Coromandel Baptist Church
Sunday 7 March 2010 Bible Readings Hebrews 12:1-13; 1 Peter 5:6-11
Growing in Maturity as the Father's Children
On Sunday we come again to explore the theme of Knowing God as Father, with particular reference to coming to maturity as his sons.
The Father's discipline of us is all for love. The NT makes a distinction between punishment (i.e. in relation to the finally impenitent e.g. Matt. 25:46; 2 Pet. 2:9) and discipline that he brings to his beloved children (e.g. Heb. 12:6, 7; Rev. 3:19). Conceptually we have difficulty in separating them (as when we come under discipline we immediately think that we are being ‘punished' by God), but Jesus himself learned obedience through suffering (Heb. 5:8). He had no disobedience that needed to be driven out of him by force (as if that would do it anyway!), but came to the full dimension of his sonship through the trials and testings that came upon him.
So it is with us. In Christ the wrath of God has been removed from us and we have eternal life (e.g. John 3:36). We are God's beloved children in Christ, and God's purpose is that we be conformed to the image of the Son. The goal of maturity, then, is perfection of trust. It is to confirm us in our ‘child like' relation to God, dependent on his love and grace to sustain and trusting him in all circumstances, even when he is dealing with us in a way we would not rather have.
Where we are not sure of God's favour towards us we will habitually regard any suffering as punishment for imperfection of infraction of the rules...and thereby immediately revert to the Flesh (in its propensity to works righteousness) to become ‘good'. But perfect love casts out this sort of fear (which involves punishment, as in 1 Jn. 4:18), so that we might receive all things from the hand of God who loves us. In the end we will see that all has been for love. So instead of resisting the loving hand of God in suffering we run at double time towards him, knowing we are already accepted in the beloved son, and looking for him to lead us ever more into child like dependency on his sustaining grace.
In all this we are prone to project our experiences of earthly discipline on to God our Father. However, there are crucial differences that prevent this being valid. In the first place (as was confirmed in a recent group discussion) when we think of the discipline that we have received (or effected!) it is almost always reactive. The child's behaviour is the main object of our attention...stimulating a response from us that tries to shape the behaviour in certain (more positive) ways. However, God is never reactive. His discipline (as with all his action) is in accord with his predetermined plan and his utterly unchangeable purpose. He is never taken by surprise by our actions, and is never disillusioned with us...thinking that we were some how better than we were! Secondly, and related to this, is the fact that much of our discipline (as seems best to us) comes out of a sense of frustration. We want and expect certain things, and frequently are confronted with our own sense of powerlessness to effect them. In a reaction to this we often lash out in ‘discipline mode' where our own anger is the driving force, which is deeply related to our own sense of insecurity and fear. Thirdly, where we may be able to modify outward behaviour by various means (positive and negative reinforcement, for example) God's work is in the heart. Behaviour modification conforms to an outward standard. God has granted us a new heart in Christ, and in his dealings with us his goal is to bring that which he has implanted in us to full maturity. His aim is to bring to light (to us and to the world) what he has already done in us in Christ.
The maturity that he is intent on inculcating is the maturity of faith. Let me quote at length from P. T. Forsyth:
The vice of Pharisaism is that it...puts merit everywhere and grace nowhere; it makes the divine ideal to be a matter of our achievement, the divine favour a reward for our goodness; it makes the divine welcome to turn on what we have done, or on what we have grown to be, instead of on faith and grace which delights to make new men out of our worthlessness and our impotence to grow at all...perfection is not sanctity but faith. It is the obedience which is faith....Let no mistake linger, then, in your minds. Christian perfection is not the perfection of conduct, character, or creed, but of faith. It is not a matter of our behaviour before God the Judge, but our relation to God the Saviour. Whatever lays the first stress on behaviour or achievement; on orthodoxy theological, moral or social; on conformity to a system, a church, a moral type or a code of conduct; on mere sinlessness, blamelessness, propriety, piety or sanctity of an unearthly type-that is a departure from the Gospel idea of perfection; which is completeness of trust. (Essay on Christian Perfection, in God the Holy Father, pp. 126-127, his emphasis).
It is in this way that the Son learned obedience through his sufferings. He grew as the man of the Spirit to trust his Father and thus be fitted for the task of being a merciful and faithful high priest to us his people. Trust is the essence of our life with God. This would be so even if we had never sinned and stood in no need of redemption. So we are caused and called in every situation to keep entrusting ourselves to God our Father, in childlike dependence of love and expectancy of hope, and thereby to grow into maturity. This is the opposite of the way we understand maturity...where we grow ever more independent in our actions. God's discipline to us is never other than for this end. As we grown in faith (and therefore hope and love, which are inseparable from it) we are given to abound in the fruit of the Spirit, which are the true indicators of a life of mature sonship. |
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