According to our Lord’s own testimony in John’s Gospel, God’s fatherly relation to Him implied four things:
First, fatherhood implied authority. The Father commands and disposes, the initiative which He calls His Son to exercise is the initiative of resolute obedience to His Father’s will. (John 6:38; John 17:4; John 5:19; John 4:34)
Second, fatherhood implies affection. (John 5:20; John 5:19-20)
Third, fatherhood implies fellowship. (John 16:32; John 8:29)
Fourth, fatherhood implies honor. (John 17:1; John 5:22-23)
- J.I. Packer, Knowing God, copyright 1973, page 205
