The Father said to his two children: all I want you to do is a little work in the garden today and while you are at it, don't forget to eat, but stay away from that one tree over there, because its fruit is poisonous. The children forsook their small labors and ate of the forbidden fruit.
Their two sons were then asked to honor that Father with a special service of his choosing; one did but then decided to improvise. When the Father corrected the creative son, instead of amending his ways, he decided to kill his brother in a rage of jealousy.
So the Father continued to grant blessings to his children. His sun shone upon them and fed the land that fed them. But they grew more wicked, mocking his benevolence and turned their hearts to evil So he sent them a messenger, pleading with them to change their ways. They ridiculed the messenger, even as he and his family ascended upon the floodwaters that would soon engulf the earth.
That Father later made a friend in a man named Abraham and told him that he would see to it that he and his wife had a son. But that took too long for Abraham and so he committed adultery with his maid.
The Father fulfilled his promise anyway and a great family was born to Abraham's line: twelve strapping sons of Israel. But Jacob favored one so over the others, even as his own father had done and the other eleven conspired to sell their brother into slavery. The Father preserved him and saved the whole family by his position and providence.
When they rested in their tombs, the Father made a new friend in Moses and told him to work wonders by the Father's blessing and power. But Moses struck a rock and claimed the credit for the miracle himself. Moses was sorry and God kept him on.
Fast forward thousands of years to own lifetimeÉthe Father now has children whom he calls by a certain name, Christians (Acts 11:26). He paid the price to purchase them out of slavery, but the price was very steep: He had to be tortured and asphyxiated upon a Roman cross to effect the transaction (Acts 20:28).
But sometimes those children take his effort for granted and make a mockery of His sacrifice. They say and do things that betray his consecration of them (Matthew 26:73; Ephesians 4:29).
Some of them act like Adam and Eve and claim they are unable to resist the forbidden fruit and so they do what they want, exposing their shame (James 1:13).
Other times, they listen to God's messengers, preachers, and elders and brethren who gently reprove such shortcomings, reminding them of their confession. They mock these messengers of restoration by calling them names, accusing them of hypocrisy and meanness and just simply refusing to change. (1 Tim. 4:3-4).
Others grow impatient with the Father and lose faith in His promises of hope deferred (2 Peter 3:9). They grow doubtful about this Messianic return and revert to their own designs and devices (Hebrews 6:4-6).
But His is not deterred and carries forth with his plans and timetable. His family is still set apart, like Israel's (1 Timothy 3:15; Romans 2:29). But, oh, how families can fight, and gossip so that you wonder if they really want to be together in that better home (Galatians 5:14-15).
Time marches on and pride gets in the way with some of them. They forget their humble start or initial weaknesses and fail to provide others with the instruction and patience that their predecessors had for them not so long ago (1 Thessalonians 5:14; Galatians 6:1).
And yet, that Father's grace was big enough and powerful enough to envelop all who would but confess their wrong ways and turn from them, beseeching that Father to forgive them as they obeyed him at last.
That persistent Father has extended the olive branch of His grace and reconciliation to a species that has not earned the right to even ask for it. Even the most pious among their kind have fallen into adultery, lust or covetousness. And yet, the hand of mercy reaches out anyway.
If I wronged my earthly father as much as I have wronged my heavenly one, I would be too ashamed to come into his presence and request anything of him. Yet, I know that something more lasting than my dad's approval is at stake and so I get down on my knees and crawl like a worm before my exalted Father's throne of grace and beseech him to look favorably upon a failed son.
I an that young prodigal who wasted his Father's blessing on his enemy's wares. I am that wayward sheep that left the safety and security of the fold to flirt with the wolf. I am that little foolish child, led away by the enticement of a wily old devil.
I no longer merit my father's approval, nor his forgiveness. Perhaps I shall crawl back before him and beg to become a hired hand, a lowly slave in his employ. Even so humbled a state would exceed the filth into which I have stumbled in my pursuit of the best of both worlds.
As I approach his house, here he comes out to me, with arms open wide. But I cannot bear to even look him in the eye. I must beat my chest and pray, "Be merciful to me, a sinner." But he answers, "Come to me and I will give you rest," dressing me in a white robe and celebrating my return with the angels of his mansion as he accepts my conversion and I name him as my sole hope and obey his command to be washed and to sin no more (Acts 22:16; Romans 6:1-4).
Only a grace that is truly amazing could rescue me from myself and fill me with the milk and meat of wisdom and good news. Gone are the pods of the swine and their mire as well. Now I am purified (James 4:8) and dedicated to magnifying the gracious name of my Father and never bringing dishonor to it (1 Peter 4:14).
~In Gospel Power, Anderson, Alabama, 9/14/97.