From the Thirsty Theologian
The natural depravity of man is so deep that the unregenerate actually hate God
Jesus explained that the unconverted person who hates Him also hates the Father. The world’s rejection of the Father, who is invisible, is rooted in its hatred of Christ, who has been seen:
“Whoever hates me hates my Father also.” —John 15:23
Whatever anyone’s relationship with Christ may be, it is inseparably bound with one’s relationship with the Father. No one can hate Christ and love the Father. Unbelief toward Christ causes the same disdain of the Father. Hendriksen writes, “A person may imagine that he loves the Father while he hates the Son, but he deceives himself. Whoever hates the one necessarily hates the other also. And this holds also with respect to the present day and age. Men who scoff at blood-atonement and reject the vicarious death of Christ do not love God!”
—Steve Lawson, Foundations of Grace (Reformation Trust, 2006), 277.
In a tangential note, this passage also disproves the popular notion that people of other religions worship the same God. Whoever rejects Jesus also rejects the Father.
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