Reconciled by the Riches of his Glory 2. 20th – 23rd November 2012 Kampala Uganda
2. No Partiality
Introduction
In my experience people in the world are often more honest about their dishonesty than most Christians. Believers have a habit of strongly affirming what we believe and then living in ways which show our hearts readily depart from the truth. As a fairly extreme example, I remember a very vocal Christian organisation (Logos Foundation) that lobbied against all sorts of immorality then fell apart when its leader was exposed as a serial adulterer.
There is one divine attribute that most Aussies readily identify with, “God shows no favouritism/partiality”; “who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor, for they are all the work of his hands?” (Job 34:19 ESV cf. 2 Chron 19:7; Acts 10:34; Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9; Col 3:25) and always condemns partiality amongst people (Deut 16:19; Job 13:8ff; Ps 82:2; Prov 24:23; 28:21; Mal 2:9); Here is Paul speaking, “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality/favouritism.” (1 Timothy 5:21 ESV); similarly, from James, “My brothers, show no partiality/favouritism as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory…. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality/favouritism, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” (James 2:1, 8-9). Australians love to see themselves as a nation of ordinary people, a nation of equals, who broke away from the hierarchical traditions of the British. Our heroes are usually sports men and women, certainly not politicians, commonly ordinary soldiers but hardly ever generals. (First Australian Prime Minister; Edmund Barton).
Sadly, the Church in our country has in many ways developed a reputation of showing favouritism to its own. There has been a great scandal across Australia about sexual abuse against boys involving clergymen, especially in the Roman Catholic Church. A Police Department report recently to the State of Victoria stated that priests are still being treated differently from other (lay) people when accused, so that weak and defenceless children are not being given full justice.
I remember when I was a new pastor working as part of a team in an Anglican Church. Someone approached me about a secret tape recording he had taken of a conversation between the senior pastor and a homeless young man living in the church hall. I never heard the tape; it was supposedly sexual in nature but was covered up by the bishop. Some years later this Anglican minister had to leave the parish because of his homosexuality, and was later charged with sex crimes. The bishop seemed more concerned with the man’s career than the truth of the gospel!
My point is this, it is impossible to transform any society at its roots when the Church, called to be “the light of the world” and “the salt of the earth” (Matt 5:14ff.) shows favouritism of any sort.
The Bible does say “honour to whom honour is due” (Rom 13:7) but this dos not mean turning a blind eye to wrong doing for the Bible also says, “test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 ESV).
A few years ago a charismatic preacher started to visit Perth, he held large rallies and people were being healed. The discernment of the shepherds and the sheep seemed blinded by the amazing stories he told of God’s favour and miraculous intervention, including at high levels of government. In the end he was exposed as a fraud (a friend of mine actually paid to fly a native speaker back to this man’s home country to check him out), but there were still some “influential” people that refused to believe he was a cheat and a liar.
The Bible contains many stories involving conflict, rivalry and favouritism that can teach us invaluable lessons.
Envy and jealousy are at the root of a great deal of divisions in the world. In Genesis, when Ishmael was born, Hagar looked upon her childless mistress Sarah with contempt (16:4). Later, after the birth of Isaac, Ishmael ridiculed Isaac, and was cast out of the family by their father Abraham (Gen 21:6-10). I remember a friend of mine coming back from Pakistan and saying, “I don’t know what it is, but every time something happens in Israel the Moslems become furious.” Well, I believe I know what it is, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, for Islam Ishmael is the favoured one from which the Arab peoples are descended, for Jews the chosen son is Isaac from which they are descended.
Even in apparently godly families rivalry can break out. In Numbers 12, “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses”, then the real reason came out, “And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it.” (Numbers 12:2 ESV). The real reason for their complaint was jealousy. (Cf. situation in Perth where an elder won’t be reconciled to a senior leader; the real reason is that he finds it difficult to deal with the success in this man’s ministry, but he won’t face that issue.)
Simply because we find many stories of competition in the Bible doesn’t mean that we should see competition as normal. I remember reading a book by the pastor of a very large church in the United States (Ted Haggard) that grew from a few people to 13,000. He suggested that competition between pastors for sheep was a reality they all needed to come to terms with and that it could lead to growth. I sensed at the time there was something very wrong with his attitude. I remember when I moved into a new area to take over as pastor of a church visiting the other ministers in the area and emphasising there is “no competition in the kingdom of God”. Haggard sadly was later exposed for drug taking and using male prostitutes.
I believe the root of all rivalry comes from comparing ourselves with one another rather than dealing directly with God.
We have a problem with how we view God, it is deeply ingrained in human thinking that God is like us; that he favours some of us over others.
Does God Have Favourites?
I remember when I was at theological college and a visiting lecturer said, “God has given to some men more than others.” This is certainly true –more wealth/intelligence/popularity/skill/children…… But does that mean that God has favourites?
Why did God for example choose Abraham? The Jewish Rabbis taught that God accepted/justified Abraham because he was a man of faith. This is totally opposite to the story of Abraham’s call in Genesis. God appears and speak (Gen 12:1-3), then Abraham believes and obeys (Gen 12:4). God’s favour falls on Abraham before had had met any qualifications for approval.
What about Jacob and Esau. Even though Esau was first born, it was Jacob who inherited the blessings of God’s covenant. The LORD goes so far as to say, ““Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”” (Rom 9:13 = Mal 1:2-3). Hebrews 11:16-17 tells us “that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” (Hebrews 12:16-17 ESV). Was Esau then rejected because of his sinfulness? No! For we read in Romans, “And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”” (Romans 9:10-12 ESV).
We always think that God has a reason for favouring some people more than others and try to work out what that reason is. Yet Paul quotes God’s words to Moses, “For he says to Moses, ““I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”” (Romans 9:15 ESV citing Ex 33:19). We must be careful lest we commit the sin ascribed by Paul to certain people who claimed to be apostles; “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” (2 Corinthians 10:12 ESV). Whenever we compare our relationship with God with that of others with him we into a judgement – we become our own judge and our neighbour’s judge. Is it not the case that reconciliation breaks down because we pass judgement on others? The apostle warns us, “Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:3-4 ESV).
If God does not have favourites at the individual level, can we say that he has a favourite people or nation? I remember reading a book by an American author, quite a helpful one at that, but when it came to his interpretation of the eagle in Revelation 8:13 as standing for the United States I could not believe what he was saying.
If no Gentile nation has special favour what about God and Israel. I was at a conference listening to a Messianic Jew some time ago, who said, “Look at the history of the Jewish people – their captivities, exiles and persecutions culminating in the Holocaust, who would choose to be chosen by God?”
When we think of the favour of God we are likely to think of ease, health, prosperity and a successful life in worldly terms. When others have these things which we feel we deserve more than them we become envious and destructive, as James says; “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:1-4 ESV). God’s favour is not to be defined by worldly success.
I remember listening to the survival story of a brother from Rwanda; there were 6 attempts on his life during the genocide. He said, “If we have been through so much, God must have something special for Rwanda.”
The True Favour of God
The true favour of God can be illustrated from the lives of several Bible characters, beginning with Joseph.
The first thing we learn about Joseph as a seventeen year old is that he is fearlessly honest; “These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.” (Genesis 37:2 ESV). Then we read how Jacob “loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colours.” The result of this fatherly affection was hatred in the family, “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.” (Gen 37:3-4). Joseph was hated even though he had done nothing wrong.
What happens next shows not only the favour of a human father but the favour of God. “Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”” (Genesis 37:5-10 ESV). The climax of this section of Genesis follows, “And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.” (Genesis 37:11 ESV)
Some commentators teach that Joseph was arrogant and presumptuous in sharing his dreams with his family, the Bible however never mentions any fault whatsoever in Joseph’s life. In trusting his family with the revelation of God he showed himself to be a faithful prophet.
The rest of the story is well known. Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, even though he finds favour with his Egyptian master he is falsely accused and imprisoned, in all this he remains faithful to God (Gen 39:3-4, 9, 20). In prison he received the favour of the prison guard (39:21), so that “The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.” (Genesis 39:23 ESV)
In the course of time, Joseph interprets the dreams of two fellow prisoners, one of whom, a cupbearer, is restored to Pharaoh’s court. For two whole years however Joseph is left forgotten in prison, then God reminded the king’s cupbearer of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams and Joseph is called in to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh. Joseph goes on to occupy the highest post in the land and deliver the house of Israel from famine (Gen 40ff.).
When Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers he is completely free from any desire to avenge himself, “So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” (Genesis 45:4-5 ESV). His brother’s guilty consciences were however not put at rest until after their father’s death; “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”(Genesis 50:15-21 ESV)
Joseph’s great statement, ““Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?” shows incredible maturity, he has been delivered from all desire to judge those who have judged him. Joseph understood that the favour of the LORD brought with it incredible injustice and suffering, but through this God would outwork his great purpose of family reconciliation and restoration. In this way Joseph is a type of Christ. All of us need to understand that envy, rivalry and jealousy to which we are exposed have a redemptive and reconciling purpose in the will of God.
However much we might learn from Old Testament examples, the true favour of God will be finally revealed in the way that God the Father will allow his Son to be treated for us.
Jesus was fiercely opposed by the religious leaders of his day. There were repeated clashes between Christ and the Pharisees over the interpretation of the Law of Moses, but at one point Jesus challenged his opponents directly, “Which of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46). To which they were silent. Even when they put up false witnesses against him at this trial “their testimony did not agree” (Mark 15:56, 59). At this point the High Priest desperately interrogates Jesus, ““Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” i.e. God’s supremely favoured One/beloved (Mark 14:61 ESV), to which the Lord truly replied, ““I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”” (Mark 14:62 ESV). It is at this point that they condemn him to death rise up in fury and begin to assault Jesus as a false prophet.
In preparing this I was reminded of an incident some years ago. There were lots of problems in the leadership of a church I was pastoring, so we called in a well known prophet. Here is part of what he said to me, “The Lord is going to do something with you…and there is an anointing going to come down on you and you shall speak fire and the fire you shall speak shall burn in the hearts of the people. Thus saith the Lord, “Some shall say it is true and they will turn their hearts and they shall repent, and behold others shall shout and say “no” and they shall want to stone you for the things you shall speak……..O you’re going to get into trouble but he’s going to love you for it. But he says, “don’t worry, it’s not you.” He did it, they’ll only blame you but He did it!” Six months later everything this man said came to pass in a near riot (shouting, pointing, accusing, blaming, warning, walking out) in response to some of my preaching. Underneath the surface the human heart, even of nice middle class church people, can be restless and angry.
The rage and fury directed against Jesus had a deep spiritual foundation; “And he (Pilate) answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.” (Mark 15:9-10 ESV). It was because the favour of the Father rested upon Jesus that he must be put to death. His godliness convicted his opponents in their hearts that they had substituted rule-keeping for the pleasure of God’s presence. Their influence upon the crowds had been lost because the people followed Jesus when they saw his great signs and the beauty of his character (John 12:19). The only way they could see to restore their dignity was to remove Jesus.
Jesus himself understood that the favour of God upon his life as the beloved Son (Luke 3:22) necessarily meant the stirring up of envy and jealousy that would lead to his suffering and death. This is what he said in the parable of the tenants who took over the vineyard (Israel) from its rightful owner (God).“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’” (Matt 21:38). This was the price of saving the world; ““Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”” (Luke 24:26 ESV). The elevation of humanity could only come through Jesus’ sufferings as a human being.
The manifest favour of God inducing a jealous response leading to persecution continued on in the early Church. Acts records how the Christians “had favour with all the people” (2:47), and “Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.” (Acts 5:12-13 ESV). The response of the Jewish leaders to this outpouring of “great grace” (4:33) was swift and vicious, “But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.” (Acts 5:17-18 ESV). After they had been beaten the apostles they “left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name.” (Acts 5:41 ESV). The apostles’ mature faith accepted that the favour of God would lead to jealousy and persecution (“If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”” John 15:20), but they understood that in this way God would continue to be glorified.
We read of the same things happening in the life of Paul; “The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.” (Acts 13:44-45 ESV). Again and again the mission to the Gentiles was challenged by Jewish opponents in the cities where Paul preached (13:50; 14:2, 19, 17:5). The real issue here was not whether God had abandoned Israel in favour of the gentile nations, Paul never preached this (Rom 11:1), but whether the concentration point of the Lord’s choice and favour was now found fully and finally in Jesus of Nazareth, crucified-and-risen. So when Paul says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV), it is taken for granted that the manifest favour of God on any Christian’s life will be costly, because it reveals the life of Christ. “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Tim 3:12).
Do we ourselves believe that the full favour of God is found only in Jesus? Or do our lives somehow show something else, are we prone to different sorts of favouritisms that contradict the total reconciling power of the gospel which is found in Christ.
Show No Partiality
The Old Testament writers understood that the LORD was not like the gods of the nations who favoured the rich and powerful. “The psalmist says, “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.””(Psalm 82:1-4 ESV) God describes the difference between false and true prophecy like this, ““But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.”” (Jer 23:22). This is a prophetic call to all our lives, but full obedience is extremely rare.
Paul however was someone who showed no favouritism/partiality, As a recent convert he travelled to Jerusalem to see if the gospel he was preaching was the same as that of the first apostles, this is how he describes that interaction, “And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.” (Gal 2:6) Later, Peter, the most important of the foundational apostles, came to the church in Antioch and acted in a manner contrary to the gospel, this is how Paul responded, “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.” (Gal 2:11)
How different this is from our common tendencies to elevate the important people. So many Christians long to be people who have a reputation as “people of influence”, we even have a network of churches throughout Australia called “Influencers Church”. They aim to teach Christians how to be people of “influence”; my prayer is that they would teach believers what it means to be sons of God!
Some time ago I was reading through the magazine of a large African based Christian denomination, what struck me more than anything else in the document was the photos, and how they all conformed to the same pattern. The more important a position a person had in the church the bigger their picture. Is this how God sees us? Some men, for example, carry a photo of their family members in their wallets. If God has a wallet, does it have different sized photos in it; or does he carry us all in the same closeness to his heart?
The unity of the church demands that we treat everyone equally, whatever their sex, class, race, age, wealth, education or social standing. This is not an easy thing to do. I am in a position where I meet a great range of people from a vast array of backgrounds; I am mentoring folk from every continent. At one end of the spectrum I am relating to those with psychiatric disorders who are on a government pension, and at the other end talking and praying with the extremely wealthy. I am very conscious of the need to treat all the same and pray that I may treat all with the same dignity.
The apostle James rebukes the church of his day for their prejudices, “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonoured the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honourable name by which you were called?” (James 2:1-7 ESV).
James calls believers, “judges with evil thoughts” (v.4) because they consider the rich man more important than the poor man; they probably think that man is poor because of some sin in his life. Remember Jesus’ conversation with his disciples, “As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.””(John 9:1-3 ESV).
Such prejudices about others are very serious sin. Paul had to explain to the Corinthians that God was judging them with sickness and death because the wealthy Christians were despising the poorer ones by eating a full supper while the others went hungry; For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” (1 Corinthians 11:29-30 ESV).
The tendency to elevate others can be subtle. I have been to various conferences where administrators insist that a pastor be seated up in the front row. A friend of mine has a relative who is in charge of the emergency department of a large hospital in Perth, he has suggested at times that if I ever need I could use his name and influence; I cannot see that’s right as it would surely push someone down lower in the waiting list. A friend of mine was part of a small group that was joined by a famous sportsman, all the others bent over backwards to make this influential man feel welcome. He however treated him the same as he does his construction workers. Later the man was exposed as a serial adulterer.
At times we totally misunderstand the nature of the favour of God; Paul needed to explain to the Philippians, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” (Philippians 1:29-30 ESV). I look back on many circumstances in my life as a hidden working of the favour of God. A couple of occasions in particular come to mind.
JY taking care of a branch church as an assistant a couple of years out of theological college. The senior minister in burn – out; he had tried everything, “Anglican high church’”, charismatic movement, meditation etc., he had recently been exploring Buddhism. Very annoyed with my zealous youthful style he often simply wouldn’t talk with me face to face. I found out “accidentally” third hand that the bishop had plans to move me somewhere else because of this man’s threat to “Starve me out” financially. (As far as I know no one else wanted me moved.) This led to many meetings, people pleading with the senior pastor that I be allowed to stay, lots of tears in the middle of the night for people I had come to know and love… I remember approaching this man at my final service in the main church and saying, “A, you now that I forgive you.” To which he replied, “Yes I know.” I refused to let the actions of another man interfere with my relationship with God. In hindsight I am sure that this man was jealous of my single-minded zeal for the Lord.
A few years later in another city I was preaching regularly at a very small daughter church and visiting the people. They approached the senior minister asking if they could use their offerings to pay for my rent and I would care for them as a church whilst I studied my Ph.D. He responded by leaving a note in my letter box saying I could no longer preach in that congregation and that I and my family would need to leave the parish. In hindsight I can see that this man, who had burnt all of his library books because it was not spiritual to read books, was envious of my ability to teach. I remember going in to the forest to pray and saying to the Lord from the bottom of my heart, “I have no place to minister, no place to take my family to church, but if I have you, I have everything.”
Lest anyone think that I have always been the innocent party, let me give a different example. I was working with another man whose previous inspirational ministry had gone rather flat. At some point I decided in my arrogance that he was Saul and I was David. I remember arranging a meeting with the elders one day and going over all the faults in his ministry – sadly, no one stood up to support him. In the end this led to me being ordered to leave that church; but God used this parting in a wonderful way, opening up a new church plant about which everyone was united.
Let me return to my original point. It is impossible for us to see the gospel transform any society at its roots if there is any envy, jealousy or favouritism in the Church.
Conclusion and Application
The tendency to judge ourselves and others goes very deep in human nature. It is very painful to have the Lord uproot this out of us.
The only way our superior attitudes can be put to death is for us to seek favour from God alone. This can be a soul stripping and lonely journey, but one which powerfully unites us with Christ. Only when we lose everything else we depend on can we receive the heart revelation that in Christ we are already at the centre of the Father’s absolute blessing; “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”.
The Spirit of God commands us “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Col 3:5). Only the crucifying power of the cross can liberate us.
We need to accept that living in the fullness of divine privilege will mean the stirring up of jealousy and opposition against us, including in the church. There is however no other way of pointing people to Jesus as the only way to find the unconditional acceptance of our Father in heaven.