God isn’t just a being whose name we should respect, though we should.
God is Father
the strangely generous creator
the surprisingly wise ruler and guide of the nations
the Father of Jesus the God who makes promises and keeps them
the Lord of ages
utterly faithful, loving,
and who is determined to bring heaven to earth together in a glorious and fruitful marriage.
N.T. Wright from “Simply Good News”
It’s Not Working
When my grandchildren were young, they would love to watch the automatic pool sweep move around the bottom of our swimming pool to clean it. If they looked and it was still, they would say, “He’s not moving!” or “He’s not working!” They were disappointed because they thought he should be visibly moving all the time.
All of us have times when we are looking for proof God is working and we think, “He’s not moving!” Or we think we have done all the right things without seeing the results we expected. We may have prayed, fasted, kept our integrity, taken the high road in situations, raised our children in church, tithed, faithfully served in the church, and have been obedient to what God has said, but we are not seeing the fruit we were promised. We are tempted to think and speak out these words, “It’s not working! I have done the right things but God is not moving.”
Many in the Bible had situations where it did not seem to be working. Here are three:
- Abraham and Sarah’s promised child had not come despite years of waiting
- Joseph’s purity seemed only to make things worse as he ended up in jail
- Elijah’s radical obedience in defeating the prophets of Baal led into a season where he became suicidal because of the opposition he faced
We have a Father
Why did Jesus become a man and come to earth? Obviously the best place to find the answer to that question in New Testament.
We know:
1. Jesus came to atone for our sins. (See 1 John 2:2; 3:5.)
2. He came to take upon Himself the punishment that we deserved—our punishment in death. He then made it possible for us to receive what only He deserved—eternal life. (See Romans 5:6–11.)
3. He came to destroy the works of the evil one. (See 1 John 3:8.)
4. He came to make an open display of the foolishness of the devil and reveal the wisdom of the cross. (See Colossians 2:15.)
5. He came that we might have abundant life. (See John 10:10.)
6. He came to initiate the present-tense awareness of the Kingdom of God—the realm and effects of God’s rule. (See Matthew 6:10.)
7. Jesus came to save men’s lives, not destroy them. (See Luke 9:56.)
All true but yet sub-points to the primary reason Jesus came.
Jesus came to reveal the Father.
Jesus came to a planet of orphans
to reveal what we needed most—the Father.
Jesus came to set our focus, attention, and affection
on the Father, who is good.
adapted from ‘God is Good’ by Bill Johnson
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