you are today because he fully loves you.

Loves you.

Remember, this is a creator. He can end you like this.

Not end you like this as in end your physical life.

He can end you like this as in you cease to exist.

Please understand, this is not some kind of life that we have a lease on or that because we received Christ we now must have.

It is up to him. He is creator.

He can cause you to cease to exist, not die.

Cease to exist if he wants to.

You are today because he loves.

And he loves you fully and he is completely loyal.

What a word to use for the king of the universe.

He's completely loyal.

That's not a word you use for the master.

That's the word you use for a servant.

You get loyal servants.

But you get loyal masters. That's a whole different thing.

When you're the king of the universe, he's loyal in his love to you.

You can please him or you can displease him.

You can please him or displease him.

But you can't affect his love.

Crazy eh?

You can please him or you can displease him but you cannot affect his love.

Love is not a divine response guys.

Love is not a divine response.

Love is the substance.

Love is the substance of him. It's not a divine response.

Nothing provokes it.

Love is not a divine response. It is the substance of him.

It's not just the substance of him.

It's the substance that formed you.

It's the substance that formed you out of the dust.

What is the substance we are talking about?

Three things. Truth, grace, love.

Three things that he used to form you eh?

There's something about your forming that is so true. So true to him.

You're exquisitely unique. There's something so true about how he made you.

Just perfect in the way he's made you.

It came from a place of truth. It was not whimsical.

It came from the depths of him.

And then he, the substance of your forming was full of grace. Full of grace.

Knowing what was going to happen to the sons of Adam.

He did not go the Darwinian way of choosing a few select. Full of grace.

And then the substance that you have formed out of from the dust is made up of this amazing thing called love.

That cannot be affected. You can please him or you can displease him.

But you cannot affect his love because his love is not a divine response.

It is the substance of who he is.

Love, truth, grace is the substance of God.

It's the substance that you have been formed of.

And this stays forever. And it stays for every human being.

Believers get to know it.

Those that do not believe yet and haven't received Christ do not comprehend it.

But it's true for them too.

What a God, man.

Any questions?

You know, Vincent van Gogh, the famous painter, painted 35 different self-portraits of himself.

35 unique self-portraits.

And each of those portraits, if you look at them, each will express a glimpse or a shade of his personality.

One of the things God says in Ephesians 2, verse 10, is that you are my masterpiece.

Ephesians 2:10

In other places, it's the idea of the Lord.

You are my unique, unique masterpiece.

In other places, it's the idea of you are my uniquely crafted poem.

In other places, it is you are my self-portrait.

Crazy, eh?

Now you can see why the many splendid body of Christ is an absolute revelation of who he is.

Because in this body, you've got Dilna made as a self-portrait that expresses certain parts of God.

Evan made a certain way.

When we all come together, there is no other place like the body of Christ that dwells in unity, Psalm 133,

where the brilliance and the excellence of God is actually seen.

No other place.

When he says he made us in his image, we're not talking about the intelligence of God or the wisdom of God that is automatically deposited.

But we are talking about being a... just like someone's baby, just like Pavan and Lenny's baby will carry their DNA.

Genetically, that baby will have... will be a self-portrait of their dad and mum.

Even facially, there will be parts of the baby's face that will look like Pavan and Lenny.

There will be this constant attempt, guys, to prevent you and I from thinking like this.

So that we are always stuck in reciprocation outcomes, performance and... what's the last one?

I can't hear you.

Usefulness.

Everything in the world is catered towards that. All the standards of the world measure that.

The only place that it is not measured is in this place, but we don't...

Here's the thing, guys. To think like this, you'll have to take time.

Yeah. Question that Dilna has is if you're displeasing him, there are consequences for that.

Imagine, and I was going to say this later, everything must happen to you and with you within the embrace of God.

Imagine a child being held. Even the consequences happen within the embrace of God.

Nothing happens outside. There is no... there is actually not a minute or second in your life where you are not in him.

If you can imagine it, it's like being in the embrace of God so that even when you sin, it is from within the embrace of God.

And even when you are disciplined for it, it is within the embrace of God.

Even when you sometimes have to handle the consequences, it is within the embrace of God.

And ask any child and the child will tell you when the child grows up that the sin, the discipline and the consequences were easy to handle

because I was within the embrace of a parent that I absolutely knew loves me to bits.

It is the only place to stay. We leave. There's an attempt to have me leave the embrace

so that all the things that happen to me that are not pleasant according to me will happen outside

and God now becomes an enemy that I have to climb into.

Everything must happen within the embrace. My failure should happen within the embrace.

My rotten circumstances, my anger against God must happen within the embrace.

My dislike for God and my hitting him should happen within his embrace.

Ever seen a child hit the chest of their parent?

We live there. It is the truth. It is not even a fact. It is the truth.

But we always know how to exit so that we have to try and worm our way back.

Religion gives you perfect solutions for worming your way back to God.

Christ gets us God. Religion makes us work for God.

When it comes to expressing who God is, God does it even with nature.

Look at Psalm 19. Day and night Mother Nature speaks. The sun comes up like a bright groom.

The clouds speak. The sun speaks. The stars speak. They reveal your glory.

Go to Job 39. Who put Orion in the skies? Do you know how long it takes for a deer to give birth?

Have you seen how fish swim? Were you there when the morning stars sang as I created the universe?

Everything keeps expressing who he is. And the apex of creation is Dillner.

As in man or woman.

Constantly they are speaking.

So it doesn't matter whether it's a leaf that comes off a tree and twirls in a stream.

It doesn't matter whether it's a whiff of coffee in the morning or the sunrise or the sunset or a snowflake or a drop of rain or the smell of rain on a hot summer day.

Everything has been so delightfully crafted for us so that in it we find great pleasure and the expression of an invisible being who touches little things.

And they become part of poetry.

How many times have we heard of a leaf that twirls and then goes and catches a ripple and goes swimming down the stream?

Why is it for centuries that it still does something to your heart?

This God orchestrates a billion things at the same time.

Puts 400 million stars in our galaxy and then creates 300 trillion more galaxies in the observable universe.

And he still lives in me. I live in him.

He loves me as much as his father loves him and the father loves me as much as he loves Jesus.

There is no separation. I'm inseparably one with him and I'm inflexibly loved by him just as they love each other.

And it is brought to me by the Spirit of God who is resident in me.

The moment I say, Jesus, I accept you as Savior and Lord, it begins.

And it stays forever.

Why do I destroy it with performance, deservedness, assigning value to outcomes, to usefulness?

Why can't I be childlike?

It goes against the grain of human thinking now to be like that.

It goes against the grain of human thinking now to be like that.

In Matthew 3.17, at Jesus' baptism, God's love became audible.

In Matthew 3.17, during his baptism, this love becomes audible. Why?

Because you hear a voice, people hear a voice saying, this is my beloved son.

That's the title of this message. This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

I want you to, before we go further, I want you to go and ponder on that thing I said, eh?

That, oh God, how do you assign value to me if I am not useful?

If I am dismal in my outcomes and if I don't reciprocate your love, in fact, run away from it, or how do you still assign value to me?

If I am dismal in my outcomes and if I don't reciprocate your love, in fact, run away from it, or how do you still assign value to me?

You only love that which is of value.

Do you understand the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin now?

If a five-cent coin or a ten-cent coin rolled under your sofa, it's the kind of sofa that needed three people to bring it into your house.

If a five-cent coin rolled under your sofa, would you call up Evan and Brandon and Derek, because Derek will supervise, would you call them up so that they can move the sofa to recover the five-cent coin?

The answer is obviously not.

Well, what gives the coin value is the seeker.

That's the parable of the lost coin.

The parable of the lost coin is the one who seeks and gives it value, finds something that is so intrinsic, inherent in it, that he assigns value to it.

Five cents is really useless.

Why go five cents?

Take one of those copper one-cent coins that is out of circulation.

Who would go looking for that, particularly when it's out of circulation?

Leave it for the next person who moves into your rental.

Not him.

So when we look at this verse, you'll find other things about how the father loves Jesus.

One, his love is personal.

This is my, this is my, my beloved, my beloved.

It's personal.

As in what do you mean by his love is personal?

It is tailored for me, to me.

It connects with my God-given personality.

Anybody here, I mean, you can ask Matt and Rachel, anyone here who is more than two kids will know that you cannot use the same standards for each kid.

Each child is so, so different.

And to connect to each child has to be done so differently.

Usually it's based on the temperament, the personality of the child.

Some quiet, some loud.

But he tailors it.

His love for me is very personal.

He understands me.

He knows how to talk to me.

He knows how much I'm hurting and how much comfort I need.

He knows when not to help me, when not to give me comfort.

He knows me in and out.

This is why David in Psalm 139 says, you know me inside out.

You made me.

You gave me who I am now, oh God.

The way you work with me is different.

So different.

And so we can never standardize it.

We can never standardize worship.

We can never standardize how love should look like.

We can never standardize how one should hear.

We can never standardize how one should preach.

Cannot do it.

Because it's so beautifully crafted.

If you think he cares about a snowflake, which is different from every other snowflake,

how blooming unique am I?

So the way he talks to you is so intensely personal.

Taste it.

Next one.

His love and joys.

This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

And the son hadn't done anything yet.

He was just being obedient and was going down to get baptized.

This is my son in whom I am well pleased.

He enjoys.

He enjoys his love.

The way he loves Jesus is the way he loves you.

His love enjoys or delights before you please or displease him.

His love enjoys.

His love does not enjoy because I say thank you Jesus.

His love enjoys because of the value that he has assigned to me.

Hey Jacob, you're my self-portrait.

My boy, I made you.

Dreams for you.

You think you have to earn it?

I absolutely love you.

He enjoys.

It's crazy how you would be enjoyed without doing anything.

He enjoys.

You should ask a mom perhaps or perhaps and dads too.

I bet there have been times in Derek's life where he sees Brielle when she was small lying in the bed

and looking at her just absolutely enjoying, delighted, and he can't even understand how this happened.

But he absolutely takes such joy in this little daughter of his.

This is constant.

There's never a moment when he takes his foot off the pedal.

You know what that makes you unafraid?

Unafraid of making mistakes.

Unafraid of sinning.

When one loses the fear of sinning, the fear of God kicks in.

His love is unashamedly public.

His love is unashamedly public.

As in he wasn't whispering in Jesus' ear, you are my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

He, blooming, spoke it out so loud that everybody heard it.

And so we must understand that he sees me or he sees you with pride.

And is not ashamed to be your God.

Is not ashamed to be your God even when you bring him shame.

He's not ashamed to be your God.

Hebrews chapter 2, verse 11 to 13.

Hebrews 2:11–13

You should read it.

And this, by the way, is the definition of favor.

When someone is unashamedly public in his love for you, that's the definition of favor.

It's unmerited bias.

You should read Hebrews chapter 2, verse 11 to 13.

Hebrews 2:11–13

Hebrews 2, 11 to 13.

I'm reading it from the message.

Since the one who saves and those who are saved have a common origin,

Jesus doesn't hesitate to treat them as family, saying,

I'll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know about you.

I'll join them in worship and praise to you.

He's saying, again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says,

even I live by placing my trust in God, and yet again I'm here with the children God gave me.

The point being, this is a conversation between Jesus and the Father,

and he's introducing me as his family, as his brother,

and that he will loudly proclaim his love for me.

He's not ashamed of me.

He's not ashamed of me.

Even when I bring shame to him, he is not resistant to being my God.

He's not ashamed of being my God.

As I'm saying this, there are so many verses that are coming from the other side,

saying, no, but if we deny him, he will deny us if we are not faithful.

Start with this premise, guys.

Start with this premise.

This is where we start.

Everything else is built on this.

You know, when I mean, I failed my physical dad like crazy.

I think I've told you he wrote a 10-page letter to me after I came to Canada,

and nine pages was critical and one page was nice,

but I didn't read it because the nine pages were critical.

I read it much later.

But here's the thing.

When I would go and visit him in Bahrain, he would take me to the office,

and when he would go to the office, he would begin to boast about me.

My son is in Canada.

It was a big deal for my dad.

My son did this. My son did that.

I'm an old guy now.

I'm already older than Jonathan, which is easy.

But the point was that my dad was so boastful of every little achievement

he could find about me, and he was boastful about it publicly.

A boast is always public.

Any husband who boasts about his wife but not publicly ain't doing her any good.

That's what favor looks like.

What are we talking about?

We are talking about how does the father love Jesus,

and therefore if this is how the father loves Jesus,

this is also how he loves you.

Next one.

His love is intimately present.

His love is intimately present.

What do I mean by that?

That at this very moment, his love is intimately present for me right now.

Right now.

There's another person in this room who has the Holy Spirit that cannot actually experience it.

Intimately present right now.

Right now.

Loved like he loves Jesus.

Inseparable oneness.

Right now.

This is where we always live.

We're just not aware of it.

The Christian practices to become aware of it.

Lenny's love for her baby is intimately present always.

Doesn't matter whether she's not feeling good, feeling good,

whether she hasn't had an argument with Pawan,

whether she is doing well with Pawan,

whether God is answering her prayers, God is not answering her prayers,

whether there is money or no money.

Doesn't matter.

She's intimately present with her baby.

His love is intimately present.

I must stop to experience it.

I must experience it.

Then I must not stop to experience it because I know how to locate it.

Like Diana was saying, I'm present before him.

Why? Because Jesus is present before the Father.

Always, always.

Next one.

His love withholds nothing.

His love withholds nothing.

His love withholds nothing.

John 17, 10.

All that is mine is yours and all that is yours is mine.

Matthew 11, 27.

Father, all that belongs to you is mine, all that mine is yours.

It's a unique father-son operation that comes out of unique father-son intimacies.

Matthew 11, 27.

And because of that, I get to partake in his nature.

I get to partake in his nature.

Romans 8, 15.

Or Romans 8, 16 and 17.

We are co-heirs with him.

Everything he has, I have access to.

Second Peter 1, verse 3 and 4.

2 Peter 1:3

Through the precious promises that he has given me, I now get to partake in his divine nature.

What does that mean? That I get to love like he loves.

That I get to be kind like he is kind.

That I get to serve like he serves.

That I get to be patient as he is patient.

That I can suffer for the sake of righteousness as he did.

That I can handle your abuse should that happen.

I get to partake in his nature.

These are the things that happen to me because he loves.

Any questions?

Remember always guys, the love that the father and the son have for me, have for you is not stingy.

He loves giving you honor.

He loves giving you purpose.

He loves giving you everything in the kingdom.

Jesus put it this way.

Do not worry little flock.

It's my father's pleasure to give you the things in his reign.

The question in some of our minds is why is this not a reality?

Because you and I don't even think like this.

When you begin to think like this, you inhabit what you think.

It's such a critical principle.

You inhabit what you think.

And we don't think like this because we haven't experimented with it.

Begin today.

Think like this.

When it says turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full at his wonderful face and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace, what he's trying to say is stop looking here and look here.

This, I've said this before, 2 Corinthians 3, 18.

Whatever I behold is what I become.

Whatever I behold is what I become.

Either to my ruin or to my restoration.

Either to my ruin or to my restoration.

And so whatever I behold, the first few things I behold in the morning is usually what I become.

So if it is lack, if it is need, if it is anger, if it is revenge, if it is hurt, if it is bitterness, whatever I behold I become.

I'm not talking about looking at your spouse.

You won't become her.

But I'm talking about other things.

Learn to live from the embrace of the Father.

Learn to live from the embrace of the Father.

I think I might stop there.

Learn to live from the embrace of the Father.

This is important, guys.

Everything you do.

Like right now when I'm preaching, learn to preach from the embrace of the Father.

If I make a mistake in my preaching, learn to live in the embrace of the Father.

If while I preach I feel like I'm targeting Tuni because I don't like him or I want to hit him with a certain scripture.

Once I do that, still learn to live in the embrace of the Father because the second time around you won't do that.

In here, you're safe.

If I mess up, if I sin, if I do something wrong, learn to live in the embrace of the Father.

It's the easiest place to correct myself.

When I fail, when the outcome I desire does not happen,

learn to live in the embrace of the Father.

When I have a need and I'm scared, learn to live in the embrace of the Father.

When I've done things well and I'm proud and I'm smacking my lips at the delight of what I've done,

learn to live in the embrace of the Father.

He'll help you taste the delight and then go back to normal.

Learn to live in the embrace of the Father.

You never need to leave it.

Never need to leave it.

If you get hurt, if you get offended,

if someone does something evil to you, take it in the embrace of the Father.

It's called the rope-a-dope technique.

It wasn't Muhammad Ali who discovered it.

It was God.

Learn to live in the embrace of the Father.

If they hit you, I'll take the blow.

It's a great place to live.

When you worship, worship from there.

When you're corrected, when you're disciplined, when God is displeased, live from there.

When you've broken something and it cannot be repaired, live from there.

There are things in our lives that can be so shattered that it cannot be put together.

It's broken.

Live from there because you know what he'll do?

He won't put it back together.

He'll take the clay, put it back on the potter's wheel and he'll reshape it.

He'll take the clay, put it back on the potter's wheel and he'll reshape it.

But learn to live in the embrace of the Father.

One thing to do to learn that?

It's this idea of practice, guys.

Not of practice, awareness.

Awareness comes through three things.

We need to say it again and again.

We need to be aware of it.

Awareness comes through three things.

We need to say it again and again and again.

It should become a truth established in this church.

Awareness comes through three things.

One, practice.

Two, loving something enough.

Three, knowledge.

What we are supplying here is knowledge.

Now, if you begin to love the one we are talking about and you begin to practice it,

it's only a matter of time before awareness comes in so deeply

that every time you're not in the embrace, you know, eh, this is not working out.

Even when you have doubts and you have no faith, live in the embrace of the Father,

I have no faith for this.

I'm scared. I don't know how I'm going to meet the rent.

I have to work, work, work.

I don't have time for God. God will have to wait.

Even that, be in the embrace of the Father

because in there, he'll change you faster.

Outside, you'll have to work on your own, man.

Unless you become like a child, Jacob, you shall not enter the kingdom of God.

You might get citizenship, but you will not enter it.

And remember, we've got someone who will really help us.

This is what he loves doing.

He's there to help me.

Help me to do what?

To continuously be

in the embrace of the Father.

Where I desire, I delight, I do, I dance, I feel the joy of God.

I feel the joy of God.

I feel the joy of God.

I feel the joy of God.

I feel the joy of God.

I do, I dance, I feel.

Crazy, eh?

Crazy.

This is where I desire, where I delight, where I do, where I dance, where I feel.

It's also where I feel.

There's a scripture in Romans 8.15 from the NIV, it says,

I have not received the spirit of slavery, but I have received the spirit of adoption.

Yeah, slavery takes me back to fear.

You know, destroy from your life, destroy from your life, destroy from your life.

You know, destroy from your life, all appeasement obligations with God.

Appeasement obligations, where you're doing something to appease Him,

and whenever you try to appease someone, it becomes an obligation.

Do not do anything to appease Him.

It's other gods that have to be appeased.

Our God does not require appeasement.

Religion is a list of appeasement obligations.

I've got to do this or this.

Pentecostals have it, Baptists have it, every denomination has it.

No one's exempt from it.

Appeasement obligations should end.

He will take every picture that you paint with your crayons

and stick it on His fridge in heaven, because that is what is most precious to Him.

We'll stop there.

You know how the message puts it?

Make yourself at home.

Jacob, make yourself at home in my love,

just as I made myself home in my Father's love.

Just think of those words, eh?

Hey, Tuni, make yourself at home in the Father's...

Jesus is saying to Tuni, make yourself at home in my love,

just as I made myself at home in my Father's love.

And then if Tuni is saying, make yourself at home in my Father's love,

in my Father's love.

And then if Tuni asks, how can I stay in it?

The next verse says it.

I stayed in my Father's love by obeying His commands.

So it's not saying that the Father's love will be withdrawn,

but you consciously begin to enjoy it.

Any questions? I'm done.

Any questions? We'll have... we'll break bread right now.

Any questions?

Yeah, how would someone who hasn't experienced a childhood of embrace

now begin to practice the embrace of the Father?

Strangely enough, every human being is given a gift,

and the gift is every human being,

regardless of whether your parents were absent, abusive,

whether they sold you, whether they discarded you,

every human being is born with an amazing imagination, idea, desire,

in terms of what an ideal father is.

I've seen orphans in Southeast Asia, in India, people that were abused,

you talk to them about the Father and something comes up,

because that is a gift given to every child. Why?

Because every human being, as broken as we are,

has within them the ability to connect to the Father.

And then when you receive Christ and the Spirit is in you, it's a done deal.

The embrace of the Father is sometimes more powerful in the life of someone

who did not have it when they were children,

because they imagine it perfectly.

I always tell people when I give them marital advice,

my advice is not tainted by human experience.

It's the same thing.

You have this brilliant imagination of what a father should look like.

So, if you turn to John chapter 6, verse 53 to 58,

John 6:53–58

we'll read what the scriptures say about partaking in communion.

John chapter 6, 53 to 58.

John 6 · chapter mention

John chapter 6, 53 to 58.

John 6 · chapter mention

From the message, John chapter 6, 53 to 58.

John 6 · chapter mention

But Jesus didn't give an inch.

Only in so far as you eat and drink flesh and blood,

the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you.

Only as you eat and drink flesh and blood,

the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you.

What he was trying to say is, listen, eating flesh requires death,

drinking blood requires slaughter.

You need to know the violent death that I'm about to face.

Next verse, the one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking

has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the final day.

Then he goes on to say, my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

By eating my flesh and drinking my blood, you enter into me and I into you.

In the same way that fully alive father sent me here and I live because of him,

so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me.

This is the bread from heaven.

Your ancestors ate bread and later died.

Whoever eats this bread will always live.

Now go to 1 Corinthians 10, verse 15 to 17 from the NIV.

1 Corinthians 10:15–17

1 Corinthians 10, verse 15 to 17 from the NIV.

1 Corinthians 10:15–17

I speak to sensible people, judge for yourselves what I say.

Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks

a participation in the blood of Christ?

And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?

Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body,

for we all share one loaf.

So always remember the eating of, when he says the eating of the flesh,

it presupposes killing.

And when he talks about drinking blood,

it presupposes the shedding of blood.

And so when we say we eat the flesh and we drink the blood,

as Jesus said in John chapter 6,

John 6 · chapter mention

what we are saying is we are benefiting from his death.

Yeah, we are benefiting from his death.

Just remember that as we partake of it.

This scripture when it was read, it was said by Jesus,

it really freaked people out.

Because to the Jews, eating or drinking blood was like out of question.

It would make them unclean.

And Jesus deliberately uses these words.

And in John 6, 66 it says many left him.

But the eating of his flesh means death.

The drinking of his blood means the shedding of blood.

And as we partake of his flesh and his blood,

we are remembering the benefits that have been accrued to us because of his death.

One last sentence before you can distribute the stuff.

I'll write it so that you can read it.

Here's what I want to write.

We are here in the presence of his spirit.

And by faith, we look back.

To the singular sacrifice.

Realizing the benefits to our lives.

Can you just ponder on that before we eat and drink?

We are here. I am here. We are here.

Because he said the bread is the body.

So we are here. Yeah. We are here.

I don't know Kevin, but Kevin and Cece are believers.

So we are here and I have to recognize them.

We are here in the presence of the spirit.

By faith, looking back to that singular sacrifice that was made for us.

Realizing the benefits of that debt to our lives.

So feel free as a distributor to call out the benefits to your life from his death.

It is important. Faith speaks.

Yeah, it is important that you call it out. Speak it out.

Presence.

The word.

I find the word just opening up and giving us such glimpses into who Christ is.

And the Holy Spirit makes that possible. Super thankful.

You'll have to speak louder because of the fans.

Unconditional love. What we've been talking about.

Healing of the body.

Inseparable oneness. Right now.

Physical needs met by his father.

Sorry.

He infuses us with his hope and his delight.

Thanks.

Joy.

Joy.

In fact, at the end of the scriptures that we were reading, he says, I'm telling you all this so that your joy may be complete.

Victory over. Thanks.

Victory over death. I do not stay in the grave.

I rise to see his face.

This one that I already am in love with my God.

What will it be like?

With this hope purify yourselves, the Bible says.

Sorry.

I can't see you.

Did someone say something?

Okay.

Anyone else?

Sonship.

Power is not an orphan.

Experiencing his love and his love is public.

Anyone else?

Meticulous.

Meticulous.

Explain.

This fan.

Oh, yeah.

He's so highly detailed in everything he does.

It's not just Jacob looks good.

Let's make everybody like Jacob.

No.

She said, thank you, Lord.

Pardon?

Living in his embrace.

Brilliant.

Even when we eat and drink this, as we're talking now, we're we're living in his embrace.

It's from there that we speak.

You know, I've got a picture of Matt with two of his children, one in one arm, one in the other.

I almost put it up as the picture for this teaching.

And I was thinking, embrace of the father.

He's got both of them.

Anyone else?

Forgiven.

Imagine.

Forgiven.

Imagine your mortgage being paid off.

I think you would be happy.

No, not here.

Freedom.

The freedom that allows me to be bold and open.

Sorry?

Freedom from bondage.

Praise God.

Transformation where you change dramatically.

Jacob, let's get on with communion.

No.

We're looking back at a singular sacrifice and remembering the benefits to our lives.

Unmitigated joy.

Hope.

Amen.

Expectation.

Good expectations in God.

Give me five more, please.

Peace.

Wholeness and shalom.

Assurance of eternal life.

Assurance.

Guaranteed.

No other religion offers it.

Faith.

You said faith, right?

Faith, where we get to trust an invisible God.

Taking away my burden.

To die is to gain.

To die is to gain.

What crazy people are you?

Belonging.

Belonging.

My God, can you imagine living without this body?

You know, please don't be so expressive.

Oh my God.

Relationship.

High tolerance even if there's no response.

Okay, let's eat now.

Go ahead.

Transformation where change happens that's dramatic.

So on the night that he was betrayed, he took bread and then he gave thanks for it.

And then he broke it and he said, this is my body which is broken for you.

Eat it in remembrance of me and that's what we've been doing.

So eat now, happily.

In the same manner, after supper he took the cup, the cup of blessing.

He gave thanks and he said, this is my blood.

And with this blood I write a new agreement with you.

What's part of that agreement?

Inseparable oneness.

What's part of that agreement?

I love you as much as I love Jesus.

Drink.

So Father, we drink.

And now we'll ask Tuni to come and conclude with a really rough and tumble loud rambunctious song

After which if you need prayer, people will pray with you.