Friday, April 18, 2014

Restored Father\Son Relationship

God seeks to re-connect to us as his child. The primary reason for that is because God loves us. His original design for the world was for there to be one giant family for himself. Sin broke people, and their ability to be that family. Now, God seeks to restore that relationship. He seeks to be the Father to us the he intended to be. 

When God created the world, he intended, he designed people to be like Jesus. (Part of me says we would not have produced the works of power like he did. If the world was like God designed, there would be no reason for healings.) Each person would have Jesus' character. 

(One way to think about this, heaven is the fulfillment of God's original design. Heaven is what the world would have been like, if there had been no sin.) 

So, God is now in the process of redemption and restoration. He seeks to imprint us again with the character of Jesus. 

When we think about this process of transformation, there are a lot of tools that come to mind: his Word, his Spirit, other people, his discipline and grace. There are some tools we don't think about. When we choose to give our allegiance to Jesus, he gives us his Spirit, and his Spirit gives us a special ability. Whenever we practice this ability, there is a transforming effect, because the Spirit flows through us. Just like flowing water has a cleansing effect, the flowing Spirit has a cleansing effect. 

One tool of transformation that gets very little thought is the restoration of the father-son relationship. Like Jesus' story of the son who turns his back on his family, but realizes he made a mistake, and returns to his family. When he gets home, his father welcomes him. The son was restored back to who he was, and who he was intended to be. He ws put back where he was originally designed to be. 

The father-son relationship is a tool of transformation, because it speaks to and molds the heart. It is our hearts that have first importance. It is the core that produces all thoughts, all words, and all deeds. It is there that God does his deepest works. It is there he speaks the greats truths. It is there he is trying to communicate his love and acceptance. 

Many people work long and hard to earn God's love and acceptance. They try to earn his love before they are saved. Scripture says loud and clear, people cannot earn the grace that leads to salvation. Many finally hear that message. But then they try to glorify his name, and impact the world for him. And, then, they fail. 

I think people spend way too much time worrying about their sin. Does God want people to sin? Goodness no. Does God want obedience? Oh, yes. Does God want righteousness to reign in people's hearts? Oh, double-yes. 

Does God want people to flagellate themselves for days when they fail? Does God want re-dedication after re-dedication? 

It was God's grace that saved us when we were helpless, enemies of God. What makes us think that we don't need God's grace to totally disassemble and reassemble our spiritual DNA? Can any of us reach into our hearts and change our motivations and our want-to's?

Only God is stronger than our hearts. He can reach into our hearts. He can alter our DNA. 

I am beginning to think that God's message to us, intended to bring about our transformation is not "Your life needs to glorify me. You need to live in a way that portrays me in a positive manner. You need to get you act together." I think the message might be "You are my child. I love you. I accept you. And I want what's best for you."

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