Wow! What a day it has been. I finished up in Western Civ. with a 100 on the final and ended summer school finally. So I was excited about having a few days off to relax and get ready for regular school when I get a call from a friend at Southern Seminary. He is coming down here to be ordained later in the week and he called to give me the details. Anyway, he mentioned I should come up there this week to visit his new church. I have no idea why but something in me decided to go. After a few calls to get the money and an hour later I have a Greyhound ticket to Louisville, KY that leaves at 6:25 am. How completely random is that? I have never been on a bus in my life and now I’m traveling tomorrow by myself. So weird, but I love the weird. So within an hour and a half my plans have completely changed. I hope y’all will pray for me on this trip because after the ticket I have no money to buy food or anything. I don’t know why, but I’m really excited. Maybe God is planning something completely amazing on this trip. Pray I will be open to His guidance.
Here is the other thing I was thinking about today. Isn’t it completely amazing that we live in a country that we can just pick up and go 550 miles and not get anyone permission? I mean, there really are so few places where that is possible. I was listening to an Assemblies of God speaker last night and he made a great point. In this country at this time we have more freedom than any other people or place in history and the majority of us just waste it. We have the freedom of speech, but what do we say? We have the freedom of the press, but what do we write? We have the freedom to travel, but where do we go? We have freedom of religion, but we do believe? And we have freedom to learn anything in the world on any subject, but most of us sit in front of a television watching a sitcom and wasting what God gave us. “I came to the realization that God didn’t create me to watch TV, but to be on TV.” We have all the freedom in the world, but what good is it if we never use it?
As I step onto that bus tomorrow I hope to be eternally thankful because anyone has the right to be on that bus and anyone can sit where they want on that bus. That is such a minor freedom, but may we never take it for granted.
Remember me in your prayers as you are in mine.
In God we Trust,
Jason Vaughn
Friday, July 29, 2005
Fatherhood of God
Have a while to read this one guys. But I think you will like it, also read my previous post I want to know what you think.
Fatherhood of God
Gal. 4:6-7 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
Names of God
Anytime someone comes into an encounter with God and learns something new about Him the give Him a new name to represent that newly discovered trait. It is not that God is changing but that He is showing different areas of His being to His people. When God does this His people describe Him using that trait. The people of Israel rarely would use the term Yahweh, meaning God, because it contained too much power. In the Gospel of Mathew, the writer decides not to use the term out of respect to the Jews he was writing and witnessing too. That is why we read “kingdom of Heaven” instead of “kingdom of God.” So throughout the OT God was given many names, but I believe His favorite name must be the name Father. In the Gospel of John alone Jesus uses the phrase “Abba” meaning father 156 times. Even with all the names already given to Him what could be a greater name than the one used by His own son. You see we can call Him Elohim (Creator), we can call Him Jehovah-ra’ah (a caring shepherd), Jehovah-jireh (the Lord who provides), Jehovah-shalom (the Lord of peace), Jehovah-rophe (the Lord who heals), and we can even call Him Jehovah-nissi (the Lord is my banner, the one who goes out before me). Yet, even with all these glorious and worshipful names we must never forget to call Him Abba, Father, Daddy.
Fatherhood before Christ
God as a father was foreshadowed in the Old Testament and by the time of Jesus’ incarnation there was extensive use in religious circles, but when Christ can the term took upon itself a much more embracing, and spiritual meaning. There were several issues that had to be addressed before a true sense of God’s fatherhood could be seen. First, we needed to truly understand the perfection of God. Second, we needed a sense or correspondence to God without sin. Third, we needed an immediate and unbroken fellowship with God, and be able to find mutual kinship with Him. Each of these issues was realized in the life, teachings, and death of Jesus Christ.
The Son’s Father
Now let us turn our attention to Him who has and continues to experience the fatherhood of God. The term father if nothing else must mean at its core “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” As God the Son, Jesus has a greater relationship with God the Father that any man could ever realize. It was unique, experiential, and all consuming. The filial consciousness, consciousness of sonship, guided Jesus’ thoughts throughout His life. This relationship is the key that gives Christ the authority and foundation for His saving office of humanity. We know that from a young age Christ had this sonship consciousness, if He had not always had it. The first comment out of Jesus’ mouth in scripture testifies to this fact. “Why were you searching for me?” He asked. “Did you not know I would be in my Father’s house?” Some translations read “about my Father’s business?” Christ ministry began with these words from God “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Through the temptations He guarded the relationship and through his teachings He testified to the knowledge from His Father. AS His ministry came to a close at the transfiguration the word “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” gave Christ a renewed assurance as the prospect of death became imminent. Even in His death the sonship consciousness never leaves Him. Jesus tells His disciples just before His betrayal “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” Even though His Father was sacrificing Him for the sake of the redemption of mankind the idea of sonship is still unbroken. The One who offered Him up was the same One Christ leaned on in His crucifixion. While on the cross we read the words that would be a nightmare to any father, if that father were not completely sovereign. His “only begotten Son” is on the cross dying one of the world’s most grueling deaths for sins He never committed and cries out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (One of the few times Christ does not refer to God as Abba) But even in this the filial, sonship consciousness is not broken. There is no sense of sin, and immediately after the initial impact subsides Jesus cries out “Father, into your hand I commit my spirit.” Jesus ended His life in the same way it had begun, proclaiming that kinship with His Father that inspired His life even when all the forces of Hell and God’s wrath were unleashed onto His body and Soul at one time He still cries out “Abba, Father!” This lifelong relationship can leave us saying only on thing: “Surely this man was the Son of God!” May that be our prayer that no matter what is happening around us our hearts will cry out to the One that made and saves us and say “Daddy, into your hand I commit my spirit and everything that I am. I life and in death I want to always know you as Father above all else.”
The Son’s fellowship with the Father guides Christ’s every deed. In John 8:29 Jesus says “The one who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.” Just before the Christ tells how He pleases His Father, “…I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” (John 8:28) The life of Christ is a completely realized fellowship of heart, mind, soul, and strength between God the Son and God the Father. Christ is the Shemah incarnate. Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” This is who Christ is; this is the Son’s relationship to the Father. They have a relationship of pure love given out of every part of His being to God the Father.
The relationship to the Father makes Christ who He is. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (Matt. 11:27) So it is clear that the relationship between the Son and the Father is much greater than the relationship with the rest of creation. Even though Jesus has the authority to make the known to other He keeps that authority for Himself. Those He shows the Father to can’t show the Father to others except by showing them the Son!
The sonship of Christ did not occur with the incarnation. Christ was still God the Son before He took on the flesh of humanity. This is clearly shown in the prologue of the gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men (John 1:1-2). There are other verses that also testify to this such as John 8:58 “Before Abraham was, I Am.” And John 17:5 “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” So it made quite clear that Christ existed before the incarnation in the same relationship to God the Father.
The Father reveals, orders, and upholds. The Son perceives, trusts, and obeys. All glory that is given to the Son comes from the Father. “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” (John 17:1) The Son was given glory to give glory back to the Father. Christ submits His own well to the will of the Father. “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Fatherhood of God to Believers
Jesus also consistently teaches that God if the Father of the disciples. To know God as Father it must be experienced through the sonship. God is always the Father, but we are not always His sons, at least not in an experiential sense. Scripture teaches “He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be hold and blameless in His sight.” (Eph 1:4) We become sons of God through Jesus Christ. “Yet to all who receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John1:22) “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. (Gal. 4:4-5) And of course Jesus clearly proclaims this in John 14:6 when He says “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father, but by me!” In Matt. 11:27 Christ proclaims, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” It is because of this we offer the invitation of “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28)
When we accept Christ we change our relationship from enemies of God and slaves to sin, to sons of God, freed from sin’s bondage, and our sin nature is transformed to a regenerate nature. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Gal 4:6-7)
Slaves are not heirs. Enemies are not heirs. In most cultures, daughters are not even heirs. Sons are heirs. They inherit the kingdom of God and become kings themselves. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” (Rom. 8:17) We are children of God and heirs of His kingdom. And we will live as such for eternity.
My favorite place to visit in Washington, D.C is Arlington National Cemetery. The summer after I graduate High School a group of us went on a road trip and stopped in D.C. for a day. While there I actually got into an argument with the people I was with because they didn’t want to see “a bunch of graves.” They won out, but it is because they just didn’t get it. It’s not a bunch of grave. It is the heroes of our nation. The interesting and amazing thing about Arlington is that almost all of the graves are the same, Corporals and Sergeants, Generals and Privates all buried with the same honor and respect as the next. This is the only country in the world where a General can be buries beside a Private in a fashion that shows no preference. You wouldn’t even know there rank if not for what is written on the markers.
That is what being a son of God is about; there is no preference. From the chief of sinner to the most righteous of men, God will call each believer His son and no one will ever know the difference, not even by the markers on our grave.
What kind of Father is God?
I want to take and explore a few of the characteristics of God, especially as it applies to His children. I won’t go into great detail for time sake so if you would like more information contact me later.
Our Father is wise. “Oh, the depth of the riches of wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!” (Rom. 11:33) You thought it was from the Proverbs or a Psalm didn’t you? If our Father is a wise father we can trust Him to make wise decisions for our life as His Spirit guides us.
Our Father is a loving father. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:8-10) Our Father’s love means that He gives out everything that He is for His sons.
Our Father is full of grace. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:22-24) Because of His grace our father has stayed His wrathful hand, He has sacrificed His only Son, and He has justified His adopted children.
Our Father is a comforting father. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distress it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Cor. 1:3-7) Enough said.
Our Father is a Holy Father. “Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.” (Heb. 12:10) He has completely separated Himself from sin and helps us to do the same.
Our Father is a jealous father. “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” (Isaiah 48:11) He seeks out and protects His glory above all else because He is the only one that deserves glory. It is not vanity that He demands worship, but out of His holiness and love. You may be saying “But love is not self-seeking.” No, love is not self-seeking, but it does seek to make its lover joyous. I was listening to a John Piper sermon a while back and he said lovers do no continue to tell one another of their love for each other out of duty; they of their love for each other because it would be incomplete without expression. This is same reason God demands worship, because unless our love is expressed it is incomplete. Until we share that love through speech, song, movement, and with everything else that we are our relationship with the Father will be lacking. Our Father must demand our love and we must express that love to Him because He is the only being in the universe worthy of any glory.
Finally, our Father is a patient father. We were born sinners and deserved death from the moment of conception. Yet God in His wondrous love and grace has stayed His hand until such a time as He so wills to bring His sons home. We see this best in the tale of the prodigal son. “Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' ”‘My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
This is who our Father is: wise, loving, graceful, holy, jealous, and patient. May we have the same sonship consciousness that Christ has made us worthy to receive. You may have known God by many names. Some of them may not even be good and true names. You may have called God insulting and belittling names because you blamed Him and were angry with Him. Now, I simply ask you to call Him one name, Daddy. Whether you are a son that has gone astray and has been feeding with the pigs or a son that has not yet met his real Father, He is watching for you. Maybe you are the other brother, and you have become complacent with the blessing of God as you stay in the House of the Lord. As a son of God we can not afford to become apathetic to God’s grace. As an heir to the kingdom we have a vested interest in advancing God’s possessions (His children) and the other brother was not doing his part. Whatever you need to do to meet the Son, Jesus Christ, so He can show you the Father, do it now. Or if you are driving later this week or year or whenever it might be and you hear the voice of your Father saying “Come home” do it that very moment. The Holy Spirit seeks out the children of God and shows them the way into His presence. Sonship comes with so many rewards and triumphs, but best of all is that when God sends you through the refining fires He is right there with you just as He was His only begotten Son on the cross.
In God we Trust,
Jason Vaughn
Fatherhood of God
Gal. 4:6-7 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"
So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
Names of God
Anytime someone comes into an encounter with God and learns something new about Him the give Him a new name to represent that newly discovered trait. It is not that God is changing but that He is showing different areas of His being to His people. When God does this His people describe Him using that trait. The people of Israel rarely would use the term Yahweh, meaning God, because it contained too much power. In the Gospel of Mathew, the writer decides not to use the term out of respect to the Jews he was writing and witnessing too. That is why we read “kingdom of Heaven” instead of “kingdom of God.” So throughout the OT God was given many names, but I believe His favorite name must be the name Father. In the Gospel of John alone Jesus uses the phrase “Abba” meaning father 156 times. Even with all the names already given to Him what could be a greater name than the one used by His own son. You see we can call Him Elohim (Creator), we can call Him Jehovah-ra’ah (a caring shepherd), Jehovah-jireh (the Lord who provides), Jehovah-shalom (the Lord of peace), Jehovah-rophe (the Lord who heals), and we can even call Him Jehovah-nissi (the Lord is my banner, the one who goes out before me). Yet, even with all these glorious and worshipful names we must never forget to call Him Abba, Father, Daddy.
Fatherhood before Christ
God as a father was foreshadowed in the Old Testament and by the time of Jesus’ incarnation there was extensive use in religious circles, but when Christ can the term took upon itself a much more embracing, and spiritual meaning. There were several issues that had to be addressed before a true sense of God’s fatherhood could be seen. First, we needed to truly understand the perfection of God. Second, we needed a sense or correspondence to God without sin. Third, we needed an immediate and unbroken fellowship with God, and be able to find mutual kinship with Him. Each of these issues was realized in the life, teachings, and death of Jesus Christ.
The Son’s Father
Now let us turn our attention to Him who has and continues to experience the fatherhood of God. The term father if nothing else must mean at its core “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” As God the Son, Jesus has a greater relationship with God the Father that any man could ever realize. It was unique, experiential, and all consuming. The filial consciousness, consciousness of sonship, guided Jesus’ thoughts throughout His life. This relationship is the key that gives Christ the authority and foundation for His saving office of humanity. We know that from a young age Christ had this sonship consciousness, if He had not always had it. The first comment out of Jesus’ mouth in scripture testifies to this fact. “Why were you searching for me?” He asked. “Did you not know I would be in my Father’s house?” Some translations read “about my Father’s business?” Christ ministry began with these words from God “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Through the temptations He guarded the relationship and through his teachings He testified to the knowledge from His Father. AS His ministry came to a close at the transfiguration the word “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” gave Christ a renewed assurance as the prospect of death became imminent. Even in His death the sonship consciousness never leaves Him. Jesus tells His disciples just before His betrayal “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” Even though His Father was sacrificing Him for the sake of the redemption of mankind the idea of sonship is still unbroken. The One who offered Him up was the same One Christ leaned on in His crucifixion. While on the cross we read the words that would be a nightmare to any father, if that father were not completely sovereign. His “only begotten Son” is on the cross dying one of the world’s most grueling deaths for sins He never committed and cries out “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (One of the few times Christ does not refer to God as Abba) But even in this the filial, sonship consciousness is not broken. There is no sense of sin, and immediately after the initial impact subsides Jesus cries out “Father, into your hand I commit my spirit.” Jesus ended His life in the same way it had begun, proclaiming that kinship with His Father that inspired His life even when all the forces of Hell and God’s wrath were unleashed onto His body and Soul at one time He still cries out “Abba, Father!” This lifelong relationship can leave us saying only on thing: “Surely this man was the Son of God!” May that be our prayer that no matter what is happening around us our hearts will cry out to the One that made and saves us and say “Daddy, into your hand I commit my spirit and everything that I am. I life and in death I want to always know you as Father above all else.”
The Son’s fellowship with the Father guides Christ’s every deed. In John 8:29 Jesus says “The one who sent me is with me; He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.” Just before the Christ tells how He pleases His Father, “…I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” (John 8:28) The life of Christ is a completely realized fellowship of heart, mind, soul, and strength between God the Son and God the Father. Christ is the Shemah incarnate. Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” This is who Christ is; this is the Son’s relationship to the Father. They have a relationship of pure love given out of every part of His being to God the Father.
The relationship to the Father makes Christ who He is. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (Matt. 11:27) So it is clear that the relationship between the Son and the Father is much greater than the relationship with the rest of creation. Even though Jesus has the authority to make the known to other He keeps that authority for Himself. Those He shows the Father to can’t show the Father to others except by showing them the Son!
The sonship of Christ did not occur with the incarnation. Christ was still God the Son before He took on the flesh of humanity. This is clearly shown in the prologue of the gospel of John. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men (John 1:1-2). There are other verses that also testify to this such as John 8:58 “Before Abraham was, I Am.” And John 17:5 “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” So it made quite clear that Christ existed before the incarnation in the same relationship to God the Father.
The Father reveals, orders, and upholds. The Son perceives, trusts, and obeys. All glory that is given to the Son comes from the Father. “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” (John 17:1) The Son was given glory to give glory back to the Father. Christ submits His own well to the will of the Father. “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Fatherhood of God to Believers
Jesus also consistently teaches that God if the Father of the disciples. To know God as Father it must be experienced through the sonship. God is always the Father, but we are not always His sons, at least not in an experiential sense. Scripture teaches “He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be hold and blameless in His sight.” (Eph 1:4) We become sons of God through Jesus Christ. “Yet to all who receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John1:22) “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. (Gal. 4:4-5) And of course Jesus clearly proclaims this in John 14:6 when He says “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes to the Father, but by me!” In Matt. 11:27 Christ proclaims, “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” It is because of this we offer the invitation of “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28)
When we accept Christ we change our relationship from enemies of God and slaves to sin, to sons of God, freed from sin’s bondage, and our sin nature is transformed to a regenerate nature. “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Gal 4:6-7)
Slaves are not heirs. Enemies are not heirs. In most cultures, daughters are not even heirs. Sons are heirs. They inherit the kingdom of God and become kings themselves. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” (Rom. 8:17) We are children of God and heirs of His kingdom. And we will live as such for eternity.
My favorite place to visit in Washington, D.C is Arlington National Cemetery. The summer after I graduate High School a group of us went on a road trip and stopped in D.C. for a day. While there I actually got into an argument with the people I was with because they didn’t want to see “a bunch of graves.” They won out, but it is because they just didn’t get it. It’s not a bunch of grave. It is the heroes of our nation. The interesting and amazing thing about Arlington is that almost all of the graves are the same, Corporals and Sergeants, Generals and Privates all buried with the same honor and respect as the next. This is the only country in the world where a General can be buries beside a Private in a fashion that shows no preference. You wouldn’t even know there rank if not for what is written on the markers.
That is what being a son of God is about; there is no preference. From the chief of sinner to the most righteous of men, God will call each believer His son and no one will ever know the difference, not even by the markers on our grave.
What kind of Father is God?
I want to take and explore a few of the characteristics of God, especially as it applies to His children. I won’t go into great detail for time sake so if you would like more information contact me later.
Our Father is wise. “Oh, the depth of the riches of wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!” (Rom. 11:33) You thought it was from the Proverbs or a Psalm didn’t you? If our Father is a wise father we can trust Him to make wise decisions for our life as His Spirit guides us.
Our Father is a loving father. “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:8-10) Our Father’s love means that He gives out everything that He is for His sons.
Our Father is full of grace. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 3:22-24) Because of His grace our father has stayed His wrathful hand, He has sacrificed His only Son, and He has justified His adopted children.
Our Father is a comforting father. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distress it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.” (2 Cor. 1:3-7) Enough said.
Our Father is a Holy Father. “Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.” (Heb. 12:10) He has completely separated Himself from sin and helps us to do the same.
Our Father is a jealous father. “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.” (Isaiah 48:11) He seeks out and protects His glory above all else because He is the only one that deserves glory. It is not vanity that He demands worship, but out of His holiness and love. You may be saying “But love is not self-seeking.” No, love is not self-seeking, but it does seek to make its lover joyous. I was listening to a John Piper sermon a while back and he said lovers do no continue to tell one another of their love for each other out of duty; they of their love for each other because it would be incomplete without expression. This is same reason God demands worship, because unless our love is expressed it is incomplete. Until we share that love through speech, song, movement, and with everything else that we are our relationship with the Father will be lacking. Our Father must demand our love and we must express that love to Him because He is the only being in the universe worthy of any glory.
Finally, our Father is a patient father. We were born sinners and deserved death from the moment of conception. Yet God in His wondrous love and grace has stayed His hand until such a time as He so wills to bring His sons home. We see this best in the tale of the prodigal son. “Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' ”‘My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "
This is who our Father is: wise, loving, graceful, holy, jealous, and patient. May we have the same sonship consciousness that Christ has made us worthy to receive. You may have known God by many names. Some of them may not even be good and true names. You may have called God insulting and belittling names because you blamed Him and were angry with Him. Now, I simply ask you to call Him one name, Daddy. Whether you are a son that has gone astray and has been feeding with the pigs or a son that has not yet met his real Father, He is watching for you. Maybe you are the other brother, and you have become complacent with the blessing of God as you stay in the House of the Lord. As a son of God we can not afford to become apathetic to God’s grace. As an heir to the kingdom we have a vested interest in advancing God’s possessions (His children) and the other brother was not doing his part. Whatever you need to do to meet the Son, Jesus Christ, so He can show you the Father, do it now. Or if you are driving later this week or year or whenever it might be and you hear the voice of your Father saying “Come home” do it that very moment. The Holy Spirit seeks out the children of God and shows them the way into His presence. Sonship comes with so many rewards and triumphs, but best of all is that when God sends you through the refining fires He is right there with you just as He was His only begotten Son on the cross.
In God we Trust,
Jason Vaughn
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Intolerant Love
So we were discussing toleration in Principles of Evangelism class this week and I thought why not expand on that. The idea that Christians are intolerant is absurd if we are truly following the principles of Christ we are to be the most accepting people on the planet. Look who Christ was around, the riffraff, the prostitutes, the adulterers, the prisoners, the delinquents, and the lepers. Christ said in Matthew 9: 12-13 "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
So if this is so should we, as Christians, not follow after this example? And if we are following after Christ, then why are we considered intolerant? As Christians we accept people from every walk of life and lifestyle into God’s kingdom. Rich, poor, black, white, young, old, straight, gay God desires all of these people to be saved. The reason we are considered intolerant is because once a person has come to Christ, there will be a change in them that pulls them away from sin. They are new creatures with a regenerate nature. So the reason we appear intolerant is because the Church, like God, cannot accept sin into the church. So once a person becomes part of the family of Christ they are also expected to strive for holiness and turn from sin. Why? Because we are to imitate and become like Christ. Sin keeps us from having a perfect relationship with God.
The church cannot be tolerant of sin because we know there is something greater out there. The pleasures of sin are temporary, but the love of God is eternal. We should always strive for holiness because our God is Holy. This is why we may seem intolerant to the world.
So in conclusion we are not to be intolerant of those outside the church, but we are to be intolerant of sin inside the church. Christ takes us where we are and brings us closer to Him.
I leave you with these words from Lady Liberty.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Just remember who the true door is.
So if this is so should we, as Christians, not follow after this example? And if we are following after Christ, then why are we considered intolerant? As Christians we accept people from every walk of life and lifestyle into God’s kingdom. Rich, poor, black, white, young, old, straight, gay God desires all of these people to be saved. The reason we are considered intolerant is because once a person has come to Christ, there will be a change in them that pulls them away from sin. They are new creatures with a regenerate nature. So the reason we appear intolerant is because the Church, like God, cannot accept sin into the church. So once a person becomes part of the family of Christ they are also expected to strive for holiness and turn from sin. Why? Because we are to imitate and become like Christ. Sin keeps us from having a perfect relationship with God.
The church cannot be tolerant of sin because we know there is something greater out there. The pleasures of sin are temporary, but the love of God is eternal. We should always strive for holiness because our God is Holy. This is why we may seem intolerant to the world.
So in conclusion we are not to be intolerant of those outside the church, but we are to be intolerant of sin inside the church. Christ takes us where we are and brings us closer to Him.
I leave you with these words from Lady Liberty.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Just remember who the true door is.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Confession
Is it really supposed to be like this? The fighting, the ridicule, the finger pointing? Is this what Christ had in mind?
We complain a lot about how screwed up the world is out there. The abortion, divorce, war, etc. But the world is supposed to be like that. The world is lost. The world is bound by sin. So from those bound by sin we should expect such things and not judge the lost for God has set their judgment as He has ours. But is the church supposed to be like that as well?
As most of you know I am a 5 point Calvinist, which mean I believe God has ordained all and is in ultimate control, but according to scripture the church should not be a small microcosm of the world.
The church is in such a distress right now and considering who we serve this should not be possible if we were truly serving Him. In this blog I want to take a minute to look at one specific reason we may be in such dire straights.
I think it is because we have lost all forms of trust in the church, especially when it comes to confession of sin. We no longer are willing to come forth to our brothers and sisters in Christ and admit there is a challenge we face with sin in our lives. But if that sin is discovered the entire body of Christ quickly jumps for the kill.
Here is the question I pose to both myself and my readers: If you are dealing with a sin would you feel comfortable divulging that sin to someone like you?
If there was some struggle in your life and everyone in your church was likely to react as you would if you told them, would you be willing to confess that sin?
What reaction do you have when you hear of someone's failings?
Do you laugh? "I knew it; I knew they were too good to be true."
Do you spread the word? "Hey George, guess what I found out."
Do you get angry? "That *****, I can't believe he would do that!"
Are you jealous because you didn't know earlier? "He should have said something."
Are you in disbelief? "I can't believe that he would.., him of all people."
Are you broken and hurt? "How could he do this to me?"
Are you speechless?
Maybe you experience all those emotions as it processes in your mind. Maybe you are just numb for a while. Whatever your initial response is, there is only one final response that will honor God, prayer. Prayer that that person will come out of sin, that they will be healed with God's power, and God will be glorified.
If that was our response to a confession of sin how much stronger would the church be? How much stronger would we be?
Is it appropriate to judge those that claim the name of Christ? Yes. We are to judge the sins of believers because if we do not the sin will continue, and a full fellowsip with God cannot be realized. But we are to judge as God judges, out of holiness, out of love, and through the blood of Christ.
So what are we to do about this trust issue? Here is the first step: Be honest with yourself about your own sinfulness. Remember that you need a savior too. Step 2: Now that you realize you failings when you hear of others do for them what you ask for yourself. Step 3: Trust someone with confession your sin. Every one of them, not just the small ones that we consider to be frivolous sin (though there is no such thing). Take the risk and pray God will receive the glory from it and bless you with a friendly ear.
Remember those you confess your sins too may not always follow those principles. They may spit in your face and tell the world. But He who saved you is there to comfort you. Be obedient to Him alone, and bear the cross of Christ with His strength. It is not easy to share that we are failures, but scripture demands it.
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
When we bear our burdens together the load is lighter, and the journey shorter.
I'm about to do something that I may regret, but I feel it necessary to prove my point. Below is a list of every sin I have dealt with both past and present. It is not an exhaustive list as many times I sin and do not even realize it. I tell you this for several reasons. First, my God has forgiven me and is bringing or has brought me out of each one and He receives the glory for that. The victory was won at the Cross, and I'm just battling myself and the enemy that hasn't gotten the message yet. Second, I desire you to realize I write these words out of personal conviction and not mere judgment on others. Third, I ask for prayer over these sins that I may still face. Finally, I pray it will shed some light on sin in your life that you may confess it before God and man, and join me in broken repentance.
Lust, Pride, Jealousy, Covetedness, Racism, Slothfulness, Gluttony, Theft, Disrespect of authority, Idolatry, Hatred, Lying, Betrayal, and Blasphemy.
My sins are great, but I serve a God greater than them. Judge as you wish, but my lot has been cast, and my chains have been broken. I am freed.
What about you?
In God we Trust,
Jason Vaughn
We complain a lot about how screwed up the world is out there. The abortion, divorce, war, etc. But the world is supposed to be like that. The world is lost. The world is bound by sin. So from those bound by sin we should expect such things and not judge the lost for God has set their judgment as He has ours. But is the church supposed to be like that as well?
As most of you know I am a 5 point Calvinist, which mean I believe God has ordained all and is in ultimate control, but according to scripture the church should not be a small microcosm of the world.
The church is in such a distress right now and considering who we serve this should not be possible if we were truly serving Him. In this blog I want to take a minute to look at one specific reason we may be in such dire straights.
I think it is because we have lost all forms of trust in the church, especially when it comes to confession of sin. We no longer are willing to come forth to our brothers and sisters in Christ and admit there is a challenge we face with sin in our lives. But if that sin is discovered the entire body of Christ quickly jumps for the kill.
Here is the question I pose to both myself and my readers: If you are dealing with a sin would you feel comfortable divulging that sin to someone like you?
If there was some struggle in your life and everyone in your church was likely to react as you would if you told them, would you be willing to confess that sin?
What reaction do you have when you hear of someone's failings?
Do you laugh? "I knew it; I knew they were too good to be true."
Do you spread the word? "Hey George, guess what I found out."
Do you get angry? "That *****, I can't believe he would do that!"
Are you jealous because you didn't know earlier? "He should have said something."
Are you in disbelief? "I can't believe that he would.., him of all people."
Are you broken and hurt? "How could he do this to me?"
Are you speechless?
Maybe you experience all those emotions as it processes in your mind. Maybe you are just numb for a while. Whatever your initial response is, there is only one final response that will honor God, prayer. Prayer that that person will come out of sin, that they will be healed with God's power, and God will be glorified.
If that was our response to a confession of sin how much stronger would the church be? How much stronger would we be?
Is it appropriate to judge those that claim the name of Christ? Yes. We are to judge the sins of believers because if we do not the sin will continue, and a full fellowsip with God cannot be realized. But we are to judge as God judges, out of holiness, out of love, and through the blood of Christ.
So what are we to do about this trust issue? Here is the first step: Be honest with yourself about your own sinfulness. Remember that you need a savior too. Step 2: Now that you realize you failings when you hear of others do for them what you ask for yourself. Step 3: Trust someone with confession your sin. Every one of them, not just the small ones that we consider to be frivolous sin (though there is no such thing). Take the risk and pray God will receive the glory from it and bless you with a friendly ear.
Remember those you confess your sins too may not always follow those principles. They may spit in your face and tell the world. But He who saved you is there to comfort you. Be obedient to Him alone, and bear the cross of Christ with His strength. It is not easy to share that we are failures, but scripture demands it.
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
When we bear our burdens together the load is lighter, and the journey shorter.
I'm about to do something that I may regret, but I feel it necessary to prove my point. Below is a list of every sin I have dealt with both past and present. It is not an exhaustive list as many times I sin and do not even realize it. I tell you this for several reasons. First, my God has forgiven me and is bringing or has brought me out of each one and He receives the glory for that. The victory was won at the Cross, and I'm just battling myself and the enemy that hasn't gotten the message yet. Second, I desire you to realize I write these words out of personal conviction and not mere judgment on others. Third, I ask for prayer over these sins that I may still face. Finally, I pray it will shed some light on sin in your life that you may confess it before God and man, and join me in broken repentance.
Lust, Pride, Jealousy, Covetedness, Racism, Slothfulness, Gluttony, Theft, Disrespect of authority, Idolatry, Hatred, Lying, Betrayal, and Blasphemy.
My sins are great, but I serve a God greater than them. Judge as you wish, but my lot has been cast, and my chains have been broken. I am freed.
What about you?
In God we Trust,
Jason Vaughn
Christians tick me off!
Seriously, some "Christians" are just plain ignorant. Recently, it was revealed that someone I know was struggling with the sin of homosexuality. I found this out because a fellow Christian told me about it. What upsets me is that he told me in gossip (a sin itself) instead of in brokenness and concern for the individual. It really annoys me that certain sins Christians would rather make fun of someone instead of embracing them and praying for them to find a way out of that sin. It truly is ridiculous. When it comes to sins of adultery, homosexuality, and promiscuity Christians are more likely to completely cut that person off than to love them. I am not saying that we should accept these sins, but I am saying that each and everyone of us has been caught up in some sort of sin at some point in our lives, and the blood of Christ covers the sin of adultery as well as the sin of gossip.
I have to admit I find myself guilty of this same stupidity. I talked about certain person that recently left his wife and instead of showing concern laughed and made jokes concerning it. Now I feel that we do this at times because we don't want to realize the truth of what is happening. Concerning the man that committed adultery, he was a man I looked up to and once I stopped being moronic and looking at it I realized how much it hurt. That can never give us a right though to sin in return by gossiping or making light of sin.
I truly feel that we must stop being so stupid when it comes to others sin. Each of us has accepted Christ still struggle daily to honor Him and many times we fall. Yet, when we discover a brother’s sin our immediate fleshly reaction is to tell someone else. "Wait till so and so hears this...”
In Luke 7:47 Christ says "Therefore I tell you her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he, who is forgiven little, loves little." Maybe the reason we find it so hard to accept these people with concern is that most of us have never been part of that sin. But that is not because of our righteousness or holiness it is because God Almighty, as was stated in my class today, saves some people from it, and others out of it. Just because God decided to save us from it does not mean we are greater it is simply what God in His sovereign judgment has chosen to do. If not for His grace who knows where we would be and what abominations we would be committing.
As many of you know, when I was ten years old I was molested. Because of this traumatic experience I struggled for years with sexual sins, and it wasn't until very recently God started to completely free me of that. Until last year I had never even told a fellow believer, except my youth pastor, about the struggle. I praise God that He brought me out of that and used that to help me understand the struggles of others. I pray God does not have to submit you to that before our eyes will be opened to the challenges some believers face. I urge each of you to look at your past and realize whether or not God has saved you from sin or out of sin He still had to do the saving. Without His working in our life we not only we be enthralled by the world, but also by damnation. We aren't perfect and we shouldn't expect others to be, though we should continue to pray those that have fallen because only God can pick them up. So next time a brother comes to you and says "Guess what I heard about...” why don't you ask him if he is telling you out of concern or gosip. Either way we should take the next step and pray for both of those brothers or sisters. Remember, you needed a savior too.
In God we Trust,
Jason Vaughn
I have to admit I find myself guilty of this same stupidity. I talked about certain person that recently left his wife and instead of showing concern laughed and made jokes concerning it. Now I feel that we do this at times because we don't want to realize the truth of what is happening. Concerning the man that committed adultery, he was a man I looked up to and once I stopped being moronic and looking at it I realized how much it hurt. That can never give us a right though to sin in return by gossiping or making light of sin.
I truly feel that we must stop being so stupid when it comes to others sin. Each of us has accepted Christ still struggle daily to honor Him and many times we fall. Yet, when we discover a brother’s sin our immediate fleshly reaction is to tell someone else. "Wait till so and so hears this...”
In Luke 7:47 Christ says "Therefore I tell you her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he, who is forgiven little, loves little." Maybe the reason we find it so hard to accept these people with concern is that most of us have never been part of that sin. But that is not because of our righteousness or holiness it is because God Almighty, as was stated in my class today, saves some people from it, and others out of it. Just because God decided to save us from it does not mean we are greater it is simply what God in His sovereign judgment has chosen to do. If not for His grace who knows where we would be and what abominations we would be committing.
As many of you know, when I was ten years old I was molested. Because of this traumatic experience I struggled for years with sexual sins, and it wasn't until very recently God started to completely free me of that. Until last year I had never even told a fellow believer, except my youth pastor, about the struggle. I praise God that He brought me out of that and used that to help me understand the struggles of others. I pray God does not have to submit you to that before our eyes will be opened to the challenges some believers face. I urge each of you to look at your past and realize whether or not God has saved you from sin or out of sin He still had to do the saving. Without His working in our life we not only we be enthralled by the world, but also by damnation. We aren't perfect and we shouldn't expect others to be, though we should continue to pray those that have fallen because only God can pick them up. So next time a brother comes to you and says "Guess what I heard about...” why don't you ask him if he is telling you out of concern or gosip. Either way we should take the next step and pray for both of those brothers or sisters. Remember, you needed a savior too.
In God we Trust,
Jason Vaughn
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