How God Feels About His Children

“How God Feels About His Children” by Romans There is a Christian Radio Station that I listen to nearly every day that broadcasts from Liberty University. Occasionally in the afternoon, they run this little promo that I would like to use to introduce my topic tonight. They tell how, in 1994, Bill Gates bought a notebook of Leonardo DaVinci at an auction. He paid $30.8 million, making it the most expensive book ever sold. Then they mention that, even though it may be the most expensive book in the world, it is NOT the most valuable book in the world. The Bible, the Word of God, is the most valuable Book in the world. The information we read in the Bible, is information that would not be available anywhere else, and in any other way were the men who wrote it, not inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the things they did. We could never otherwise know what sin is. And we could never otherwise know that God provided a Way for us through the death of His Only Begotten Son, to have our sins, all of our sins, forgiven, forgotten, and never be brought up again. We could never otherwise know that the penalty for our sins has been paid in full. Tonight, we are going to focus on one thing in particular that the Bible teaches us. In a recent Bible Study that I attend on Sunday morning, the pastor shared with the group a Verse that he had apparently never seen before, or at least had escaped his notice on the previous occasions when he had read it. He is just beginning a series on the Minor Prophets. The Verse he shared with us is from Zephaniah 3:17: “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” Let’s read and consider that this Verse is saying about how God feels about His people: The Eternal Lord, Creator of the Universe is mighty, He will save, but then He rejoices when we accept His Salvation! Then He rests in His Love for us and joys or rejoices over us with singing! When the pastor I mentioned earlier read this Verse, he was so bowled over by it that he went and woke up his wife to share it with her! Singing! Our Creator sings when He thinks of those who have abandoned the way of the world that only brought us misery, defeat, sorrow and death. God rejoices and sings over those who have accepted His Salvation, who have chosen to follow Jesus in leading godly lives in which they will grow into the tenets of the Sermon on the Mount, and begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace forgiveness, generosity, longsuffering, and putting the needs of others before their own needs. That is why God sings in joy over us! It is one of the ways in which He manifests His Love for us. Tonight, we are going to focus in on the various ways that the Bible tells us, God manifests His Love for us. But before I do that, let’s also notice God is not the only One rejoicing in Heaven: Jesus said in Luke 15:10 “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” And then we read in Luke 15:7: “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” But it is not just singing and rejoicing over us! Jesus also said in Matthew 10:32 "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” Jesus Christ Who came and died that each of us might have Life Eternal acknowledges before the Father in Heaven, those who have accepted His sacrifice! Think of the people you love. Think of the familiarity you have with them so that when you are in a store somewhere and you see something that you know they would like, you buy it for them. Part of loving someone is knowing them on a deeper level than other casual friends, neighbors and acquaintances. And that knowledge, and the desire to know those things, and act on that knowledge is evidence of the love you have for that person. With that in mind, let’s notice the depth of the love God has for us, made evident by the depth of what He knows about us, and what He does with that knowledge: Among the many questions that Job asked in the midst of his affliction, he asked in Job 31:4: “Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?” I don’t believe this was mere poetic exaggeration on Job’s part. Scripture tells us that the mind of God is omniscient knowing all things. Scripture tells us in Psalms 147:4 of a God Who “…telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” Should we be amazed that He can or does count our steps? Jesus asked in Matthew 10:29: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Scripture introduces us to a Creator Who is intimately involved with His Creation. And the relationship He wants to have with us is a warm, intense and close relationship. Notice Paul’s words in Romans 8:15: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” We miss so much by reading an English translation of the Word of God, and we take far too many things for granted. Abba is the Middle Eastern equivalent of the English word, Daddy. I had the opportunity to visit Israel in 1979, and I would like to share with you an experience that I had there, that helped me to better appreciate the full meaning of the Christian receipt of “the Spirit of Adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” I was in a crowded open-air market one day, and suddenly the happy and excited voice of a little four-year-old child rang out above the noise of the crowd. “Abba! Abba!” he cried, and ran laughing into his father’s waiting open arms to be picked up. He was calling for his daddy, and he was excited when he found he found him, and could be reunited with him. There is another Son I’d like to talk about with Whom you are more familiar. He also cried out Abba under very different circumstances. We can read the account beginning in Mark 14:32: “And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.” Abba. This one occasion is the only place in all Four Gospels where Jesus uses the Greek Abba, Daddy, in all the references, commands, conversations. But we have been given the Spirit of Adoption where we can call God, the Great, Omnipotent and Eternal God, Abba… Daddy. And this same God goes so much further, and gives us the equally unimaginable access that we find in Hebrews 4:16: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Earlier, I mentioned the incredible power of the mind of God, in that He is able to not only number but also call the names of all the stars. Matthew Henry wrote about God’s numbering the stars in his Commentary about this: “Man's knowledge is soon ended; but God's knowledge is a dept(h) that can never be fathomed. And while he telleth the number of the stars, he condescends to hear the broken-hearted sinner.” In a Prophecy in Isaiah 65:17: “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” But, as incredible that it is that God hears and answers our prayers, because of Scripture we also can know that the very Person of the Trinity Who Created the Universe willingly set aside the Majesty and Glory of His Position to satisfy the death penalty we imposed on ourselves by our sin and rebellion. We read beginning in Philippians 2:6: “… Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” And His sole motivation for doing that was because He loved us. Jesus said in John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” But did Jesus speak this about Himself? Notice the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Did Jesus lay down His Life for His friends? Notice Verse 10: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” God’s Love for us is manifested in Scripture, showing us that He is a Giving God: God gave His people His Law: The Commandments of God are not restrictions that diminish our lives: We read in Deuteronomy 30:19: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” Deuteronomy 11:8 ¶Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; Deuteronomy 11:13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.” Just as the children of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, the Lord spoke to them in Deuteronomy 11:26: “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey…” The Psalmist recognizes this and tells us beginning in Psalms 119:97: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.” And then in Verse 105, he writes, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” The Word of God is the most valuable Book on Earth because It reveals not only the Commands of God, but also His thoughts: We read beginning in Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD…” We read in James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights…” But God is presented in the pages of Scripture as One Who delights in not just giving us good things, but lavishing them upon us: Notice Isaiah 63:7: “I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.” Paul gives the New Testament of Isaiah’s depiction of the lovingkindnesses of God beginning Ephesians 2:4: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” The Bible presents to us a God Who wants His people to be a generous and giving people. In the Old Testament we read in Deuteronomy 15:11: “For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” This reminds me of Cain’s response to God when He asked where Abel was: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Look at this Verse, again. “Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.” Did you notice the possessive pronoun in each case: thy? “Thy brother… thy poor… thy needy.” It is clear that God wants us to consider the poor of the land as our responsibility to take care of. After all, they are our poor and needy. Paul’s farewell address to the elders of the Church at Ephesus picks up the idea in Acts 20:35: “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” And God has been telling us from the very beginning of all the things He has given us and will give us: Genesis 1:16: “And God made two great lights… and… set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth…” Genesis 1:29: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed… to you it shall be for meat.” After the Flood, God said in Genesis 9:3: “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.” Leviticus 26:4: “Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.” Deuteronomy 11:14: “… I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain…” Ecclesiastes 5:19: “Every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God.” In Jeremiah 14:13 we read God’s Promise that, “Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.” The unrepentant, heart of stone in man described in Jeremiah 17:9 as being, “… deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…”needed to be replaced. So God Promised in Ezekiel 36:26, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Far from diminishing as the Old Testament ends, God’s giving dramatically escalates in the New Testament. Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus told His disciples in Luke 21:15, “For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.” Matthew 7:11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? In Jeremiah 3:15 God promised, “… I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” And then we read of His keeping His Promise in Ephesians 4:11: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…” We read of God’s Ultimate Gift in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus says in John 6:51: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” But the Father’s willingness to give us His Only Begotten Son, and the Son’s willingness to give His flesh for the life of the world is not an end to Their giving… incredibly, for Them it is just the beginning: In speaking of His human ministry on earth coming to an end, Jesus said in John 16:7: “…I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” We are told in Hebrews 13:5 that Jesus said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” But in addition to His Promise in Matthew 28:20 that, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” He Promised in John 14:16: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” And God’s giving continues, as we read Jesus’ words in Luke 12:32: “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And then we read in Romans 8:32: “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” The Apostle John quotes Jesus in Revelation 3:12: “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” In Hebrews 1:2 Jesus is called the “heir of all things.” And we are called in Romans 8:17 “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” The Word of God informs us, as no other book does, and as no other Book can, that we serve a Giving, Righteous, and Holy God who calls upon us to reflect His Righteous and Holy Character and to be a giving people. “…God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). We are serving a God Who delights in us, loves us in unimaginable detail and depth, counting our steps, and numbering the hairs on our heads. He is a God Who “joys over us with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17) when He thinks about us. But He not only, in a manner of speaking, writes us into His Will such that we might be heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ that we might be heirs of all things… no… He is not done. After all that He has done, after all that He has given, after all that He has lavished upon us… He is still not done! We read these incredible words beginning in 2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature…” It is, when you come right down to it, too much for us to comprehend! And God is a not only a Joyful God, but Scripture tells us that He gave His Only Begotten Son that He might share that Joy with His Creation for Eternity. At the conclusion of the Parable of the Talents, we read in Matthew 25:21, these words spoken to those who served faithfully: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” We serve an Awesome, Awesome God! This ends this Evening’s Discussion, “How God Feels About His Children” Delivered by Romans, “live” on June 28th, 2012