Simple Truths about the Gospel: "The way to the Father is open"

Something that I've been reflecting on lately has been, looking to see what Scripture means for God in His relation to people. Christians are very good at understanding Scripture in what is means for us in relation to God which is right and good. But, what has really brought me even greater breakthrough and understanding has been the former, in understanding God's perspective towards people in light of Jesus' death and resurrection. At first glance, they may seem the same, but in reality are actually two different sides of the same coin. Gaining an understanding of both sides will truly help bring even greater clarity and understanding of what it means to be in relationship with God.

As a qualifying statement before I get into this blog today, I want to say that I am still in process, ever growing in greater revelation of the Gospel and Christ. These are my thoughts and rumblings as I engage with Holy Spirit and the Word of God. But hear my heart, my starting point in all of this is Christ. He is the ultimate revelation of God and my conviction is that we must look to Him first and allow His life and ministry to be the lens we use when reading Scripture because He is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3).

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

I used to only understand this verse from the perspective of man looking up towards God, meaning we now have access to God through Christ's sacrifice on a Cross for sin which I still think is right and true. But, on the flip side, this also means that from God's perspective: Right now God the Father is actually looking to the earth and what He sees is Christ's sacrifice for sin and is calling people home.

Understanding God's current perspective brings another dimension to our understanding of the Cross and has some important implications which I will expand on.

Now, what started me down this path was a Holy Spirit inspired revelation to simply ask a couple questions (because questions are always good, but asking the right questions in the right moment/season is crucial): 

• When did Christ actually die for sin? 
• Did Jesus actually die for all sin, for all time?

These simply questions have helped me to begin to see this verse and others from God's perspective because if Jesus paid the price for all sin, for all time 2000 years ago, this means that the sin barrier that blocked the way to the Father was opened and unblocked the day Christ died. I think this is the significance of the veil in the Temple that blocked the way into the Holy of Holies which represented the place where God's Presence dwelt was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51). 

This means that since this time way back when, from God's perspective there has been no barrier between Him and Man. 

Pause and think about that for a moment. Come Holy Spirit!

Yes, we all still need to put our faith and trust in believing the Gospel because this reality is not automatically imparted to us. This only happens through believing in the Truth. And rather than the traditional understanding, that when we believe in Jesus the gates of Heaven are opened for us to enter; what I am starting to see is that from God's perspective, after Jesus became sin on the Cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), He died, was resurrected and then ascended into Heaven. In so doing He has opened up the gates to Heaven and has since left these gates open. Are you tracking with me? The way to the Father is open. 

If this is true, than the ramifications of this are huge because this means that since Christ's sacrifice (for roughly the last 2000 years) God has stopped being the "so called" Punisher of Sin because all of God's wrath towards Sin has been propitiated or atoned for. Let me pause here and give you a little food for thought. There is a line of thinking that actually relates the wrath of God to the built in consequences of sin (kind of like reaping and sowing) in which God allows to happen (some may call this the passive wrath of God), rather than a direct emotional response from God Himself. Hmm, interesting thought eh?

1 John 4:10 "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (NKJV). 

I would also add here that the wrath of God was never directed towards Christ Himself, but only at Sin, in which Jesus became (2 Corinthians 5:21). This again changes our understanding of the goodness of God. On the Cross, the Father was not punishing the Son, but rather Sin alone. Maybe He was even allowing the built in consequences of Sin to happen where He redemptively withdrew and in so doing opened the way for evil and the Enemies of God to mete out their punishment because the "wages of Sin is death" (Romans 6:23). 

2 Corinthians 5:21 "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

I mean think about, if you believe that God is still punishing people for sin, than what you are implying is that God is both Punisher and Savior. It's like me punishing my daughter Seraphina, so that she would cry out to me to save her. That's kind of twisted, a whole lot manipulative and quite frankly not a very good father. No, God the Father can genuinely call and invite people to Himself because He was never the "so called" Punisher of Sin, but is and has always been our Savior from Sin, who is continually showing us love, grace and mercy, especially if and when we do sin. I will probably also blog on this because it is quite the dichotomy: is God the Punisher of Sin or our Savior from Sin? Can He be both? 

What we need to understand is that there is enough sin and evil running rampant in the world to bring about more than enough pain, suffering, sickness and punishment to people. We must fully believe that God is the author of life and not death; and that we can have complete confidence in the Truth that the death and resurrection of Jesus has fully paid the price for all sin, for all time and that His sacrifice is enough, and we don't need to go on paying for the price of sin with our lives. Is God our Savior or not? Sometimes, is not good enough. He either is or He isn't.

On the Cross Jesus said "it was finished" (John 19:30) and quite frankly I believe Him! Jesus is our Savior always and forever.

Be Encouraged! Embrace the Truth of the Gospel and Stand Free! You are deeply, deeply loved by God. 

Safe in the Father's Arms

One of the highlights of the current season of life that I'm in has been seeing my daughter become more and more familiar with our friends. She is beginning to remember and recognize them. I love watching her interact with them. She is slowing becoming more and more comfortable about being around them. There are still times where she will often look to make sure my wife or I are nearby because we are her security. As long as she can see us, she feels safe. 

I've been a father for a whole 21 months now and this journey of fatherhood has been one of growth, learning, challenge and of course great joy. My continued prayer is that the Holy Spirit would help me be a good father that accurately reflects the heart of God to my daughter. To me this means making sure I instill within her a deep sense of security that I will always be there for her and that she can count on me to be there when she is in need. For me, this is a foundational truth about God, that He is always faithful. 

If I can get this right now, when my daughter gets older and begins her own relationship with God, the better the chances are that it will be a healthy one. Too often, what happens if a person grows up in a home with an absent father or a harsh or abusive one, when they begin a relationship with God, they believe that God is absent or harsh, even abusive. A father's role in a person's life has great impact on their understanding of what God is like and in turn this affects how they interact with Him. 

In reflecting on my walk with God, there have been many seasons He has brought me through, but if I step back and survey the last 15 years of walking with Him what I see is a unique Trinitarian journey of first encountering and experiencing the Holy Spirit (first 5 years) and then walking with Jesus through the Word of God and joining Him on His mission (last 10 years) and now I feel I am coming into a season of knowing and experiencing the Father (present). But, all through these last 15 years, if there is one thing that I've been growing in understanding and embracing is that God is faithful. He will never leave me, nor forsake me. He is my helper (Hebrews 13:5-6). I am safe with Him and I pray that I can model this kind of safety for my daughter. 

Adopted: Freedom from a faulty theology of God's love

As a Christian, one of the most important things to truly understand and fully embrace is the truth that through Jesus Christ, a person becomes adopted into the family of God where God becomes their Father. In the past year, as I have been raising my daughter Seraphina, God has been bringing me revelation after revelation of His Father's heart for His children. It's been an amazing time! What I've come to realize is that certain relationships will bring a greater depth of understanding and experience of differing dimensions and aspects of God's heart more so than others which then better help draw certain things out of and put certain things into a person's heart. 

For me personally, I've sang worship songs, heard sermons on, and studied personally the Word of God in what it says about God being our Father, but it has been through personally having a child and becoming a father to her that the reality of some of things I've sang, heard and studied have in a sense come more alive and real to me through my relationship with my daughter. Even more so, the Holy Spirit has brought even greater depth and timely revelation of the Father's heart to me about how He loves and cares for me. 

One of these revelations happened in a moment when I had a completely free day with nothing planned and no responsibilities that needed my immediate attention. So, my wife went to the gym and I spent the next few hours with my daughter. It was in this unhurried time with her where I wasn't looking at my watch or thinking about what I needed to do that day or hurrying my time with her because I was trying to squeeze in time with her. No, I was fully present with her and was enjoying the time with her when the Lord spoke to me through the thoughts in my mind and I heard, "This is how I am with you, I am never in a hurry with you. I enjoy spending time with you and am always fully present with you." My heart soaked in this revelation like a thirsty dry sponge which has helped to soften my heart and bring greater healing to me while further reprioritizing my heart to mirror God's heart.

Then, building upon that revelation, the Lord began to remind me that it is through my example of a father to my daughter that will influence and shape how she will one day see Him as Father. It's funny, I know this. I've heard testimony after testimony. I've counseled and ministered to countless people who have had fathers who have been poor examples, neglectful examples, even abusive examples of what a father should be and how this has created walls and barriers within them in seeing God as a good and loving heavenly Father. Yet, it was in these moments that the reality of this truth found good soil and sunk deeper into my heart. 

This is a heavy responsibility, but the Holy Spirit continually reminds me that I am not in this alone, that each day He faithfully guides, leads, corrects and comforts me as He places His strength into my weakness and heals and redeems the broken areas within me. This is the one of the many great blessings of being an adopted child of God, the gift of the Spirit. The other is that it gave God great pleasure to do so.

"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, 'Abba, Father.' For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children." (Romans 8:15-16 NLT)

"God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)

Wow! Such an amazing verse, "it gave him great pleasure." Let these verses marinate in your soul. Engage and meditate on them by asking the Holy Spirit to show you the truth of these verses. And wherever you're at in this journey with God, know that you truly and genuinely give Him great pleasure. If you don't know Jesus yet, I encourage you to spend some time seeking to know this kind of love and pleasure that God has towards you. Just know that at times it can be challenging and painful as He begins the process of removing the barriers that have been built up within you, but it is so that He can bring the revelation of the love we all crave so much and the healing we all desperately need. I guarantee that if He is real (which I know He is), He will reveal Himself to you and do this amazing good work within you. 

This is my prayer for you: "That the God of the universe would draw near to you and purposely intervene in your life in showing you His love for you and His destiny for your life. I pray the grace of God would begin to cover the many areas in your heart where a father has fallen short in loving you the way you needed and begin to bring the healing you need to help you to see in greater and greater depth God as a good, loving and caring heavenly Father. In Jesus Name, Amen" 

Abba Father

Lately I have been pressing into a greater understanding and experience of Father God's love. Recently, I've come across a helpful quote from Henri Nouwen in his devotional book "Bread for the Journey" that is helpful in describing the meaning of the word "Abba" and how we should approach our "Abba," in Heaven. He says,  

"The Spirit reveals to us not only that God is "Abba, Father" but also that we belong to God as beloved children. The Spirit thus restores in us the relationship from which all other relationships derive their meaning. Abba is a very intimate word. The best translation for it is "Daddy." The word Abba expresses trust, safety, confidence, belonging, and most of all, intimacy. It does not have the connotation of authority, power, and control that the word Father often evokes. On the contrary, Abba implies an embracing and nurturing love. This love that includes and infinitely transcends all the love that comes to us from our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, spouses, friends, and lovers. It is the gift of the Spirit." (emphasis mine) 

In reading this, I hope and pray the Spirit of God would open your heart and mind to a fresh understanding of the Father's love for you as Your Heavenly Daddy and that you would encounter and experience Him in deeper and more intimate ways. I've always been drawn to and often do soaking prayer to the song "Abba" by Jonathan David Helser. Here is a version that I feel God has anointed for your enjoyment.  

Honesty: the key to Genuine faith and relationships

Lying must always be traced back to the Devil, for he is the father of lies (John 8:44). Did I get your attention! This is why I believe honesty is a non-negotiable characteristic of the Christian faith. Without real honesty I would say that a genuine faith will be difficult to live out and genuine relationships will be difficult to have. If there are lies operating in our lives than anything that is influenced by or built around or on a lie can never be 100% genuine because the very nature of a lie is falsehood and whatever is false can never be 100% true and real. 

I've come across a definition of lying from an article which I appreciate: "Saying something false to someone who is entitled to know the truth is the very definition of lying. This includes misrepresenting or distorting facts in order to mislead a person. Omitting information to deceive someone, and exaggerating the truth in order to give a false impression also fall under that definition." 

The reason I appreciate this definition is because it encompassing the full spectrum of lying. Oftentimes, many people will internally justify distorting the facts, omitting information or exaggerating the truth for all kinds of reasons and motivations. But, at the end of the day, we lie because of fear. We are afraid of the responses of others. If we couldn't care less of what others thought of us, we could and would be completely honest with them all of the time. This is why little kids always tell the truth because they haven't been conditioned yet to be afraid of what others may think of them. They live in a place of freedom from the fear of rejection. 

I believe when we stand before God and have to give account for these situations, He will ask us why we didn't just tell the truth? And if there was information we were not comfortable in sharing why didn't we just say "There is more but I am uncomfortable in sharing this with you right now because..." Again, probably because of fear. But, the Good News is that God has given us His perfect love to drive out all fear from our lives (1 John 4:18). I know this is easier said than done, but it is still the truth we must allow into the very depths of our being and let it shape all that we are. 

I have done my fair share of spiritual direction, mentoring and counseling others and something that I repeatedly encourage in others is to share their heart. If you share your heart, you can never go wrong. Oftentimes, miscommunication and misunderstandings happen because instead of honestly sharing our hearts with others we end up giving excuses or lying (as defined above) which will always give others the wrong (and often false) impression because that is in essence what we are doing if we are not honestly sharing our heart with someone. 

Now, some of you may be thinking "well, people can't be trusted" and my loving response will always be "yes, I agree, but our trust isn't in people because they will (maybe not always but) at times let us down. No, our trust must always be in the Living God who holds our lives in His Almighty Hand (John 10:28-30). It is in Him we must place all of our trust." 

It's when we begin to shift our faith from God and begin placing it onto people, that fear will creep in and we'll be tempted to withhold truth and honesty from others. But, honesty must always begin with ourselves. If we cannot be honest with our own self, then we will never be able to be honest with others, let alone God. I can't stress this enough. So, my question to you the reader is, "How honest are you with yourself?" On a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being completely (brutally honest) and 1 being not so much (where lying, minimizing or exaggerating is an everyday thing you do with yourself): What number would you give yourself? 

What empowers me to live out a genuine faith in genuine relationships has its roots solely in God's love and care for my life, period.

If you are struggling with fully embracing God's love and care for your life, here's a wonderful video (3:54) which illustrates well what living in the security of the Father's love and care looks like.

This is my prayer: that the Almighty God of Heaven will release greater revelation to you about His perfect love and care for your life and that you would have many experiences and encounters with His love. In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

Good Good Father: Chris Tomlin (written by Housefires)

I just can't stop listening to this song over and over and over again. It is such a powerfully true song about who we should understand God to be towards us. If I've learned one thing in the last 15 years of walking with Jesus, it's been that everything in the world both visible and invisible comes against the goodness of God. But, this is nothing new, it is one of the oldest stories every recorded.

After God created the universe and everything in it (Genesis 1-2), we read in Genesis 3 of the exchange between the serpent and the woman:

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" 2 "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. 3 "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, "You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die." 4 "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. 5 "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." (NIV) 

At the heart of this exchange, the serpent is attacking the goodness of God. What the serpent is trying to do is make the woman believe that 1) God has lied to them "did God really say... you won't die!"; that 2) God doesn't have their best interest in mind for them "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as..."; and that 3) He has been holding out on them "you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." All of these come directly against God's goodness towards Adam and Eve.

The serpent of old has not changed his tactics. I can recall countless times where I have had the same kinds of thoughts float through my mind (maybe you can relate), that:

1. God has lied to me: "Did God really say He loves you?" or "Did God really say that He will never leave nor forsake you?" or "Have you really been forgiven by God?" Each of these questions is trying to get me to not trust God, to doubt His goodness towards me. 
2. God doesn't have my best interest in mind: "God didn't heal you because He wants you to suffer" or "God doesn't think you deserve to be blessed" or "If God really cared about you He won't have let that happen to you." Again, each of these statements is trying to get me to question God's care for me, to again doubt His goodness towards me. 
3. God's been holding out on me: "You see how God helped that person, but not you" or "God loves that person more than you" or "God is intentionally withholding His blessing from you." Each of these accusations are all trying to paint God as a moody and stingy God who doesn't want to bless His creation, to once again get me to doubt His goodness towards me. 

This is why I love this song so much and listen to it over and over and over again, because it reminds of the truth of God's goodness towards me in the midst of a world that would have me believe that God cannot be trusted, that He doesn't care for me, that God is a moody and stingy God who is not good. But, what I've come to know and believe both through the reading of Scripture and from my own encounters with the Living God is that He is good, that He is extremely generous, that He does care for me immensely and that I can trust Him completely. Because He is a Good Good Father.  

This is my prayer: Jesus, You tell us that "no one truly knows that Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him" (Matthew 11:27b NLT), So, Lord reveal the Father to us. In Your Name we ask, Amen. 

Here's the story behind the song:

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 26

A big motivator for me in being out on the street with the Mobile Prayer Station day after day is the alarming reality that there are countless people who have never been prayed for, who's names or images have never been brought before the throne of God's grace. Now this revelation is not of my own thinking, but something the Holy Spirit brought to my attention many years ago and continues to remind of at least once a week. 


The reason I'm thinking about this is that I read a blog by my friend Scott today where he gave a pretty fair assessment of the current "celebrity" driven Christian culture in America. Afterwards, I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when some of the status updates of the "celebrity" Christian fan pages I've "liked" came through. What struck me as I was reading through the comments was how many people said they were praying for this person and then I thought about all the many people I see each and every day who probably have never been prayed for. To be honest, it made me sad. Now don't misunderstand me here. I love prayer and and am thrilled that people are praying, but I couldn't help but to think about... (I think I'll let the Holy Spirit fill this one in for you). 


So, today I had the privileged to pray with Amir who must have been 8 years old. He was walking with his mother when he stopped in front of my sign and started reading. His mother then asked him if he wanted me to pray for him and he said yes. So, I asked him what he wanted me to pray for him about and when he shrugged his shoulders, I gave him a few suggestions. He decided on blessing, and so I started to pray. But, to my surprise the very first words out of my mouth were "God, thank you that you see Amir and that you don't think that he's too little..." which is right, I mean kids aren't too little in God's eyes. But, the sad reality is that we treat them like they are. I am always amazed at the spiritual and emotional sensitivity of children and by their faith. Kids simply believe. No wonder Jesus tells us "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:2 NIV).


But what does it mean to "have faith like a child?" Well, I believe this story will help illustrate. It's like a child who only knows the area of her house and yard. This is what she is familiar with and this is where she feels safe. But, as she grows, she begins to take walks with her father away from their house and through the neighborhood where she loses sight of her house and soon is lost. Even if she tried to find her way home, she couldn't. But, because she was holding her father's hand she knew deep in her heart that she was safe. She knew that her father loved her and that he would always do what was best for her. That he would protect and guide her wherever they would go. Knowing this filled her with joy and excitement, rather than fear. She wasn't frightened as they walked down unfamiliar streets because she had full confidence in her father. This is how Jesus tells us we should be, like a child who has full confidence in our Father in Heaven. 

Leona Lewis: BRAVE

Bravery. I think it's safe to say that we all wish we could be a bit braver in certain areas of our lives. But, because of the spiritual battle that wars around us many of us have "shadows weighing us down," keeping us from reaching our full potential in life, keeping us from being brave. Listening to this song touches those places in my heart that long for bravery. To be honest, the moments that I lack the most bravery are usually when God is calling me to step out in faith to proclaim and demonstrate that His Kingdom is near to people.

The more I listen to this song, the more I long to have the faith that I read Jesus had in the Gospels. The bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, but was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). This tells me that there were moments when Jesus was tempted to not step out in faith, to not be brave. But, He didn't. Why not? Now the easy answer would be to say that well Jesus was God, so of course He didn't and leave it at that. This is maybe true, but sounds more like a cop-out than an explanation. The more I've meditated and sought clarity from the Holy Spirit on this, the more I'm convinced that it was because Jesus knew who had His back.

Our Father in heaven had Jesus' back and He also has ours. For me, it's not so much about trying to conjure up bravery inside of myself, but more about believing that our Father in heaven actually has my back, that He is before me and behind me, above me and below me and at either side of me. Bravery comes from knowing that because we are God's children, He has our backs. God is intimately concerned about every aspect of our lives from the big to the small, from the epic to the utterly mundane and boring. He is our Father in heaven who loves and delights in us. Bravery comes from knowing who He is to us and what we mean to Him.

Jonathan David Helser: ABBA

This song speaks to the deepest of my heart longings: to be unconditionally loved and accepted as a son. I can never be reminder enough of the Father's love for me, His child. He is my Abba, my Daddy, to whom I fully belong. Thank You Jesus for inviting me in Your family. Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him" (John 14:6, 7 TNIV).

My Beloved Prodigal Son

The struggle portrayed in this video is all too familiar. Judging and condemning thoughts are ever present in my life and if I'm not careful they will consume me. But, thankfully God has shown me mercy. The devil, the world, even our own thoughts will try to continually condemn us by refusing to let us be free of our past, but Jesus offers us forgiveness and redemption from our past. When we come to Him, He wipes the slate clean and we get a second, third, fourth, fifth, etc. chance. He will hit the delete button everyday if need be. His forgiveness is total and complete. There are no conditions to His forgiveness, we just need to recognize that we need it and then ask for it.

The Bible says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Next time, when you are in the thick of battle with raging thoughts filling your mind, pause for a moment and invite God into the foray and let His peace descend upon you like a dove. Remember Jesus has already overcome the devil and the world. He will even overcome us and our judging and condemning thoughts if we let Him!

Biblical Prayer

During my time at Trinty Evangelical Divinity School, I've had the opportunity to both personally interact and learn from Don Carson. He is a man filled with grace and truth and has a deep passion to see Christ formed in people. In this short interview through the Gospel Coalition, Dr. Carson unpacks some of the ins and outs of biblical prayer. Enjoy!

God's Love Letter

This is such an amazing video. I love God's Word! Don't you?