The Kindness of God Leads To...
By Gregory John Wilson
January 5th, 2020
The title of the message comes from Paul's letter to the Romans in the Bible, - at the end I will complete the phrase - be thinking about what it could be! But in this message we will look at how God the Father deserves our honor and respect, and just WHY He is SO worthy of it all - His kindness is immense and leads us to…. Well, you'll find out soon!
So, as a father, sometimes I try to tell my 5 year old daughter serious things for her to listen to and obey. It maddens and frustrates me at times that many times she treats it all as a joke, as a game, and does not pay the proper respect to me as her father, taking my words seriously and trying to obey them. Well it turns out, God feels the same way sometimes! If we go to the book of the prophet Malachi, we will see! Listen to what the LORD said:
A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?' says the LORD of hosts…Malachi 1:6
In the Christian world today, the emphasis seems to be almost exclusively on God's amazing Grace and love. And let me be clear, I do not want to minimize at all God's great grace love and mercy. But the other side of the coin is our response to His love and mercy and Grace, which should be one of deep honor, respect, and obedience. This IS God almighty we are talking about - the one infinitely wise, infinitely good, infinitely powerful. If we should be listening to anyone, it is Him.
But to help us have a proper reverence for God, the primary thing we can look at IS His grace and love - the extent of His grace and love, for the Bible says that 'the kindness of God leads to...' - you'll find out soon! So let us look at just how deep, how insane is His love!!
Now like the first verse we heard, we are talking about God the Father, AND YET, the Bible says that if you have seen Jesus, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER!! Elsewhere Jesus says that the Father does His works THROUGH Jesus, as the spirit of the Father lives in the Son. Thus, we can see the ministry of the Son as an EXTENSION of the ministry of the Father God. Indeed, Jesus even called His disciples - grown men - LITTLE CHILDREN.
So when Jesus came to His hour of trial, being taken captive in front of the authorities before His execution, imagine that the Father God is interacting with sinful fallen humanity THROUGH the son.
So mature is the Father in the Son, choosing to have IMMENSE grace - not even looking at the injustice they were doing to Him! Like a father that knows He is dealing with immature foolish children. Yet these 'children' were wicked as well - hating Jesus because Jesus was righteous and they were not! And because they failed to consider that in the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, a HUMAN is called MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER. - they considered His claim to deity blasphemy instead…
So, have you ever been wronged like Jesus was? None of us have been unjustly condemned to a torturous scourging and death, and so no, we have not. But think of when you have been wronged. Most likely, you felt indignant - HOW DARE THEY MISTREAT ME LIKE THAT! I know I have certainly felt angry when I have been mistreated by people bankrupt of love.
But our Lord and Savior and God in the flesh is not like us. His grace is immense, and at the cross, Jesus - with His perfect spirit - gave up all rights to retaliate or have justice. For so He had to fulfill the prophecies!! So imagine, the Father in Flesh looking down from the cross at His sinful creation of humanity while they are mocking and even killing Him! - and loving these grown up children, asking the Father above to even FORGIVE them, for they knew not what they were doing, like other physical children that don't always know the gravity of their foolishness or sin.
And so the Lord suffered and died, awaiting His resurrection 3 days later. And then He rose and ascended back to heaven having paved the way for sinners to be forgiven. And yes there is coming a day when Justice will be served, when Jesus will come to rule and reign in the New Jerusalem, and before that, fight against the rebel armies of Earth.
So as we consider the immense kindness of the Lord Jesus - Father God in flesh, this should stir US to immense reverence and gratitude and repentance, like children drawing near to their wise, loving father, willing to hear His ways and adjust our lives according to His righteous instructions.
He is our father and our master indeed, His grace and kindness is great, and therefore we should all the more give Him the honor and respect He is due, as we know that the kindness of God leads to…
Repentance! (Romans 2:4)
And repentance involves turning away from sin and turning towards God, which involves showing Him honor and respect, as we were talking about at the beginning of the message!
With that I conclude and pray you are blessed by the message. Real quick, are there any quick questions or comments or prayer requests?
And you can always call or email or write letters to me if you'd like to, using my info on the bulletin! Thank you.
shepherdsembraceministries@gmail.com