Tag Archives: children

Chips Off The Old Block

Bible Study, , , ,

CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCK 

“‘Abraham is our father,’ they answered.’If you were Abraham’s children,’ said Jesus, ‘then you would do what Abraham did. As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man that has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the works of your own father.’

“‘We are not illegitimate children,’ they protested.’The only father we have is God Himself.'” John 8:39-41 (NIV).

These were men who, a few verses back were said to have believed in Jesus. Yet here they were still scheming to kill Jesus.

They prided themselves on being the descendants of Abraham and they even went as far as claiming God as their Father. But so did Jesus. So who was telling the truth? They could not both be descendants of Abraham since the fruit of their lives was so vastly different.

The Apostle Paul argued that the real children of Abraham are those who did what he did, not those who were his natural descendants. What did Abraham do? “What does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.'” Romans 4:3 (NIV).

“It was not through the Law that Abraham and his offspring received that promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. Therefore the promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring — not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.” Romans 4:16 (NIV).

“Understand then that those who have faith are children of Abraham.” Galatians 3:7 (NIV).

It is clear that the argument of these religious leaders held no water because their attitude and the intentions negated their claim to be the descendants of Abraham. Their snide retort, ‘We are not illegitimate children,’ was a backhanded slap in the face of Jesus. Were they insinuating that He was illegitimate because Joseph was not His Father? Once again their assumptions led them into dangerously false allegations.

What of those who claim descent from Abraham but who hate and murder believers in Jesus in the name of their god. Do they not fall into the same category as these men who were contending that they were Abraham’s offspring yet they were planning to kill Jesus?

How important it is that we take the words of Jesus seriously! No matter what claims we may make, they are of no consequence if they are not backed up by fact. Our churches are full of people who believe that they are sons and daughters of God, yet they are no different from the people in the world. Signing a decision card or answering an altar call do not constitute a good enough reason for assuming that we are now children of God.

The real test is: Who do we resemble? The true children of God are those who resemble Him in their attitudes and behaviour. Jesus is God with a face. “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” He told Philip. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word.” Hebrews 1:3 (NIV).

We can sum up the character of Jesus in two words — merciful and generous. The true followers of Jesus are those who obey Him. “If you love me, (you will) keep my commandments.” John 14:15. “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34 (NIV).

These so-called believers in Jesus just didn’t get it. Do you?

Check The Fruit

Bible Study, , , ,

CHECK THE FRUIT! 

“There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.” John 1:6-8 (NIV).

Don’t you love the way John puts John the Baptist into the correct perspective? If you have travelled with me through Luke’s gospel, you will have seen how Jesus struggled to teach His disciples to interpret what was going on from the perspective of the kingdom of God. But at that time they just didn’t get it.

He promised them that things would be different after Pentecost — and they were! Once they had the Holy Spirit in them, they saw things from God’s point of view just like Jesus did. Although he was a prophet, John the Baptist’s ministry was unique and special. Just in case anyone mistakenly thought that he was the Messiah, John assures his readers that he was only a witness but a powerful one.

How did John the Baptist bear witness to the light? His preaching on repentance had a twofold purpose — to call God’s people back to a life of generosity and service and to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah who would immerse them in the Holy Spirit.

The religious leaders had led the people away from what God wanted into what they thought God wanted, religious people who meticulously kept the minutest details of the law at the expense of loving God by being kind and generous to all people. John’s preaching was fiery and explicit. He called his curious congregation who went to hear what he had to say, “A brood of vipers, a bunch of bastards — fatherless people!”

“Return,” he urged them. “There is someone coming who is far greater than I. My baptism in water is only a preparation for His baptism of fire.” What Jesus was about to do would be like the fire that consumes the chaff that is beaten off the wheat — He would expose and get rid of everything in His people that was incompatible with God – greed, selfishness, unkindness, pride and arrogance. He was not interested in religious rigmarole. He wanted real people who would love God and love their neighbour.

John the Baptist had no desire to promote himself. His only mission was to prepare the way by alerting the people to their need to get back to the simplicity of God’s way and to recognise the Messiah when He arrived because He would continue what John began.

“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognise Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent or a husband’s will but born of God.” John 1:9-13 (NIV).

There is a sad note in John’s story — in spite of what John the Baptist preached and testified to, neither the world at large nor God’s people recognised or acknowledged the Messiah when He came. His own people, who should have known Him because they had been taught His Word from their mother’s breast, refused to receive Him.

Since the day when they were taken into covenant relationship with God at Mount Sinai, they persisted in rebelling against God’s best way to live and going their own way with disastrous consequences; yet they never learned. And here they were, repeating history all over again.

Except for a few. In God’s story there are always those, few in number, yes, but true children of God who take what God says seriously, act on it and are welcomed into God’s family as dearly loved children. John hastens to add that this is not about natural birth. The Jews assumed that, because they were born Jews and had been circumcised — an external sign of their Jewishness, they were “in” and everybody else was “out”.

John made sure that he told them that it didn’t work like that. There had to be another “birth”, a supernatural one that brought them back into the family of God and reproduced the character of God in them.

How tragic that this erroneous thinking has crept into the church as well! Some branches of the church bring their babies into the family of God by “Christianising” them and “confirming” that ritual when they are of age and yet they have never been supernaturally “born” into God’s family by receiving Jesus as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of sonship (Romans 8:14-16).

Jesus said, “Check the fruit. That’s the real test.”

Honour The Honour

Bible Study, , ,

HONOUR THE HONOUR! 

“At that Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. ’I thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.

“‘I’ve been given it all by my Father! Only the Father knows who the Son is and only the Son knows who the Father is. The Son can introduce the Father to anyone He wants to.’

“Then He turned in a private aside to His disciples, ‘Fortunate the eyes that see what you’re seeing! There are plenty of prophets and kings who would have given their right arm to see what you are seeing but never got so much as a glimpse; to hear what you are hearing but never got so much as a whisper.'” Luke 10:21-24 (The Message).

I wonder whether the disciples ever recognised how privileged they were!

Over a period of thousands of years the prophets had spoken of a time when God’s Messiah would come. Perhaps they did not clearly understand the reason for His coming, especially since each one had only a tiny piece of the puzzle. Peter wrote about this in his first letter, perhaps remembering the words of Jesus spoken here and realising with hindsight what He was getting at.

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that was to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, Even angels long to look into these things.” 1 Peter 1:10-13 (NIV).

The Twelve, and now this bigger group of seventy, were standing on the threshold of a new era, not only in their own history but also in the history of the world. Their exclusiveness was about to give way to a revelation of God’s love and mercy to all mankind that they had not even fully appreciated.

It’s no wonder Jesus was exuberant though He knew full well what lay ahead for Him and them before His worldwide mission would be fulfilled. Of course He knew the Father! He was one with the Father, in essence, nature and purpose. Before He left the Father’s realm and willingly laid aside His rights as God, He fully participated in the power and majesty of the Godhead.

He introduced them to the Father just by them being around Him, although it took a while for them to realise that. “‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?'” John 14:9-10a (NIV).

It was Jesus’ strategy to reveal Himself and His ways to those who were uncluttered with religion and theology. He bypassed the ones who were “qualified” through book learning, passed on by the ones who thought they were qualified, in favour of the simple ones who would take the truth the Holy Spirit revealed at face value.

Learning has value if it does not close one’s mind to the ministry of the greatest teacher of all, the Holy Spirit who is in residence in His temples. We, who are the temples of the Holy Spirit, have the author of the Book within us. We have an even greater privilege than the disciples because we have the advantage of access to the whole Bible and the revelation of many thousands who have recorded their insights into the Word through the Holy Spirit.

How much do you honour this honour?

Dont’ Get Between Them and Me

Christian Life, , ,

DON’T GET BETWEEN THEM AND ME

“People brought babies to Jesus, hoping He might touch them. When the disciples saw it, they shooed them off. Jesus called them back. ‘Let these children alone. Don’t get between them and me. These children are the kingdom’s pride and joy. Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.'” Luke 18:15-17 (The Message).

There are so many things that Jesus said and did that startle us because they are so different from the way we think and from the culture of the people of His day.

This little interlude tells us a whole lot about the disciples, about Jesus and about little children.

Women and children occupied the lowest rungs in society and were treated accordingly. It was quite natural for the disciples to be offended by these mothers’ audacity to bring their children to Jesus for a fatherly blessing. Jesus was an important person in their culture — a rabbi with authority. It was surely their duty to protect Him from them and to screen those who took up His time.

The disciples were still very much part of their own culture. Although they had been with Jesus for some time, they had not yet absorbed His kingdom perspective. They thought like the rest of their people, and to them, children were a nuisance and in the way. Jesus had more important things to do than to be bothered with a bunch of kids!

But Jesus was always the perfect representative of His Father. He was first and foremost the Son of God. Not to accept and welcome children, no matter how insignificant they were in His society, was to betray the passionate love of the Father for all people, big and small. He was not only true to the character of the Father; He was true to Himself because He and the Father are one.

As always, Jesus’ vision was long-term. He saw the end from the beginning and recognised potential rather than actual. To Him, babies and little children were not snot-nosed brats to be tolerated but people with potential to fulfil the Father’s purpose for them; they were worshippers-in-the-making, and to get between them and Him in this early, formative part of their lives was to hinder God’s working in them. To Him, that was a far more serious issue than the immature behaviour of the little ones.

To Jesus, children were adults-in-formation, at the beginning of their journey towards fulfilling their purpose in God. Any adult attitude or behaviour which interfered with their natural disposition of trust, simplicity and helpless dependence on Him would put obstacles in their way which they would have to, and some might never, overcome. Both the circumstances of their lives and the way they were treated by those who influenced them in any way, would determine their understanding and belief about God.

Jesus’ attitude to all people, women and children included, was to recognise their place in the kingdom of God, and His treatment of them was always to remove whatever hindered them from taking their place in the kingdom, whether it is physical, emotional, intellectual, relational or any other issue that clouded their understanding of the Father’s love for them.

All children have two characteristics that need to be developed and can easily be squashed by misunderstanding the circumstances of their lives and by those who are placed in their lives as mentors and guides — potential and helplessness. It is the role of parents to recognise and nurture potential and to train their children for responsible adulthood.

We raise our children to be independent, and that is good if we remember that it is important for them to become independent of us but not of God. The father’s primary role is to represent the Father by teaching their children obedience so that, as they grow up, they transfer their obedience from their earthly to heavenly Father.

Too many children are abused, harassed or neglected by their fathers so that they cannot wait to go out on their own and do their own thing. No wonder the world is full of messed-up adults who have no idea of who the Father really is, and who hate God so much that they do everything they can to defy the very conscience He put inside them as their basic guide in life.

The first step to healing our world is to acknowledge our ‘father’ issues, forgive those who have got between us and Jesus, and to go back to where Jesus is, receiving us as little children, recognising and cultivating the potential in us, and teaching us to rely on Him as closely as a baby at its mother’s breast.