Estranged No More

Isaiah 1:2-3

“Children have I reared and brought up,

but they have rebelled against me.

3  The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master's crib,

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.”

I believe that to understand our position before God as children to a Father is one of the most, if not the most, vital theological concepts to grasp as a Christian.  Our adopted position before a heavenly Father has practical implications that range from the believer’s sincere obedience, to assurance of their acceptance, to their confidence in every providential circumstance.  If we attempt to find security and confidence in anything but the Father’s love we will act as estranged children.  

Sinclair Ferguson writes, “No short-cut that tries to bypass the relationship to him as his children, can ever succeed in providing long-term spiritual therapy” (Children of the Living God, p.14). But, if you know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe loves you with an incorruptible love that never fades or wanes, than your life will demonstrate an assured, bold, compassion that is unshakable in the face of any circumstance.  

Henry Lyte’s hymn lyrics in “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken,” reveal such a confidence:

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure, 

Come disaster, scorn and pain 

In Thy service, pain is pleasure, 

With Thy favor, loss is gain

I have called Thee Abba Father, 

I have stayed my heart on Thee 

Storms may howl, and clouds may gather; 

All must work for good to me.

How do we know God loves us this much?  How do we know that we are that secure?  The humility of Jesus coming in the flesh and suffering throughout His life and on to the cruel death of the cross is the picture of His love.  The resurrection is the sacrifice accepted by the Father in our stead revealing that He is satisfied.  “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9).  His grace is the giving of His Son on our behalf as our substitute.  That grace is all we could possibly ever need.  It is that complete . . . that final.  That “finished” (John 19:30).

As we find our confidence in the Fatherhood of God, then all of our relationships change.  We no longer have the need to feel rejected by our spouses, parents, or peers.  I John 4:18: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”   The Father’s perfect love shown in Christ is the confidence we have for all relationships.  We can then love as Christ has loved us without expecting any reciprocal love from those for whom we pour out our service.  In fact, when we do not receive anything in return, it only confirms what the Scripture says about not putting our confidence in the flesh (Phil. 3:3).  Our gain is not to be received from others, but only from Christ.  Therefore, when we do not receive what we might expect or want, we ought not be shaken.

Do we grasp the outward effects of such confident Father-love for us?  When our confidence is in His love for us, then we become an effective witness to His gospel.  Our spouses and children and friends find a gospel power of confidence in us.  Gospel light will shine brightly as it radiates from our whole countenance.

Jesus Christ is the perfect Son given for us, the estranged sons.  “God’s final purpose is nothing less than a new race of men and women, restored to what they were intended to be, through their relationship to the divine image-bearer and Son, Jesus Christ” (Sinclair Ferguson, p.10).

The Law Used Lawfully

Ezekiel 5:5-6

“Thus says the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.  And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 

The church today is as God’s people of old, a city, or a grouped people after God’s own choosing, commissioned as ambassadors of His grace and mercy.  Matthew 5:14 reads, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”  

In relation to the church’s commission in Matthew and Ezekiel, I like how one author challenged me to think differently about church membership. We are members certainly.  But his challenge was to think of membership as partnership.  Partnering together for the gospel of Christ.  We are to be, like no other institution on earth, the uniquely designed people who labor together to bring life to a death-filled world.

But contrary to witnessing the beauty of the church as a partnering institution which bears life-giving and light-bearing testimony to the surrounding culture, often we see the opposite; a back-biting, self-absorbed, rule-breathing, treacherous and exclusive society.  A church which has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations.  

Rules, even God’s laws, can be uglier than the compassion of a godless society.  Who hasn’t witnessed great compassion and philanthropy from the hands of unbelievers, often much more gracious than many a professing Christian?  You see, doing the rules does not a grace-channel make.  In fact, that’s what got the Jewish authorities in Jesus’ day their self righteous attitude and actions.  God’s rules can be done with wicked intent.  If our purpose in obeying God is to lord our obedience to Him over others, then we have broken the very law we say we keep.  When God’s laws create an “us and them” attitude (us being those in the church, them being those outside the church.  Or, in some cases, us in this particular church, and them in their particular church, practice, etc.), then we have entered the downward spiral of losing our first love:  “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent” (Revelation 2:4-5).

Remember.  Remember from from where you have fallen.  It was to the church in Ephesus that Jesus was directing his attention in this Revelation passage.  It was Ephesus that contained a mixed bag of Jews and Gentiles (different practice, baggage, etc).  The letter written by Paul to Ephesus some forty or fifty years earlier stressed the unifying power of Christ.  It was a breaking down the “us and them” paradigm.  Apparently, by the time of the Revelation of John, their unity was leaking.  The church at Ephesus was taking on the same characteristics as Israel in the days of Ezekiel.

When the theology or ethic we hold begins to create a people who see the law as the means to Christian virtue, then backbiting, judgmental attitudes, and exclusion will occur.  Gone will be the influence of light into a dark world, because gone will be the influence of grace and mercy within the people of God.

Repent.  Repent from using the law of God unlawfully; i.e. not as it was intended to be used.  Recognize your sinful attitudes and actions.  See how Christ has had compassion on you, a law-breaker, by removing the condemning power of the law over you . . . that same condemning power you have desired to hold over others!  See how Christ has given you the law as a great protection and directive for bringing Him glory as you wield it well and rightly.  See the law of God as good when we use it to bring life and light into other people’s lives with an attitude of mercy.  Pray for this attitude.  Choose today to love those around you the way Christ has loved you and without expecting anything in return.  As we as individuals grasp the mercy and grace of Christ, then we as a church begin to see the influence of Christ through us as a church within our community.  For a city set on a hill cannot be hidden.