He is the way to the Father-heart of God. God is the father and He sent His Son to reveal His fatherhood nature. Christ lived his life to show us how to live with the Father and to reveal how the Father thinks and functions. God is a Father and His goodness far surpasses the best of Fathers on earth. Scripture says the family in heaven and earth is named after God the Father Ephesians 3:14 – 15. Understanding God as a Father implies some maturity in us as we mature into sonship. In spiritual growth we have children, young men and fathers 1 John 2:12 – 17. We also have carnal and spiritual Christians. Maturity helps our appreciation of the fatherhood of God. Our knowledge of God is incomplete if we do not come to the realisation that He is the father of all who come to Him through Christ. In the story of the prodigal son, we see the fatherhood of God exemplified Luke 15:11 – 32. He seems to be more interested in restoring His son than in checking him for purity or holiness or obedience. This insight into the nature of God should not be seen to negate the other reasons why Jesus was sent to us. Many such acts make some people erroneously believe that they can play with sin and God is not so interested in counting sin, He simply winks at it because He is a loving father.
Nothing could be far from the truth. Sin destroys everything in its path. We need to confess and forsake it so we can enjoy our fellowship with the Father and with the Son, Jesus Christ. Pleasing the Father should be uppermost in our affections for everything in life. Sons train their affections to come into alignment with the Father’s pleasure. Knowing God as your Father will minister a deep sense of destiny and acceptance. You will understand how to walk with Him, taking initiatives where necessary in your walk of Faith. Our prayer life takes on a new level of boldness, intimacy and clarity. The Father commits more to faithful sons who by practise have exercised and trained themselves to discern between good and evil. They may carry command and execute God-given assignments as sons who know the will of the Father and His times and seasons.
Jesus came to show us the Father-God. We need to have a face-to-face relationship with God when we know Him as our loving heavenly Father. We must cultivate a heart felt passion for God. This will lead to us having quality times in His presence. Many things happen when people have a real relationship with God as their Father.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Reason 2: Divine pattern of Sonship
“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29
He died to set us free but His life, death, burial and resurrection also shows us a pattern for us in living according to His will. This is the aspect of character formation, where inner attitudes and attributes like humility, intimacy and faithfulness are cultivated. The main issues here are that character-tests precede kingdom-promotions. He died and we are supposed to die to ourselves. Our flesh needs putting under. He carried His cross and we are supposed to be ready to carry ours. A body was prepared for Him as He was to lay His Body in death, and we to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Our motives and focus come to bear on our servant’s heart for God’s kingdom purposes.
The death process of the grain of wheat comes into focus here. We undergo the process of denying the self, taking up our cross and following Him. (see also John 12:24 – 26). In our death process, all the trappings of the old nature and its effects on our souls undergo death. Paul says “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me and have Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. This aspect is not popularly preached because dying to self is not always palatable neither is it found when happiness is our ultimate goal in our Christian faith. Our motive in life should be our love for God and our focus should be Christ and His Kingdom.
He died to set us free but His life, death, burial and resurrection also shows us a pattern for us in living according to His will. This is the aspect of character formation, where inner attitudes and attributes like humility, intimacy and faithfulness are cultivated. The main issues here are that character-tests precede kingdom-promotions. He died and we are supposed to die to ourselves. Our flesh needs putting under. He carried His cross and we are supposed to be ready to carry ours. A body was prepared for Him as He was to lay His Body in death, and we to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Our motives and focus come to bear on our servant’s heart for God’s kingdom purposes.
The death process of the grain of wheat comes into focus here. We undergo the process of denying the self, taking up our cross and following Him. (see also John 12:24 – 26). In our death process, all the trappings of the old nature and its effects on our souls undergo death. Paul says “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life I live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me and have Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. This aspect is not popularly preached because dying to self is not always palatable neither is it found when happiness is our ultimate goal in our Christian faith. Our motive in life should be our love for God and our focus should be Christ and His Kingdom.
Reason 1: Divine Exchange
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
This is the aspect of His substitution on the cross. He became poor so we can become rich. He took our place in rejection so that we can gain acceptance from the Father. By the stripes He took, we are promised healing. Our faith in the finished work of Calvary helps us appropriate the benefits His suffering made available to us. The streams of teachings on faith, spiritual warfare, pulling down strongholds, new creation realities etc, all come through this aspect of Jesus coming to earth. God’s attitude to sin is seen here: He sees sin as that which needs the blood of His Son to cleanse the human race. The Son carried the judgement of sin on behalf of the human race. This aspect also helps us to see how Satan operates in utilising sin as a means to deceive humanity and the power of the blood of Jesus over the works of darkness. We also see the concepts of authority and how the choices we make determine whose authority we are under. The finished work of Calvary gives us a new identity, a new authority (in His name as believers) and a power to choose to live above sin by the Holy Spirit. How well established we are in this is very much dependent on how we are taught and how much we meditate, internalise and ac on these truths to effect the renewal of our minds so we can walk in the will of God. We come into a new position in our relationship with God simply because we accept what Jesus Christ did for us at His death burial and resurrection. This is the divine exchange. We need to be strong in the grace that this dimension brings to us.
This is the aspect of His substitution on the cross. He became poor so we can become rich. He took our place in rejection so that we can gain acceptance from the Father. By the stripes He took, we are promised healing. Our faith in the finished work of Calvary helps us appropriate the benefits His suffering made available to us. The streams of teachings on faith, spiritual warfare, pulling down strongholds, new creation realities etc, all come through this aspect of Jesus coming to earth. God’s attitude to sin is seen here: He sees sin as that which needs the blood of His Son to cleanse the human race. The Son carried the judgement of sin on behalf of the human race. This aspect also helps us to see how Satan operates in utilising sin as a means to deceive humanity and the power of the blood of Jesus over the works of darkness. We also see the concepts of authority and how the choices we make determine whose authority we are under. The finished work of Calvary gives us a new identity, a new authority (in His name as believers) and a power to choose to live above sin by the Holy Spirit. How well established we are in this is very much dependent on how we are taught and how much we meditate, internalise and ac on these truths to effect the renewal of our minds so we can walk in the will of God. We come into a new position in our relationship with God simply because we accept what Jesus Christ did for us at His death burial and resurrection. This is the divine exchange. We need to be strong in the grace that this dimension brings to us.
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