Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from the “Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide”, is titled “Jesus, the Giver of Rest”.
As children… little children… we are taught by our parents. Hopefully, loving and understanding parents. Initially, almost all of us are taught what not to do. “Don’t do this”, “Don’t do that”. Afterall, as children we are experimenting. We are usually unaware of the adverse consequences of certain behaviors. We are taught what not to do. When we acted appropriately, we were rewarded. When we acted inappropriately, our parents (if they loved us) would discipline us. Which led many of us to conclude, that what made certain behaviors “good” or “bad” was our parent’s definition of “good” and “bad”. Certain things may be intrinsically so. But most (we thought) were subjective. Subject to our parent’s terms. And, as children, we wanted our parent’s approval. Hence the need to behave properly. To have their approval and avoid their rejection … and even maybe to earn their love… or at least keep their love. Because tantamount to this experience was the subliminal idea that we were loved when we were “good” and unloved when we were “bad”.
This idea of being approved when we are “good” and being rejected when we are “bad” was reinforced in our school years and into our work lives… and beyond. So as new Christians, we almost universally came to our Heavenly “Father” with the same expectation and same understanding. But at the onset, we saw that no matter how “good” we had been, we were still the grossest, vilest of sinners. Yikes! Our Heavenly “Father” must hate us, reject us. But no, we found out that His holiest of all Son had borne the rejection due me, in my place. And so, the Father can now accept me. He even does not see me when He looks at me. He sees His holiest Son.
As we hung around God more and more, studied and prayed more and more, we developed an understanding of God that seemed to validate this concept of “good” and “bad” … of acceptance and rejection. An understanding full of “a Redeemer” and “paying of penalty”. Full of “salvation by faith alone” (quarterly for Tuesday) and full of Jesus’ “perfect sacrifice for our salvation” (quarterly for Wednesday). And this understanding has given us a measure of peace, a measure of “rest”. The responsibility has been lifted from our shoulders and lays upon our Elder Brother.
But this understanding stands on the view of “good” and “bad” that we developed as children. An understanding based upon a sinner’s view of himself, the world and our God. But an understanding that definitely needs to grow. Needs to mature. Needs to be assessed in “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
As we see Jesus “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3), we see that all our ideas of “ransom” “redeemer” “payment of penalty” are really inadequate to describe the relationship we have with the Son and with the Father. We see the bankrupt idea of all this legal finagling to achieve love and acceptance. Because as sons (albeit sinful, willful sons), we already have our Brother’s and Father’s love and acceptance. We finally begin to see something that we could’ve seen all along ever since we were little children. We see that discipline is not to make us acceptable and able to be loved. The discipline is to protect us because we are acceptable and because we are loved. And the ideas of “redeemer” and “sacrifice” were but early necessary understandings that appealed to our sinful minds that were incapable of grasping the idea of love that would have us every whit clean.
The Bible is full of legal talk. Of legal understanding. Full to overflowing. But in the events in and involving the upper room, Jesus was free to speak to the 11 (and to us) about these matters. “I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God” (John 16: 26-27). In this one sentence, Christ unhinges all the legal understanding that had gone before. He undoes the “redeemer” idea, the “payment of penalty” idea… and the Jewish understanding of the sacrificial service. And undoes today’s popular Christian understanding of the “Cross”. There is no offended Deity. No offended Law. No “balancing of the books” necessary at all. No sin that must be paid-for. In this one text we see that this advanced understanding is for those who have come to understand and love the Son and the Father. Who see themselves as His sons. Even as God’s friends.
“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Servants, like little children, do not understand. The rules are necessary for such. Ideas of “redeemer” and “payment” are for such as these, because they do not understand. Cannot understand… yet. But friends and sons understand. For such as these, love shared is sufficient. And sufficient to understand. Love explains all. And in this, friends and sons find rest.
With brotherly love,
Jim
