The Father and His Children 3. The Heavenly Father 18.7.07
Introduction: RF
“In the history of the human spirit I distinguish between epochs of habitation and epochs of homelessness. In the former, man [sic] lives in the world as in a house, as in a home. In the latter, man [sic] lives in the world as in an open field and at times does not even have four pegs with which to set up a tent.” (Martin Buber).
- decline in the awareness of heaven in the life of the church e.g. in preaching topics and songs cf. “O, heaven is in my heart O, heaven is in my heart” (Graham Kendrick)
- this is untrue to a biblical emphasis on heaven 693 verses in ESV, 266 of these are in the NT
- it is a sign and ongoing cause of the godlessness and worldliness in the church
- the “homeless” mind, adrift in a raft of unconnected experiences, in a world beyond conmprehension
“Here, one’s vision is short ranged and looks only a few steps down the road and does not look up at all.” (David Wells)
- “If within us we find nothing over us we succumb to what is around us.” (PT Forsyth)
- stats on numbers of homeless people inAustralia
The Difficulty of this Subject
I have found the subject matter of this talk far more difficult than the previous two. One reason is that I have rarely had a sense of belonging on earth. Secondly, this teaching is much more about community than the others and therefore requires a more radical miracle of God. Thirdly, the primary revelation the Lord is trying to bring to us tonight/today is enormously counter – cultural, it is to see Father and not Mother as the home- maker of the human family[1].
In ancient cultures the Father is typically thought of as “Above All” in a way is alien to nearness, nurture and close community. In ancient mythologies (e.g. Greek, Hindu, Maori) if Earth is Mother, Sky is Father. This signifies a sense that Fatherhood is something overarching and distant[2].
Heaven is God’s Home
To talk about the heavenly Father[3] is another way of saying that heaven is the home of God[4]. Heaven is his place of belonging, of being- himself in pure joy. It is the realm of the eternal relationship between Father, Son and Spirit in which God has never had a reason for judgement, wrath[5] and grief.
Creation is God’s Home
The sweeping majestic language of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”, brackets of the spheres of above and below, suggesting that
the earth was made a temple for the dwelling place of the LORD. In the centre of the cosmic temple was the image of God where he concentrated his presence[6], this is humanity[7]. In Eden humanity and God were to dwell together in a harmony of love[8].
The central means by which God dwelt with Adam was his Word, and the most intense form of his Word was the warning, ““You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but 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 2:16- 17). Since, “with the heart one believes …and with the mouth one confesses” (Rom 10:10), if, when tempted by Satan, Adam and Eve had believed God’s Word and spoken it out in faith, God would have indwelt them more richly and they would have immediately become the eternal dwelling place of the most high[9]. Eternal life would have been immediately imparted to them “from above”.
The Divorce of heaven and Earth
To want the inheritance of the Father apart from his Word[10] is attempted patricide[11] (Father – killing). What sinful humanity has always wanted has been heaven on earth without a God and Father. The ultimate rebellion of humanity was to evict the Father from his own habitation in us by rejecting the indwelling Word[12]. Led into sin by a creature (the serpent), men and women now drew their life from below and became destined for dust[13] not glory.
The primary consequence of rejecting God’s Word is idolatry. Paul’s principle, “The God who made the world…does not live in shrines made by human hands…” (Acts 17:24), is also true for shrines made by human minds. When science, technology, psychology or religion are given ultimate status they become sources of identity and security that only the heavenly Father can bring, God refuses to dwell in such worldviews and society becomes increasingly godless[14].
God cannot dwell at peace inside any false belief. His Fatherhood is not at home in those who reject the scriptural revelation of Jesus, and wherever believers trust in a lie we encounter spaces in life where God is not experienced as alive. The living God only can dwell in communion with the truth about who he is – we are the “children/sons of the living God”[15] because we have believed in the living Word of God who is Jesus.
God’s Temple as a Home
God always had a plan to overthrow idolatry. The first step was the Old Testament temple, frequently called the “house of God”[16] – it was his home on earth[17]. This was a place of God’s permanent habitation; an indwelling that is intense, beautiful and intimate: “for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God” (2 Chronicles5:14); “my eyes and my heart will be there forever” (1 Kings 9:3; 2 Chronicles7:16).
The faithful ofIsraelfound the Lord, and their own belonging, in the temple, it was for them a very special place. “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God….For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere..” (Ps 84:1, 2, 10).
Eventually however the temple itself became an idol. “3 Thus says the Lord of hosts…: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place….Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? …14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did toShiloh. (Jer 7:3, 14). The unthinkable finally became reality when despite the repeated warnings of the prophets, “23 the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city.” (Ezek 11:23). This is Old Testament language for God saying, “Things have become so bad I cannot live here anymore.”
Jesus and his Heavenly Father
The solution to the separation of heaven and earth is the coming of heaven to earth in the person of Jesus[18]. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt[19] among us…” (John 1:14), “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Col 1:19). Being the dwelling place of God was central to Jesus’ identity, when he “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” …He was speaking about the temple of his body.” (John 2:19, 21).[20]
Because Jesus is the intersection of heaven and earth[21] he relates to his Father as heavenly like no one else; at his baptism “a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:21 – 22); it was his heavenly Father who anointed him with the Spirit to heal the sick, cast out demons, feed the hungry and preach the gospel[22]. Matthew consistently calls this “the kingdom of heaven”(31 x). This reveals that to pray “Our Father in heaven…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven ” (Matt 6:9a- 10), is to pray for a world without sickness, sorrow, Satan and death.
The key to all Jesus’ promises about the Father are found in his own life. Since the all sufficiency of the Father’s gift of the Spirit was totally true in Jesus own ministry he had complete authority to teach, “13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13).
His exhortation, “do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”(Matt 6:32), was proven true by his attitude before his most symbolic miracle, the feeding of the five thousand; [23] Jesus “looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves….and all ate and were filled” (Matt 14:19- 20)[24]. His consciousness of his heavenly origins and authority, was the insight behind his ability to speak to sickness, sin, Satan and earthly forces with sovereign power.
What attracted the multitudes to be with him was the grace- filled reign of the heavenly Father. He had nothing to give of his own. Seeing what the Father was doing and speaking what the Father was speaking[25] Christ brought heavenly presence to earth with total assurance[26]. No – one who was around Jesus doubted the reality of heaven – where no judgement was experienced outsiders were turned into insiders, all found belonging, no one felt cast out[27]. For those who followed him, the zone around Jesus had a completely “hell – less” feel about it.
Yet something absolutely essential was missing, whilst Jesus was living with his disciples he was not living in his disciples[28]. In speaking of future things Jesus promises, ““If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John14:23). This deep promise of the mutual indwelling of the Father and Son (in the Spirit) is a sharing of the inner reality of God’s own eternal heavenly life. In the same discourse Jesus explains how this will take place.
The Cross and the Heavenly Father
““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1-3).
The word for “rooms” is actually the noun form of the verb usually translated “to remain/abide or be in union with” in John’s Gospel. Jesus is speaking of a spiritual state of coming home to the Father. This will happen because “I go and prepare a place for you”, a going that involves his death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. Only in this way[29], can Jesus bring the Father with him to live in us.
As he heads towards the cross Jesus is in deep anguish, “27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ” (John12:27 -28)
On the cross, Jesus must endure for us the fullness of the consequences of rebellion in the Father’s house. Through sin, no human being has ever felt perfect love on earth e.g. “am I really adopted”? If humanity’s sin is to want a heaven on earth without God, the judgement of God must hand Jesus over to a Godless state. For Jesus to be left alone as a person who lives in and for himself is for him to experience existence at a totally earthly level[30], it is to be without any spiritual contact at all, it is the experience of eviction from his eternal home in the heart of the Father. That he experiences such Fatherlessness as hell, is the way in which he gives glory to his Father.
Praying into this message about 6.30 a.m. the other morning, a young person passed me with a mobile in their ear, it could have been an Ipod, MP3, the same point can be made with MSN, computer games etc; this must surely be the most inwardly homeless generation in the history of the world. In our society the hollow God- shaped space in people’s lives is becoming ever larger and people are filling it with more and more rubbish. In commenting on the world of adolescent girls in Australia, Dr. Michael Carr –Gregg says, “they define themselves through their mates and the possessions they have. It results in these girls becoming spiritual anorexics.” (The Weekend Australian Magazine July 14- 15 2007 p.19)
The Exalted Christ and the Heavenly Father
If the cross is homelessness, then the exaltation of Christ is his return to his eternal abode[31]. From this place he has a new authority, ““All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matt 28:19), and at the heart of this authority is his power to make sons[32], power to bring people into the love of the Father. To be “born again” is more literally to be born “from above”, from heaven (John 3:3)[33].
In an exciting text, “Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending (one always ascends to heaven[34]) to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”” (John 20:17). Since we are the brothers of Jesus, we have been drawn into his relationship with the Father in heaven.
Living with the Heavenly Father
What Paul conveys in the language of “justification” or “no condemnation” in Christ[35], John conveys in the language of mutual indwelling, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1 John 4:15)[36]. Heaven is not some far off distant future ethereal state, heaven is a sharing to the full Jesus human relationship with the Father[37].
Through spiritual regeneration we are made alive in the Spirit and blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3; 2:6). Living “with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3) we have access to the heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews10:19).
Inhabited by Father, Son and Spirit we are the home or temple of the living God (John 14:23; 1 Corinthians 3:16- 17; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21-22; 1Peter 2:5)[38]. For this reason “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt18:18).
Blockages to our Awareness of the Heavenly Home
The church today is largely unaware of heavenly things because our experience of God’s indwelling is proportional to “keeping his word” (John 14:23)[39]
1. Earthly Obsessions
Jesus warned, 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rusth consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt 6:19- 21)
Have you ever sung these words? “This is our nation, this is our land This is our future, this is our hope A land of reaping, a land of harvest This is our land, this is our home”GreatSouthLand(Geoff Bullock). Australiais not our home our future or our hope. Success on earth –financial prosperity, happy marriage, ministry opportunities, family stability, emotional and physical health, or whatever else that today is promoted as the goal of the gospel is not the gospel.
The hope held out in the gospel[40] is God’s promise, “…I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” (Rev 21:3).
According to Peter, Christians are “aliens and strangers” (1 Pet2:11), Paul says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil3:20). Hebrews remarks of the patriarchs , “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Heb11:13- 16)
2. Institutionalisation
Years ago it was noticed that even when children in orphanages were adequately fed and kept clean, many would simply waste away from the lack of human presence and emotion. An institution is not a family, an institution is not a home. (JY sister and brother in law, international training ministry for Christians working with children at risk, Children with Hope – Christians seem the last to get it that children need to be in families!)
Most of the churches we are familiar with (regardless of size)are heavily institutionalised. They have formalised their “meetings” in strict time slots, they have abandoned the proper meal, the so – called “love feast” that was at the centre of Christian gatherings[41]; whilst “priest”, “pastor”, “minister” and the like are used as titles, father and mother are relational terms. Rules and laws may hold people together but they do not create a genuine spiritual home. I received an email recently about a seminar called “Bringing home the Prodigals”, whatappalled me was that to get in the door you had to pay. Who ever heard of compulsory payment for a family event?
From the Protestant Reformation to the rise of classical Pentecostalism every major spiritual renewal movement in Western history was evicted out of its original home in the institutional church. Generally Christians are like damaged children, “I better submit to the institution because even an abusive home is better than no home”, but there comes a time in the cycle of spiritual renewal when people need to step out into the risk of having no spiritual home at all. (Which is the way of the cross.)
When is the last time you wept/laughed/ loved or believed in church like the simple child God made you to be, i.e. before you lost your spontaneity through the fear of judgement that holds most institutions (and many families) together. Tonight/today we are enclosed in the joy of the Father in Christ, we are in the Father’s house. We are in a relationship with our heavenly Lord that excludes all guilt and shame.
The Father is at work in “all things”[42]; the breakdown of society and the isolation that is a part of what we can postmodernism is part of a larger preparation of God for a huge ingathering of people, both young and old, into a genuinely renewed church that knows itself to be the household God[43]. .
Visitation of Habitation?
When Paul prays, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph 3:17)[44] he uses the word (katoikeo) for “dwelling as in a house”, habitation rather than visitation.
In warning of what happens where there is an encounter with the power of God without thorough inner renewal Jesus said,
““When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”” (Matt12:43- 45)
Most revival movements burn out in a few years because people have not been prepared in the Word e.g. Welsh revival early 1900’s, by the 1930’s more communists in Wales than Christians, what is left of the Aboriginal revival in the goldfields in the 80’s, etc.. You can only invite the Word of God into every room in the house of your life if you know that through Jesus the Father has invited you into every room of his heavenly life.
Application and Conclusion: RF
[1] God as Father combines in himself all the properties of true fathering and mothering.
[2] There seem to be strains of this in scripture, “one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” (Eph 4:6)[2], but when we push deeper we will find that our heavenly Father is always the welcomer of his children.
[3] God is said to be ‘in heaven’ (Matt 6:9,7:11, 21;10:32 etc). Likewise the expression ‘heavenly Father’ (Matt5:48;6:14 etc). To come from heaven is to come from God (John3:13;3:31 etc). See also in the Old Testament “God in heaven” (Deut4:39; 2 Chron 20:6; Lam3:41; Dan2:28); “God of heaven” (23x, 16 of these from the period of exile)
[4] “God is in heaven and you are on earth” (Ecclesiastes 5:1); “The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. (Ps 115:16)
[5] This means wrath, unlike love, goodness, wisdom etc, is not an essential attribute of God.
[6] A temple was the dwelling place or “house” of a god (1 Samuel 5:2), particularly symbolised and represented by the divine image (In some real sense the deity was presenced by the image e.g. 1 Samuel 5:4ff.
[7] “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis 1:26)
[8] We see this is the discourse between God and Adam, his creation of Eve and the description of how the LORD God walked in the garden in the cool of the day, Genesis 3:8
[9] “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deut 33:27)
[10] God is who he is in his Word.
[11] This is what makes the prodigal sons request for the inheritance before his father’s death so scandalous (Luke15:12).
[12] “you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you” (John8:37); “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you” ( John 15:7)
[13] “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”” Gen 3:19
[14] Romans one is Paul’s theological exposition of the Fall in Genesis 3, he says
“although they knew God…they did not see fit to have God in their knowledge” (Romans1:21, 28).
[15] Hosea 1:10; Romans 9:26
[16] (2 Samuel 7:5 -7; 1 Chronicles 9:17 -27; Ezra 1:5; Nehemiah6:10; Psalm 23:6 etc.)
[17] Strictly speaking, he is present in his glory above the ark, between the cherubim (Exod 25:22; Num 7:89).
[18] “If there is a natural body there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: ‘ The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life – giving spirit…The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.” (1Corinthians15:44 -45, 47)
[19] Literally, the Word “tented” amongst us, a word used for the dwelling place of God whenIsrael was in the wilderness.
[20] Compare Colossians 1:19, 2:9
[21] ““Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”” (John 1:51)
[22] ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”” (Luke 4:18-19 ); “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (Acts10:38)
[23] The feeding of the five thousand is the only one repeated in all four Gospels as it signifies the end time Messianic banquet.
[24] Compare, “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1)
[25] “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” (John5:19); “I speak of what I have seen with my Father” (John8:38)
[26] For Jesus, the destruction of evil was the work of, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth”(Luke10:21).
[27]All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
[28] We are perhaps more familiar with the promises about the indwelling the Spirit, “even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you” (John14:17.
[29] “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).
[30] “but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives” (1 Tim 5:6)
[31] “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:5).
[32] “But to all received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” ( John1:12 – 13)
[33] Through his indwelling the children of God Jesus now has the power to bring the presence of his heavenly Father into every sphere of human existence, God is now the “Father of our spirits” (Heb 12:9)
[34] ““Men ofGalilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”” (Acts1:11), compare Acts2:33.
[35] “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:1), “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1)
[36] Compare other authors, 22 you have come to …the heavenly Jerusalem, 23 and to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, …24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews12:22- 24). The blood of Jesus witnesses to our consciences that the Judge is our Father (1 Pet 1:17) and that all is forgiven and forgotten, “And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”” (Jer 31:34)
[37] This is why he alone is “the way to heaven” (John 14:6).
[38] See also Revelation 13:6 – 7 , “It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints”, which seems to unite the saint sin heaven and earth as one.
[39] Compare Colossians3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another…”
[40] Colossians 1:5, 23
[41] See Jude 1:12
[42]“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” ( Eph1:11)
[43] See Ephesians 2:19; 1 Timothy 3:15; 1 Peter 4:17.
[44] See also, “Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?” (James 4:5); “13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Pet3:13)