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.