heavenly father

The Father As Judge, part 2

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God the Father is in His own right the supreme Judge of men and of angels. He proposes to bring all mankind into judgment. Yet this work is only done in part by Himself in person. It is by Jesus Christ that God is to perform the larger part of His immense work. The following proposition is worthy of serious consideration:

God the Father opens the judgment in person, then crowns His Son King and commits the judgment to Him.

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool; His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him; thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Daniel 7:9–14.

The Ancient of Days represents God the Father. That One like the Son of man Who comes to the Ancient of Days is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. (See Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:61, 62.) It is, therefore, not the Son but the Father who sits in judgment as described in this vision. Those who stand in His presence, either to minister or to wait, are not men but angels. This is a very important fact. Every student of the Bible is aware that the book of Revelation is a wonderful counterpart to the book of Daniel. This very phraseology respecting those in the presence of the Ancient of Days is made use of in the Revelation with the evident design of showing who are the persons intended by Daniel.

Thus, John says: “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” Revelation 5:11.

Daniel describes the opening scene of the final judgment. The Father presides as Judge. The angels of God are present as ministers and witnesses. At this tribunal, the Son of man presents Himself to receive the dominion of the world. Here men are not present to witness this part of the judgment, or to behold the coronation of Christ. It is the Father, the Son, and the holy angels who compose this grand assembly. Our Lord cannot act as Judge as long as He ministers as High Priest to make intercession for those who come to God through Him. (See Hebrews 7:24, 25.) Nor can He act as Judge until He is clothed with kingly power; for it is by virtue of His authority as King that He pronounces the decision of the judgment. (See Matthew 25:34, 40.) The coronation of our Lord at the judgment-seat of His Father marks the termination of His priesthood and invests Him with that sovereign authority by which He shall judge the world.

The Judgment Scene of Daniel 7

It is not upon the earth that the Ancient of Days holds the session of the judgment described in Daniel 7.

Those who think that this session of judgment by the Father is to be held upon our earth, understand that the “ten thousand times ten thousand” who stand before Him are the vast multitude of the human family, standing at His bar for judgment. But as this vision represents the Son as coming to the Father when He is thus seated in judgment, it follows that if the Father is already upon this earth judging its inhabitants when the Son of God comes the second time, the Father does not send His Son to the earth, but He comes first; and then the Son comes and joins Him. Yet Peter said of the Father, concerning Christ’s Second Advent, “He shall send Jesus Christ.” Acts 3:20.

It would also follow that instead of the Son of man coming to gather His saints from the four quarters of the earth, He comes to find all mankind gathered at His Father’s bar. But we do know that when the Saviour comes, He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet and shall gather His elect from the four winds, even from the uttermost parts of the earth. (See Matthew 24:31; Mark 13:27; II Thessalonians 2:1.)

But should this difficulty be avoided by adopting the truth that those who stand before the Ancient of Days are angels, as those certainly must be who minister unto Him, it follows that our Lord is coming back to our earth thus preceded by His Father and the holy angels, comes unattended and alone. But this cannot be true; for when Jesus comes again, it will be with all the holy angels. (See Matthew 16:27; 25:31; II Thessalonians 1:7, 8.)

Christ Receives His Kingdom

Again, the Saviour is crowned King at the judgment-seat of the Father. But that judgment-seat cannot be upon our earth, else the Saviour would have to return to this earth to be crowned; whereas He receives His kingdom while absent and returns as King of kings, sitting upon the throne of His glory. (See Luke 19:11, 12, 15; Matthew 25:31; II Timothy 4:1; Revelation 19:11–16.)

It is certain, therefore, that the judgment scene described in Daniel 7 does not take place upon our earth. Indeed, were it true that immediately preceding the descent of the Saviour to our earth, God the Father should Himself descend in His own infinite majesty and summon mankind to His bar and enter into judgment with them, the subsequent advent of Jesus would hardly be taken notice of at all by men. But such is not the truth in this case. (See Matthew 24:29–31; 25:32, 32; Mark 13:26, 27; Luke 21:25–27, 36; I Thessalonians 4:14–18; II Thessalonians 1:7–10.)

This session of the judgment by the Ancient of Days precedes the advent of Christ to our earth.

When the Lord comes again, He is a king seated upon His own throne. (See Matthew 24:31; Luke 19:11, 12, 15; Revelation 19:11–16.) But the tribunal of the Father is the very time and place where His coronation occurs. (See Daniel 7:7–14.) It must then precede His advent.

When He comes the second time, it is “in the glory of His Father.” (See Matthew 16:27; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; II Thessalonians 1:7, 8.) But it is when the Father sits in judgment that He gives this glory to His Son. (See Daniel 7:14.) Indeed, the very majesty of the Father as displayed at this tribunal will attend the Son when He is revealed in flaming fire to take vengeance on His enemies. (See II Thessalonians 1:7–10; Matthew 24:30, 31; 25:31.) We are certain, therefore, that the revelation of Christ in His infinite glory is subsequent to that tribunal at which that glory is given to Him.

On this occasion, the Father is Judge in person, and the Son presents Himself to receive the kingdom. But when the Son of man comes to our earth, having received the kingdom, He acts as Judge Himself. (See II Timothy 4:1.) But it is evident that our Lord’s work as judge is at a later point of time than that judgment scene at which the Father presides. We are certain, therefore, that the tribunal of Daniel 7:9–14 precedes the descent of our Lord from heaven. (See I Thessalonians 4:14–18.)

The coming of the Son of man to the Ancient of Days is not the same event as His second advent to our world.

This has been proved already in the examination of other points. Thus, it has been shown from the coronation of Christ that the Second Advent must be at a later time than the Saviour’s act of coming to His Father in Daniel 7:13, 14 to receive the kingdom. Again, to make this the Second Advent, we must have God the Father and the host of His angels here upon our earth when the Saviour comes again. But this, as has been shown, involves the contradiction of the plainest facts. We cannot, therefore, doubt that the coming of Jesus to the Ancient of Days as He sits in judgment is an event preceding His second advent to our earth.

The coming of the Ancient of Days in this vision of Daniel’s is not to this world but to the place of His judgment scene. With regard to the place of this tribunal, we will speak hereafter. We have already proved that this session of the judgment precedes the Second Advent and that it is not held upon our earth. This fact establishes the truthfulness of this proposition.

The destruction of the power represented by the little horn does not take place at the time when the Ancient of Days sits in judgment but at a point still later when the Son of man descends in flaming fire.

We have proved that when our Lord comes to this earth the second time, He comes as King and must, therefore, come from the tribunal of His Father; for at that tribunal, the kingdom is given to Him. But the man of sin, or little horn, is destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming. (See II Thessalonians 1:7–10; 2:8.) Whence it follows that the destruction of the papacy is not at the Father’s judgment seat but at the advent of His Son, at a still later point of time. Were it true that the judgment scene of Daniel 7 is opened by the personal revelation of God the Father to the inhabitants of our earth, we may be sure that there would be no man of sin left to be destroyed afterward by the brightness of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have already proved that the destruction of the wicked power is when Christ comes to our earth and that He does not thus come till He has first attended in person this tribunal of His Father. To this statement agree the words of Daniel 7:11. “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” It appears that even while this grand tribunal was in session, the attention of the prophet was called by the Spirit of God to the great words which the horn was speaking. “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake.” But Daniel does not represent his destruction as coming at once even then. He says: “I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” The period of time covered by this “till” is thus filled up: The Son of God comes to His Father’s judgment-seat and receives the dominion, and the glory, and the kingdom, then descends to our earth in flaming fire, like that which comes forth from before His Father, and by the brightness of His advent, destroys the little horn. (See II Thessalonians 1, 2.) It is when our Lord thus comes that this wicked power is given to the burning flame.

War Against the Saints Ended

This is really the very point marked in verses 21 and 22 for the termination of the war against the saints: “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” But even while the Most High sits in judgment to determine the cases of His saints, the little horn is, according to verse 11, uttering great words against God. When, however, the saints have passed the test of this examination and are counted worthy of the kingdom of God, their Lord, being crowned King, returns to gather them to Himself. It is at this very point of time, the advent of the Lord Jesus, that judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, as is proved by comparing I Corinthians 6:2, 3 with 1 Corinthians 4:5. Thus we have marked again the advent of Christ as a point of time for the destruction of this wicked power.

The destruction of the papacy is not the same event as the taking away of his dominion. (Compare Daniel 7:11 and 26.) The one follows after the sitting of the Ancient of Days in judgment, but the other precedes it by a certain space of time. Yet, if we read the chapter without strict attention, we would be very likely to conclude that not the little horn alone, but each of the first three beasts, had their dominion taken away at the judgment. (See verses 11, 12, 26.) This, however, cannot be. For the dominion of the first beast was taken away by the second, through his life was spared; and so of each one to the last. But the little horn has a special dominion over the saints for “a time and times and the dividing of time,” or 1,260 prophetic days (see verse 25: Revelation 12:6, 14), which is taken away at the end of that period. There remains even then a space of time to “the end,” during which his dominion is consumed and destroyed. He wars against the saints, however, and prevails until the judgment is given to the saints at the advent of Christ (see I Corinthians 4:5; 6:2, 3; Revelation 20:4), when he is given to the burning flames. (See Daniel 7:11; II Thessalonians 2:8.)

Michael Stands

The coronation of Christ at the judgment-seat of the Father is the same event as the standing up of Michael (compare Daniel 7:134, 14; 12:1); for Michael is Christ, and His standing up is His beginning to reign. Michael is the name borne by our Lord as the ruler of the angelic host. It signifies, “He who is like God.” This must be our Lord. (See Hebrews 1:3.) He is called the Archangel. (See Jude 9.) This term signifies prince of angels, or chief of the angelic host. But this is the very office of our divine Lord. (See Hebrews 1). Michael is the great prince that standeth for the children of God. Also He is called our Prince. (See Daniel 10:21: 12:1.)_ But this can be no other than Christ. (See Acts 5:31.)

The standing up of Michael is His assumption of kingly power. (See the use of this term in Daniel 11:2, 33, 4, 7, 20, 21.) But it is Jesus, and not an angel, who takes the throne of the kingdom. (See Daniel 7:13, 14; Psalm 2:6–12.) Our Lord receives His dominion at His Father’s judgment-seat. (See Daniel 7.) A great time of trouble follows, at which Christ delivers everyone found written in the book. This is a plain reference to the examination of the books shown in the previous vision. (Compare Daniel 12:1; 7:9, 10.) This shows that the judgment scene of Daniel 7 relates to the righteous and that it precedes their final deliverance at the advent of Christ.

Lord’s Prayer Series – Who Is Our Father?

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In order to know our proper relationship to our fellow men on earth, we must first learn our proper relationship to those who dwell in another place, which the Bible calls heaven.

The Bible makes it very clear that there are many other intelligences in the universe besides human beings that are wiser and stronger than those living on earth. In Revelation 12:12, it says, “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

Notice, it says, “rejoice, heavens, and you that dwell in them!” So, there are other intelligences that dwell in heavenly places. In the very last chapter (22) of the book of Revelation, it says in verse 16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

There are not only angels of heaven, but there are angels who have fallen from heaven, who left their first estate. You can read about that in II Peter 2, and also in the book of Jude. Jesus talked about these evil spirits. In fact, there are many conversations between Christ and evil spirits recorded in the gospels. “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.’ ” Luke 10:17–19.

We see that there are both good and evil spirits. The angels of heaven, God’s angels, are spoken of like this in Hebrews 1:14: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”

There are angels of God who are attempting to help you to walk up the narrow way and to be saved at last. There are also evil spirits that in the last days will succeed in deceiving almost the entire world. We read in Revelation 16:13, 14, “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs [miracles], which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”

Above all of these spirits, both the good and evil spirits, there is a spirit that rules over them. One of the most important and one of the most wonderful sermons of Jesus is recorded in John 4. Incidentally, this most wonderful sermon was given to an audience of one who was an outcast in her city, the woman at the well of Samaria.

Jesus spoke to her about true worship, where we should worship, and how we should worship. He told her, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23, 24.

We have just read that there are many spirits in the universe. There are good spirits and evil spirits that have fallen and are in this world rebelling against the government of God, but there is one Spirit that is above them all. Jesus said, “God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

How do you worship God? It is necessary to worship Him in spirit, which is with your heart and with your emotions, with your feelings, and also with truth, with your intellect, following all that the Bible teaches. When Jesus was on earth one of the aspects of worship that He practiced daily was prayer. Jesus was a man of prayer. The Bible says that sometimes He prayed all night. Once after He had finished praying, “It came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples.’ ” Luke 11:1. In response to this request, Jesus gave to His disciples what we call today, “The Lord’s Prayer.”

There are millions of people around the world today who repeat the Lord’s Prayer, either morning or evening, or sometimes several times a day. Unfortunately, there are many who have learned the words and repeat it without thinking or realizing what they are really saying. We will consider here the first phrase, the first short sentence of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11:2–4 KJV.

The opening address is, “Our Father Who art in heaven …” If your prayer is going to be effective, your prayer needs to be addressed to your Father in heaven. This identifies your heavenly Father as the object of true worship, the One Whom you worship and the One Whom you are addressing.

There are people today who pray to all sorts of things. Some people pray to saints; others pray to famous people who have died; and some people pray to angels. But the Bible does not teach any of these manners of prayer. Jesus did not teach His disciples to pray to angels or to saints. He taught them to pray to our Father in heaven.

This salutation, when you think about it eliminates all other gods as undeserving of worship, leaving no room for the worship of any creature or any other being. Today in our rebellious world there are many gods and many lords and much false religion. The apostle Paul said this in I Corinthians 8:5, 6, first part: “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things.”

Paul recognized that there are many gods and many lords, but those are all false gods except one. We as Christians have only one God, one Lord. There is only one true God Who only is to be worshiped by all created beings. In the Bible we are strictly forbidden to worship anyone or anything else. This is so important that in the second commandment, which happens to be the second longest commandment, we are told not to worship anyone or anything else.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:4–6.

The second commandment emphatically forbids the worship of any other god, saints, or angels, or any creature, even pronouncing a curse on those who do this. Angels of God will not allow any human being to worship them.

In Revelation 22:8, 9 the apostle John records that he was overcome with the glorious things that he saw: “Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.’ ” Revelation 19:10. So, we are forbidden in the Bible to worship any other God. We are not to worship any angels and we are certainly not to worship any human being.

One time at God’s direction the apostle Peter went to see a man by the name of Cornelius who had not yet heard the gospel. He had just been told by an angel that he was to send for a man called Peter who would tell him what he and his household needed to know to have eternal life. When Peter came in to talk to Cornelius, he was overjoyed that in his presence was the man that he had been told would come to him and teach him. The Bible says that Cornelius fell down to worship before Peter but what happened?

The Bible says, “As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man.’ ” Acts 10:25, 26.

Notice that the apostle Peter would not allow a human being to worship him. An angel of God would not allow anyone to worship him. The Bible pronounces a curse on anyone who worships the creature instead of the Creator. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen.

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, [and] sexual immorality … .” Romans 1:18–29.

Notice the curse that is pronounced on those who worship the creature instead of the Creator. And God gives them over to a debased mind, and they become filled with all unrighteousness and do those things that Paul says are worthy of death (verse 32).

In heaven, everybody worships the Creator. Revelation 4:10, 11 describes a worship scene in heaven. “The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.’ ”

Here is revealed God’s right to be worshiped, because He is the Creator Who created all things and it is by His will they exist. It is His power to create that makes the eternal Father worthy of worship and adoration by the heavenly universe.

Something else that we need to understand about God is that He is not part of the creation that He created. He is separate from His creation. We understand from the very first sentence in the Lord’s Prayer, which says, “Our Father Who art in heaven …” We understand from this statement that God is not a part of the creation of this world, but rather, His dwelling place is in heaven, a distinct and separate place from where we live. Heaven is just as real as the earth, but it is a different place. For that reason we cannot obtain the help that we need and desire by looking to the earth. Rather, we must look to heaven to find the Source of blessing and all the things that we need.

In the Bible times there were people who understood this very clearly and explained it in explicit language. Notice what John the Baptist said: “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” John 3:27.

He clearly understood that you cannot receive anything unless God permits it or allows it. Notice what the apostle James says about this very same subject in his book: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17.

Because it is impossible to obtain the help that we need from this world we need to look to heaven to receive the blessings. This statement, “Our Father Who art in heaven,” expresses at one and the same time, both God’s nearness and His distance from us. God is near us because the apostle Paul says in Acts 17:27, 28, “So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”

At the same time, the expression, “Our Father Who art in heaven,” expresses the fact of His distance from us. Notice what it says about this in Ecclesiastes 5:2: “Do not be rash with your mouth, and let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; therefore let your words be few.”

Again, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,’ says the Lord.” Isaiah 66:1, 2.

So, the Lord says you build Me a temple, you build Me a church, you build Me a house, but I made all those things that you made for Me. I made them Myself. Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. We should never forget that the God we worship is as high above us as the heavens are above the earth. Therefore we must not be guilty of thinking or addressing Him as an equal. This was the cause of the fall of Lucifer.

Isaiah 14 describes the desire of Lucifer’s heart and the cause of his fall. He wanted to be God Himself, though the Bible is very clear that no creature can ever become God. Lucifer wanted this position. Isaiah 14 says, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ ” Isaiah 14:12–14.

Lucifer wanted to be like God. He wanted to be equal with God. Unfortunately, this same desire, this same spirit, has been manifested millions of times among the descendants of Adam and Eve. For this same reason Eve fell. The devil, impersonating a serpent, said to her if she would eat the fruit of this forbidden tree she could be like God (Genesis 3:45). She fell for that idea and people have been falling for it ever since. They want to be their own God, in charge of their own lives. They do not want to look to heaven for help but want to control their own affairs.

God understands this feeling and He rebukes it in His Word. “These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes.” Psalm 50:21.

The Lord says, “You think that I’m just like you, but I’m not.” The expression, “Our Father Who art in heaven …” is the very foundation of the whole Lord’s Prayer. It conveys to us God’s tender regard for us. And it should also convey our feelings toward Him. The first utterance of this model prayer brings the worshiper to the house of God and the gate of heaven where all of His temporal and spiritual needs can be supplied. However, not every person in the world can truthfully pray it and honestly claim God as their Father.

God wants to be your Father; He wants you to become His child. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right [or the authority] to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12.

Friend, have you been given the right to become a child of God so that you might truthfully call Him Father. Jesus would like to adopt you into His family if you will accept Him as the Saviour and Lord of your life. And when that happens, then you will be given the authority to become God’s child and you will be able to say, without telling a lie, “Our Father Who art in heaven.”

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Lord’s Prayer Series – Claiming a Relationship with Others

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To be successful in our relationships with others we first need to know our own true identity and our relationship with our heavenly Father.

In Isaiah 63:9 and 10, the prophet describes the history of the children of Israel who were God’s professed people. He says, “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; so He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them.”

Notice that while ever God’s people were obedient they were protected, saved, and delivered by the Angel of His Presence. The Bible describes angels as beings that are both stronger and wiser than human beings. An evidence of this is found in 11 Kings 19:35: “And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead.”

However, concerning the righteous, the Bible says, “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” Psalm 34:7. Angels are both wiser and more powerful than man. The book of Ezekiel reveals that angels are subject to receiving directives and have greater awareness and knowledge than humans. Whenever prayers are sent to God, directions are given to the angels concerning the answering of those prayers.

Malachi said, “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously with one another by profaning the covenant of the fathers?” Malachi 2:10.

The disciples often heard Jesus praying to His Father and came to Him saying, “ ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples.’ ” Luke 11:1. The prayer He taught them is what we call today the Lord’s Prayer.

Contrary to what some people know, this prayer was not given to the world, but only to the disciples of Jesus Christ in answer to their request for not everybody can truthfully claim God as their Father but would be lying. The Bible says in Matthew 13:38 that, “The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one.”

Jesus once told the religious leaders of His time that they were children of the devil. “Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.’ ” John 8:42–44.

Since sin entered this world the devil has claimed it as his own and when we are born we are not born as sons of God but children of the devil. This is affirmed often throughout the New Testament.

Paul said, “You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [the devil], the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.” Ephesians 2:1–3.

Writing to the Ephesian church, he said that we were by nature the children of wrath, just as the others who are not Christians. That being the case, how is it possible to tell if a person is a child of God or a child of the devil? The Bible gives a very strict rule by which that can be determined.

John speaks very plainly on this subject. He said, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and He cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” I John 3:4–9.

Clearly, then, a person born into this world is by nature a child of wrath. By committing sin he/she declares to the universe that he/she is a spiritual son of the devil for “He who sins is of the devil” (I John 3:8) unless he/she has been born again. This was the essence of what Jesus told Nicodemus: there is no other way to enter into the kingdom of heaven except to be born again. The born again Christian is then adopted into a different family, the family of God.

Paul explained this in Galatians 4:4–7: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

If you have been born again, born of the Holy Spirit, then you are no longer a child of wrath but have become a son of God. A person who has not been born again has no right to claim God as his father, for that person’s father is the devil. The person who is living in sin has no right to say the Lord’s Prayer and call God his Father because he is a child of wrath, a spiritual child of the devil.

We have read what John and Paul said about this, but notice what Jesus said to Nicodemus: “ ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time in his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ ” John 3:3–7.

It is clear that to be born again is a requirement to enter the kingdom of heaven. You must receive what the apostle Paul calls in Galatians 4, verse 5, “the adoption as sons.” The apostle Paul repeats this concept often in his writings. Notice how he describes it in Romans 8:14–16: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

The fact that the first century Christians could now call God their Father and not just address Him as the Infinite, or Eternal, or Most Powerful One in the Universe, was considered a most precious privilege. He was acknowledged as Someone who had a fatherly interest in them. Right after His resurrection, Jesus told Mary Magdalene, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” John 20:17.

But how can a person who has been born a child of wrath and destined to destruction be born again and receive a new heart and a new spirit and receive eternal life and avoid his destiny of everlasting destruction? John explains this miracle in his opening remarks in his book where He wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend it.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light that all through Him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” John 1:1–11. Jesus talked with them long about the fact that they would not receive Him. In John 5:40, He said to the Jews, “… you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

Again in John 8:47, He said, “He who is of God hears God’s word; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

Many times Jesus told the people of His time that they were going to lose their soul, lose eternal life because they would not receive Him. But then, there is a most wonderful promise in John 1:12, 13. It says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Those who receive Jesus and accept Him receive the right to become the children of God. They receive a right to be adopted into God’s family, to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, to be born with the Holy Spirit, to have a change of heart, to have a changed mind. When a person is born again of the Holy Spirit he begins to live a holy life. When the Spirit of God leads a person, he will live in harmony with the words of God.

Paul said, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Hebrews 2:9–11.

If you are being sanctified, it is evident that the Holy Spirit is working a change in your life giving you the right to call God your Father and Christ your elder Brother. To be sanctified simply means to be made a holy person. This is not complicated. A holy person is not necessarily anybody special, but simply a person who lives in harmony with God’s law.

If you are living in harmony with God’s law, then you are a holy person, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Paul was very specific about this when writing to the Hebrews. He said, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14.

When a person is born again it is the work of the Holy Spirit to make him/her into a holy person, giving him/her the right to call God, “my Father.” If people would think this through, there would probably be fewer people to glibly quote the Lord’s Prayer. It is a profound thing to call the God of heaven your Father. The apostle John drew this to the attention of the Christians. He said, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” I John 3:1–3.

The greatest privilege that any human being can have is to receive what the apostle Paul calls, “the adoption as sons.” To be born again, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, to receive the Holy Spirit into the life, to have a new spirit and new mind is promised to all who accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

Having this new relationship with God also brings us into a new relationship with other people in this world, recognizing that we are all brothers. I John 4:20, 21, says, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God Whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”

The most wonderful thing that you can have is to be adopted into the family of God so that you can call God your Father. The value of sonship in God’s family can only be estimated when considering the price that has been paid for man’s redemption. Have you been born again?

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Bible Study Guides – Insights from the Book of Isaiah (1) – Our Compassionate Father

by

October 29 – November 4

Key Text

“Lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God” (Isaiah 40:9)!

Study Help: Christ’s Object Lessons, 150–163.

Introduction

“The prophet [Isaiah] exalted God as Creator of all. His message to the cities of Judah was, ‘Behold your God’ (Isaiah 40:9)!” Prophets and Kings, 315.

Sunday

1 PEACEFUL, UNDERLYING HOPE

  • What was Isaiah told to expect in the call he had accepted? Isaiah 6:9–12. What assurance was he to cherish nonetheless? Verse 13; 10:20, 21.

Note: “His [Isaiah’s] burden of soul in behalf of erring Judah was not to be borne in vain. His mission was not to be wholly fruitless. … Throughout his lifetime he must be a patient, courageous teacher—a prophet of hope as well as of doom. The divine purpose finally accomplished, the full fruitage of his efforts, and of the labors of all God’s faithful messengers, would appear. A remnant should be saved.” Prophets and Kings, 308, 309.

  • Name some key concepts the prophet emphasized—and why such uplifting themes can inspire us with hope. Isaiah 40:9, 13–15, 21–31.

Note: “The stars also have a message of good cheer for every human being. In those hours that come to all, when the heart is faint and temptation presses sore; when obstacles seem insurmountable, life’s aims impossible of achievement, its fair promises like apples of Sodom; where, then, can such courage and steadfastness be found as in that lesson which God has bidden us learn from the stars in their untroubled course?” Education, 115.

Monday

2  THE HEART BEHIND THE CLOUD

  • Throughout the history of the world, what misconception about God’s character has always needed to be clarified? Ezekiel 18:25; Isaiah 55:8, 9.

Note: “In Isaiah’s day the spiritual understanding of mankind was dark through misapprehension of God. Long had Satan sought to lead men to look upon their Creator as the author of sin and suffering and death. Those whom he had thus deceived, imagined that God was hard and exacting. They regarded Him as watching to denounce and condemn, unwilling to receive the sinner so long as there was a legal excuse for not helping him. The law of love by which heaven is ruled had been misrepresented by the archdeceiver as a restriction upon men’s happiness, a burdensome yoke from which they should be glad to escape. He declared that its precepts could not be obeyed and that the penalties of transgression were bestowed arbitrarily.

“In losing sight of the true character of Jehovah, the Israelites were without excuse. Often had God revealed Himself to them as one ‘full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth’ (Psalm 86:15).” Prophets and Kings, 311.

  • What genuine picture about God do we too often forget? Isaiah 49:13–16.

Note: “When we seem to doubt God’s love and distrust His promises we dishonor Him and grieve His Holy Spirit. How would a mother feel if her children were constantly complaining of her, just as though she did not mean them well, when her whole life’s effort had been to forward their interests and to give them comfort? Suppose they should doubt her love; it would break her heart. How would any parent feel to be thus treated by his children? And how can our heavenly Father regard us when we distrust His love, which has led Him to give His only-begotten Son that we might have life? [Romans 8:32 quoted.] And yet how many, by their actions, if not in word, are saying, ‘The Lord does not mean this for me. Perhaps He loves others, but He does not love me.’

“All this is harming your own soul; for every word of doubt you utter is inviting Satan’s temptations; it is strengthening in you the tendency to doubt, and it is grieving from you the ministering angels. When Satan tempts you, breathe not a word of doubt or darkness.” Steps to Christ, 118, 119.

Tuesday

3  A LOVING INVITATION

  • What did Isaiah reveal as God’s plan for His wayward people? Isaiah 41:14; 48:4, 8–11.

Note: “The heart of Infinite Love yearns after those who feel powerless to free themselves from the snares of Satan; and He graciously offers to strengthen them to live for Him. …

“The inhabitants of Judah were all undeserving, yet God would not give them up. By them His name was to be exalted among the heathen. Many who were wholly unacquainted with His attributes were yet to behold the glory of the divine character. It was for the purpose of making plain His merciful designs that He kept sending His servants the prophets with the message, ‘Turn ye again now everyone from his evil way’ (Jeremiah 25:5). …

“The call to repentance was sounded with unmistakable clearness, and all were invited to return.” Prophets and Kings, 316, 319.

  • What glorious assurances are given to each one of us if we would only accept them? Isaiah 55:6, 7; 44:21, 22.

Note: “Have you, reader, chosen your own way? Have you wandered far from God? Have you sought to feast upon the fruits of transgression, only to find them turn to ashes upon your lips? And now, your life plans thwarted and your hopes dead, do you sit alone and desolate? That voice which has long been speaking to your heart, but to which you would not listen, comes to you distinct and clear, ‘Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction’ (Micah 2:10). Return to your Father’s house. …

“Do not listen to the enemy’s suggestion to stay away from Christ until you have made yourself better, until you are good enough to come to God. If you wait until then you will never come. When Satan points to your filthy garments, repeat the promise of the Saviour, ‘Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out’ (John 6:37). Tell the enemy that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin.” Prophets and Kings, 319, 320.

Wednesday

4  HUMBLE BEFORE GOD AND ONE ANOTHER

  • Explain the transition God wants His people to make from idola­try and pride, to become children of one heavenly Father. Isaiah 57:13–21.

Note: “Let not pride, or self-esteem, or self-righteousness keep any one from confessing his sins, that he may claim the promise: ‘He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy’ (Proverbs 28:13). Keep nothing back from God, and neglect not the confession of your faults to the brethren when they have a connection with them. …

“It is a lamentable fact that the erring heart is unwilling to be criticised [sic], or to subject itself to humiliation by the confession of sin. Some see their faults, but thinking confession will detract from their dignity, they excuse their wrong, and shield themselves from the discipline that confession would give to the soul. … They see the errors of others; but how can they have courage to give the advice, ‘Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed’ (James 5:16), when they have failed to follow this instruction in their own lives? How much will ministers or people learn of a truth which they thrust aside, and forget if possible, because it is not agreeable; because it does not flatter their pride, but reproves and pains? … They must hunger and thirst for the righteousness of Christ, the illumination of the Holy Spirit.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 239, 240.

  • How can we better cooperate with the Holy Spirit to be part of the Lord’s great plan? Isaiah 59:20, 21.

Note: “Sin must not be cherished. This is a time when the love of many is waxing cold, and any defection on your part may encourage others in a wrong course, and lead to many and grievous transgressions. Do not set an example of lukewarmness; do not turn away from testimonies of the Spirit of God. We are intrusted with a solemn message to give to the world, and there is much at stake. We cannot be safe amid the temptations that surround us in these times of peril, without constantly watching unto prayer. We must guard against accepting a low standard of our own instead of the high Bible standard of character.” Gospel Workers (1892), 462.

Thursday

5  LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS

  • What gracious invitation given to the inhabitants of Judah echoes down to us today? Isaiah 27:5.

Note: “It is Satan’s special device to lead man into sin, and then leave him, helpless and trembling, fearing to seek for pardon. But why should we fear. … Every provision has been made for our infirmities, every encouragement offered us to come to Christ. …

“Christ has pledged Himself to be our substitute and surety, and He neglects no one. He who could not see human beings exposed to eternal ruin without pouring out His soul unto death in their behalf, will look with pity and compassion upon every soul who realizes that he cannot save himself.

“He will look upon no trembling suppliant without raising him up. He who through His own atonement provided for man an infinite fund of moral power, will not fail to employ this power in our behalf. We may take our sins and sorrows to His feet; for He loves us.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 156, 157.

  • With what words does Isaiah describe the experience that is to be ours? Isaiah 12:1–6.

Note: “Oh, how many times has your heart been touched with the beauty of the Saviour’s countenance, charmed with the loveliness of His character, and subdued with the thought of His suffering. Now He wants you to lean your whole weight upon Him.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 232.

Friday

 PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

 1      Why was Isaiah able to minister to his people with hope?

2      How are we to avoid being duped by common misconceptions about God?

3      Why does God bother to call proud, stubborn people to repentance?

4      We may confess our sins to God, but how is James 5:16 often neglected?

5      Despite Satan’s claims, why did God want us to study this week’s lesson?