"You sum up the whole of the New Testament
teaching in a single phrase if you speak of
it as a revelation of the Fatherhood of the
Holy Creator... If you want to judge how well
a person understands Christianity, find out
how much he makes of the thought of being God's
child and having God as his Father. If this
is not the thought that prompts and controls
his worship and his prayers and his whole outlook
on life, it means he does not understand Christianity
very well at all... Father is the Christian
name for God." J. I. Packer
God
desires that each one of us knows Him as a loving
Father. It seems that every one of us needs
to grow in understanding this wonderful reality
of His love on a deep heart level. We all know
this in our heads, but when it comes to being
truly confident in the love that God our Father
has towards us personally, we often fall short.
As we expect to do the miraculous in His Name
in the nations, knowing our Father's love and
care is absolutely essential. We must have the
firm assurance of His love in ourselves because
we are called to spread the good news of the Father's
love through Christ to a lost and dying world.
What do the people of other religions miss? They
miss the reality of knowing the love of God. They
believe in numerous gods who cannot love, care
and truly help them in their daily lives.
To
call God "Father" does not totally sum up the
loving attributes of God, but it gives us some
idea. Father is not the complete description
of His relationship with us, as we are limited
by language and human definition. When we call
God "Father", we mean that God has the original
qualities that we admire when reflected by the
best and wisest of all human fathers. I (Debbie)
cannot express to you the importance of knowing
God personally as a Father during my years on
the mission field and as we presently go to the
nations. There were so many times I cried out
to Him in prayer for help and strength, for guidance
and comfort, for faith and encouragement. And
He always came through for me as a loving Father
would to any son or daughter. I believe that growing
in this Father daughter or Father son relationship
is a key to long-term missionary success. We
all need to hold a hand that is bigger and stronger
than our own.
"But
when the time had fully come, God sent his Son,
born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those
under law, that we might receive the full rights
as sons. Because you are sons, God sent the
spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit
who calls out, 'Abba' Father. So you are no
longer a slave, but a son; and since you are
a son, God has made you also an heir." (Galatians
4:4-7)
What
Being a Child of God Means in Our Life-expression
"Yet
to all who received him, to those who believe
in his name, he gave the right to become children
of God." (I John 1:12)
Being
a son or daughter of our Heavenly Father should
make an obvious difference in the way we live.
We have special privileges, but also, responsibilities.
Knowing God intimately as a Father should manifest
in every way we live and work. We can point others
to the love of the Father because we know Him
as Father ourselves. When we go to the nations,
we go as a child of the King. We are heir of all
that He has. When we face difficulties, we are
able to draw upon the strength and wisdom of our
loving Father. We know what He is like and,
therefore, we can see and experience life in a
whole new dimension. Because God is:
-
Compassionate and forgiving - then we
find Him accepting us even when we fail. In
Psalm
103:13-14, we find that our Father has compassion
on us just as a father has compassion on his
children.
"And
he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming 'The
Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious
God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands,
and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.'"
(Exodus 34:6-7)
- Provider
- then we can expect His provision. We can
trust God to always provide for us. In Matthew
6:26, we see that God even provides for
the birds of the air. We are of much greater
value than they.
"Every
good and perfect gift is from above, coming
down from the Father of the heavenly lights,
who does not change like shifting shadows."
(James 1:17)
- Protector
- then our hearts can know peace. God is love,
and His love never fails in any situation.
"Love
always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails." (I Corinthians
13:7-8)
-
Name-giver - then we can feel a sense
of belonging. We are in a spiritual brotherhood
and family. God has a special name for us denoting
that we belong to Him. To bear God's name is
to belong to God, to be His child.
"He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches. To him who overcomes,
I will give some of the hidden manna. I will
also give him a white stone with a new name
written on it, known only to him who receives
it." (Revelation 2:17)
-
Image giver
- then we can rejoice in who we are. We are
made in God's image. We see this in Genesis
1, Romans
8:2, and I
Corinthians 15:49.
"And
we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the
Lord's glory, are being transformed into his
likeness with ever-increasing glory, which
comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (II
Corinthians 3:18)
-
Guide - then we can have confidence.
We can walk in assurance and peace because God
is leading the way.
"I
will lead them beside streams of water on
a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel's father, and Ephraim
is my firstborn son." (Jeremiah 31:9)
-
Comforter and Encourager - then we can
take our hurt to Him. What a difference the
comfort of God makes in the midst of uncertain
times. See II
Thessalonians 2:16-17.
"Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of compassion and the God
of all comfort, who comforts us in all our
troubles, so that we can comfort those in
any trouble with the comfort we ourselves
have received from God." (II Corinthians 1:3-4)
-
Proud Father - then we don't need to
wonder what He thinks of us. We can know that
God delights in us as His child.
"The
Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to
save. He will take great delight in you, he
will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice
over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)
-
Ever-present - then we can communicate
with Him anytime. God does not have "latch-key"
kids. He longs to be with each one of us always.
"Never
will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
(Hebrews 13:5)
-
Trainer and Disciplinarian - then we
can respect Him. The New Testament idea of chastisement
doesn't have negative connotations. The idea
is more in line with training. The word "paideuo"
denotes to train children, with the broad idea
of education, instruction and correction (Vines).
See Hebrews
12:5-11.
"My
son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
and do not resent his rebuke, because the
Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father
the son he delights in." (Proverbs 3:11-12)
"You
are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
for all of you who were baptized into Christ have
clothed yourself with Christ." (Galatians 3:26)
Knowing
that God is our Father should affect everything
we do and say. To call God "Father" means
that He displays, in perfection, the qualities
of the best fathers. It should affect all that
we do for Him on the mission field. The reality
is awesome, the possibilities are limitless, and
the power of such truth is beyond comprehension.
This is why every one of us needs to cultivate
this reality within our own heart. None of us
has the full picture of what this really means.
When we do begin to understand experientially
this truth, we will be unstoppable for God's Kingdom
purposes. We will be laying hold of our true relationship,
with its authority and responsibilities, and drawing
from a love from the Father that is unending,
unquenchable and always present. We will then
walk in the true dignity of a son or daughter
who is living in the Kingdom of God, basking in
the richness of that love.
Imagine
that you are in the family room of your house.
God your Father is seated in that room. Where
are you seated in relation to Him? Are you in
the corner? Are you close or far away on a chair?
Are you seated in His lap? Answering these questions
may give you a picture of where you are personally
in understanding the love of God the Father towards
you as a son or daughter. We all are growing more
and more in knowing the love of God. Our Father's
desire is for us. He longs for us. Let us meditate
on these Fatherly traits of God, and pray for
the innermost understanding of this reality in
our lives. We will need to really know them in
the days to come. May our hearts truly grasp the
depth of love that God our Father has for each
one of us, and may we share this wonderful truth
of the Father heart of God to a world that knows
very little of love. The nations are waiting
to hear.
"As with any relationship, the more time
we spend with someone, the more we get to know
that person. Song of Solomon 7:10 states: 'I
am my beloved's and his desire is for me.' The
Hebrew word for 'desire' is teshuwqah which
means 'stretching out after; a longing.' The
Lord loves us so much that He is actually longing
to be with us. It is truly amazing that the
God who made the universe wants to spend time
with each of us personally." Deborah Joyner
Johnson
For
additional training in personal freedom; the battlefield
of the mind and freedom from the fear of failure,
rejection, punishment and shame, read the book
called Go Forth in Power by Norman and
Debbie Przybylski.
Training
in World Missions
To
learn more about the Elijah Company please read:
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