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“The Work of the Father Today”
Categories: Sermons
As I said last week, based on a suggestion, I’m currently preaching a series on the work of God today. This week’s lesson, then, is going to be about the Father and the work that He does today.
If I were willing to reach back to the Old Testament especially, I could probably preach for the rest of the year on this subject. There is so, so much material to cover, and I only have 25 minutes to cover it, so necessarily, a lot gets left on the cutting-room floor!
For instance, I’m not going to discuss the Father’s work in controlling the course of human history. I believe that just as He did thousands of years ago, He continues to guide the rise and fall of nations today, and that He will bless righteous nations and humble wicked ones. Nonetheless, that’s another sermon for another time.
Instead, I’m going to focus this morning on what the Father does for each one of us personally. None of us are beneath His notice; indeed, He is every bit as concerned with us as we are. In this regard, then, let’s consider the work of the Father today.
First, the Scripture teaches us that the Father PROVIDES FOR US. This is pretty plain in James 1:16-17. In context, James is attacking the idea that the Father might tempt us to sin. Instead, everything that the Father sends us is good, and everything in our lives that is good comes from Him.
This should call us first of all to be thankful. Every morning when we get out of bed and take that first deep breath, it’s a gift from the Father. Every meal we eat, we receive from His hand.
This is true not only for His faithful people, but also for the ones who reject Him. God provides for the hard-hearted sinner. He provides for the atheist. Their lack of gratitude hurts Him, but it does not diminish His goodness nor His willingness to provide. We know better than those people do, so we ought to do better. Let’s make sure that we pause continually throughout the day to thank our Father for His good gifts.
Additionally, we should remember the Father’s provision when times aren’t so good. Much of the time, when life isn’t going their way, people are quick to blame God for it. Really, this is reverse blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. It is attributing the works of the devil to God. Besides, no matter how awful our lives might be right now, the good that God has done us far outweighs our current suffering. None of us have any reason to complain about our treatment at His hands!
Second, the Father PROTECTS US. Let’s reflect for a moment on a familiar passage, 1 Corinthians 10:13. This is one I can remember from childhood, along with the idea that, when tempted, I should look for the way of escape that God provides.
Before we get that far, though, let’s think about what it means that the Father (I think “God” in 1 Corinthians 10 is the Father) does not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability. That is certainly not a goal of the devil, who is not a sporting old chap. I am quite confident that if he were allowed to have his own way, Satan would happily crush us with temptation far beyond our ability.
In fact, I think Satan often does exactly that. Notice that the protection of God only extends to “us”. Contextually, Paul isn’t talking about human beings generally. He’s talking about himself and the brethren of the church in Corinth. He’s talking about Christians. I do not think this promise extends to people who are not Christians. They have chosen to live in the dominion of darkness, and they are fair game for the roaring lion.
However, for those of us who are in the kingdom of the beloved Son instead, this means that God is constantly intervening in our lives, constantly interposing Himself between us and the devil in ways that we can neither perceive nor understand, so that Satan’s desires to ruin us are constantly frustrated. Sadly, I too often stumble even when I am not tempted beyond my ability, but I am thankful that God is constantly watching out for me and protecting me from the worst.
Third, the Father ANSWERS PRAYER. Look at the words of the Lord in Matthew 6:6. Here, Jesus urges us not to pray like the hypocrites, who prayed not because they were concerned about God, but because they wanted to impress other people. Instead, we are to seek the Father in prayer, and He will reward us.
Obviously, in real life, things are more complicated than that. All of us have had the experience of asking the Father for things that we did not receive. Sometimes, this is because free will intervenes. We might pray for God to soften the heart of an unrepentant loved one, and yet they go on being unrepentant. Well, that’s how free will works.
Sometimes, though, it seems like our prayers are not answered the way we want simply because God doesn’t want to. At times, this can be frustrating or even crushing. However, once we take a step back and think about it, we have to acknowledge that that’s how we want things. We want God to protect us from the limitations of our own wisdom.
For instance, I got married fairly late and dated a lot before I got married. There were several times when I prayed that I might get to marry a particular woman. Obviously, God only granted one of those prayers. At the time, I was not happy when things didn’t work out, but in retrospect, I should not have married any of the others.
I didn’t know what was best, but God did. More generally, all of us need to accept that we usually don’t know what is best, but God always does. We have to trust Him.
Finally, the Father FORGIVES. Ephesians 4:32 tells the story. Here, we see Paul urging the Ephesians to forgive one another as God in Christ forgave them. That doesn’t mean grudgingly and incompletely. It means totally, entirely, and forever.
What a precious thought this is! Sometimes, I hear folks complaining that the Bible has too many rules in it. The implication is that the God of the Bible is unfair. You know what? I think that’s exactly right. God is incredibly unfair in His treatment of me.
If God treated me fairly, if He gave me what I deserved, I still would be dead in my sins and headed for eternal death in hell. Instead, God gives me what is not fair and what I do not deserve. He has poured out so much of His mercy on me that I am completely clean. God be praised for that!
It’s incredible to me that God wanted to forgive me so much that He sent His Son to die in my place. Arguably, it’s equally incredible that after so much mercy and forgiveness, people still complain about His expectations. Let’s not make that mistake. Let’s seek to do God’s will, but above all, let’s glory in His forgiveness!
