JESUS AND HIS FATHER

Four Observations
Dr. Douglas A. Blanc, Sr.

2012

New Life Bible Fellowship

JESUS AND HIS FATHER

INTRODUCTION
In a 1989 issue of the Our Daily Bread daily devotional Linda Anderson wrote the following: She was blond and beautiful, with azure eyes and a tumble of tawny curls. At three years of age, she would climb into her daddys lap, snuggle up with a wide, satisfied smile, and purr, This is my safe place! And so it was. Dads, husbands, YOU are the safe place. You are our protector and provider. And when you gather us for a time with God, we need a safe place. A safe place, not a lecture. A safe place, not a sermon. A very human dad/husband who simply cares about God and us. We dont need or even want a spiritual giant. We just want you. And we need a gathering time (phone unplugged) where its safe to say to each other, How are you and the Lord getting along? How can we pray today? We need a safe place to cry laugh, sing, rejoice, challenge, share, and sometimes not to share and have it be okay. We need a time with you thats relaxedun-stiff, when we can pray honestly, in simple sentences, from our hearts. Un-fixed. Un-rigid. Un-routine. Unshackled. We need a place where irregular opinions are respected, and where God has the last word. We need a gentleman leader, not a general. Gracious. Relaxed. Human. A family shepherd who exhibits not infallible authority, but a thirst for God. Every day? Not necessarily. Often? Yes. Long? No. Where? Anywhere. How? Sense where were at, and zero in. We may need heavy-duty confessing to each other and to God...silent prayer...exuberant praise...Bible study. But not every time. Thanks for listening, Dad. Remember, we need you. Your family.1 The point is, we long for personal contact and for meaningful human relationships. Most of all, we long for intimacy in our relationships; we desire depth that transcends formality or superficial gesturing and extends to the very core of our being. To know and to be known; this is our life-long quest. This longing is wonderfully illustrated by the apostle John in the prologue to his Gospel:

No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known. (John 1:18 NET)2
The phrase in closest fellowship with the Father is literally translated (from the Greek original) in the bosom of the Father. The idiom of bosom expresses the safe place referenced above. We recoil from the prospect of possessing such a relation with God as though it is out of reach; the idea of reclining trustingly-safely o his bosom, resting all of our cares upon him (see Ps 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7), to sense the warmth of his embrace, and to be comforted by his tender voice (see also Num 6:25; Ps 31:16: 80:3; 119:135).

1 2

http://www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=539 New English Translation

Our task is to consider this greatest Father-child relationship of all and to discover how we may share in this, the most intimate of relations. It is for us to consider, doing so not merely with wonder and amazement as though such a relationship is beyond our grasp, but more importantly to identify qualities, characteristics, and dynamics that we may emulate from our Lords example and to benefit from all that it means to abide in the safe place of our heavenly Father. It is worth noting that when the vertical relationship with God is healthy and tuned, so also the horizontal relationships between us will be (e.g. spousal, siblings, offspring, within the body of Christ, our community-workplace ties, our friends, and even our enemies). This principle is wellattested in Scripture and again by the apostle John. Consider the following translation of this important text:

If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teethwe're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin. (1 John 1:6-7 MSG)
From the lips of our Savior we discover deference to and dependence upon his Father. Two of many scripturally notable examples are helpful at this point, implicit trust and fervent prayer. Each serves to beg the question concerning how we may emulate Jesus who in the days of his flesh lived as one conscious of and subjected to the dictates (and the timetable) of his Father purposes: 1. The totality of the earthly experience of our Lord was in the hands of his Father. The stunning reality of this truth revealed to us draws us closer to the realization of true and abiding rest. Rest is received from Jesus as from one who alone can place us and keep us in a right relation with the Father. The very rest that results in deliverance from just condemnation also provides security and satisfaction for our daily walk with Christ. Who then will become simple as a child; trusting, humbled and seeking from the hand of God all that is needed for life, health, safety and an assorted host of needs which contribute to our well-being (see Matt 18:1-5)? Alternatively stated, who will resign every need pertaining to ones existence in this world and ones destiny in the next to the all-sufficient hands of God? From the lips of Jesus we hear

"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt 11:25-30 NIV)
2. Prayer was and is central to the life of Jesus. That it was fervent, even importunate, is evident from the following brief survey a) He was praying at his baptism prior to receiving the anointing of the Spirit (Luke 3:21). b) He was praying prior to the momentous choosing the Twelve (Luke 6:12). c) He prayed giving thanks prior to calling forth Lazarus from the tomb (John 11:41-42). 2

d) He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of his betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:36-41). e) He even prayed to hold guiltless those who caused his agony and suffering on the cross (Luke 23:34). f) Prayer is an ongoing ministry of our Lord, heavens eternal intercessor on our behalf (Heb. 7:25). The above scriptures should be comprehended in their respective contexts and meditated upon until the full potency of their truth is illumined by the Spirit to our calloused hearts. How might we conceive of the devotional quality of prayer? Prayer is the aspiration of the devotee to the lone object of affection-desire. In prayer, the longing heart set adrift on turbulent waves of doubt finds a safe place, a safe harbor. The privilege of prayer is the right granted to every child of God. It is modeled and commended by our Savior for the same imminently needful end. Jesus implored his disciples without equivocation

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:9-13 NIV)3
The above pair of examples reflects a Savior whose life is an embodiment of the kingdom of God. His existence is shaped by full commitment to the character, cause and final conquest of rule of God fully appropriated in the course of human experience. It is the relationship that demands our present scrutiny and constant emulation. We shall organize our thoughts according to the following four observations of Jesus and his Father:

New International Version

JESUS WAS EMPOWERED AT HIS BAPTISM (LUKE 3:21; 4:1-2, 14-15, 18-19)
We are not suggesting here that empowerment is dependent on or appropriated by water baptism. The water baptism of Jesus was the occasion by which he received the Spirit of God for the purpose of inaugurating (signaling) his public ministry. Though conceived by the Spirit (see Matt 1:20), this dramatic (personally experienced) event constituted necessary enduement for effective ministry (see for example the progression from Luke 3:21-22 to 4:1 and then to 4:14). The power of God was not alien to this humble Servant; but in his humanity (perhaps to condescend to our limitation as an example for us all), the power of the Spirit filled rendered him under the influence of the Spirit (see regarding the characteristics of such filling, Eph. 5:18). The life of Jesus under the Spirits influence is one of an unbroken flow of dynamic pneumatic effulgence (see John 3:34). Stephen is also worthy of emulation at this point (see Acts 6:5, 8-10), yet his filling like our own was not permanent as our Lords. The power of God enabled Jesus to engage the devil in the wilderness (see Matt 26:41; see also, 1 Pet 5:8 and Jas 4:7). The power of God opened doors of opportunity for teaching and made his words selfauthenticating truths (see Matt 7:28-29). The power of God gave him a sense of mission, or what many today refer to as a focused missional life (see Luke 19:10 and John 9:4).

We must now go to Luke 24:44-49 and then Acts 1:5, 8 and 2:33 to see that the long-awaited outpouring of the Spirit (Joel 2:28-32) was necessary to the formation of the body of Christ (the church)4 and deployment of the people of God to regions beyond (Ezek 37:9-14). Inclusive in this deployment of emissaries are all the endowments required to engage the enemy and to complete the task. All is provided, that is, except our corresponding obedience! The imperative of the commission demands our response (see Mark 16:15). Imagine the Son of God in need of empowerment for effective ministry. His dependence upon the Spirit of God is an example for his disciples who also must do likewise. Where is the nature of this influence? What victories are secured thereby? Where are the open doors through which the kingdom is advanced? Where is the missional life that places the Fathers demands over personal comfort, ambition, desires and dreams? Author Jamie Buckingham once visited a dam on the Columbia River (Pacific Northwest and Canada). Hed always thought that the water spilling over the dam provided the power, not realizing that it was just froth writhing deep within the turbines and generators that transformed the power of tons and tons of water to electricityquietly, without notice, not like the flashy froth on top.5

Note that referring to the church as the body of Christ is intended to emphasize its personal and not its material character. That is, the church is a people and not a building. It is a loving and mutually caring fellowship of redeemed persons bound by a commonly devoted to Christ. 5 http://bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=737

When watching a river roll by, it's hard to imagine the force it's carrying. If you have ever been white-water rafting, then you've felt a small part of the river's power. White-water rapids are created as a river, carrying a large amount of water downhill, bottlenecks through a narrow passageway. As the river is forced through this opening, its flow quickens. Floods are another example of how much force a tremendous volume of water can have. Hydropower plants harness water's energy and use simple mechanics to convert that energy into electricity. They are actually based on a rather simple concept -- water flowing through a dam turns a turbine, which turns a generator.6 Here are the basic components of a conventional hydropower plant:

See where the power is generatedfrom below and within! So it is with the disciple of Christ. It is not in the flashy appearance, the superficial formality, nor the boisterous dogmatism of rigid fundamentalism that power is demonstrated; it is in the quiet and still-running currents driven by an earnest desire to please the Founder of our souls liberation. The Spirit brings intimacy and with intimacy there is awareness of duty and with awareness of duty there is a desire to obey.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/hydropower-plant1.htm

ENGAGED WITH HIS MISSION

Jesus life was anything but a static experience. His was not what many today opt for; the spectator approach to the Christian life. Jesus was actively engaged in the cause of his kingdom (note the participles signifying constant activity; see Matt 9:35-36). Perhaps it was Oswald Chambers7 who observed of Jesus constant industry: he rested not in absence, but in variation of duty. In fact, the apostle Paul also described his life in similar terms of constant service (see Acts 20:13-24). Paul was no superhero. The passage not only describes his service, but also the power upon which he depended to perform his duties. No mere human strength or personal resolve can account for such dynamism in life. We would crash and burn by attempting ministry in our own power. Therefore, the power of Spirit has been given to us with intention. This is not power to do as we please, but power to do as Jesus did in accordance with the (kingdom-building) sovereign purposes of God. This principle is welldefined and outlined in the book of Acts. The narrative-story of Acts is summarized in 1:8 and may be stated in terms of empowered witnesses engaged in a mission to the ends of the earth. The remote regions of the world is not so much a geographical reference, but is indicative of the extremities to which obedient disciples of Christ will go to seek the lost (see Luke 19:10). The pattern of our going has been set in motion by the Savior: Jesus went up (Acts 1:9), the Spirit came down (Acts 2:1-4) and the church went-and keeps going out (Acts 8:1-4). After the sessionenthronement of Jesus at the right hand of the Father, the Spirit came in power (in part to continue-complete the mission) anointing-empowering witness to manifest the life and witness of Jesus (see Acts 4:12-13). Self- centered life revolves around personal interests, wants-needs and goals. We find ourselves living as Christians under the delusion of being autonomous (in control of our own lives and destinies). As such, it is possible to engage in a mission, this is, our mission. To be properly engaged in mission, however, is to fulfill the demands of the mission, his mission. Eric Simmons (What is a Missional Life) breaks it down this way: Welcome to my neighborhood. Heres what it looks like:

the lady ringing up my order at Panera Bread who is a lesbian; the neighbor with everything that life seems to offerthe big house, the Lexus, the beautiful wife, the straight-A kids; the guy next to me in the gym who is committing adultery and destroying the lives of himself and his family; the guy who works in the bike shop with whom I am pursuing a friendship; Phyllis, the 78-year-old woman who just lost her husband of 54 years.

Keep looking and youll find just about everyone. The atheist. The mocker. The scoffer. The intellectual. The ignorant. These are people that need Jesus. These are the people that I have been called to reach. They are my mission field.

My Utmost for His Highest

What does your mission field look like? Im sure the faces are different, but the state of their soul before God is not.8 Consider also the following Saint Petersburg Times article TAMPA -- There is a baseball field in the middle of Tampa's inner-city gridlock, sandwiched between a cemetery and a power substation off North Boulevard, hidden under a large stand of oak trees. It is the type of place John J. Pizzio would have barreled into on a Saturday morning, set up a table and charged $5 for youngsters who might not otherwise have had the chance to play Little League baseball. But it wasn't a pretty place, probably not one on which he would have put his name. Funny how a dream can bring things full circle. That diamond was once called Doc Nance Field. But after Seminole Presbyterian renovated it with $25,000 and tons of elbow grease over the past year, the city had no problem changing its name to John J. Pizzio Jr. Memorial Field. The agreement is that Pizzio's name will hang prominently on a 4-foot sign behind home plate as long as Seminole Presbyterian plays its home games there. After all Pizzio did for youth baseball and Seminole Presbyterian, how could John's son, Lancers coach J.J. Pizzio, name the field anything but after his father, called the first "real" Lancers coach, who died of a heart attack on June 29, 1997, at age 49. "It makes me cry," said Ann Pizzio, J.J.'s mother. "His dad would be very proud of everything J.J. has done." No doubt Dad's buttons would be busting tonight when J.J. leads the Lancers into a Class A state semifinal against Jacksonville Arlington Country Day at Legends Field, a few miles from where John J. Pizzio planted the seeds for Seminole Presbyterian's dream. When Seminole Presbyterian added grades 9-12 in 1989, the administration started a varsity baseball program. John J. Pizzio, a lifelong baseball fanatic, became the coach and a huge asset when it came to supplying equipment, athletic director Frank Mabry said. That's because Pizzio had a long history of developing connections with the New York Yankees while keeping statistics for their Gulf Coast League and Florida State League affiliates. Pizzio stayed one year as coach but remained heavily involved as one of the school's biggest boosters and consultants. Meanwhile, at the Yankees' minor-league complex on Himes and Columbus in Tampa, J.J. and his father became close. Together they watched game after game and talked to the Yankees legends that strolled through. On days his father couldn't be there to keep the score book, J.J. filled in. J.J. also took classes at Hillsborough Community College and landed a job at Seminole Presbyterian working in the extended day-care program. Lancers baseball, however, was the furthest thing from his mind. "I didn't come here to do anything with baseball," he said. "Baseball was out of my life at that point." Then the first of two lifealtering events occurred. In early 1997, one of J.J.'s best friends, Wayne Hughes, was killed in a crash caused by a drunken driver. Hughes had led J.J. to his job at Seminole Presbyterian. In June, J.J.'s father died.

Eric Simmons leads the singles ministry at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD. http://sites.silaspartners.com /CC/ article/0,,PTID314526%7CCHID598014%7CCIID2264226,00.html

"First my best friend, then my dad," J.J. said. "It was the turning point of my entire life. I prayed a lot and asked God to give me something to grab on to. I needed something to nurture." That's when J.J. went to then-baseball coach Kevin Hickinbotham and was blunt about his feelings. "I told (Hickinbotham) that if he wanted to bring in someone to turn the program around, he needed to bring me in (as an assistant)," J.J. said. "I was pretty bold about it. Kevin was humble enough and gracious enough to allow me to come in." Seminole Presbyterian wasn't awful -- "mediocre" is the word J.J. likes to use -- but it was bad enough that he couldn't stand to see something with his father's name attached to it struggle so mightily. "When I took over as athletic director (seven years ago), our baseball program was horrid," Mabry said. "It was scary, nothing I wanted my name attached to." J.J., who became head coach in 1999, was on a mission to change that. He created guidelines and rules that dealt more with life than baseball. His coaching philosophy is to instill a strong sense of faith, build a base of education and work to keep family life in order. If a player does all three, J.J. said, playing baseball "won't be a problem." While teaching his players those things, J.J. realized they were the philosophies his father taught as a coach. The elder Pizzio just did it more subtly. J.J. has practice balls with scripture and motivational statements he scribbles on each. Every day the players play catch with the "Work Ethic" or the "Respect" ball. It is a small reminder to J.J. that everything he does, his father is close by. "I don't accept the fact that he's gone," J.J. said. "I just don't see him that much anymore."9 Note the association and necessity of life-altering events with a well-conceived mission strengthened by a sustained awareness of fatherly influence. It is so with the believer in Jesus Christ. We have experienced the life-altering event of a new birth which places us in relationship with a loving heavenly Father who desires us to fulfill the mission initiated and maintained by his Son and empowered by his Spirit. Remember the words of Jesus who said, We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming, when no one can work (John 9:4 ESV).

ESTRANGED FROM THE WORLD

We cannot discuss in-depth the subject of Jesus and his Father without giving attention to the kingdom of God. It is important to set the kingdom in context where our Lord is concerned. For example, we make distinctions. When distinctions contrast two elements we call this an antithesis. One such antithesis is a distinction between the secular and the sacred. You need only listen to the political pundits who debate whether religion is a valid topic of discussion for candidates. Those who reference God in a public forum invite an argument concerning the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Many Christians hold strongly that God exercises dominion on all the provinces of life whether sacred or spiritual. When engaged in the self-expression those provinces (e.g. prayer, Bible study, evangelism and corporate worship) we do so (in the opinion of the worldly-minded) in the realm of the sacred. All else is deemed secular in the sense of not serving any sacred or spiritual end. This is indeed a fallacy, though the false antithesis almost seems justified. Consider the following

St. Petersburg Times, May 14, 2001 by Mike Readling

Jesus identified a contrast between the world and himself (see John 15:18-19). The apostle Paul identified a kingdom that is governed by a prince whose children practice disobedience and whose spirit is actively energizing them (Eph 2:2). The apostle John regarded the spirit of this kingdom as antichrist (against Christ or in place of Christ, 1 John 4:3); its subjects are of the devil (1 John 3:8). In the Apocalypse (the book of Revelation), John depicts the antipathy of these two kingdoms (Rev 12:1-18), though this is not a rivalry in any true sense of the word. The kingdom of this world was disarmed by his passion on Calvary (Col 2:13-15) and will ultimately be defeated at the Parousia (the second coming of Christ, see Rev. 19:1-20). The distinction must go further; that is, between light and darkness (John 5:24), the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit (1 John 4:6) and between those perishing and those being saved (1 Cor 1:18).

So, why is the sacred-secular antithesis false if these distinctions are biblical? It is because these biblical distinctions highlight only one realm of existence. The realm in which we exist is one of entire commitment to God in the exercise of every province, whether deemed sacred or spiritual by a watching world. Born naturally, Im of this world and under the authority of Satan. Re-born spiritually Im called out of darkness and into his marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9).

Many Christians live as though their lives are divided between sacred-spiritual and secular obligations. They have bought into the lie that spirituality is the domain of the church and is not relevant on Main Street. This was not and is not the model established by our Lord and dictated according to his relation to his Father. Read A.W. Tozer who articulates the problem vividly This is the old sacred-secular antithesis. Most Christians are caught in its trap. They cannot get a satisfactory adjustment between the claims of the two worlds. They try to walk the tight rope between two kingdoms and they find no peace in either. Their strength is reduced, their outlook confused and their joy taken from them. I believe this state of affairs to be wholly unnecessary. We have gotten ourselves on the horns of a dilemma, true enough, but the dilemma is not real. It is a creature of misunderstanding. The sacred-secular antithesis has no foundation in the New Testament. Without doubt a more perfect understanding of Christian truth will deliver us from it. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our perfect example, and He knew no divided life. In the Presence of His Father He lived on earth without strain from babyhood to His death on the cross. God accepted the offering of His total life, and made no distinction between act and act. "I do always the things that please him," was His brief summary of His own life as it related to the Father. As He moved among men He was poised and restful. What pressure and suffering He endured grew out of His position as the world's sin bearer; they were never the result of moral uncertainty or spiritual maladjustment.10

10

The Pursuit of God, pp. 112-113.

Central to Jesus example was and is his relationship with his Father. Poised, rested, he walked in this world while communing and living in the safe place of his Fathers abiding care. How can we as faithful disciples adopt the key elements of our Saviors life and attain to the result of no moral uncertainty or spiritual maladjustment? How can we identify with God as our Father (the vertical dimension) and rightly impact all of our other relationships (the horizontal dimension)? It would utter folly to offer boat loads of counsel on the horizontal relational plane when our vertical relational plane is impaired or even non-existent.

ENTRUSTED TO HIS DISCIPLES

One of the precious by-products of a life lived in terms of a fatherly relation to God is the concern for the discipleship and spiritual progress of fellow believers. The apostle Paul articulated this well in 2 Tim 2:2. For Paul, this is not mere apostolic verbiage, but the revelation of the guiding principle which is to dominate our daily lives. We have failed if we focus our entire missional energies on proclaiming the gospel message to sinners. We must with equal passion devote our Spirit-aided energies to the task of spiritual growth and discipleship (which is inclusive of soulwinning). Such is the corollary love which is diffusive and extensive by nature and imparted to us by our Father through the witness of the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5; John 7:36-39; 13:34-35; 1 John 3:1). Jesus stated this truth well in his so-called high priestly prayer (see John 17:1-26). The chapter is a great example of the discourse of prayer between Jesus and his Father. In the midst of the prayer, Jesus described his life as sanctified or set apart for a purpose. And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart. (John 17:19 NET) Jesus provides the classic example of a greater purpose behind what we often conceive as selfabsorbed existence. For what (or to whom?) have you set yourself apart? To what end? Heres a diagnostic questionWho are you presently mentoring? Do you have any Paul-Timothy relationships? At the close of life, the question will not be, How much have you gotten? but How much have you given? Not How much have you won? but How much have you done? Not How much have you saved? but How much have you sacrificed? It will be How much have you loved and served, not How much were you honored?11

CONCLUSION
The following illustration probably doesnt seem to fit the message, but it caught my eye and the humor makes a strong point Carl A. Boyle, a sales representative, was driving home when he saw a group of young children selling Kool-Aid on a corner in his neighborhood. They had posted the typical hand scrawled sign over their stand: "Kool-Aid, 10 cents." Carl was intrigued. He pulled over to the curb. A young man approached and asked if he would like strawberry or grape Kool-Aid. Carl placed his order and handed the boy a quarter. After much deliberation, the children determined he had some change coming and rifled through the cigar box until they finally came up with the correct amount.

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Bibliotheca Sacra, 137:547:267, by Nathan C. Schaeffer.

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The boy returned with the change, and then stood by the side of the car. He asked if Carl was finished drinking. "Just about," said Carl. "Why?" "That's the only cup we have, "answered the boy, "and we need it to stay in business."12 We live in a day when less and less disciples are committed to God. That translates into less and less disciples live exemplary lives for God. One here and there just wont get the job done. What about you? Will you live as Jesus did in communion with his Father? Perhaps this is your heart-felt aspiration: Ill use my God-given power to live in a God-intended way and to embrace Godordained mission of telling others about Christ and then mentoring them to do likewise.

12

http://www.sermons.com.

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