He Gently Leads Me

Have you ever read the conversations Jesus had with His disciples and noticed the disconnect between what they were saying and what Jesus said? The disciples would talk between themselves about matters that were important to them, but Jesus seemed to be on an entirely different plane of thought and wouldn't entertain their foolishness.

A case in point is Mark 8:13-22 where we find that the disciples worried that they didn't have enough bread. While they're caught up in the momentary crisis, Jesus tries to tell them not to allow the dullness of the Pharisee's to rub off on them. They completely ignore Jesus' words, which shows that they already had.

When I read Mark 8:16, I sense a bit of annoyance in Jesus' tone, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not perceive, nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?” Jesus is slightly irritated because he had been with his disciples a long time and yet they still didn't understand the purpose of His miracles, which are packed more tightly into Mark's gospel than any of the others.

Only days before, Jesus had fed 5,000 men with 5 loves of bread and 2 fish. Similarly, earlier that day he had fed 4,000 men with 7 loaves of bread. After reviewing this with the disciples, he asks them in verse 21, “How is it that you still do not understand?” According to Mark 6:52 they had been missing what Jesus was trying to teach them through His miracles because of their hardness of heart. The Pharisee's had rubbed off on them quite a bit.

A short time later, Jesus restored sight to a blind man. The blind man could see for the first time – but he's not the only one who was made to see. It seems that Jesus' words about their spiritual blindness had been percolating in their minds, and the disciples realized that Jesus had a purpose for doing so many great works. He wasn't just a nice magician and they weren't just his groupies.

Jesus, probably knowing that they finally understood, turns to his disciples in Mark 8:27 and asks them “Who do men say that I am?” They answered by saying, “John the baptist; but some say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets.” Then Jesus makes the question personal, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter pipes up and answers, “You are the Christ!”

Finally they understood! Their hard hearts had obviously been impacted by Jesus' stern words. Now that they understood this, Jesus raised the bar and told them things He had never told them before, namely that “the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected... and killed, and after three days rise again.” (Mark 8:31) Peter couldn't believe it and if you can believe it, he rebuked Christ for His words. That's when Jesus rebukes Peter by saying, “Get behind me Satan!” The disciples finally understood who Jesus was, though they still didn't understand His purpose for coming.

It wasn't until his disciples understood who Jesus was that He was transfigured on the mountain. I think this is because Jesus wanted the disciples to come to faith without spelling everything out for them so that their faith would have depth – naturally grown rather than being grafted in. On the mountain when Jesus was transfigured, the Father speaks to the disciples by telling them, “This is my beloved Son. Hear Him.” (Mark 9:7) The implication seems to be that it was because of their lack of willingness that it took so long for them to learn who Jesus was. That was also why they couldn't understand the purpose of Christ's coming to suffer, die, and rise again.

When coming down the mountain with Peter, James, and John, Jesus finds the rest of his disciples amidst a large crowd of people fighting with the scribes, something they had never done before. We are not told what the disciples were fighting with the scribes about, but I can only infer that it was about the fact that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus sees this as an opportunity, and in the hopes of teaching the listening masses who He is, He calls out to the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?” (Mark 9:16) But that's as far as He gets.

Sadly, we all have the same problem. None of us are good at doing what the Father told Peter, James, and John to do, to “hear Him.” We often become too focused on what we think is our greatest need that we don't listen to what we really need. That was the case with a distraught woman from the crowd. She literally cuts Jesus off and begs Him to exorcise a demon from her son. Once again, Jesus shows His irritation over the hardness of human hearts. He wants to teach them things that really matter, but they can't get their eyes off what is immediately in front of them. For this reason Jesus vents, “O faithless generation! How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me.” (Mark 9:19)

No one present seemed to be willing to listen so instead of doing what He wanted to do – teach them – He did what the masses wanted Him to do. He healed them.

When I read this passage of scripture I am amazed to see the patience God has with us. We are so unwilling to listen, and though He is so eager to teach, He is also so willing to bear with our weaknesses. He gently led the disciples to the truth of who He is, and then raised the bar to try to help them understand why He came. The rest of the world continued to only care about the fact the Jesus could heal their immediate distress, and though He wanted to teach them about their greatest need He never gave up on them.

He still patiently bears with the world today. As I look back on my life I see that He has led me along with the same gentle touch, though I'm sure my hardness of heart has irritated Him a time or two.

“Lord, thank you for being so patient and leading me in gentleness. I know that there are many times that must irritate you because of my hard heart, so Father help me to hear your Son. Give me a true vision of what my needs are so that I will not become distracted by what is immediately before me. In your gracious name I pray, Amen.”

Can You Clean With a Mirror?

Ben: “Hey, George, you're lookin' good? Did you get a new mirror?”

George: “No, I found something new!”

Ben: “Something new! What do you mean something new? There's nothing but mirrors, and people have been using mirrors to get clean since the dawn of time.”

George: “Yea, it's true, and that's why we still stink!”

Ben: “Hey, I do not stink!”

George: “Yes you do, and so did I. But I don't anymore because I found something else.”

Ben: “Alright, smart guy. What did you find?”

George: “Blood!”

Ben: “That's disgusting!”

George: “I know, it sounds disgusting, but our stench is also disgusting.”

Ben: “I smell better than I ever have. In fact, this new mirror I've found has changed my life. There's no other mirror like it. I'm cleaner than I have ever been.”

George: “You don't get it do you?”

Ben: “Get what?”

George: “When God gave us mirrors He meant them to reveal how unclean we are, not for us to clean ourselves with them! It took me some time to realize that, but once I finally did take a look in the mirror I couldn't believe how disgusting I was.”

Ben: “Well I have bled a lot in my life, but I've never gotten any cleaner by it, so I don't get why you think blood is going to cure the problem.”

George: “That's just it! You're blood has no power to clean, nor does mine or anyone else's. The only blood that has power to clean is the blood of God's Son. He offered himself as a sacrifice to clean us, and He's the only one who could because He's the only one who isn't filthy like the rest of us.”

Ben: “Yea, I know that Jesus' death was important, but I have to do something! I can't just say, “Jesus clean me with your blood!” and expect him to do everything. We've got to use the mirrors that God has given to us too!”

George: “You still don't get it do you?”

Ben: “Get what!”

George: “The mirrors that God has given us are to show us that we are dirty. The blood that He offers us is to make us clean. They have two different purposes. The purpose of the mirror is not to clean yourself with it, but to realize that you need to get clean. The blood of God's Son is the only thing that can make us clean. Only He can make us clean, and Him alone.”

Ben: “Well I've got to do something! We've all got to do something. It wouldn't be right to just expect God to do everything.”

George: “So what are you going to do? Keep scrapping away with your mirror to get rid of the dirt and make your skin as raw as ever!?”

Ben: “That's what we've always done. And some mirrors are better than others. Like I said, this new mirror – it's revolutionary!”

George: “I hope that some day you will realize the purpose of the mirror.”

Ben: “And I hope you don't tell anyone else about your theories on blood. That's disgusting! If you keep that up, I'm not sure how many friends you will have left. You're lucky that I have stuck around this long. Later George!”

George: “See ya later Ben.”

There is only one way to use a mirror, by looking into it. Other than that you can only have fun breaking a mirror, but that is not the proper way to use a mirror. So it is with God's law. You can look into it and see that it reveals your sin, or you can have fun breaking it, but to try to keep God's law to clean up your life is not a proper use of the law. It's purpose as clearly stated in the Bible is to reveal our sin, not to cleanse us from it through obedience. If you use the law appropriately it will reveal to you that it's impossible to keep it because you're just too sinful.

The purpose of the law is to reveal sin; The purpose of Christ's blood is to cleanse us from it. There is no use in trying to keep the law to cleanse you from sin. The only thing was intended to cleanse us from sin is the blood of Jesus.

“For the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.” (Hebrews 7:19)

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:19, 20)

“Therefore the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Romans 5:20)

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would have not known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” (Romans 7:7)

According to James 1:21-27 the law is like a mirror, which reveals our sin. James tells us that it if we look in the mirror of God's law and walk away without doing anything about it, it's as though we have forgotten what we have just seen. We need to do something. So, what do we do?

As said before, if we look deeply enough into God's law it reveals that obedience is not possible. Not to mention, even if obedience were possible, our previous stains would still remain. The only option is to use the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from sin.

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” (Revelation 1:5b)

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (1 Peter 1:18, 19)

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11)

“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:14)

The blood of Christ cleanses us from sin when we have faith that God sent His Son to redeem us and that we can do nothing to save ourselves. Have faith and Christ's blood will cleanse you from all sin!

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8, 9)

Does Jesus Deny His Own?

For if we died with Him,

We shall also live with Him.

If we endure,

We shall also reign with Him.

If we deny Him,

He also will deny us.

If we are faithless,

He remains faithful;

He cannot deny Himself.

(2 Timothy 2:11-13)

How do the words of this scripture passage impact you when you read them? Are you confused? Are you encouraged? Are you challenged?

Many are confused. After all, this passage sounds like a riddle to all those who aren't familiar with the subjects it references. To others who have read and understood those subjects the passage is more of an encouragement. But I wonder how many people would say that they are challenged to be a better disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That may sound like quite a jump if you're not familiar with the other New Testament passages that explain this passage, but that's why it is very important to study them. Doing so will help us gain a full understanding of what the author meant to be conveyed. This passage is a creed – a sentence or short set of sentences that capture a snippet of God's revelation – and like many other creeds, it is meant to be further explained using the rest of God's revelation. There is a very good reason why.

Why Creeds Often Required an Explanation

The New Testament is composed of letters which were written by the Apostles to preserve and spread God's revelation. It is because God's Word was preserved and spread that we can be confident that we have the pure Word of God. However, the epistles that form the New Testament were not written immediately after God gave the revelation. Further, it took some time for the early church to spread the epistles among the churches. Because of this time gap there was a need for the early church to maintain doctrinal purity as well as a need to quickly and easily spread the truth of God. On top of that, the culture of those times did not rely as heavily on paper as we do today. Instead they preferred oral distribution of knowledge over written distribution. For these reasons, creeds like the one found in 2 Timothy 2:11-13 were created

ⁱA creed is the next best thing to paper for the preservation and distribution of knowledge. The creeds the early church used were short so they could be easily memorized. Memorization of creeds preserved important truths and made them easy to relay. The only area where creeds fall short of paper is in length. On paper it is easy to give a full explanation, whereas an explanation must be supplied to a creed.

That is why I say that the creeds of the early church often required an explanation, and that's also why I have written this article, to supply the explanation of the 2 Timothy 2:11-13 creed – but not all of it. I want to focus our attention on the second half.

Explanation of the 2 Timothy 2:11-13 Creed

From my experience, most people have a fairly good grasp on the first half of the creed, it's the second half people seem to struggle to understand. Dying with Christ that we may live with Him and enduring that we may reign with Him are mostly clear subjects for a large majority of believers. The subjects are referenced throughout the New Testament, and most specifically addressed in Romans chapter 6 and Revelation chapter 20. On the other hand, Christ's denial of His own is much harder to digest, and is not a subject that is addressed in many places.

We are told that if we deny Christ, He will deny us. “Christ deny His own!” one may ask, “How is that possible?” That is the question I would like to address for the rest of this article. I believe that in realizing how and why God would deny His own, you will be spurred on to be a better disciple of Christ. We must realize the seriousness of the warning within this beautiful creed. Doing so will make it all the more meaningful.

The Logical Explanation:

Before we answer the question “how could Christ deny His own” I want to point out to you an apparent contradiction the second half of the creed seems to make with itself. This will help us gain a full understanding of what the author intended to convey in only a few words.

The apparent contradiction has to do with the faithfulness of God. We are told that God is faithful even when we are not. He will not deny us, according to this verse, because to do so would be to deny Himself. The reason: we are one with Him. Jesus was the first to teach about the oneness man may have with God. While praying to His Father, He said in John 17:21 “That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” Since we are one with God, He cannot deny us, because to do so would be to deny Himself.

This is the perceived contradiction the text makes with itself. First we are told that God will deny us if we deny Him, and yet in the next breath we are told that God cannot deny us. How do we reconcile this contradiction? It's easy.

This apparent contradiction is cleared up very simply when we realize that I can deny a thing about someone and uphold another truth about him at the same time. For instance, sometimes my son is not very obedient. I may then deny that he is obedient, but that doesn't mean that he ceases to be my son. So then, I can deny and acknowledge my son simultaneously. It is this awkward use of grammar the author of our creed employs to enhance its poetic feel.

Some will argue and say that in my example I am denying and upholding a truth about my son, whereas the text says that Christ will deny us personally. Christ did not say He will deny a truth about us, but that he will deny us. To that I will ask the pointed question, What does it mean to deny a person? How would you answer that?

The truth is, it is impossible to deny a person. Even to deny a man's existence is to deny a truth about him. To deny him in this case would be to deny the truth that he exists. Therefore, when we come to this verse the questions we must ask are “what truth about His own is Christ going to deny” and “what truth will He uphold”. The answer to these questions will help us understand how it's possible for Christ to deny His own, and clear up the apparent contradiction the text seems to make with itself.

The Biblical Explanation:

In order to bring further clarification, I will now take you to the scripture the author of our creed likely had in mind when he composed it. Our Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples he would deny them if they denied Him in Matthew 10.

Matthew 10 is probably the most important passage of scripture for anyone who is serious about discipleship. Jesus was just about to send his disciples out on their first evangelistic crusade, but before He did He chose to give them some practical advice. This advice was clearly not intended for them only, but also for future disciples, therefore it applies to us too. It's in this context of speaking to His disciples about the cost of discipleship that Jesus gives the warning that if we deny Him, He also will deny us.

Jesus warns His disciples that being a disciple will cause great division even among the closest human bonds in verse 21. Next, He warns them that to be a disciple means to be hated by all for His names sake in verse 22. His third warning is from verses 23 to 25. He warns them they will be reviled even more than He was during His earthly ministry, but encourages them that their enemies can do nothing to destroy the soul in verse 28. Mere men can only harm our bodies.

His focus switches in verses 29 through 30 to the care that God has for His disciples. The value God places on a disciple is so great that He knows how many hairs we have on our heads. Further, Jesus said we are more valuable than animals, which God takes great interest in. In this vein of thought about our value, Jesus tells us that if we confess Him before men who are apt to harm us, He will acknowledge us before His Father in heaven.

This verse is especially meaningful when considered in its context. We value our closest human relationships (v. 21), as well as what others think about us (v. 22), and our bodies (vv. 23-25). That's natural – but the context leads us to ask the question, do we value Jesus more? If we do, we will be willing to give up our dearest relationships to brokenness, our bodies to death, and our reputation to complete loss. If we value Jesus more, we count it all loss for the sake of knowing Him and confessing him before men who will harm us for our testimony. (Philippians 3:7, 8)

The Value of a Disciple

As a reward for giving up all for Christ, we are told in verse 32 that Jesus will commend us before the Father as valuable disciples. Only those who value Christ can be considered valuable disciples. In other words, the value we place on Christ determines our value as disciples. We show we value Christ more than the natural things everyone values when we confess Him before the world who will strip us of what earthly things we value most.

In the same way that Jesus will acknowledge us before the Father because we acknowledged Him, if we deny Him, He also will deny us.

Often times this verse has been taken to mean that Jesus will deny us salvation. I have already shown that is not the case through examining the context, which has nothing to do with salvation. I would also like to point out that this verse does not speak of our intrinsic value. Your value as a person is not in question here, but rather your value as a disciple. Jesus has demonstrated our value as people is not cheapened by our actions when He died on the cruel cross for the worst of sinners. This verse speaks of our worth, our value, and as Jesus goes on to tell us, about our worthiness to be called disciples.

Jesus will deny the worth of any disciple who refuses to acknowledge Him before men. By refusing to acknowledge Him a man reveals his heart – that he does not value Christ more than his closest relationships, his body, and his reputation.

This warning is amplified when we take into account the whole of what Jesus said. He did not simply say that He will deny our worth as disciples and leave it at that. In that case, He might deny us in an empty room, as though to reprove us in private. Instead He adds the notation, “before my Father who is in heaven”.

This is an event which will take place in heaven at the Judgment Seat of Christ where believers will either be rewarded or shamed. (2 Corinthians 5:10) Jesus said He will deny the worth of any disciple that denies Him before the Father. Personally, I would rather have Christ reprove me before all the angelic host and before the entire human race than before the Father. A disciple's value is based on his faithfulness to the cause of the gospel. On the other hand, God's value cannot be measured because He is the one who defines all worth. The Father is of equal worth as the Son, whose worth cannot be measured. To have one whose worth cannot be measured deny your value before another whose worth cannot be measured is more than just serious, it's something that inspires fear – the fear of God's disapproval! (2 Corinthians 5:11) The ⁱⁱshame of whatever disciple makes this prophecy come true will be devastating.

Some are not Worthy

Further clarity of what it means that Christ will deny His own is received when we take into account what Christ says next. According to Christ, some men are not worthy to be called disciples.

Jesus continues in verse 34 by reiterating what He said where I began in Matthew 10:21. He reiterates the fact that being a disciple comes at a great cost by once again telling His disciples that even the closest human bonds are in great jeopardy when one is serious about discipleship. He says, “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39) If you do not take up your cross you may be saved, but you are not a disciple. You are not worthy of such a high title.

To take up your cross is to perform the work of a disciple, therefore the unconscious excuse we all make, “I won't deny Him, but I won't necessarily acknowledge Him either”, crumbles in the face of Christ's words. Discipleship is an active lifestyle. To be a disciple is to make disciples. It requires effort, pain, loss, even the suicide of all you hold dear that is not Christ. This is what it takes to be worthy of the title “Disciple.”

Conclusion

The question is not “will Jesus deny your intrinsic value” or “will Jesus deny you salvation”. Christ came for all men, and if you have accepted the death of Christ as payment for your sin, God remains faithful to you because you are one with Him and He cannot deny Himself. What is at stake here is your worth, your value, and your worthiness of being called a disciple. The question is are you worthy of the title “Disciple”? Are you willing to restrain Jesus' powerful gospel because you fear it will damage the relationship you have with your father, your mother, your son, or your daughter? Or, are you willing to climb the hill of Calvary, ⁱⁱⁱbearing the cross of shame, for the opportunity to be called a disciple? If you are not, you are just “saved,” but you are not a disciple.

With that said, 2 Timothy 2:11-13 takes on a deeper meaning than most of us have ever given it credit for. Within this simple creed is a call to faithfulness. It means to challenge us to be disciples.

Do not deny Him. In the same way, do not restrain His gospel, because to restrain it for the sake of what this world has to offer is just another form of denying Him. Take up your cross and follow Him, even if it leads to Calvary.

If we deny Him,

He also will deny us

[the privilege of being called a disciple]

If we are faithless,

[because we counted the things of this world of

greater value than Christ and so denied His worth]

He remains faithful

[to give us the salvation we don't deserve because]

He cannot deny Himself.

i There are many other places in the New Testament where creeds were recorded. In some cases we can know for sure that a creed is being referenced, in other cases it is much more difficult to determine. I have listed examples of both cases.

Sure Creeds of the Early Church:

1 Corinthians 15:3-7

1 Timothy 3:16

2 Timothy 2:11-13

Possible Creeds of the Early Church:

1 Thessalonians 1:9, 1; 4:16, 17; 5:8

1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; 8:6; 12:3, 13 16:22

2 Corinthians 1:21, 22

Romans 1:3, 4; 3:23-26; 4:24-25; 6:3, 4; 10:9

Philippians 2:6-11

Galatians 4:27, 28; 4:6

Colossians 1:15-20;

Ephesians 4:4-6; 5:14

1 Timothy 6:15, 16

2 Timothy 1:9, 10;

Titus 3:4, 7

1 Peter 1:18-21; 2:21-25; 3:18, 19

1 John 4:7-10

Revelation 4:11; 5:9, 10; 5:12-14

iiFor more information on the topic of shame in heaven read this short article: http://www.grace-bible.org/blakesblog/2012/10/fear-and-shame-in-heaven/

iiiEveryone will face shame, either before men for bearing the name of Jesus, or before the Father in heaven. The greater shame is reserved for those who are unwilling to bear it now.

Who's Your Daddy?

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.

“For thus saith the Lord God,

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