Conditional Love of the Father

This is nothing exhaustive, but it occurred to me while reading John that the terminology of God as "Father" is ubiquitous. In fact, a cursory examination shows the term πατηρ (pater) used 228 times in the Gospels. 113 times in Matthew, Mark and Luke, 115 times in John!  Of those in John, only fifteen are not references to God the Father. That is amazing when you consider the other three Gospels have almost a 50/50 ratio between father such as Abraham and Father as God.

Some of us find the idea of referring to God as Father difficult; mostly because of how we associate that term with the experience we had with our paternal fathers.   For me that love experience was totally conditional and never fulfilled.  However, we are often told that God's love is unconditional and totally fulfilling.  Which may, on the whole, be true. Nevertheless, I would like to look at a passage in John that expresses God's love as "conditional".

...For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I come from God. (John 16:27 ESV)

That conjunction "because" carries with it the idea of condition. It is properly translated and belongs to the text, so that is not an issue. The issue is, what is it about God's love that is conditional?

We have been taught and believe that "God so loved the world" (John 3:16) is totally unconditional - And it is, to a point. The "in order that" holds some requirement to it. Which is, in part, key to this particular verse in 16:27.  The Father loves us "because" we have loved and believed in His son. As you may recall, "no man comes to the Father" except through Jesus Christ. He is the gateway to intimacy with the Father. Christ is the threshold we cross in order to gain access to the Father. It is that part which is conditional. It is that part which carries with it a requirement of sorts.

This does not negate God's love of all men. Love that calls for the sacrifice of His only begotten son. That focus of love is purposeful, this focus of love is freeing. Jesus is freeing us up to full access to the Father. In a real sense Jesus is saying, I do not need to be your intermediary any longer, you can come to the Father yourself (v. 26) because you have loved me and believed in me.

It is a hard concept to wrap our arms around. By the same token, it is a wonderful unveiling of an enigma that often has believers "interacting" and praying to Jesus when these activities can clearly be directed to the Father.* This concept also frees us from a stumbling, hesitant, and often fearful approach to God, to an open and fulfilling access based on sacrifice, love, and belief.

[*This does not negate the idea of the Trinity, it merely reflects what Jesus seems to be saying in 16:26-27 and what he teaches us in the Lord's Prayer - "Our Father..."]