Beloved in the Beloved

The first words of Jesus, at least as Luke tells the story, are Jesus saying that He needed to be in His Father’s house. He was turned to the Father. The first words of the Father, at least as Luke tells the story, are the Father declaring His relationship to Jesus as His beloved Son, the object of His delight. He was turned to the Son. At the same time, the Spirit visibly came and descended upon Jesus, revealing Jesus as the Stronger One. We are reading a Trinitarian story.

The Trinity has been and is and will be working at saving us, His beloved.

The Father chose us in the Beloved before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4); He elected us to be beloved. The Son laid down His life to pay for our sins and demonstrate His love (John 10:11; Romans 5:8); He redeemed us to be beloved. The Spirit indwells us, God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit; He seals us as the beloved (Romans 5:5; Ephesians 1:13).

Here is a meal of the beloved because of the work of the triune God. You are the “called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1). Brothers, you are “beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV).

So let us eat and drink by faith before the Father, through the Spirit, in the Son of His love.