The Father and His Children 1. The Pleasure of the Father 4.7.07

Introduction: RF (something like the below)

- background to series, why topic of Father chosen

- importance of this topic RF’s abused woman on streets ofArgentinastory

- impact of fatherlessness e.g. www.fathersonline.org  Bill Muehlenberg

- A US study found that girls who grow up without fathers were “53 percent more likely to marry as teenagers, 111 percent more likely to have children as teenagers, 164 percent more likely to have a premarital birth, and 92 percent more likely to dissolve their own marriages etc.

- Jesus did not come to reveal “God”, he came to reveal that God is Father

- Why begin with the topic, “The Pleasure of the Father”?

- Deep cultural confusion about pleasure has penetrated the church from our hedonistic society, pleasure viewed as primarily sensuous and emotional, rather than relational and moral

Teaching Segment : JY footnotes are material not included in oral presentation

 

 

Created in Pleasure

 

The starting point for all we can know about God is his pleasure, because this is his central motivating force for creating.[1] Whatever came into being through the will of God was very good (Gen 1:31) and brought him intense pleasure.[2]

According to the Old Testament, when God laid the foundations of the earth “the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy?” (Job 38:7); God’s wisdom “was beside him, like a master workman, …daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.” (Prov8:30- 31).

 

Edenmeans “delight”, and the garden image corresponds to the pleasure parks created for the enjoyment of ancient oriental kings. Everything inEdenwas a source of pleasure, including its trees, “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen 2:9)

 

In their stewardship of the earth Adam and Eve were to be motivated by a desire to remain in union with the divine pleasure. This meant staying in harmony with his will expressed in his Word. Their obedience was never to be legalistic rule keeping. The drawing power of God’s pure pleasure is never coercive. Where we encounter control in the church today we can be sure its authority figures have lost a sense of the sufficiency of the Father’s pleasure to motivate the people of God.

 

God always wanted humanity to “know good and evil”” as he and the holy angels know it (Gen 3:5; 22). If Adam and Eve had recognized the goodness of God’s Word and rejected the testimony of Satan as evil, they would have passed into the pure pleasure of holiness.[3] The presence of the person of the Word of God (Jesus) would have enabled the human conscience to confront and surmount the horror of manifest evil so they would have become fully “like God”. They would have come into a revelation of the Holy andAlmighty Father that abolished the possibility of judgement and death forever (cf. 2 Tim1:10).

 

As it is, people without the indwelling Word of God cannot cope with the amount of evil in the world – they accuse God, or, more usually in affluent societies, simply ignore the suffering of the majority. Those who cannot escape pain try to smother it with various forms of earthly pleasure.

 

Warned without Pleasure

 

The command in Eden, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”” (Gen 2:17) communicated an anguish that had already pierced the heart of God. The pathos of God communicated to them what death meant. His word of warning revealed the state of a Father’s heart who already knew what it was like to lose a son.

 

In various places in the Old Testament angels are called “sons of God” (Deut 32:8; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Ps 89:6), and the New Testament speaks of angelic beings who fell from grace (2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6 cf. Gen 6:1ff.). In the rebellion of Satan God had already experienced the death of a son. This was the pain that the Father expressed in his Word to Adam and Eve when he warned them that the wages of sin is death[4].

 

The Pleasure of Sin

 

“the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Gen 3:6)

 

Australians seem convinced it is God’s will to exclude us from pleasures. Foxtel example – late night channel, something to do with naked women, parent controlled so channel shut down, I bet the instinctive thought in the mind of his son is, dad is keeping something (x) away from me that I would enjoy, rather than this (x) might harm me .

 

Sin has a real even if “fleeting pleasure” (Heb 11:25). What makes sin’s pleasure different from the pleasure of God, it is created by an act of my own will and is self –centred, it is not recognised as a gift. In sinning for pleasure humans imagine[5], a virtual world created and perfected by their own will. In acting to please themselves, they become lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Tim 3:4).

 

Adam and Eve effectively cursed God as a Father by rejecting his Word.[6] We are now burdened with the terrible reality of knowing evil – and ourselves as its source, without the presence and comfort of God as a Father.

 

This moral burden, which manifests itself in the godless realms of guilt and shame, is too much for human beings to bear.[7] Our sense of moral failure is our own. We must resort to all manner of materialism, sensuousness, substance – abuse, people pleasing, religious idolatry and lies to smother and anaesthetise the spiritual pain of fallen existence. As truth and light God cannot do this e.g. create another planet.

 

Sin means the Loss of Fatherly Pleasure

 

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”” (Gen 6:5- 7)

 

This is one of the saddest texts in the whole Bible – God’s heart was filled with pain. We must however interpret this text accurately. The grief of God is not a matter of self—interest, as if we had spoiled his party, but pain in the context of having to judge evil humanity. “For us, God’s anger causes pain, but for God, his anger is pain.” (Heschel)

 

Everything that God wills is good, but not everything that he wills brings him pleasure.

A text from Ezekiel is especially helpful here, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11[8]

 

 

Jesus as the Pleasure of the Father

Only Jesus can restore to us the pleasures of the Father because he alone is the eternal Son of God. As an old song[9] puts it, Jesus is “the joy of heaven to earth come down”. The angels shared this message, ““Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord….And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”” (Luke2:10- 11, 13 – 14).

The first clear evidence that Jesus is contained within the pleasure of the Father is found at his baptism, “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.” (Luke3:21- 22).

 

It is in the strength of the joy of the Lord (Neh 8:10) that Jesus overcomes Satan in the wilderness and presses on to despoil his dominion (Matt 12:29; Col1:13). Christ is fully pleasing to the Father because he will destroy that which robs the Father of his pleasure in humanity. Only Jesus in all of history could think of saying, “And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” (John 8:29).

 

The Pleasure of the Kingdom of God

 

What brings pleasure to the Father is Jesus’ destruction of the power of evil in the dynamic operation of the kingdomof God– his casting out demons, healing the sick, feeding the poor, saving the lost. Wherever the kingdomof Godis at work there is joy.[10]

 

After the seventy two disciples returned to Jesus having fulfilled their commission to heal the sick, cast out demons and preach the gospel, he broke out in spontaneous praise, “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” (Luke 10:21). The gracious will of the Father (eudokia = satisfaction,pleasure) comes to its climax in the cross.

 

The Sacrifice that Brings Perfect Pleasure to the Father

 

One contemporary criticism of traditional understandings of the death of Christ is that it is cosmic child abuse. A father punishes an innocent son to extinguish his blazing anger. “God so HATED the world that he sent his Son so he’d cop God’s rage and not you!”

 

No one I know actually will say they believe this, but the enormous confusion about God as Father amongst Christians tell us that deep in the moral conscience of most believers is a conviction that he indeed is an “angry Father”. The sort of confusion I mean is revealed in prayers to “God” or Jesus rather than “Father”, in widespread prayerlessness, lack of intimacy, complaining and falling away.[11]

 

Jesus alone never feared man because he knew that there is no such a thing as an “angry Father.” Jesus knew what we all need to know, that he had come into existence as a human being with the sole purpose of pleasing his Father, “For in him (Jesus) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. ” (Col1:19- 20)

Jesus heart was to bring joy to the Father- at whatever cost,[12] as the Lamb of God “chosen before the foundation of the world” (John 1:29; 1 Pet 1:19- 20; Rev 13:8) from eternity he knew the cost of pleasing the Father would be his death as a Son.

 

In heaven the eternal Son always knew the pleasure of the Father’s will as a matter of direct sight/beatific vision. But not even the Son can know the goodness of the Father in the place of “No pleasure”? This is Jesus struggle inGethsemane.

 

He knew he was to enter into the place of the death of the wicked (Ezek18:23; 33:11), that he was to “become sin” (2 Cor5:21)and “a curse for us” (Gal3:13). This is what is behind that terrible cry, ““My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”” (Mark15:34). The experience of falling into the hands of a sheer omnipotent will without any sense of the presence of the pleasure of a Father is hell itself. At this point, the will of God and the will of Satan become indistinguishable. i.e. good and evil are indistinguishable.

 

It is this sort of ruthless deity that fallen men and women fear, and it is this caricature/distortion of God that Jesus must encounter on the cross, because wrath hands men and women over to the projection of their own vain imagings (Rom 1:21; Eph 4:17 -19). Parents blaze with anger at their children, pastors berate their congregations, bosses blast their workers, individuals put themselves down, and religious fanatics persecute and kill because in their uncleansed conscience they are outworking their fear of the wrath of a higher power (1 John 4:18).

 

There is a key word to describe the sacrifice of Jesus, some translations use “atoning sacrifice”, more traditionally the word is “propitiation”. For example, Romans 3:24“God put (Jesus) forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith”. A propitiation is more than forgiveness, it takes away the wrath of God. God is never angry with us as believers because he has taken the intrinsic cost of our sin in himself. This action reveals him as our Father[13]. “Angry Father” never appears in scripture and if you are in Christ your Father cannot be angry with you.

 

The conscience of the biblical writers knew these things. From Noah’s sacrifice that brought a pleasing aroma to the heart of God and the promise of no more world destruction[14] to the words of Paul, “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph 5:1) they know sacrifice draws out God’s greatest joy by removing his need to condemn the wicked.

 

The crown of the cross is that God can now say, “I have no wrath” (Isa 57:4) and the fruit of the cross is eternal pleasure in the Father’s relationship with his children. Many sons are coming to glory (Heb2:10). His broken heart was healed in the death and resurrection of Jesus, his relationship to humanity is completed in Christ (John 19:30; 2 Cor 5:17) . As Jesus has been perfected through suffering (Heb2:10; 5:9), so God – as – our – Father is healed in Jesus name, and so has become “Our Father!” (Matt 6:9; John 20:17)

 

I am sure most of this audience would agree that a massive amount of what is done in the church is “dead works”[15] i.e. has no lasting fruitfulness. Brothers and sisters, the people of God will never be released from “the law of the tithe”, addiction to services and meetings and submission to un- Christlike authority until their unstable consciences stop trying to appease an image of an angry God.

 

The Father Brings Pure Pleasure to the Son

 

In speaking of Jesus ascension into the heavenly world Hebrews says, “For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”” (Heb 1:9). The Father is absolutely pleased with Jesus. Jesus exaltation to the right hand of God means that in him humanity has entered fully into the pleasure of the Father.

 

All God’s dealings with his children i.e. us, occur within this sphere of pure pleasure. Ephesians says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:3)

“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ….Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:” (Eph 1:5, 9). In Christ we share the blessing of the Father, this is their shared pleasure. It is a fulfillment of the prophets, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zeph 3:17).

 

The Father is Pleased in/with Us in Christ

 

The Father so much wants us to dwell in the experience of his pleasure. In wanting to please the Son, with whom we are in union, the Father wants to bring pleasure to us with the whole if his being. Scripture says, he will “delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers” (Deut 30:9), “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phil 2:13). There is no area in your life at all where God is not working to share with you his pleasure in Jesus (cf. 1 John4:17).

 

C.S. Lewis was grasped by something of this reality when he said,

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desire, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

 

Witnesses to the Father

 

What happens to you when we receive the revelation that God is pleased to be your Father through Jesus Christ? You become more and more pleased to have God as your Father. You wish to increase his experience of pleasure in you by living like Jesus did – you will be devoted to acting to destroy evil wherever it is found, you will become an increasingly powerful witness to the Father[16]. You passionately want to be involved in doing the works of thekingdom ofGod- praying for the lost, healing the sick, preaching the gospel, feeding the poor, casting out demons. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32). The Father wants to share his pleasure in destroying sin, beginning in our own lives.

 

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and well –pleasing and perfect. ”

(Rom 12:1- 2)

 

Application and Appeal: RF