For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

Question: Who gave his only Son to die for the world? Answer: The Father.

Do you remember the 3-D optical illusion trend of the 1980s and ’90s? At first glance, the pictures looked like cartoonish drawings or highly repetitive patterns. For those who mastered the art of focusing their vision deeper than the surface layer, the reward was a stunning 3-D image. I was fascinated by them.

My wife gave me a book of those drawings called Do You See What I See? As I turned through the pages, I came across a black and white photograph she had hidden inside. It was an ultrasound image of our son – my first opportunity to see him! I was blown away, and my heart was immediately consumed with a profound form of love – the love of a father for his child.

Jesus said that the greatest expression of love is for a man to lay down his life for his friends. See John 15:13. What he said was absolutely true for a man who did not have children. There is, however, one greater expression of love: laying down the life of your child.

My friend, if I am ever called upon to lay down my life for you, I pray that God will give me the strength and courage to do it. Why? Because I have a core belief that your freedom is of higher value than my life. How could I feel any other way? Well over one million American soldiers (according to various sources) have died in battle to secure and protect the freedoms I enjoy every day. How could I not be willing to make the same sacrifice for you?

If, however, I am called upon to lay down the life of one of my sons for you, well, you’re going to be out of luck. Sorry. I cannot imagine the depth of love required for a man to sacrifice the life of his son or daughter for someone else – especially if that child is an only child.

Please understand, my son may choose, of his own free will, to lay down his life for you. That choice is his to make. I could not, however, make that choice for him.

To demonstrate his love for us, God chose the greatest expression of love possible – he gave his one and only Son to die in our place. Consider these verses:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Question: Who was demonstrating his love to us? Answer: The Father.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:8

Question: Who was Jesus obeying? Answer: The Father.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. I Peter 3:18

Question: Who was Jesus dying to bring us to? Answer: The Father.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Question: Who was Jesus yielding to in the Garden of Gethsemane? Answer: The Father.

If you’re a dad, try to imagine what it must have been like to hear Jesus pleading for his life in the Garden. Jesus was in agony. He was under such incredible pressure that Luke wrote: And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44). Jesus knew, in excruciating detail, everything he was about to endure. The Father also had full knowledge of the betrayal, humiliation, torture, and crucifixion. Can you put yourself in the Father’s place? If your son pleaded to you for his life to be spared, could you remain silent? If your son screamed to you from the cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46) could you remain silent?

The silence of God the Father, as his innocent, beautiful, and only Son suffered and died to save us, forever established the greatest-of-all-time love – the love the Father has for you and me.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! John 3:1
Happy Father’s Day!