Who's Your Father?

In recent months I’ve had to deal with paperwork for a foreign bank account. The most recent documentation asked for parents’ names and qualifications, as if my own qualifications are dependent on what my parents did. As you might guess, this is not a Western country we’re dealing with, and the documentation probably has a lot to do with the caste system. We in the West are so individualistic that such requests for information seem almost insulting. Can you imagine filling out a bank or job application and having to provide your father’s resume in addition to your own?

But we have some weird traditions and assumptions of our own. After I moved to the Southern U.S. I encountered the question, “Whose is he?” The person wanted to know who this person was related to and where they fit in the family tree. From my experience, it is far more common in the South for six or seven generations to live within 20 miles of the “home place.” None of the places I lived in the North were like that, aside from Amish neighbors in Pennsylvania.

I bring this up because there has historically been a trend in U.S. churches for people to identify as Christian simply because their parents called themselves Christian. People were members of churches because that was the center of social activity in small towns. Now church membership and attendance are declining, and some have speculated that this has come largely from nominal “Christians” deciding there is no longer any reason or necessity for church membership. The faith of their fathers is not something they wish to claim. In one sense, I would say that’s actually a good thing for church statistics. We need to know who actually is not Christian and how large the mission field really is, and we need to know those who truly belong to Christ so we can feed them as disciples.

We also need to know who truly belongs to our family. If God is our Father, then we are brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to be willing to claim one another and care for one another as our own. I think most churches struggle in this area. We are often not inclined to go out of our way to connect with others and support others outside of regularly scheduled church gatherings. Our Western culture has negatively influenced us in this regard. Each one’s home is his castle and we don’t dare invade another’s space or ask them to come into ours.

But those things are tangential to what I started out to say. As Christians, our identity does come from our Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of God. He has made us new creations, adopted us as children, and put us into the Body of Christ with a role to play.

• When we’re tempted to sin, we can point to Jesus and say “I’m with Him.” 
• When we feel ashamed or guilty, we can remember that our Father does not condemn us. 
• When are lonely, our Father is always present with us. 
• When we want to serve in the church, our Father has given us gifts and abilities to do so. 
• When we think we’re lacking something, our Father owns everything.

Take some time today to think about every good and perfect gift our Father has given us (James 1:17), since “He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25).

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ… And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Gal. 1:3, 4:6).

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Innocent

In How to Really Love God as Your Father, Deborah Newman comments: “Imagine yourself at five years old. What is on your five-year-old mind? Do you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? ...Unless your childhood included some extenuating circumstances... remembering yourself as a little child should include carefree innocence.” I’ve recently read a couple different books that mentioned the idyllic nature of childhood for many children—freedom from worry and major responsibilities, and having time for fun and enjoying life. Although I would contend that such experiences are more rare than we would like to admit, they do bring to mind some images worth considering.

Jesus said, “Let the children come to Me; and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Mark 10:14-15 ESV). While we can all enjoy the thought of Jesus embracing the little children and blessing them, Jesus’ words were actually for His disciples. His message was for the adults, including us. Yet I doubt that most of us can really grasp what it would mean for us to come to Him like a child. Why is that?

It occurred to me that there are two ways that we use the word “innocent.” One is the innocence of being free from guilt. The other is the childlike trust and naiveté that knows someone else is in control so there is no need for worry. As we grow up (and sometimes before we grow up), we lose both of those types of innocence. We know we are guilty of sin, and we know that the world is a dangerous place where we have to look out for ourselves. I believe that Jesus intends for us to reclaim our lost innocence by coming to Him.

First, He grants us freedom from the guilt of sin as we accept His sacrifice on the cross. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He exchanged His righteousness for our sinfulness so that we could once again be innocent. We can lay aside the guilt and shame we have carried because of our own sin and the sin of others against us. “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:11). The forgiveness found in Christ can remove a lot of the burden that weighs us down as grownups.

Second, God reminds us that He is in control and He is trustworthy. Of all the worries and concerns that darken our days, most will either never come to pass or are outside our control anyway. Like a child worried about what’s in the dark, we need to trust that our Father can see what we can’t and He will take care of us. I think this is perhaps the harder innocence to recover. Once we’ve seen the pain and suffering that this world can bring, it’s hard to trust that God really knows best and will not let us endure anything that He won’t equip us to handle. We would prefer for life to be a lot less difficult and a lot more fun.

Coming to Jesus like a child is a daily choice to accept His forgiveness for our sins and to ask for His provision for our needs. He is our Father who supplies our daily bread, and who forgives those who confess. He is also the Creator of the universe, who is able to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory. He is Abba, who heals the brokenhearted and raises the dead to new life. He is the One who bids us to come to Him in our weakness, neediness, and filth, so that we might see His strength, abundance, and cleansing power.

Jesus invites us, “Let all My children come unto Me in faith to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

© 2016 Dawn Rutan. 

Our Father

A couple verses of Scripture caught my attention while reading recently. In John 19:7, the Jews tell Pilate, “We have a law, and according to that law He [Jesus] ought to die because He has made Himself the Son of God” (ESV). Earlier John had explained, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). The Jews found this to be both outrageous and blasphemous.

But notice what happens after the resurrection—Jesus says to Mary, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God” (John 20:17). Jesus isn’t just claiming God as His own Father, He is also naming the disciples as His brothers and God as their Father as well! That brings to mind the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9). The Pharisees would have been appalled.

The Apostle Paul continued to break the rules throughout his letters.

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God… you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…” (Romans 8:14-17, compare Galatians 4:4-7).

It’s a bit mind-boggling to consider that not only are we brothers and sisters with all believers around the world today, but also with the Apostle Paul, John, Peter, and the other disciples. And on top of that, we are siblings with Jesus. This is one area where the Catholic Church has made a mistake. They’ve encouraged praying to the apostles and “saints” as if somehow those people have greater access to God than the rest of us. Jesus, along with the New Testament writers, made it clear that our ideas of hierarchy and prestige are completely backwards. “Many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10:31). “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5).

Tim Keller writes:

“To be adopted means that now God loves us as if we had done all Jesus had done… so we can run to our Father without fear. We have the most intimate and unbreakable relationship possible with the God of the universe. To be a child of God means access. We know God is attentively listening to us and watching us” (Prayer:Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, 69-70).

We can “approach the throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16 NIV) without relying on any intermediary. We don’t have to make a formal petition and wait for the Judge to hear our case. We can simply run to Him as a child runs to his father’s open arms. Although earthly fathers fail us, our heavenly Father waits patiently, loves lavishly, and responds perfectly no matter what we may say or do.

“Jesus paid the price so God could be our father… This new relationship with God is what you need if you have a bad family background. This is what you need if you feel like a failure, if you feel lonely, or if you are sinking further into despair. Because of the infinite price paid by your brother, Jesus, God your father will hold you up” (Keller, 80).