The Glory of God's Paternity

1. The Father's Unfolding (1:1-14). The Divine Word reveals the loving Father in His grace and truth. Christ is all He was in the living expression of what the Father is. The Gospel opens with the Son in the Father's bosom, and before it closes it revea1s a saved sinner in the bosom of the Son (1:18; 13:25)
2. The Father's House (2:16) When the Son comes to the Father's house He finds it polluted and possessed by religious sinners. Cleansing is the first act, for there can be no compact in grace till the usurper is cast out from his government.
3. The Father's Trust (3:35). The Beloved Son has given to Him the wealth of the Father's treasure. Adam was trusted and failed. Christ was trusted and was faithful. This Gospel reveals Christ as constantly giving. Look up His "I gives." He has so much to give the sons, because, as the Son, He has received all the treasures of the Father.
4. The Father's Worship (4:23). The spirit nature of the Father seeks the spiritual worship of His children. The locality of place and the hollowness of form are not recognized by Him, while the heart of faith and the reality of love's gratitude are food and satisfaction to His being.
5. The Father's Will (5:17-42). There breathes through Christ's references to His Father, working, loving, honouring, committing, sending, witnessing, and fitting, one thought, namely, His delight to do all the Father wishes. He wills and walks in His Father's will, hence the Father is with Him in all His ways
6. The Father's Provision (6: 27-57). As the Bread of God, Christ is God-sealed, God-given, and God-satisfying. He that wants Christ wants the Father and everything, while he that has Christ wants nothing, for in the Father's provision he has everything
7. The Father's Commission (8:16-54). Sent by the Father, His vocation was to please Him, He spake of Him, for He enjoyed His company, and the Father honoured Him in consequence
8. The Father's Fellowship (10:15-38). Mutual knowledge, mutual love, mutual service, mutual preservation, mutual action and mutual possession are some of the heart throbs which the finger of faith feels as it is placed on the pulse of this chapter
9. The Father's Response (11:41). The upward gaze of Christ's appeal brings the unloosing act of God's power, which causes the corrupting Lazarus to glide forth from the grip of death's grasp in the vitality of Christ's life. No power can withstand the Son's prayer and the Father's potency
10. The Father's Glory (12:26-50). The goal of the Father's command had its consummation in the gore of the fiery cross of Calvary. The hour of all hours was the hour of Calvary's darkness, for then did Christ meet God's claim and glorify His name, and fulfil every iota of the Father's will
11. The Father's Confidence (13:1-3). The consciousness of the Father's confidence was the fuel that kept the flame of Christ's continuance burning brightly. The hate of men, the desertion of friends, the blackness of the cross, and the ire of God's judgment could not hide the smile of the Father's face
12. The Father's Image (14:2-31). The Visible Son was the Invisible Father. There is no question about God, the past, the present, the future, the claim of love, the coming of the Spirit, and the unknown, but finds its answer in Christ.
13. The Father's Ministry (15:1-26). The ministry of the Fatherly Husbandman is the cause of the fruitfulness of the vine and the branches. The sap of the Spirit's life, the glow of the Divine love and the flow of the Son's joy are all due to the grace of the Father's attention
14. The Father's Love (16:3-32). The income which Christ has brought to us, the outcome of Christ's work for us, all we have become in His grace, and all the enemies we overcome in His power, are because the Father has come to us in His love, and lives in us in His power
15. The Father's Keeping (I7:1-24). The priestly prayer of Christ is a portraiture of His pleading as He now pleads for the Father's preservation of His own. The finished work of the cross is the basis of His prayer, and the final entrance into His glory is its terminus
16. The Father's Cup (18:11). The cup of our woe was pressed by the hand of love to the lips of grace, that grace and love might press to our lips the cup of blessing and salvation
17. The Father's Presence (20:17-21). To the sublime heights of the Father's presence He ascends, after going into the depths of intense suffering, and now He sends us forth to make known the riches of His grace.

The Father's Specific Acts

• His definite seeking (4:23).
• His earnest working (5:17).
• His ardent loving (5:20; 10:17; 16:27).
• His powerful raising (5:21).
• His specific sending (5:36; 8:16-18).
• His Divine sealing (6:27).
• His holy giving (6:32,37; 10:29; 13:3).
• His attractive drawing (6:44).
• His recognized honouring (8:54; 12:26).
• His appreciative knowledge (10:15).
• His distinct command (10:18; 14:31).
• His consecrating act (10:36, R.V.).
• His unmistakable message (12:50).
• His manifested indwelling (14:10).
• His sufficient bestowment (14:26; 15:26).
• His fruitful tending (15:1).
• His safe keeping (17:11).

• The "Only Begotten of the Father," or what Christ became for us (1:14).
• The bosom of the Father, or the affection in which the Son lives (1:18).
• The home of the Father, or the place in which He dwells (2:16; 14:2).
• The life of the Father, or the vitality of His being (5:26).
• The will of the Father, or the desire of His heart (5:30; 6:39).
• The name of the Father, or the expression of His nature, or His authority (5:43; 10:25; Matt. 28:19).
• The hand of the Father, or the keeping of His power (10:29; Luke 23:46).
• The works of the Father, or the activities of His ministry (10 37).
• The commandment of the Father, or the requirement of His love (15:10).
• The cup of the Father, or the requirement of His holiness (16:11),
• The knowledge of the Father, or the tenderness of His care (Luke 12:30).
• The face of the Father, or the consciousness of His presence (Matt. 18:20).
• The pleasure of the Father, or the intention of His love (Luke 3:22).
• The glory of the Father, or the display of His worth (Matt. 18:27).
• The grace and peace of the Father, or the gift of His mercy (I Cor. 1:3).
• The blessings of the Father, or the provision of His grace (Eph. 1:3)
• The promise of the Father, or the enduement with His power (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4).
• The love of the Father, or the affection of His heart (I John 2:15; 3:1).
• The witness of the Father, or the appreciation of His Son (John 5: 36, 37)
• The foreknowledge of the Father, or the purpose of His grace (I Pet. 1:2).
• The kingdom of the Father, or the future of His plan (Matt 24:34; I Cor. 15:24).

• "Father." Christ's revelation of God as Father (John 1:14-18).
• "A Father." God's relationship to the Son and sons (Heb. 1:5; II Cor. 6:18).
• "The Father." Personal glory of the Father (I John 1:2; 3:1; 4:14)
• "My Father." Christ's personal relationship to the Father (John 15: 1, 8).
• "Your Father." Responsibility of the children to the parent (Matt. 5:16, 45, 48).
• "Our Father." Responsibility because of common relationship (Luke 11:2).
• "God the Father." His exclusive relationship (II Tim. 1:2; II Pet. 1:17).
• "God our Father." The saints' commonwealth and confidence (Eph. 1:2).
• "God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." The relationship of Christ and His own (Eph. 1:3).
• Holy Father." Christ's priestly service for His saints (John 17:11).
• "Righteous Father." Christ and the world (John 17:25).