Eavesdropping On God

I love passages in the Bible where we are given the opportunity to 'overhear' conversations between the members of the Godhead.

The God of the Bible, the true God, is one God in three Persons. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are Persons who speak to us in the pages of Scripture. And some of those pages show them speaking to one another! It sometimes could feel that we are eavesdropping on someone else's conversation. But God has purposely revealed these dialogues to us for our benefit.

In John 17 we overhear Jesus praying to the Father. He is speaking to God about, among other things, the 'good old days' when he existed with God in glory in eternity past! "And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed" (John 17:5, ESV).

There are other times when God the Father speaks from heaven to Jesus on earth, like thunder!

• At Jesus' baptism, as the Holy Spirit is descending upon him like a dove, the Father speaks from heaven: "And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased' (Mark 1:11).
• As Jesus is preparing to go to the cross he cries out, "'Father, glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.'" (John 12:28-30)

We see this also in the Old Testament! From time to time these passages will break in, and for a moment it is as if we are transported into the heavens, listening to God speak to his Son - before the Son was even born on earth as a Man!

Filled with love for Jesus, the Father declares that it's not enough for him to make Jesus just the Messiah for the Jews. That's not glorious enough! So he says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Isaiah 49:6). This is hundreds of years before Jesus took on flesh. But it is the subject of conversation between the members of the Godhead!

There are other examples as well, where these conversations about Jesus' role in salvation are revealed to us for our benefit.

• The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” ...The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:1, 4
• Or what about where God calls Jesus "God"?!! Psalm 45:6 says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever." Hebrews 1:8 tells us that this is God speaking to the Son.

What a beautiful gift God has given us, this revelation of his conversations.
Open up the Bible and eavesdrop on God!