For the Father loves the Son.

I recently finished a book written by Victor Paul Wierwille titled Jesus Christ is not God. (Note: This is not an endorsement of his religious views.) The book is thoroughly documented with biblical quotes and makes sound arguments. It can be read at:

https://archive.org/details/jesuschristisnot0000wier/page/n11/mode/2up

These thoughts came to me after reading this book.

Some western Christians have been lured away from a clear understanding of God the Father. The results can lead to idol worship. An exclusive focus on Jesus, with an accompanying ignorance of the God of Abraham, presents some real issues. For example, nearly all believers can quote John 3:16 and still miss the point. The statement that, “God so loved the world…” is overlooked. Instead, the meaning of this passage becomes, “…whosoever believeth in him should not perish…“ The subject of John 3:16 is the depth of love that flows from the Father’s grace. This includes the incomprehensible gift of grace and redemption He gave through his only son.

Yeshua made it clear; he only did the will of the Father.

John 6:38
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Matthew 7:21
Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

John 5:19-20
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.

Wierwille had some sort of cult going in Knoxville, Ohio a very long time ago. He did everything he could to deny the deity of Christ. Not sure what happened since then, but all arguments trying to deny the fact that Jesus Christ is God are BOGUS.

And do you know why? Because Christ came to earth as the Servant of God the Father, and voluntarily humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. That did not in the least change the fact that Jesus is God. God manifest in the flesh.

And without controversy
great is the mystery of godliness:
God [Theos] was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world,
received up into glory. (1 Tim 3:16, only in the King James Bible)

"Without controversy" means that this FACT is not subject to debate, argument, or controversy. You can either believe it or disbelieve it.

"And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” - Exodus 3:14 NKJV

"Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” - John 8:58 NKJV

Christ Jesus is God in the flesh, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright Morning Star and the Judge of mankind. Passages such as Deuteronomy 6:4 don't refute Jesus' Deity; they support it. That's the one that says "Here O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one...."

The Son is the MANifestation of YAH(the Eternal) in the flesh. He entered His creation as the Son of YAH and the Son of man to save us and make us fellow heirs of creation through and with Him. He is the very Substance of YAH with us as Hebrews 1 tells us. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of YAH. He always obeys His Father and accomplishes His will. He learned obedience through what He suffered to save us. He has always been and will always be and is our Life and Salvation.

I and the Father are one. John 10:30

John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

Are we the same "essence"? Was Jesus praying to God that we become the same "essence"? Or was he praying that we become one in purpose?

God and Jesus Christ were, and are, one in purpose. Jesus always did what God wanted him to do. He learned the truth from God (John 8:40), he submitted himself to God, he was approved by God (Acts 2:22). He set aside his own will and determined to do what God needed him to do (Luke 22:42).

A couple of good books on the topic are "One God and One Lord" and "The God of Jesus." <-- links to Amazon.

Matthew 24:36

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Learning obedience through what the Son suffered to save us is of utmost importance. Who did the Creator ever have to obey? In order to be just and the Justifier of those who believe in the Son, and to establish His righteous Authority over all His creation, He had to learn obedience as a Man and fully obey to the point of death. Now His authority and righteousness and justice cannot be questioned since He gave His Own Life to save us. He defeated the powers of darkness by letting them have their way with Him and thereby saving those who believe in Him. He did that through obedience to the Father as a Man.

Isaiah 28:17 is a picture of the cross.

I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.

His Justice is the cross member of the cross which is stretched out to His creation holding His arms open to receive us. His Justice placed His Son on the cross and made the Son obedient to endure it. His Righteousness is the stake in the ground holding the cross in place that lifted up His Son above the earth to be our Salvation to those who would believe.

Isaiah 28:16 tells us this is about the Son and says

therefore thus says Adonai YHVH, Behold, I lay in Tziyon for a foundation a Stone, a tried Stone, a precious Corner -stone of sure Foundation: he who believes shall not be in haste.

Then in verse 18 He says.

Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.

The powers of darkness' covenant with death and agreement with Sheol(the grave) was annulled by the Son on the cross Who obeyed His Father and established His unquestionable Justice and Righteousness forever. He did this by learning and being obedient.

Psalm 89:14 tells us that Righteousness and Justice are the foundations of His throne which is His Authority.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Mercy and truth go before Your face.

The Son's obedience on the cross shows His Righteousness and Justice and establishes His Authority over His creation.

Yes, the Father loves the Son. How could He not, when considering the Son's complete obedience which forever settles any challenges to His Just and Righteous Authority over His creation.

Please read my post, no part questioned the divinity of Yeshua. Note that I disavowed Wierwille.

The point is this, if you do not know the Father, you cannot know the son. If you worship the Son with no knowledge of the Father you run the risk of idol worship. Yeshua can become an amulet or a mantra or maybe a ritual that is used to control the weather. If you do not know God's holiness, if you do not know God's righteousness, if you do know God's justice, if you do not know God's faithfulness, if you do not know God's wrath then you cannot fully know his son. This knowledge of the Father only comes from one place, and in this age that source is often discounted.

It’s impossible to “know Jesus “ and not know the Father. To really know Jesus is to see the Father. Now there are many who are not seeing Jesus as he really is. But if we are worshiping Jesus and following what Jesus said and taught we already know the Father by default .
“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.””
‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭27‬, ‭29‬, ‭32‬-‭33‬, ‭35‬-‭40‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I’d like share another

“At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭25‬-‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The last one I will share

“Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭8‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In Psalm 119:48 the Son says

My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments,
Which I love,
And I will meditate on Your statutes.

His hands were lifted up to His Father's commandments when He was on the cross in obedience to save us. He meditated on why and what it all meant and what it accomplished. He trusted in His Father's plans and commands that placed Him there and learned through what He suffered.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19
But all things are of YAH, Who reconciled us to Himself through Yeshua the Messiah, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation;
namely, that YAH was in Messiah reconciling the world to Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.

in Psalm 119:71 the Son says

It is good for Me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.

He learned through what He suffered to save us and in doing so conquered death and proved the Truth and Righteousness and Justice of the Father forever.

In Psalm 119:75 the Son says to His Father,

I know, O YHVH, that Your judgments are right,
And that in faithfulness You have afflicted Me.

The Father's judgments are His Justice which places His Son on the cross to save us. His Son learned of His Father's faithfulness through His affliction to save us. Amazing beyond measure.

This is Oneness theology which is false. The Son is NOT the manifestation of the Father, and you are avoiding the designations given in the Bible. If the Father is YAH, so is the Son, and so in the Holy Spirit. Here is what the Bible reveals (without any dodgy terminology):

GOD THE FATHER IS NEITHER THE SON NOR THE HOLY SPIRIT
GOD THE SON IS NEITHER THE FATHER NOR THE HOLY SPIRIT
GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NEITHER THE FATHER NOR THE SON

There are three divine persons in the Godhead, and God is indeed one God eternally existent as Father, Son (the Word), and Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7 KJV).