It’s Fathers day, and tonight I want to simply remind you that you are a child of God.
We are all children no matter how old we are. You and I, in a sense, will always be a child.
Biologically all of us have an earthly father. Spiritually we have a heavenly Father.
You and I did not just appear in this world as fully grown, fully developed adults. All of us were physically born into this world and without an earthly mother and father, none of us would exist. Without our Heavenly Father, who began the whole creative process, we would not exist.
Listen to the words of Proverbs 3:11-12. The New Living Translation is “My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when He corrects you. For the Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.”
There seems to be something within many people that rebels against authority and in the 21st Century people want autonomy. Rules, regulations, laws, commandments, some people would rather live without them. Obedience, respect, correction, and discipline all seem to be alien concepts in the modern world and the mantra is live how you want, do what you want.
It’s probably safe to say that no earthly parent is a perfect parent. Parents are human, fallible, imperfect.
Father God is the perfect Heavenly parent. He always knows what is right and good and appropriate.
“Don’t be upset when He corrects you. For the Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.” This is not a negative statement, it is an encouraging Word: the Lord corrects those He loves.
Those of us who are parents know that correction can be a positive thing. I remember when my children were learning to spell and learning maths. There were times when they needed to be helped when they needed to be corrected, and the result was accurate spelling or correct answers.
Some things are learned, some things are discovered, some things are ignored, and some things we go through in life require us to seek wisdom greater than our own.
In all of our own efforts, may we never forget we have a heavenly Father to whom we are responsible.
A heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us far more than any earthly parent ever could.
The Bible teaches us, in James 1:17-18, “Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession.”
It is a humbling thought. Every good and every perfect gift we have comes from Father God. Humbling, yet at the same time, a liberating concept. We are in a real relationship, with the divine God who gives us every breath we breathe.
Our existence is dependant on Him. Our Salvation is dependant on Him. We are His children:
we are dependent upon His mercy,
we are dependent upon His love,
we are dependent upon His daily provision,
we are dependent upon His grace,
we are dependent upon His wisdom.
As children of God, we need His wisdom.
We are biological children of earthly parents and a spiritual child of our heavenly Father.
I can not tell you if my biological father was a man of wisdom. In the first nine years of my life I only saw him three times. But, I can tell you my heavenly father is wise, He shares His wisdom with me every day as I read His Word.
The central theme of the third chapter of The Book of Proverbs is wisdom. Listen to Proverbs 3:1-18,
My child, never forget the things I have taught you.
Store my commands in your heart.
2 If you do this, you will live many years,
and your life will be satisfying.
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart.
4 Then you will find favour with both God and people,
and you will earn a good reputation.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek His will in all you do,
and He will show you which path to take.
7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 Then you will have healing for your body
and strength for your bones.
9 Honour the Lord with your wealth
and with the best part of everything you produce.
10 Then He will fill your barns with grain,
and your vats will overflow with good wine.
11 My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline,
and don’t be upset when He corrects you.
12 For the Lord corrects those He loves,
just as a father corrects a child in whom He delights.
13 Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,
the one who gains understanding.
14 For wisdom is more profitable than silver,
and her wages are better than gold.
15 Wisdom is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 She offers you long life in her right hand,
and riches and honour in her left.
17 She will guide you down delightful paths;
all her ways are satisfying.
18 Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.
Wisdom, Godly wisdom, there is nothing wiser, nothing better. Wisdom comes to the person who is humble, who acknowledges their need, who is willing to bow their knee before a higher sovereign - our Heavenly Father.
Rabbinic tradition teaches King Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs.
Solomon’s father King David had died and Solomon went to the bronze altar in front of the Tabernacle.
Humbly, Solomon sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings to God. 2 Chronicles 1:7-12 says, That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” Solomon replied to God, “You showed great and faithful love to David, my father, and now you have made me king in his place. O Lord God, please continue to keep your promise to David my father, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth! Give me the wisdom and knowledge to lead them properly, for who could possibly govern this great people of yours?” God said to Solomon, “Because your greatest desire is to help your people, and you did not ask for wealth, riches, fame, or even the death of your enemies or a long life, but rather you asked for wisdom and knowledge to properly govern my people—I will certainly give you the wisdom and knowledge you requested. But I will also give you wealth, riches, and fame such as no other king has had before you or will ever have in the future!”
God rewarded Solomon for wanting wisdom.
It is true that Solomon’s later life is a little harder to understand, how could a person of such wisdom do so many wrong things? Perhaps Solomon’s latter life is a good illustration of the fact that we can wilfully choose to go against what we know is right and, in spite of God’s gift of wisdom, we can mess up our lives.
You and I, we must choose to live our lives daily following the wisdom of the Bible, the Word of God. His word is a gift of His wisdom, the pure and perfect wisdom of God.
All of us can, with God’s help, become a man or woman of wisdom. God is the only source of true wisdom.
All wisdom ultimately comes from Him and is enabled by Him. Wisdom comes through the instruction, correction and discipline of our heavenly Father.
Instruction. This involves training and knowledge. In sports terms, managers or coaches instruct athletes or players what to do in certain situations. They are instructed, they are trained, they practice. Muscles are stretched, skills are developed.
An athlete or a footballer does not just turn up at a stadium and do whatever they feel like doing. Instruction involves knowledge. Instruction involves training. Instruction involves practice. Instruction is one part of discipline.
God has given us His Word. In His Word:
He instructs us what it is to be His child.
He describes His plan of salvation.
He tells of our sin.
He tells us of rebellion against His will for us.
He tells us of His provision of a Saviour, Jesus Christ came to rescue us, Jesus came to die for our sins.
He alerts us to The Holy Spirit’s presence in our life. He challenges us to live a Spirit-controlled life.
He calls us to a daily walk, a daily practice.
Friends, we learn our lessons daily, God instructs us throughout our earthly lives until He calls us home. There are times when God needs to correct us and there are also times when we need to be disciplined.
A biblical understanding of discipline shows that combined with instruction at times there is a need for reproof and correction. In the Bible we see God dealing with His people by taking corrective measures, His purpose is not to crush His children, but to train them in the ways in which they should go and develop.
God cares enough about His children to be actively involved in leading and guiding and teaching us.
What would you think of a math teacher who was so pleasant that he never told a student that two and two aren’t five?
He didn’t want to be negative.
He didn’t want to hurt the child’s feelings.
He wanted to be liked so he never corrected.
Is he doing that child a favour?
Is he helping or hindering the child’s development?
Students are trained and corrected for their own good.
Part of discipline is what we call “chastisement.”
God could leave the training wheels on forever to protect us from the pain of falling down.
What good parent would do that? When I was a child fell off my bike a few times until I learned how to balance.
“Don’t be upset when He corrects you. For the Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.”
Some children despise parental authority.
Some children harden their heart against parental discipline.
Some children refuse to accept instruction.
God urges us not to despise His discipline.
God urges us not to despise His correction.
Don’t be upset. Don’t refuse to be guided. Open your life to His guidance, His instruction, His discipline. Only a father who delights in a child takes time to give adequate discipline.
In the Bible, there are many comparisons between God’s relationship with us as His children and us in our relationship with our children.
Godly discipline is not yelling, screaming, slapping, Godly discipline is authority, Godly discipline is loving direction. Godly discipline is instruction and reproof which comes from a real sensitive and deep care.
The final thought is this: God is more than just our wise Heavenly Father. He is also One who comforts like a mother. God has the characteristics of the finest parents while being so much more than our earthly biological parents.
Perhaps our understanding of God as Father has been damaged by our experience of our biological parents.
Maybe we need to ask our heavenly Father to help us to forgive our biological parents.
Tonight’s sermon is for mothers as well as fathers, all of us are called to acknowledge to our children how we live accountable to God and ask His forgiveness when we have failed.
Your wise Heavenly father delights in you, you are His child. Dare to be different: Trust Him, love Him, obey Him, Follow Him.
Audio for this sermon is available to download at:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/child-of-god-series-dare-to-be-different/id1016102507?i=1000441805343
or
https://sermons.estuaryelim.church/20190616_apm_dean_courtier(wisefather).mp3
