As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.
At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Mat 3:16-17)
Because we have inherited a theology born out of rebellion
and disconnectedness, we tend to lose the Hebraic context of what we read.
The Scriptures are embedded in a context. That context is derived from a culture that
was birthed by the Father, when He covenanted with Abraham.
When we look at Abraham we see the nature of the vision
that Abba has for us.
Avram became Avraham. Look with me at Gen 17:3-7:
Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me,
this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer
will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a
father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you,
and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting
covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations
to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. (Gen
17:3-7).
What we need to realize is that Abba is establishing
something here. He is making a covenant
with a man who is to be a Father. He is
not just a father to his seed, his descendants, but a father to the nations,
the gentiles. This means that Abraham
brings the anointing of Fathering.
What does it mean to bring the covenant reality of
Fathering to the nations? Well it means
that through this covenant we can relate to God as our Father. Now, this may not immediately click with us,
so let me take a moment to share some insights into this reality.
Take for a moment and think of the word dad. Who gets to use it? If a child calls their father by their given
name, i.e. David what does that mean?
Who does that? Only a true son or
daughter can use the name “dad”.
So when Abraham was given by covenant the position of being
Father to the nations, this is bringing the revelation of “dad”
to
the nations. You see the nations know
God as God, all-powerful omnipotent ruler of all. Abraham’s covenant brings Him as “dad”.
When a child calls to their “dad”
and
has a need what does “dad” do? Dad is moved by his heart connection! He doesn’t respond on any other basis. The child asks on another basis. That basis is trust, or what the Bible calls
faith. That trust or faith is grounded
in love.
Abraham’s covenant is the basis of all
covenants. He embodied the Fathering, or
if you will his covenant with the Father was to reveal the heart of God as
Father.
This came in the name change. Avram is aleph-bet-resh-mem. It is made up of 2 words Av and Ram. Av means father and ram means most high. SO Avram means most high father. When God made the Fathering covenant with the
one in the earth whose name was “most high father”
He
added a “Hey”. Now Hey is in the name of God but also means
the revelation of something. So one way
to look at Abram’s name change is to extend His
fathering role to all nations which is true, but another aspect is that Abram
was to reveal or make known the Father’s nature to all by changing the image
of God from the ALL-Powerful creator God who gives and takes away, to one who
is Daddy to His children.
This is so important because the very next thing Abba does
with Abraham is deal with the issue of their barrenness.
Now, the Apostle Paul in writing to the Church in Rome
gives us some insight into this miracle: Romans 4:16-22
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to
grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who
are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the
father of us all (as it is written, "I HAVE MADE YOU A FATHER OF MANY
NATIONS") in the presence of Him whom he believed—God,
who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though
they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father
of many nations, according to what was spoken, "SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS
BE." And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body,
already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of
Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was
strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what
He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore "IT WAS
ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
(Rom 4:16-22)
Now, we tend to focus of the faith part of this verse which
is important. BUT, I want to look at it
maybe a little differently today. You
see Abba changed Avram’s name to Abraham. He changed it to reveal or if you will make
Abram-Abraham a revelation of a new kind of relationship in the earth. God, would now birth supernatural children
through His seed. He takes a letter of
His name, the Hey and puts in Abraham’s name, the Hey the letter of
revelation and reveals or if you will makes possible the impossible of a dead
husk of a man and woman bringing forth a new birth. he supernaturally makes Abraham and Sarah,
mom and dad by revealing Himself as Abba as Father. Can you see it?
Now, He is in the earth scene as a God who is Father. Father to whom?? The children who bear His seed, His
promise. This is more than a biological
relationship even spiritually. His is
not just the biological sperm donor, but the actual Father. He is everything meant by that
revelation. SO much so that in the next
chapter Abraham as the representative of the Father argues for Sodom and
Gemorrah. Who has the right to challenge
the Father? The one who is the agent of
the revelation of the Father.
Now, the role of the Father comes into focus. What is a Father? Well there many aspects to Fathering with the
Father’s heart, but one of the most
important is to receive into our hearts the totality of His Love for us. Romans 5:8 gives us a glimpse into this
reality:
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has
been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Rom 5:5)
What does it mean to have the “love
of God lured into our hearts by His Holy Spirit?” What is the “love
of God”?
Well if we read on in Romans 5:9-13 it tells us that this love was
demonstrated for us by the giving of Yeshua:
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet
perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His
own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God
through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be
saved by His life. (Rom 5:6-10).
There is something then in the revelation of who God is in
our lives that is sacrificial. He
sacrificed His Son for us. As the
revelation of Fatherhood in the earth we know that His love for us was of such
a nature that He was willing through His precious Son to die for us, to set us
free. Set free from the wrath that was
due to us. That is the primary
expression, scripturally of how insanely crazy about you as His child that Abba
is. Can you grasp that passion? Can you let the revelation of what a true
Father is as manifested by the Father into your heart?
Now realize by the eyes of your heart, the revealing that
is in your heart, that He has implanted that kind of love in you. You have His sacrificial heart and you have
that heart in you towards children of the spirit, your own biological if that
is the case and spiritual, of the dead womb.
They are in the world for you even if you are still Avram and not yet
fully awakened to being Avraham.
Look with me at Luke 11:11-13:
If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he
give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead
of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luk 11:11-13)
What does it mean that He gives His Holy Spirit to those
who ask him? Yes, we know it means being
born-again. BUT, born-again into what or
who? The kingdom. Yes, but what or who
is the kingdom? I want to suggest to you
that the “kingdom” we
are born into is the actual seed of the Father who is reproducing after His own
kind. He is birthing fathers!
He is birthing Fathers, male or female, who have His love
and their ground of being. We are loved
first and then we act. Look at 1John 4:10
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved
us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1Jn 4:10).
We are grounded in His Love!
You see if we can receive that then we can act appropriately to that love. If we haven’t
been awakened to that reality that we are striving to get there. WE HAVE NO CHOICE. We are birthed in love so
there is no option called living without it.
In fact you could say that ALL that we do is in some way a response to
the need to be born-again to the revelation of His Love as the Father for
us. The one where He calls us by name,
the one where He fully claims us and makes us into His children expressing Him into
the earth! This is why He gives us His
nature. His Spirit is not just an
encounter with power. It is that. But
His Spirit is something much more profound!
His Spirit is His deposit into our hearts of His character,
His goodness, all that He is. Meditate
on that! Let that reality come int your
being. His love is His Spirit. A natural father wants his kids to learn what
he has learned and avoid the mistakes he has made. What drives a father or a mother crazy is to
see their kids emulating their own bad behaviors. There is an anger that arises on the inside
that is rooted in the shame of self awareness.
As parents, we fear our own past.
I know I do. And yet unless we
allow ourselves to become Avraham, receive into our hearts the love of the Father
then we will teach and minister to our children, natural and spiritual out of
our striving. Fear will be the basis of
our relationships.
We have to receive the love of the Father first. Yeshua didn’t
come just to die but to reveal the Father.
All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no
one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the
Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. (Mat 11:27)
This revealing is grounded in love, not in fear. Yeshua began his ministry in the earth with
this revelation when He came out of the waters of Baptism.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.
At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Mat 3:16-17)
You can hear the empowerment of the revealed God and
Father. The son whom I love. This is who you are: The son or daughter who
He loves. This is what launched His
ministry because He couldn’t bring a gospel of love without
first being born again Himself into it.
This might shake some theological pillars, but I believe that without
this impartation of the Spirit of God as the seed of the Father’s
“Fatherhood”, Yeshua couldn’t
have been who He needed to be. His
ministry of love needed this death of His own old nature, as good as it was,
for this new nature of the Son to come forth.
The baptism and the receiving of the Father’s
Spirit was essential that He would operate in love not fear. Giving and serving, not performance and
striving.
One final scripture and then we pray: Mathew 17:
Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his
brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured
before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as
the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here;
if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses,
and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying,
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"
(Mat 17:1-5)
The Father who is reveling Fatherhood, declares Himself
again and gives a fresh birthing of His Spirit again, at the mountain and
includes Moses and Elijah. What is
this? Why Moses and Elijah? Who are they? Moses is the Father’s
heart of deliverance from bondage and freedom into the order, the light of the
Father. Elijah is this strange prophet
who brought the revelation of Godly
authority, provision, and unity. Aren’t
these characteristics of Fathers that we need form the Father heart?? What was Yeshua about to do now? He was about to go to Jerusalem, the seat of
authority and die for these keys to the kingdom for us. There is so much in the lives of these 2 men
that is the heart of the Father. BUT The
most important thing to take away is the declaration of love as the foundation
stone for the Son to give His life!
And the command to sh’ma, to hear! The Father gives His love so we can
hear. Why? Because faith comes by
hearing. We need to receive His love or
we cannot even hear. People don't care
what you know until they know how much you care. We cannot hear the scriptures, receive the
prophetic words unless we know that we are loved by the Father who is personal
to us.
Malachi 4 sums up this reality:
"For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which
is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will
leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name The Sun of
Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And
grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be
ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the LORD of hosts.
"Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for
all Israel, With the
statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn The hearts
of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their
fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. (Mal 4:1-6)
It is all about the Father’s
heart for His beloved sons and daughters in whom He is well pleased!
No comments:
Post a Comment