Servant-Friend-Child Relationship

UV 2769/10000 Servant-Friend-Child Relationship
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you
John 15 v 15
As our relationship with the Lord is transformed, we are transformed. Jesus called His disciples to be His followers. Jesus focussed not on what He could get His disciples to do. He focussed on His relationship with them. He first stated that they are His friends if they obey Him. Then, He stated that their obedience was not that of a servant but that of a friend. Abraham was called a Friend of God for this same reason- His obedience to the expressed will of God. He was prepared to sacrifice his only son as God had bid him to. He trusted God enough not to question His will. That which the Father in heaven restrained Abraham from doing- sacrificing his only son Isaac, He did for mankind by sacrificing Jesus on the cross.
While we humble ourselves to consider ourselves servants of the Lord, the Lord regards us as friends. There are no secrets between friends. Jesus made a full disclosure of everything the Father in heaven had taught Him. He did not keep back any secret but revealed it all to His disciples. It showed His level of trust in them. What Jesus revealed to His disciples is now revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. He has revealed to us the mystery of the Trinity, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. The Lord then escalates our personal relationship with Him from friends to children of the Father.
If full disclosure is made between friends, the sharing of the rights of the House of God, of a portion in the inheritance can be made only by brothers and sisters who are co-heirs with Jesus. Jesus shares with us His authority as the first born of God, His privileges and His power. He shares with us His spiritual character, His anointing, His wisdom, His victory. In other words, we are at the same time playing three roles: servants in terms of our willingness to obey and serve the Lord faithfully, friends in terms of sharing the knowledge of the Lord, children in terms of loving the Lord and being like Him in goodness, grace and power. Just as a servant is trusted and he is obedient in all things, we are to be trusted and obedient servants. Just as friend is faithful, we are to be faithful at all times. Just as a child is loving and respectful of his father, we are to be loving and respectful of the Lord.
Prateep V Philip