The Love of a Father

"I saw you being born, I watched you take your first breath... You're my son, Adam, and I love you. You're my boy and I love you."

"Okay. You don't have to do all..."

"I loved you from the first minute that I saw you and that will never change."

"I... I get that."

"Adam, you're my boy."

"Dad? We really don't have to do all..."

"You're amazing."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I get it, dad."

"I don't think you do. I am proud of you."

"Okay."

"I love you, son. Know that inside your heart. Know... come here. Come here. You're my boys, and you'll always be my boys throughout all time."

"I love you, dad." "I love you, buddy. Don't carry this around anymore."

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I'm taking a brief pause from our idolatry mini-series because while watching the movie The Adam Project last night, I was blown away by this exchange between the protagonist, Adam, and his dad.

Adam's dad died in a car crash when he was only about 12, and Adam didn't cope with it very well. As he struggled to come to terms with the grief of losing his dad, he made a subconscious decision that it would be easier to hate him than to mourn, which leads to a selective memory that paints his dad in the worst possible light and leaves Adam angry with him. Years later, Adam has needed to travel back in time and get his dad's help, but he's not happy about it due to the resentment that he has created. However, there are some key moments in the narrative where the truth is drawn out and Adam is able to start healing. Finally, at the end of the movie, his dad has the opportunity to speak into his son's life one more time, which ends in this exchange.

This is an absolutely beautiful expression of love from a father to a son and, as I was reading it, I couldn't help but think that it's so much like what our Father does for us. Not only did God see us being born and watch us take our first breath, the Bible tells us that He knew us even before we were conceived and that He is the one who knit our bodies together in the womb! (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalms 139:13 NIV)

There are so many people who have rejected the love of the Father. They think they've been hurt by Him, they think that He wasn't there for them when they needed Him most, they've been told lies and told themselves lies about Him because it's easier to hate Him and be angry than it is to grieve and to mourn the relationship that they are missing. It is so utterly tragic, and especially because none of those things are true to who God is.

So what does God do? He starts calling out to us, over and over and over and over again.

I love you.

You're my child and I love you.

I loved you from the first minute I saw you and that will never change.

You're my child!

You're amazing!

He keeps calling, and calling, and calling until we hear Him. But so often when we do hear Him, we don't believe it. We're too deeply entrenched in our own hurt, too blinded by our own pain, to let the truth be real. And so He keeps speaking.

I love you.

I don't think you get it. I am proud of you.

I love you, kid. Know that inside your heart!

You're my child, and you'll always be my child throughout all time.

I love you. Don't carry this around anymore.

And finally, at long last, we realise. God... loves me. He loves me. And in the moment that we realise, the loving Father calls us into His embrace. We are no longer separated but held in His arms, where there is no fear or doubt or worry. We can finally let out all of those emotions and all that hurt that we had been keeping bottled inside of us, pouring it all out in the face of the unending love of the God who made us, who knows us better than we know ourselves, and who loved us so much that, "he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16 NIV)

When we know that love, everything changes. Everything. And it is when we finally know that love is true, that it is real, that we can say it back: I love you, dad. It is then that we can finally live in purpose, in hope, in freedom, in joy, in peace - in life, and life to the fullest.

I pray that today, you will know the love of your Father. Whether it be for the first time or the thousandth, let Him speak to you and tell you how much He loves you - that you are His child, and you always will be. Let His unending, history-changing love change you from the inside out.