The Revelation
By Caron Cline
Burke County
On June 18th, we will celebrate fathers for their vital role of protector, provider, and encourager during our formative years. Sadly, this special day produces negative and painful emotions for those whose fathers have neglected their God-ordained role, resulting in adults who subconsciously struggle with insecurities stemming from the loss of their Father’s blessing. Satan uses those insecurities to deceive many Christians into believing that the heavenly Father is a God of judgment, unforgiving and unloving; a God who cannot be trusted with their hearts, unapproachable and uncomprehensive.
The New Testament offers God’s Son, Jesus Christ, as One who is full of compassion and grace. Those who choose to reject the God of the Old Testament find comfort in the Son. This distortion of the truth comes directly from the devil, for God sent His Son into the world to reveal His unconditional love for all mankind. Jesus made it clear when He told Philip, ‘If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father’. In John 5:19, Jesus also stated plainly: “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner”. John 14:31 says “So that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me”. The compassion in Jesus’ voice when a leper fell at His feet, begging to be made clean, was the compassion of His heavenly Father. The Lord readily professed His willingness to heal this social outcast.
One day, Jesus and the disciples, along with a rather large crowd, were walking toward the city of Nain. As they neared the city gate, a funeral procession was passing by; the deceased, the only son of a widow. The mercy of the heavenly Father moved the Son to stop the procession, touch the coffin, and raise this young man from the dead. On another occasion, Jesus and the disciples sailed to the country of the Gerasene. Immediately, a man possessed by multiple demons appeared. He was a tortured individual who wore no clothing and lived among the tombs; a dead man walking. Through Jesus, the heavenly Father released His grace and delivered this man from the power of the devil. Immediately, he was clothed, restored mentally, and sent forward as a witness to the incredible power of a loving Father over the forces of darkness.
During the last week of Jesus’ earthly life, He was leaving Jericho for a final trek to Jerusalem for the Passover. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus was sitting by the road. Hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, this man began to cry out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Although Bartimaeus was physically blind, he recognized Jesus as the fulfillment of the promise made to King David by God. 1 Chronicles 17:27 says, “And now it has pleased You (God) to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, O Lord, have blessed, and it is blessed forever”. Jesus heard Bartimaeus’ cry for mercy and called him forward. Realizing that his greatest need was the restoration of his sight, the heart of the heavenly Father moved the Son to open Bartimaeus’ eyes once again.
Every good and perfect gift of compassion, grace, mercy, and kindness seen in the ministry of Jesus came down from the Father of lights. Even from the cross, Jesus’ words of redemption, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do’, were a direct reflection of His Father’s desire to forgive even the worst of offenses. The entire ministry of Jesus is a revelation of the God of the Universe, the One who loved the world so deeply that He was willing to send His Son, in His own image, so that we might not perish, but have everlasting life. Our God has promised that nothing can separate us from His love; a love that is unconditional and unending. We are eternally secure!
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Caron is a follower of Jesus Christ and a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Morganton, NC. She loves to teach the word of God.
Her desire is to see every believer grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
You can read more Christian News from Caron HERE.
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