God and His Son: The Model Family
The relationship between God and Jesus is a family relationship of Father and Son. It is strong and intimate.
“For the Father loves the Son,
and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing . . . ”
John 5:20a
It is a relationship of love.
“O righteous Father,
although the world has not known You,
yet I have known You;
and these have known that You sent Me;
and I have made Your name known to them,
and will make it known,
so that the love with which You loved Me
may be in them, and I in them.”
John 17:25-26
Like all loving father and son relationships, Jesus’ has a generous Father.
The Father loves the Son
and has given all things into His hand.
John 3:35
It is a relationship of honor and respect, Son to Father.
“I glorified You on the earth,
having accomplished the work
which You have given Me to do.”
John 17:4
And it is a relationship of honor and respect, Father to Son.
Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan
coming to John, to be baptized by him. . . .
After being baptized,
Jesus came up immediately from the water;
and behold, the heavens were opened,
and he saw the Spirit of God
descending as a dove and lighting on Him,
and behold, a voice out of the heavens said,
“This is My beloved Son,
in whom I am well-pleased.”
Matthew 3:13, 16
Square depicting the Spirit
descending as a dove at Jesus’ baptism,
Harriet Powers’ Bible Quilt, 1885-1886,
courtesy of the Smithsonian American History Museum,
gift of Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Heckman
Harriet Powers’ Bible Quilt
Family is at the core of the homeschooling experience. Healthy family relationships help parents and children thrive in that experience, especially when God is at the center of those relationships.
God and Jesus are the model family that we can look to as the best possible example of what our human family should be. We can find no better way to learn how to live as a family than to look at the relationship between God and Jesus.
In a day when many family relationships are fractured and dysfunctional, we need a clear example of a good family. Some of us were blessed to have grown up in a strong family. Many of us know families that we can look to as good examples. The best example we can have, however, is the family of our heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is His commandment,
that we believe
in the name of His Son Jesus Christ,
and love one another,
just as He commanded us.
1 John 3:23