In the Old Testament, men like Abraham and Moses boldly made assertions to God. In the case of Moses, Scripture informs us that God changed his mind due to his bold prayer, even though God had commanded Moses not to pray for Israel. Moses disobeyed God’s command and prayed that God would not destroy Israel for their rebellion. Scripture tells us that God actually relented and changed his mind, preserving Israel (Exodus 32:1-14). Before that Abraham had boldly interceded for Sodom, asking that if 10 righteous men could be found would God preserve the city (Exodus 18:22-33). As followers of Jesus, we are in an even more intimate relationship with Father than either Abraham or Moses was. While they never had the privilege to refer to God as “Father,” we’ve been commanded to speak to him in that way. This means that, not only can we approach God with the same boldness as Abraham or Moses, but that we can even be as bold with Father as Jesus was, because he has given to us the right to be called children of God. To lack boldness with Father indicates a hesitancy on our part to enter into a close relationship with him. We assume that if Moses had not interceded for Israel, God would have destroyed them. Thus, to refrain from making bold affirmations and declarations to Father means we may not see and experience what God is willing to do for us.
The great challenge of following Jesus, is applying what he taught, but Paul’s statement in Ephesians 5:15-17 to know God’s will indicates that we are to understand what Jesus wants without it being explicitly stated. Jesus seemed to expect this from his disciples and marveled when they didn’t grasp it. After the disciples told Jesus to send the people away to get food, Jesus told his disciples to give them something to eat (Matthew 14:16). When they balked at the command, Jesus showed them how. Based on Jesus’ warning about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, the disciples assumed that Jesus was talking about the bread they had forgotten to take with them. But Jesus expected them to understand that they didn’t need to worry about bread anymore, since he had shown them how to feed the five thousand and then, again, the four thousand. He expected them to understand that he was warning them about the teaching of the Pharisees and Herod (Mark 8:14-21).
It is as if Jesus supplies the “if” part of the statement and we are responsible to arrive at the “then” part. If, with Jesus, the disciples could feed the five thousand, then they no longer needed to worry about bread or any material need. While Jesus didn’t explicitly say the latter, he clearly expected them to live by this freedom from worry. For example, Jesus reserved his greatest praise for the centurion who requested that Jesus not enter his home in order to heal his servant—the centurion understood Jesus’ authority. Jesus didn’t need to be present; all he needed to do was say the word. The centurion understood that he, as an officer, had the authority to issue a command to a soldier and it would be done—even though he didn’t actually observe the obedience. Jesus, being an even greater man with even more authority, surely would have a similar power over disease. Jesus praised this man and even marveled at his faith, declaring that he had never observed such a faith in all of Israel (Matthew 8:5-13). The centurion grasped, without being taught, that if Jesus was who he revealed himself to be, then it would not be necessary for him to be present in order to heal the servant. The centurion became a model of how we are to live out what Jesus taught.
This concept of comprehending Jesus’ teaching opens up a whole new realm of living it out. Not only are we responsible to follow what Jesus taught directly, but under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are to exercise our faith and live out the implications of all that he taught—which aren’t specifically stated. This may be what the author of Hebrews refers to in Hebrews 6:1-2, when he urged his readers to go beyond what we often assume is the bulk of Christianity: repentance, faith, baptism, laying on of hands (which refers to receiving gifts, healing, and appointing leaders), resurrection of the dead, eternal life, and the coming judgment. In this statement, the author of Hebrews exhorts his readers to expand their walk with Jesus beyond where most Christians live their lives. When we live out by faith the implications of Jesus’ teaching and expect him to do more than what he explicitly said in the Bible, we cause Jesus to marvel at our faith.
In 1938 Neville Chamberlin returned to London declaring that there was peace in their time, because he had worked out an agreement with Adolf Hitler. It wasn’t a lasting peace, because in the fall of 1939 Great Britain and France were at war with Nazi Germany. Chamberlin’s definition of peace is what we experience and often seek in this world. While we hope it is long lasting, it is temporary. Jesus described another type of peace in John 14. Jesus leaves peace with us, which removes a troubled and afraid heart. Jesus’ peace cannot coexist with trouble and fear; his peace is mutually exclusive with trouble and fear. Jesus’ peace is not what the world defines as peace, that is absence of violence, but a calm and peaceful spirit and heart. The sense that all is well between the person and God. Such a state of being permits the person who possesses Jesus’ peace to truly rest, even in the midst of difficult circumstance. This relates to what Jesus declared as our basis for rejoicing; we rejoice not because of what we have or what we can do, but because of our relationship with God our Father. While peace in the world is always temporary, the peace that Jesus offers and gives is permanent and cannot be removed by events that we encounter in the world and that is the basis of great joy!
Did you realize that Jesus felt troubled and agitated, but he instructed his followers not to? Isn’t that a curious contrast? Jesus felt troubled outside of Lazarus’ tomb in John 11:33; later he experienced a troubled spirit on Palm Sunday the Sunday before his death (John 12:27). With his disciples, Jesus felt troubled in his spirit when he revealed to his disciples that one of them would betray him (John 13:21). Yet he instructed his disciples to stop their hearts from being troubled in John 14:1. In other words, Jesus experienced trouble in his spirit so that we need not experience it. Afterwards, he explained why they should not feel agitation in their hearts; they were to trust in God and in him, because he was preparing the way for them to God and that they knew the way. His explanation generated questions; Thomas claimed that they didn’t know the way, but Jesus corrected him. They did know the way, because he was the way, the truth and the life, through him all needed to go to the Father. Since they knew Jesus, they knew the way to God their Father. Then, Philip wanted to see the Father, but again Jesus enlightened him. If they had seen Jesus, they had seen God the Father, because the Father was in Jesus and spoke through him.
Situations in this life cause our hearts trouble, we see things, we hear things that disturb us, but Jesus gives us an answer; look to him. He is the solution and will show us the solution out of a troubled spirit, because a troubled spirit is not the answer; Jesus is.
Anyone who has participated in team sports knows the importance of each player listening to and implementing what the coach taught. For even one player to ignore the coach’s instructions and do what he or she wants can be disaster for the team. If all the players were to follow their own will instead of applying the coordinated instructions of the coach, that would result in chaos. It is curious how often a team filled with the most talented players does not win the championship. Rather, it is the team that applies the program of the coach and plays together that wins. Following the will of God in place of our own will has much in common with a team working together with their coach to achieve goals that they could not reach if they followed their own will independently from their coach.
When we voluntarily place ourselves under someone’s authority, there are potential risks. When we make that decision, we place our control and desires under their authority. That being the case, we need to make sure we completely trust the individual under whose care we are ready to live. When we pray for Father’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, we declare that we are ready and willing to submit our own will and desires to those of Father—even when we may not agree with Father’s will. Jesus exemplified this submission in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he asked for the cup to be removed from him, but then added not his will, but his Father’s (Matthew 26:39). Jesus’ preference was not to go to suffer on the cross, but he was willing to see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven, just as he taught us to pray (Matthew 6:10). It takes great trust in God and in his goodness for us to pray what Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer.
When Jesus taught us, his followers, to address God as Father by implication we also identified ourselves as his children. Therefore, the fact that we are children of God impacts our relationship to his kingdom. Paul declared to the Philippians that we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20), therefore citizens of God’s kingdom, but the kingdom is also our Father’s which means it is ours as his children to inherit. When Jesus taught us to pray “Your kingdom come”, that kingdom we declare through prayer is also ours as God’s own children. When I was in college, I worked for Sears and attempted to be the best employee I could. Nevertheless, my name was not “Sears.” If it had been, I believe my perspective would have been quite different, because I would have been working in the family business. For followers of Jesus, the kingdom of God is our family business!
Several years ago, I remember riding in the car with my sister, whose husband was an officer in the Air Force. When we drove onto the base, the guard saluted her. I asked her why, because she was not in the military nor was any of us in the car. She explained that their car had a sticker that identified its owner as an officer. The enlisted man saluted the authority that the owner of the car possessed. Since Jesus has identified us with his name, we are to treat one another with the same respect and dignity that Jesus’ name requires. While we are children of God and are therefore identified with his name, we have also received his authority as his ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). We have the same authority to bring reconciliation with God as Jesus did, because we are identified with Jesus’ name. The more that the followers of Jesus grasp and internalize that which Jesus taught about who they are, the more they will see their thinking and consequently their lives transformed by the Holy Spirit who dwells within them.
Most of us, if ever invited into the powerful atmosphere of the Oval Office, would hesitate to bring our young children (or grandchildren). If we did dare to bring small children, propriety would dictate that we require them to sit quietly before the president. However, there is a photograph taken in the early 1960’s of President Kennedy in the Oval Office with his two children, Carolyn and John Jr.—and what is he doing? He is sitting in a chair to the right of his desk, clapping as his children skip and dance before him. You see, if daddy is president, it’s OK to dance and skip in the Oval Office. This photograph gives us a glimpse of our relationship with Abba Father. We are invited into the throne room of heaven. In fact, Paul wrote in the letter to the Ephesians that all followers of Jesus are currently seated in heaven with Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). As believers and therefore children of God, we need to grasp the fact that our Abba (Daddy) in heaven delights over us in a similar manner (Zephaniah 3:17).
In John 12:42-43 John revealed a curious aspect of men. After encountering Jesus, many of the religious leaders believed in Jesus, but refused to admit it because they were afraid of what others would do and losing their standing in society. For these men, fear was the driving force in the decision making. Fear can be a powerful force in our life, but a force that often does not lead to the best decision. Their dilemma is the basic conflict of man in regard to Jesus. We are attracted to Jesus, but hesitate to tell others about him, because what others may say. We can be more concerned about what others will say than being honest and genuine about what we really feel and believe, so we state our beliefs politically correctly, but not accurately. The reality is that others probably feel the same, but are hesitant to say so because they feel that they are alone. Contrast the religious leaders’ behavior with that of the disciples in Acts. The disciples refused to let fear dissuade them and boldly proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus even as others tried to intimidate them. While powerful, fear should not be the motivator for our decision making.
Jesus’ revelation of God as his Father was radical in his day as well as ours, in fact it was one of the reasons he was persecuted. Furthermore, Jesus revealed his followers as children of God, therefore heirs and co-heirs with Jesus. As children of God, we now share in the family business of Father’s kingdom, promoted from being servants employed in the kingdom (John 15:15-16). While faithful servants are dedicated, beloved sons and daughters of a loving Father are much more dedicated and motivated to promote their Father’s work and name. Paul described the struggle that we face as we work through the implications of being adopted sons. He reminded the Roman church that all of creation awaits the revelation of the sons of God (followers of Jesus). It even groans and suffers as in childbirth, waiting for our adoption as sons and the redemption of our body (Romans 8:18-22). Jesus said that those who believed in him would do greater works than those he had done (John 14:12). So, it may be that we need to work out the implication of our being sons and daughters before we can fully understand what Jesus spoke.
Paul, in his writings, often referred to God as “our Father.” To the believers, Paul began each of his letters declaring grace and peace to them from “God our Father” and the “Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2-3; Galatians 1:1-3; Ephesians 1:2-3, 6:23; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2-3; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-2; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 1:3). Paul’s consistency in every one of his letters underscored his belief that God was to be viewed as Father, while Jesus was identified as either Lord or Savior. What is powerful in Paul’s example is that he was thoroughly trained in Judaism, which taught that God was Holy and Lord and he was a servant. Yet Paul’s continual addressing God as Father demonstrated that he did not allow his training from youth to distract him from what Jesus revealed about the relationship that he and all believers were to enjoy with God as Father. Understanding that we are children in God’s Kingdom rather than servants has a profound impact on how we live our lives and how we see ourselves.
David Freitag 