Mandurah 14.12.2008
Introduction
- variety of indicators that many Christians are confused about “The call and gifts of God”
they lack of conviction/consistency in their testimony
- they submit to voices other than the voice of God
- they are afraid that God will call them to some dreadful situation e.g. to be a missionary in a Third World country
- they seek “gift-based ministries”, without a clear biblical framework of calling
- this confusion about call is actually a confusion about our personal identity in Christ
- how God reveals to each of us our distinctive personal identity viz. “who am I” is at the heart of tonight’s teaching
- whenever we want to understand some truth about ourselves as Christians, it is important to see how what we are examining is first of all true of Jesus
- the topic of way “The call and gifts of God” is really a discussion about how the Father shaped Jesus identity as his Son
Jesus’ Call and Identity
1. God forms Jesus Humanity
- series of passages in Isaiah (40 – 55 )that speak of God’s Servant, New Testament identifies this with Jesus, one of these speaks of how God formed him in his mother’s womb
“Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.” (Isa 49:1)
“And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
- Luke’s readers would associate this language with the hovering action of the Spirit of God which shaped the first creation (Gen 1:2) and also filled the temple with glory. [Also [same verb (episkiadzo)] as for the cloud of God’s glory – presence that filled the tabernacle (Ex 40:35; 29, L.X.X.) and the temple (2 Chron 7:1-2; Isa 6:1-4)]. As every detail of the first creation and all the dimensions and furnishings of the dwelling place of God were constructed according to a pattern, so the real dwelling place of the Spirit, Jesus body as temple (John 1:14; 2:19-22) is watched over and fashioned by God.]
2. God Calls Jesus
- first consciousness of a Jesus having a call on his life comes in Luke 2:50 “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
- reveals Jesus consciousness of a unique relationship with the Father
- since this event occurs at Passover time, it is reasonable to assume that at least from this age he was aware of the call to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)
- this consciousness must have been produced in Jesus primarily through the scriptures e.g. “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.” (Isaiah 50:4)
-Jesus was aware that every detail of his life was under God’s providential concern e.g. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom8:28) was something that was perfectly clear to the mind of Christ
-supreme call event is Jesus baptism; the Old Testament prophesies about this in terms of a public mission to the nations
““I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,” (Isa 42:6)
“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”” (Luke 3:21-22).
- central to this call is the empowerment of the Spirit and the pleasure of the Father; these realities will remain on Jesus (Acts 10:38; John 1:33; Luke 4:18; Isa 42:1)because his heart senses that he was born for such a time as this (Esther 4:19)
- he is filled with a complete consciousness of Sonship not despite but because he is stepping out to be the lamb of God (John 1:29) [the Servant of the LORD (Isa 42:1; 52:13- 53:12); the seed that will die for the glory of God (John 12:27- 28)]. who will honour the Father by the supreme sacrifice through which “many sons will come to glory” (Heb 2:10).
- when his own soul now prepared, Jesus is ready (Mark 1:9-15) and able to call others (Mark 1:16-20).
Two implications:
1. we can only be involved in releasing the call of others to the degree that we are obedient to God’s call on our own lives
2. Only if we concentrate on who we are in Jesus the true called One, can we confidently believe that everything we need to fulfil the call of God in our lives i.e. circumstances (John the Baptist’s ministry Luke 3:1- 20), prayer (Luke 3:21) , godly recognition (Matt 3:14), scripture and Spirit (Luke 3:22) will come together in the complete arrangement of God.
- Jesus call must be tested, certainly in being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, but most seriously at the cross
- the crisis of Gethsemane about the cup and will of the Father ““Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”” (Mark 14:36) and the terrible cry from the cross ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Mark 15:34)
- this is a quote from Psalm 22:1, which goes on to say “Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” (vv. 9 – 10) i.e. constant consciousness of the loving care of God
- on the cross, sin cuts across Jesus heart for the Father (2 Cor5:21) so that he has no sense of revealing the Father/kingdom
- no manifest pleasure of Father/power of Spirit = no sense of unity with God = no sense of call
- but, Jesus remained faithful to the call and was raised in power from the dead (Heb 12:2; Rom 1:4)
Our Call and Identity
1. God forms Our Humanity
- this is a sovereign work of God
-“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Ps 139:13 – 16)
- prophets and apostles had an overwhelming consciousness of these truths
- Jeremiah “Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”” (Jer 1:4 – 5)
- Paul “… when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace” (Gal 1:15)
- in Christ, the same reality must be true of us cf. JY mother stubbornness re birth
2. God Calls Us
- God always calls us to himself, we never call him, and because there are no human preconditions to his call it is effective [call serves election (Eph 1:4; Rom 9:11-12)]
- the divine call is a pure act of grace “share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Tim 1:8- 9)
- Abraham, Jeremiah, Peter, Paul etc. believed and obeyed because they heard God’s as a call for their deepest being (that he has formed ) to come forth cf. “deep calls to deep” (Ps 42:7)
[- the call speaks to the heart that God has/is forming, even when this is not recognised e.g. Moses, Jeremiah, Amos]
- God speaks to us when he wishes to entrust us with a task (call relates to task), this task will become dear to us because he has first formed our hearts for this work. What we do for him is therefore our primary passion = what is closest/deepest to our hearts.
- Christ in us (Gal 4:19) is the ground of answering the call “he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son in me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles” (Gal 1:15)
[n.b. deep connection between Christ indwelling Paul and “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27); links to “the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things” (Eph 3:9 cf. Col 1:26)]
The Call Reveals that God and the Person he has made us to be are One
- start with Jesus again> in his emptying himself of heavenly glory and becoming flesh, the call of God on Jesus life was ultimately a call back to the full glory of eternal Sonship (Phil 2:5 – 11; 2 Cor 8:9; John 17:5)
- Jesus is called “the Son of the Most High” Luke 1:32, 35 ( cf. Matt 2:15 etc.) so his disciples might be called sons of God (Matt 5:9 ; Rom 9:26). “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1)
- Jesus’ statements, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:10) ““I and the Father are one.”” (John 10:30) are not only statements about his deity but also about the union of his humanity with the Father. Through, “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14), we share in this oneness.
- the “heavenly calling” [and a “promised eternal inheritance,.”](Heb 3:1; 9:15) is not some paradisical state, but sharing the glory of God and Christ. This is central to the NT teaching on call:
- “we …charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” (1 Thess 2:12)
- “To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess 2:14)
“the God of all grace … has called you to his eternal glory in Christ” 1 Pet 5:10
-“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Pet 1:3)
- “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy” (1 Pet 1:15)
God first shapes us by his grace, then calls us by revealing a task he has for us, and equips us with the gifts needed to manifest his life through our lives in the world.
- the call [in revealing God’s will (=’s revealing God)], exercised through the gift for the task, reveals to us who we are e.g. Russell Sage to JY “none of us know who we are, God is opening to you who he knows you to be”, just after card re picture of a flower unfolding with multiple coloured stripes on the side (JY journal 29/3/03). Through these revelations God was opening up my heart to express his glory.
- the call unveils the unity between our deepest heart – longings, sovereignly implanted by the hand of God, and God’s own heart as our Father
- in biblical understanding the heart is the centre of the person and so the source of life’s authority (Prov 4:23; [““Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” Deut 6:4–5 ])
- this is why call brings passion, authority, hearing from heaven, order , and assurance
[“God’s call is the means by which he makes men who are entirely unqualified into instruments of his will.” (The New international dictionary of New Testament theology, Volume I, page 273), Rom 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1 Paul owes his role as apostle to call]
[- call brings hearing from heaven, because this is where God’s heart ( = Son =Word John 1:1, 18) is e.g. “While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”” “And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Acts 13:2;16:10]
[- call brings order in the subject/community/APEPT because it is creative
“as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” (Rom 4:17)
God’s commanding call creates order in the universe stars “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.” (Isa 40:26) “My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.” (Isa 48:13)]
Confusion about Call
- why then is there so much fear or confusion about call?
- poor teaching is one reason; we cannot know who God is and so who we are in his image apart from his Word [God’s own way of knowing/revealing himself is through the Word it exposes the heart of God and man (John 1:1, 18)]
- we have all been a part of a church that has focused on earthly things rather than the reality of the heavenly things to which we are called cf. Phil 3:14;Col 3:1-3.
- where spiritual identity is formed through earthly realities e.g. confusing the church with the kingdom of God, or where we have listened to human voices as though they were the voice of God (parents, peers, pastors cf. other voices 1 Sam 3:4-10) confusion will reign e.g. JY to P.C.
- for reasons like this, especially when I was a younger Christian, instead of experiencing the call as unfolding me from the inside, I felt it was an alien imposition from outside
- since call relates so deeply to our hearts, these words of Jesus apply to us, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt 6:21); earthly treasure and heavenly call are incompatible
- we so often prefer to focus on things below than above because faithfulness to call inevitably leads to suffering (Rev 17:14)
Call must Lead to Suffering
- as Jesus could only be made “perfect through suffering” (Heb 2:10), we too must share in “the fellowship of his suffering” (Phil 3:10)
-“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” (1 Pet 2:21 cf. 1 Pet 3:9;5:10)
- suffering is essential because it draws out who we most deeply are
“Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. 8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”” (Ps 42:7 – 9)
- greatest test of our faithfulness is not physical or social persecution, but when God seems to have changed his mind about his call on our lives, when the Spirit is silent, nothing is happening, circumstances are all against what we believe he has said
- in these dark times we must remember what scripture teaches, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Rom 11:29) irrevocable – ametamelatos “without regret” [cf. Heb 7:21 ““The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.’””]. Our Father has never regretted calling us to be his children.
- in the way of the cross we all must go through states where God seems to “abandon” his calling on our lives; we need to persevere through these times cf. Heb 12:1 – 2
- an important principle “The call out must be as clear as the call in” e.g. JY Tabor
Called in Community?
- revealing himself is God’s deepest heart: the trinity is a community where each of the Persons live by revealing their love for one another
- call therefore cannot be an individualistic/private matter; the call is necessarily expressed in the family of God
- “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” (1 Pet 2:9)
- Church as kletoi “called ones”
“you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Rom 1:6 – 7 )
The call is from God (Rom 11:29) “in the one body” (Col 3:15) into the community/fellowship of church as a whole (1 Cor 1:26; Eph 4:1)
- church as congregation needs to vitally rediscover this sense in relation to its presence in a particular place e.g. Belmont, Mandurah
Conclusion
- do we recognise the heart preparation of the Father over our lives from the time of conception? It is the call of God that makes such things clear to us. [as there is nothing deeper in God than his self-revelation (“the trinity is the revelation”), so] It opens up the deepest possible self-knowledge of who-we-are-in-Christ.
- scriptures exhort us to seriously consider our calling (1 Cor 1:26), to be saints (1 Cor 1:2) and to live worthy of it [“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” ](Eph 4:1; 1 Thess 2:12)
- the church today will remain divided [cf. “God has called you to peace” (1 Cor 7:15)], immoral and saturated with false teaching until we know by revelation that our calling is to complete God/Christ likeness
(Rom 8:28– 29 “all things …good…called…purpose…conformed …image…Son…”)]
- this is NOT a matter as trivial a pursuit as seeking the blessing of God on who we want to be, but submitting to who he has called us to be
- in the End, when we return to heavenly glory, our call will be fulfilled and we will be as mature, fully personal and distinctive as each of the Persons of the Trinity, and as such will reign with Christ as priests and kings forever (Dan 7:27; Rev 5:10). BUT what about such reigning NOW (Rom 5:17)?