SON OF THE FATHER

As John writes his second letter, addressed to the elect lady and her children, he writes with warmth and affection for one whose grasp and appreciation of truth was obvious. This is a tremendous challenge to every believer, and to sisters in particular, in respect to their knowledge of the truth. This unnamed woman’s influence upon her family members and other believers would seem to have been considerable. John writes to encourage her.

There are those who will continue to attack the truth. They will do so with great subtlety, for they are deceivers, v. 7. It is not what they say directly but what they do not say, for they ‘confess not’. Against whom are their attacks directed? These deceivers ‘confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh’. To challenge the truth of the person of Christ is to undermine the work that He accomplished for our salvation. How important these issues are!

In defending the faith, there is a danger of harshness and coldness. As a consequence of our actions in one realm it may permeate our relationships with fellow believers. For this reason John speaks of that perfect harmony and balance of ‘truth and love’, v. 3, that is found in divine persons. There are resources thatwe can access, ‘grace ... mercy, and peace’. They come ‘from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father’.

To speak of the Lord as ‘the Son of the Father’ is to reveal something of the relationship of the Son to the Father and of the Father to the Son. Many Jews would know of the title Father as applied to God, Pss. 68. 5; 89. 26. Here, that title takes on a fuller meaning, defining it in terms of a personal, loving relationship between the Father and the Son. It is no longer general but deeply personal and individual. The Son of the Father describes the Lord as a distinct person within the Godhead, a confirmation of the truth of the Trinity in unity. The title also reminds us that the Son is the incarnate revelation of the Father. In ‘the Father’ and ‘the Son of the Father’ we find perfect love and truth expressed and enjoyed.