The Extent to Which the Father Goes to Receive us as His Children
I have not been a father
for very long, and already I know that no matter what my son does and
no matter who he becomes, I will love him and receive him as my son.
He is mine. I was just thinking the other day about what would happen
if I were to ever lose him. I imagined the emotion that would rush
over me knowing that I would never see my son again. Just by using my
imagination, I assure you, I would do anything to make sure that does
not happen.
A
good father will do anything to keep his child. God is the greatest
Father of all and so He will do anything to keep us with Him. I think
that is why most of us resonate with the idea that we are children of
God. When we are children of God, we find security in the depth of
God's love for us- that He would do anything to keep us and would
never let us down. Like a father, God is strong and able to protect
us and He is gentle and kind enough to receive us gladly. His love is
so great that even when we sin, He wants to receive us.
God wants to be our
Father and we want to be His children. He wants to be our Father
because He wants to always receive us. We want to be His children
because we desire the security found in His care.
This is great! We
rejoice in God the Father, and if nothing else were to be said we
would immediately, but we also all know something else about God.
Something terrifying. It's something we don't often talk about
because we don't really like it, but if we are going to face God we
must also face this.
The Problem
Being a child of God is not that
easy. Jesus wished that it was that easy when He cried out in
Gethsemane, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup
pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
(Matthew 26:29)
If there was nothing
more to be said, if we are all children of God and God receives us
all and treats us like sons, then Jesus would have never spoken these
words. But as it is God cannot receive us as sons because according
to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3 we all begin as children of God's
wrath, which means that we are born with a sin problem. Further, God
cannot receive us like His children because the punishment for our
sin is eternal separation from God. Sadly,
we will receive for
our wages an everlasting punishment, because we have transgressed the
law of God when we knew better. (Matthew 25:46) This is terrifying.
To
state the problem simply, God is not only a Father, He is also a
Judge. Because our sin deserves punishment, before God can receive us
as children, He must first carry out the required punishment of
eternal separation as He is obligated to because He is a righteous
Judge. God the Father cannot receive us as children because God the
Judge stands in the way. Justice must be carried out. We all deserve
to drink the cup of God's wrath spoken of in Psalm 75:8 which the
wicked are said to be forced to drink.
If
you still think that you are a child of God because you believe that
all men are born children of God, you need to hear from Jesus in John
chapter 8 verses 37 through 47. In this passage Jesus speaks to the
Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, and says to them that
they do not hear him because they are not children of God as they had
always supposed. (I hope you hear Him out on this one.)
You
see, in that day the Jews believed much like most people do today,
with one difference. They believed that they were all children of God
because they were born children of God. The difference between them
and most people today is that they believed only Jews were born
children of God, whereas today people believe that all of us are born
children of God.
What
Jesus says in this passage is striking. He tells the Pharisees that
they were not children of God, rather that they were children of
Satan! He says that it's not who you call daddy that makes you
someones child, rather, it's who calls you son. Think about it: If
Satan is the father of lies, as Jesus says he is in this passage,
would he want you to believe that you are a child of God or a child
of Satan?
Now
that we know we are born children of God's wrath because we are
children of Satan and that we deserve eternal separation from God,
how does God the Judge show His love for me when I deserve His wrath?
How does the God who wants to receive me as His child do so when
according to His position as Judge, He remains completely unable?
The Solution
The
answer is simple and magnificent. If God is going to show His love,
His wrath must first be taken care of, which He did through sending
Jesus Christ to bear the punishment for us. Jesus stepped down from
the seat of judgment just long enough to become our Savior. (John
3:17) When He comes a second time He will take back the judgment seat
to judge those who did not receive Him. (Matthew 24:44-51)
Jesus became our Savior by taking the fullness of God's wrath upon
Himself. This is the only way that God can receive us as children,
confirmed by Jesus in Gethsemane when He said, “O my Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will,
but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:29)
There
was no other way possible, so just as a good father, God was willing
to go to whatever lengths necessary to make us His children. He did
this by sending His only begotten Son to take the eternal punishment
reserved for us.
First
God is our Judge, but He wants to be our Father. In order to do so,
He had to become our Savior. How simple and yet, how magnificent!
What This Means
Jesus
looked forward to the day when salvation would be accomplished and
spoke of it often. In one such instance He said,
“And I give unto
them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand.” (John10:28) When we become
children of God on the basis of what Jesus has done, there is no way
that we can lose our position as children because Jesus hold us
tightly in His unfailing hand.
After Jesus was gone, He
left His Apostles to teach us further. The Apostle Paul also expounds
on what it means to be a child of God in Romans chapter 8 verses 14
through 17,
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye
have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we
may be also glorified together.
Through the Spirit of
God we may have confidence that we are children of God. Having this
confidence, we have the promise that as children we will be glorified
together with Christ. Could it get any better?
How to Become a Child
of God
Since not everyone is a
child of God, and even more striking, if you are not a child of God
then you are a child of Satan, it makes sense why the Apostle John
would say, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the
world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” (1 John 3:1)
So how do we become Children of
God? In the same letter John tells us how. “Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” (1 John 5:1) It's that
simple. God wants to have a relationship with us. He wants to be our
Father. Since relationships are built upon faith, all God asks of us
is that we believe on the One whom He sent. According to John in his
gospel, this is the work of God. (John
6:29)
Are
you doing the work of God or are you trying to work with God for your
salvation? If you are still trying to work with God for your
salvation you have not completely grasped the understanding that God
is your Judge and that you have already failed. (Romans 6:23) Nothing
you do will make up for your failings before the Judge. (Titus 3:5)
Justice must be served, and it's not tasty! But God wants you to rest
and He wants to receive you as His child. (Hebrews 4:1-3)
Relationships
are not based upon performance but upon trust. Trust Christ alone and
so become a child of the Most High. It's not about what you do, it's
about what He has done for you.
the
Holy One of Israel,
In
returning and rest
shall
ye be saved,
In
quietness and confidence
shall
be your strength...”
let
it not be said of you
“...and
ye would not”.
Isaiah
30:15
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