AN APPRAISAL ON THE DESIRE OF GOD OF TO RAISE FATHERS OF TRUTH
Dearly Beloved,
If the Godhead is called The God of the Living, The Son of the Living God and The Spirit of the Living God respectively (Mk 12:27, 2Cor. 3:3, Matt. 16:16), then it is spiritually safe to agree that the first relationship and institution that God intended was with a living man, a breed of faith and love whose eternal walk with God was archived in the volume of the book; in the scriptures of truth (Heb. 10:7, Dan. 20:21). If so, the enemy would have to fight God’s purpose and His people with the letters of the scriptures – LIKE HE DID WITH JESUS AT THE AGE OF 30! (Matt. 4:6, Jn. 5:39, 1Cor. 3:6).
- Jn. 5:39 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me…”
- Simply put, the primary use of the scripture is to reveal truth (Christ). Distractions are inevitable in the absence of this focus and scriptures would end up being a harmful weapon against ourselves or the body (Matt. 4:3-10, 16:21-23)
Every scripture is God inspired or breathed (2Tim. 3:16), and our profiting from scriptures is dependent on our ability to grasp the inspiration behind each letter of scripture. The more we grow in God’s Grace and appreciate in His Mercy, the more we can exercise the spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind, and thereby appreciate in our ability to rightly divide the word of truth (1Cor. 3:6, 2Tim. 2:15c)
- 2Cor. 3:6 “Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter (i.e. any interpretation of the scriptures by human understanding) killeth, but the spirit giveth life…”
So how was Paul and other apostles “made” or “raised”? By being exposed to the dealings of Christ’s faith until their judgments aligned with that of the Spirit. Paul’s words, thoughts, counsels and message didn’t fall short of giving life (Jn. 6:63) because his mind had been beaten to a place where his human understanding was shut and his spiritual understanding could flow unhindered. His words could dispense grace, build the faith of its hearers and unite the saints rather than cause divisions like we have today (Acts 20:32, Eph. 4:29, Rom. 16:17-18, 1Cor. 12:25)
So whenever we peddle a thought or inspiration that springs from our human understanding and back we back it up with the letters (of scripture – 1Cor. 3:6), we are on course to cause distractions or harm to the course of faith like the scribes and priests did in Jesus day while He promoted His Life – His Faith. The flesh (our non-renewed and unredeemed state of heart/mind) thrives here like nothing else and causes us to fall short of an order in the Spirit.
- Matt. 23:9-10 “And call NO MAN your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ…”
From the above verse, a believer can either touch “the letter” or “the Spirit” of this scripture. The letter would always cause breed controversies and cause divisions among believers which mostly results from not interpreting one scripture with another scripture (1Cor. 2:13d). The letter (2Cor. 3:6b) also thrives when we don’t seek to point men to Christ and the cross but rather to our beliefs, denomination, or when we discountenance the context and background in question. So scriptures never contradict itself, but always complement one another. Some are hard to be understood (2Pet. 3:15-16, Heb. 5:11) because locked in them are righteous judgments (revelations) of eternal wisdom that would unveil God, i.e. the mystery of God, and of the Father and of Christ (Col. 2:2, Rev. 10:7).
In Matt. 23:9-10 above, Jesus didn’t say “call NO ONE father”. He said “call NO MAN father”. Was Jesus asking children not to call their dad “father” and thereby reenacting the law of Moses, or was he referring to man-made-men of their day who sought honor for themselves by taking the seat of Moses (Matt. 23:1-2)? In Jn. 3:32, Jn. 14:6 and Matt. 11:27 for example, Jesus referred to those who hadn’t received his testimony (Jn. 3:32, 1Jn. 1:1, Rev. 1:2-3) as “NO MAN”, and in many cases, such were men whose life were anti the WAY, anti-TRUTH, and the anti-LIFE (Jn. 14:6); men opposed to RECEIVING THE FATHER THROUGH THE SON (Matt. 11:27).
In order words, those who haven’t been fathered by the Almighty Father or who haven’t inherited a new name are “NOT MEN” or are “NO MAN” in the sight of God, and his audience (i.e. the multitude – Matt. 23:1) were a perfect match of this. Abraham had his name changed, was fathered by the revelations around by the name of God Almighty (Exo. 6:3) and by passing the test of humility that always leads to exaltation (Gen. 17:5, Phil. 2:8-9), his loins/spiritual womb became potent enough to father nations. Abraham became a Father (who are always known by the honor/glory they exude), and was recognized even by our Lord Jesus as such (Jn. 8:56).
Paul the Apostle referred to Timothy as “His son” severally (1Tim. 1:2; 18, 1Cor. 4:17) and made reference to his labor to beget believers spiritually (1Cor. 4:15, Gal. 4:19). Would Timothy or Paul’s children in the Spirit be erring by calling Paul “a Father in spiritual things”? Hadn’t Jesus made an earlier distinction of “Our Father Who Are In Heaven” in Matt.6:9? Did Paul and John not both make reference to those who provided oversight or occupied the place of a “father in the Lord” or of a “master” in the lives of Christians (Eph. 6:1, Eph. 6:5, Rev. 12:2-6)? Did Elisha not call Elijah “my father” in 2Kings 2:12 and was it not noted by the Holy Spirit in scriptures? If God could raise a Jesus of Nazareth to become “an everlasting father”, would that feat stop in Jesus or be reproduced in many other sons? Are those to whom Christ and God has manifested (Jn. 14:21/23), that labor to cause Christ to be formed in men (Gal. 4:19) actually fathers? How else would CHRIST BE FORMED in men who don’t pass through the womb/loins of those that carried Christ and God, or that have God as their new abode (Ps. 91:1, Isa. 66:8, Rev. 12:2-5).
Gal. 4:1-2 reveals that there is no way a believer can be rightly exposed or formed with truth (Christ), or grow from the state of an heir (a servant) into a son without coming UNDER tutors and governors. We see in 1John 2, the categories, soul states, status or stature that a believer can and should attain; i.e. that of a child, that of a son and finally that of a father. Believers become children of the kingdom by receiving the revelation of Christ name/nature which leads to their sins being remitted or forgiven (1Jn. 2:12, Lk. 24:47, Acts 28:18d). Such children of the kingdom are raised to become sons and ultimately fathers in the kingdom by enduring unto the end (i.e. love – 1Tim. 1:5), the chastening and scourging of the Lord over seasons (Matt. 10:22/Heb. 12:4) which would empower them to overcome the world and ultimately the wicked one (Heb. 12:5-9, 1Jn. 5:4, 1Jn. 2:12-14).
Heb. 13:7 counsels us to follow the faith of those who have God as the end of their conversation, and so Paul would call Timothy “his son” (1Tim. 1:18), and a Naomi would safely follow Ruth to the end (Ruth 1:16). If so, we are safe following the faith of a true father or being fathered in things of the Spirit by THOSE WHOM GOD HAS FATHERED AND THEREFORE CAN GIVE GOD TO MEN, and by submitting to God’s grace upon their lives, we do so as unto the Lord (Col. 3:17, 1Cor. 10:31). Though this order in the Spirit continues to be abused in the church/body, we mustn’t be distracted by that lest we learn in heaven the huge cost for doing so.
The Godhead yearns for us to come to the end of faith (1Tim. 2:4, 1Pet. 1:9, Heb. 12:1d) because thereby would we attain the stature and wisdom of Christ to discern when Satan is fighting us from becoming sons with “the letters”, like he did with our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 4, and like he did through wrongly formed men (Matt. 21:38-41, Jn. 1:13d, 2Pet. 2:14) through whom the devil tempted Jesus. So the zealous use the letter of scriptures to defend and validate thoughts or beliefs contrary to God’s breath would always starve our gatherings of Spirit life, disunite us, and cause us to harm the Lord’s work in His body.
Like Jesus remained under His parents, and like the man-child in Revelation 12 remained under the covering of the woman in Rev. 12:2-6, Isa. 66:8, so also must believers that are heading for the throne remain under true spiritual covering where they should be (or are) thoroughly fed by the twin meal of faith and love that Isaiah called butter and honey (Isa. 7:15; 22, SOS. 4:11), like Jesus was.
This is how and where the Lord’s brethren (Heb. 2:11-12) would be fed until they are separated from the world, united by His faith (Eph. 4:13a, Heb. 2:11-12, Ps. 133:1-3) and then qualified to receive the declarations and sealing of the name of the father (Heb. 2:12, Matt. 28:19c, Jn. 14:23, Rev. 3:5d, Rev. 14:1). This is the summary of the two works or walk (Christ’s Faith and God’s Love) that the Lord expected from the churches in Revelations chapter 2 and 3, which the enemy fought through contrary doctrines (1Tim. 4:1, 2Tim. 4:3, Matt. 15:9; 16:12, Eph. 4:14, Rev. 2:14-15; 20-24) that were mostly selfishly fetched from “the letters” of the scriptures.
Elohim is both the God and Father of our Lord Jesus (Eph. 1:17), and wants to become exactly that to us. This can fully be certified in us when we not just become CHILDREN or SONS of the kingdom, but become FATHERS (Eph. 3:19). Satan was and remains a FATHER OF LIARS and God’s answer to him are FATHERS OF TRUTH (Jn. 8:44, Rev. 22:15f, 2Jn. 1:1-4).
Blessings!
Tayo Fasan