JOHN 20:11-17 – But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 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 to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
THEME OF THE DAY: OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN. Try this among a group of Christians. Ask this question, “When you think of your relationship with God what immediately comes to mind?” We would hear things like, “He is my Savior, Friend, Redeemer, Shepherd, and even maybe “Elder Brother.” As we listen, pay attention to Whom the emphasis is likely directed – the Second Person of the Trinity; the Lord Jesus. Now there is nothing wrong with that but remember we walk with a Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I would be interested from our little experiment if anyone answered “Heavenly Father.” I wonder if you did.
J.I. Packer sees this teaching of God as Father as distinctive and central to New Testament teaching and New Testament religion. In his “must read” classic book Knowing God, Packer wrote, “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his father.”
God is called “Father” more than 250 times in the New Testament, and Jesus teaches us to address God as “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). But this is not just a statement of fact or of theology. It is a truth of the reality of a living relationship with the living God that empowers us to confident Christian living. And it is of the greatest comfort for the believer. Here is its application.
In trials so difficult and we have no words to form our prayers, a one-word cry from the depths of our being will be enough to strengthen our downcast hearts, lift our sorrowing souls, and renew our tired minds. It is “Father.” To be able because of the work of the Lord Jesus to look heavenly through tear-soaked eyes and whisper to the Creator/God, “Father” is the greatest source of comfort and safety the child of God will know.
PRAYER: “Father, thank You for the privilege – so undeserved – of calling You ‘my Father’.”
QUOTE: “Our greatest source of spiritual and eternal security is found in knowing God as Father.”
In the affection of Christ Jesus,
Pastor Jim