God the Father is extremely jealous and very intent for people to love, adore, yearn for, and serve wholeheartedly His Son. I can't emphasize the words extreme and jealous enough. I know a lot of parents that would be very upset if someone came after their beloved child. Some parents are very upset when others don't appreciate their children the way they do. No matter how intense that feeling is for an earthly parent, God's jealousy for His own Son to be held and adored dearly in the hearts of especially His own people, far outweighs the intensity of feeling any parent is to have for their own child. Hard to argue with that.
Now imagine this. What if a Christian parent on earth feels more intensely in the love they have for their own children and are more jealous for the love their own children need from them than they do about the love that their Jesus deserves from them or the love they have for their brothers and sisters in Christ. How does God the Father look at that? How does He feel about that. You would be very wrong to conclude that He is ok with that.
God the Father has a love and jealousy for His Son and likewise for His eternal sons and daughters that far eclipses your own love for your own children and, here's the kicker, He expects you to feel and live likewise. He actually demands that you feel and live likewise. Feel it and live it. I can't tell you how many Christians will nod their head in agreement with that idea but the actual love they have and experience in their own hearts for Jesus and for His brethern does not match up with the Fatherly love for Jesus and His brethern that God the Father has and their lives don't look, express and live out that same love the Father has.
If you want to know the main problem in the church, or a church or in a believer's heart, it is this. Their love for Jesus and His brothers and sisters has serious competition. Do you ever wonder why the NT has so much focus on love for Jesus and love for the brethern and so little focus on love for natural children? Its not my opinion. Look at the texts. It's not even remotely arguable. Its not because our natural children aren't important to God. They are. He actually loves them more than you do. The problem is that God knew His people would have a very strong tendency to have a relatively or comparatively low level of love for Jesus and His children in comparison to the love they would have for our own natural family. So, He wanted to show us by His own words the relative lack of significance that love of natural children should have when compared to or measured against the love we are to have and show for His Son and for His Children. God knew that earthly natural love was going to compete heavily and be used by Satan most readily to draw hearts away from the eternal, supernatural and far more important love they that they are to have for His Son and for His brethern.
Does that mean that God just hasn't given us the kind of intense love we need to have for Jesus and the brethern? Nope. He has shed HIS love abroad in our hearts. He has given us all we need pertaining to Godliness. He has set us up incredibly well to do and feel how we should.
So what is the problem? A word....... idolatry. We ever so subtly but oh so sinfully idolize our kids. A born again Christian who does not experience the love the Father has for Jesus and His brethern in a way so intense that it far exceeds even the great love we have for our kids is in an idolatrous condition. God gave us His Spirit, gave us His love and gave us and gives us visions and revelations of a multitude of reasons to adore, long for and yearn for His Son so that we are without excuse when we love our own natural families more than God's family. Natural love is trumping, prevailing against and being victorious over supernatural love. Every day. Not possible for the Christian unless they are willfully choosing to allow that to happen. Not acceptable to God by any attempted stretch of Scripture.
At this point, I know many Christians that will say they love Jesus more than they love their kids. That is the correct exam answer but the intensity of their heart’s affections, worries and concerns for their children betray their answer. The way they arrange, focus and live their lives will betray their answer. Just so the situation is also clear about God's chosen extended family, it is not possible to love Jesus more than your own kids but not also love His brethern the same way. That is not how the supernatural love that the Father gives works. The love He gives to love Jesus also is the love He gives to love the Father's children in the right degree and proportion. Jesus prayed that the Father would love Jesus brothers with the same love that the Father loves Jesus with. He does and He gives that same love to each of us.
The Father is jealous for His Son and His people to be loved intensely and jealously. If you doubt this, read Matthew 25 sometime in the judgement of the sheep and goats. God has some real eternal punishment in store for those who don't show love, care and concern for His children on earth. Could there be any stronger proof. Notice, God is not going to separate the nations for heaven and hell on the basis of how they treated their own natural children but rather for how they treat HIS children while they are on earth.
The idolatry of natural inordinate love for earthly relationships is a big problem. The Father demands better. The Son deserves better. The children of God are in serious need of better. God is not ok with less than our best love for His Son and for His children. Love your children well. Love God's children infinitely, eternally and sacrificially better and more passionately, intently and fervently than you love your own. That is the Father’s heart
