Skip to main content

He's Bound To

             Our Father in heaven, (Matthew 6:9)

            See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! (I John 3:1)

The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them (John 14:21)


Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

 

Returning this morning to The Christian in Complete Armour, on which we’re barely begun, the author gives us five bonds or reasons why we can rest assured of God’s power working on our behalf (though not necessarily the way we want it to.) The first is His near kinship to us. As His children, He is obligated to take care of us. And while our earthly parents may not fulfill their duties, that does not mean that He will not or that He is like them. That’s something that those of us without perfect parents (meaning all of us) need to get past. We are His children, and He will care for us as good parents care for their children.

The second reason is closely related to this. He must care for us because He loves us. Again, while we may claim we love someone or something and then treat the supposed beloved shabbily, God does not. We may not appreciate how He treats us, but His actions are loving and for our good.

The third reason is that He promised. He made covenants and while we may not be good at keeping our promises, He will keep His. The fourth reason is closely related. He has obligated Himself through those promises, because of the love He has for us as our Father, and He chooses to fulfill His word. William Gournal, the author of the book that’s inspiring these posts, says it this way, “Since God demands our trust, He is obligated to prove Himself trustworthy.” (volume 1, p 49)

The fifth reason is that Jesus stands always before Him, with the same motivations mentioned above, interceding on our behalf. In other words, our defense lawyer is standing up for us in court, pleading for our benefit.

 I cannot let all of this be said without pointing out the error that we so often fall into when such claims are made. Yes, God is our Father. He loves us. He’s promised to take care of us and He fully intends to fulfill those promises, and Jesus is standing before Him always, representing us to the Righteous Judge. Yes, all of that is true. But this does not mean that we, like entitled, narcissistic, juvenile hoodlums, should expect to be granted everything we want. God’s caring for us requires Him to say “No” – and to say it often. Caring for a beloved child doesn’t mean handing them a knife and showing them an electric socket or letting us drink the bottle of poison we insist we should be permitted to drink.

God doesn’t protect us from all of the negative consequences we face for choices we make or because we live in a fallen world It wouldn’t be good for us if He did.  He would be failing if He did. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more