Be Like Your Father

"These principles are written so we might know our Father intimately and fall so in love that nothing else works for us, nothing else is as beautiful or ass grand."

JESUS CAME to reveal the Father. Every word He spoke was the Father speaking. Every work (action) He made was the Father at work. He laid down His will to do the Father’s will. Included is Him taking on human flesh in order to become the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that would save mankind from their sins. A perfect sacrifice was needed, one without spot or blemish, and only God Himself could become it. But since God can’t die, Father, Lord (Jesus before birth as a human), and Holy Spirit, it was needful He lay aside His glory and majesty and walk as a man under the power of the Spirit.

He was born, conceived by the Spirit, He walked in the fullness of the Spirit, He laid down His life placing His spirit in His Father’s care. He was reborn, becoming the first-begotten of many brethren, and was resurrected in the flesh by the Spirit. He was always God. He’s never NOT been God, and so as God has never, at any point in time, given His throne to the devil. The devil, when he was an angel, created by God, tried to exalt himself above the throne of God. It did not happen then, and it did not happen when Jesus became man. Satan has never been exalted over God.

The beatitudes of Matthew 5, 6, and 7 form a portrait of the Father and the Son. Matthew 5:1 to Matthew 6:8 are a description of the WAY OF THE FATHER. They are a portrait of the Father, of His nature and character, of how He sees things and how He reacts. Matthew 6:9-13 is the WORK OF THE FATHER. Commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, they are a portrait of what Jesus had come to earth to do. Matthew 6:14 to the end of Matthew 7 are the WILL OF THE FATHER. They are the behaviors described in the Lord’s Prayer, both of ourselves and of Jesus.

THE WAY OF THE FATHER
In Matthew 5:3-11, we see a description of the Father’s personality. He is HUMBLE, MEEK, RIGHTEOUS, MERCIFUL, PURE IN HEART, and a PEACEMAKER (Verses 3, 5-9). He is much PERSECUTED in the wills and words of unbelievers (verse 11). All manner of evil is spoken against Him falsely. Circling back to verse 4, He MOURNS. We see this in Jeremiah’s Lamentation. Jeremiah was called as a prophet to the nation of Israel. In Lamentations, he cries out the Father’s heart for what His people have endured and the destruction of Jerusalem which surrounds him. The Father MOURNED their sins and in Lamentations, through Jeremiah, spoke of their restoration and of His faithfulness to them. He spoke comfort.

These are also behaviors we are called to imitate, but we imitate them because that is who our loving Father is. In our MOURNING, there is COMFORT. In personal sorrow. But as our Father did, we mourn sin and in so doing, we carry the burdens we are called to pick up on God’s behalf. We complete Jesus’ suffering, as stated in the words of Paul (Colossians 1:24). Not suffering for what salvation has freed us from, but that which our prayers and actions intercede for others.

“It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you ... And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)

THE WORK OF THE FATHER
In Matthew 6:9-13, we see the WORK which Jesus was sent to earth by the Father to do. It begins in verse 9 with, “Our Father,” who as we previously discussed is the portrait pictured by the Beatitudes. “Who art in heaven” tells us His location. He is God of all. “Hallowed be thy name” is the name of Jesus. Jesus is the name above every other name on earth, under the earth, and in heaven. “Thy kingdom come” is what Jesus had come to earth to do, bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” is again, what Jesus came to provide. On earth there would be no more sin, no more sickness, no more poverty. In the spiritual kingdom of God, in heaven, there are none of these things. Jesus’ death and Resurrection provided to those who would believe, the likeness of heaven on earth.

“Give us this day our daily bread,” is Jesus. He is the Bread of life. “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” is Jesus. He came to provide forgiveness to all men. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” is the WORK of Jesus. He is God, and God is not tempted by evil, nor does He tempt man with evil (James 1:13). His death and Resurrection delivered us from evil. “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen,” is all Jesus. He is the Amen (Revelation 1:18). He is the King of kings. His Spirit (the power of God) lives within the children of God. Forever. It is an eternal kingdom. We are given eternal life.

THE WILL OF THE FATHER
Matthew 6:14 through the end of Matthew 7 show us the WILL OF THE FATHER. They can be read as reflections of the Lord’s Prayer. They are also how He chooses (if He were to choose) to think and decide. As an example, In Matthew 6:14-15, the Father delights in forgiveness. In Matthew 6:16-18, He is humble and unpretentious. He does nothing for self-exaltation but in what He does is exalted. In Matthew 6:19-21, we see the treasure the Father sent to earth to be laid up for us in heaven. That treasure is Jesus.

In Matthew 7:1-2, the Father speaks against our judging one another because He does not judge us for who we are or what we have done. Jesus is the Judge of the whole earth, but He said He came not to judge (John 8:15). God is of vast unending mercy. The enemy was judged and condemned. We were (are) forgiven. In Matthew 7:6, the Father tells us to value what is holy. Jesus is the Holy One the Father sent to be cast as pearls before swine, knowing they would turn and rend Him. In Matthew 7:11, the Father’s will is to give good gifts unto His children, and those gifts started at Jesus.

In Matthew 7:13, the Father provides the gate for us to enter into life. In Matthew 7:17-18, He provides the good fruit on the good tree because by His fruit, and that fruit is Jesus, we know Him. In Matthew 7:24-27, He makes us part of His house, founded upon the Rock that is Christ, where we are secure against the wind of the enemy and strengthened by the wind of the Spirit. For when Jesus’ work was done, the house the enemy had built to deceive man would fall, consumed by the presence of God.

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

What the Father would have men to do unto Him was to love him, and so He sent love to us. He gave love in order to receive love. This is who He is, and our behavior should reflect His love in us. This is the heart of the gospel and the story of our salvation. These principles are written so we might know our Father intimately and fall so in love that nothing else works for us, nothing else is as beautiful or as grand. We are our Father’s children recreated in His likeness, reborn by His Spirit, to follow after Jesus Christ and be perfect (mature) just like Him.

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Image by Prokash Pul from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com