Why I
Believe What I Believe
My Father and your Father, My God and your God.
Yes these
were the words of Jesus to Magdalene Mary soon after he rose from the dead.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why? Why? Why did Jesus
come? Have you ever asked yourselves that? The last time I asked a bunch of
primary school children they told me that Jesus came to save us, Jesus came for
our sins and that Jesus came for our salvation.
You and I will agree
with all those answers. But do you know why Jesus came?
Whom
do you think knows the heart of a Father the most? The one who loves him the
most. It seems pretty obvious. Its either the spouse or his children. But when
we consider the spouse we all know that once a woman becomes a mother she
automatically changes her deepest affections to her offspring. SO who then
loves the father the most. Yes—his child, his son or his daughter.
So
it is with God. Jesus the son of God came from the very heart of God. But why
did he come? I just said that he came from the heart of God. What was he doing
there? There he felt every throb and every sigh and every heave of the fathers
heart. There he witnessed the pain of The father when it was wounded. There he
learnt the lessons of love He was to teach. There he knew that the father would
never be happy unless His offspring were reconciled with Him – His offspring crafted
in His own image and likeness. There Jesus knew, in every sense, the heart, desire
and will of the Father. There He decided to come down to earth, in the image
and likeness of His Fathers precious creation, as the first born among many(ref
Romans 8:29).
When
Jesus walked the earth he was constantly astounded at the hardness of heart
that he witnessed. He knew that man, created in His Fathers image and likeness,
never knew their father. He knew they were lost. And he knew that he had to
restore them to the heart of His Father.
On
earth Jesus came upon a young man who was but merely a boy. Young John began to
follow Jesus. He loved His Lord and master so deeply. Scripture says that he
reclined at His bosom at the last supper whilst Jesus gave the longest sermon
recorded in scripture - the discourse at which he talked at length about His
Father. John knew the throb of His masters heart. He saw within those eyes and
within each heartbeat the love that Jesus had for his father. And so, many years
later, when He put pen to paper, he recounted the deepest of passions of His
Lord and master. He drew out the soul of the Christ and wrote the most powerful
gospel ever. The Gospel that shines light into the very being of the Christ. The
gospel that teaches us why Jesus came. And the gospel that teaches us who we
are.
John the Apostle says in John 1:
12-13 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to
become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh
or of the will of man, but of God.
Isn’t this then the greatest good
news of all time and for all mankind? Isnt this then the good news that we
should be shouting out from the rooftops and teaching our children?
How
can we afford to live as mere servile
human beings when the greatest gospel of all time proclaims our true parentage?
Yes,
my dear brothers and sisters reading this, if you have received and believed in
Jesus the son of God and the son of Man, then you HAVE been given the power –The
power to become children of God who are born not of blood or of the will of the
flesh or of the will of man, BUT of God!
Now
then if you have been given this power that means there is something you need
to do with this power to truly become this child of God the Father. All those
whom God foreknew and called, he called to be part of the family of Christ—siblings
to His son. Let us read the verses in Romans 8 that explains this more fully.
Romans
8: 28-30 ‘We know that all things work
together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his
purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the
image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large
family(or among many brothers). And those whom he predestined he also called;
and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also
glorified.’
God
the Father foreknew and predestined us
to be conformed to the image of Jesus—as he is so shall we be in this world (ref
1John 4:17). This is our call. To be reconciled to God the Father and to answer
his call. Jesus clearly teaches us two things. The first one is the first
commandment. Love your Lord and God with all your heart, all your strength, all
your mind and soul. The second is that Jesus calls upon the father and
teaches us to call upon the father as ‘Our father’. It is a joint call—to call upon God the Father
together with Jesus our brother.
The
cry of God still rings out to this day — hear me my children, and come to me.
Know that I am your Lord and Father. True God and true Father and of me you
have been made, in my likeness and image, crafted to fit perfectly within my
heart.
Why then do we not hear this cry?
Why have we stopped our journey at the
foot of the cross? Isn't heaven our inheritance and earth our abode? Why then aren't we crying out for the will of our Father to be done here on earth as it is in heaven? Why then aren't we standing in the gap and fulfilling his will on earth?
Arise
my dear brothers and sisters. Arise as sons and daughters of the most high God.
Grow as children of the Father, Knowing Him and loving HIM above ALL else. Arise
from sinful penury to heavenly riches, washed and made clean by the lamb.
AND STAND IN THE GAP.
AND STAND IN THE GAP.
May
His will be done.
by Dr. Jacqueline Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment