When a man becomes a father, he becomes very vulnerable to the hurts, sorrows, sicknesses and sometimes, unfortunately, the rebellion and rejection of his children. When his children hurt, his desire is that he could take the hurt upon himself in their place. When they are in danger, a father will do all in his strength to rescue his children. If he loses a child, he feels a hurt and loss like he has never known in his life. A man who always felt himself to be strong and capable, can feel unsure and sometimes helpless in the challenge of being a father to his children. He discovers that it costs him something, physically, mentally, and spiritually, to be a father. When the all mighty, all powerful, omniscient, omnipresent God made the provision for our salvation, He became "Father", and He chose to accept the vulnerability of all that it entails to be a Father. To be vulnerable means to be susceptible to physical or emotional wounding, attack, or harm. God accepted this vulnerability into His character in order to be "Father".
In Jesus' ministry as the Son, as our Salvation, He spoke of Himself as the salvation coming from and of, the Father. The Son's physical location is hidden in the bosom of the Father (Jn. 1:18). The salvation of God was born from the making of Himself vulnerable through His Fatherhood.
We see this vulnerability as God speaks to Cain, not as his God, but as a Father seeing his son headed for destruction, trying to teach Cain to understand what lies ahead:
"So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." Gen 4:6-7
These are not just the words of God to one of His creatures, but they are the advising, teaching, correcting words of wisdom from the heart of a Father to His son. As God made Himself vulnerable to Cain as a Father, He also had to suffer the wound of witnessing Cain's choice to disregard His words, and become a curse in the earth after he murdered his brother. God's Fatherhood to Cain did not end there. As Cain went out from the LORD's presence to wander (Nod) the earth, the LORD set a mark upon Cain, because Cain feared that others would kill him after he departed from God. The Hebrew word for "mark" is owth אוֹת , which means a distinguishing mark, a miraculous sign, a warning, ensign, proof. The Hebrew letters of the word for mark each mean: 1. leader, strength, adonai, 2. nail, make secure, join together, and 3. cross, mark, sign, ownership, covenant. Though Cain was a murderer, his Father, God, did all He could for this pathetic, lost son.
Without the understanding of the Fatherhood of God, and its vulnerability, we cannot understand the salvation of God, which is the Son:
"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." Jn. 8:42
Jesus was speaking these words above, to those who believed Him among the Jews (v. 31). Though they believed Jesus to a point, they were offended by His statement that they were slaves to sin, and that He brought the truth that would free them (v. 32, 34). They were so offended, they desired at that point to kill Him. He said, if God was their Father, they would know and love the Son. Though they knew God, they did not know Him as Father.
Though many spend their whole lives studying (an believing) the words and ways of God, until they look into the vulnerable heart of the Father, they will not find the Son, their salvation. One of Jesus' disciples asked Him to show them the Father. Jesus was amazed at this request stating, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father..." Jn. 14:8-9
The Fatherhood of God, as we have seen, is not just a New Testament teaching. The LORD did not call and appoint Moses to be only a leader, and law-giver to His people, but He called Moses to be a father to God's people. Moses expressed the pain and vulnerability of this calling:
"So Moses said to the LORD, "Why have You afflicted your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all these people on me? Did I conceive all these people? Did I beget them that You should say to me "Carry them in your bosom, as a guardian carries a nursing child", to the land which You swore to their fathers?" Num. 11:11-12
We can imagine Moses pulling his hair out over having become a "father" to hundreds of thousands of complaining infants that were the people of God! Poor Moses. We can almost hear God saying, "Now you know how I feel!"
The prophet Isaiah beautifully describes the heart and vulnerability of the Father in Ch. 63:
"In all their affliction, He (the LORD, YHWH) was afflicted. And the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love, and in His pity He redeemed them; He bore them and carried them all the days of old, but they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit....Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O LORD, are our Father, our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name." Isa. 63:9, 16
As Isaiah points out above, it is from the vulnerable nature of Fatherhood, that our salvation and redemption come.
God allowed Himself to become vulnerable for our sakes, and He became a Father, so His Son could save us. A god does not tolerate rebellion, and rejection, but a Father will give and do everything and all that He can, to save His child.
So what is the joy of God in exchange for allowing Himself to become vulnerable as a Father? He describes the overwhelming joy of seeing even an ungrateful, rebellious child come home to Him:
"But when he (the son) was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said, "I have sinned...and am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry." Lk. 15:20-24
"Likewise I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Lk. 15:10
Though Fatherhood brings God vulnerability, it also brings Him a joy that He could not have had otherwise- the joy of seeing our salvation.
Our Father, the Great God, made Himself vulnerable on our behalf.
"Our Father"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf1wtzOoXDA
Our understanding and measuring of the world is done with north-south, and east-west latitude and longitude lines and directions. It is how we establish the global coordinates of a location. It is how the earth is divided into hemispheres.
One of the great scriptures of the Bible is John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
The giving of the Son was for the whole world. The cross becomes the compass, and as Jesus was placed upon it and it was lifted up from the earth, His blood covered the compass directions. His arms were spread out onto the east-west cross piece, and the blood came from His hands upon those points. His head lay upon the north end of the upright piece, covered by the blood pouring from piercings of the crown of thorns, and the beating of His face. The southern point of the upright was covered by the blood of His feet. Every point between the north-south and east-west of the cross pieces was covered by the blood of the whipping of His back, arms and legs. The piercing of His side poured the water and the blood onto the midpoint of the directions. I had often wondered why the Son was pierced at the hands and feet. If the point was to release the atoning blood, there are much more efficient ways to do that. Wounds to the hands and feet are not fatal, and seem an unusual choice of the will of God. These wounds are prophesied by King David in Psalm 22: "For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet." There are probably other significant reasons why the Son had to be pierced at head, hands, feet, and side, but when I consider it, I see the blood at the four directional points.
The scriptures have interesting references to the primary compass directions that add to my picture. As Jacob dreamed about the ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and the angels that ascended and descended upon it, the LORD stood above that ladder and made this prophetic promise to Jacob:
"Also, your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed (incl. Messiah) all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Gen. 28:14
Trusted gatekeepers to the tabernacle of the LORD, as well as the twelve tribes of Israel, were assigned to the four directions: the east, the west, the north, and the south (1 Chron. 9:24-26). The gatekeepers had charge of the keeping of the chambers and treasuries of the LORD. I don't think the LORD assigned the Gatekeepers (sho ar, שׁוֹעֵר ) because He was concerned for His money. The gatekeepers might have been in place, however, to keep watch over the true "treasures" of the four directions, the souls of the past, present, and future generations of the Redeemed in the earth. The Hebrew letters of the word for gatekeeper are shin, (sharp, destroy), vaw (nailed, joined), tsadde (inescapable, destination, harvest), reysh (most important, chief, head). The root word for gatekeeper is shah-ar, meaning opening, heaven. The destroying, sharp nails are an inescapable journey, bringing the harvest of chief importance, and the opening to heaven.
When Solomon built the temple, one of the furnishings was a great sea of bronze (2 Chron. 4:2-5). It was a large, completely round laver, which contained thousands of gallons of water, set upon the backs of twelve cast bronze oxen. Three oxen faced looking toward the north, three looking toward the west, three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east. This giant laver or sea might have meant other things as well, but to me it is a beautiful picture of the cleansing Word, the Holy Spirit, the Salvation of the LORD to all the nations of earth.
Psalm 107 tells us that the redeemed (by the blood) of the LORD are gathered from the four directions of the earth. These redeemed had been hungry and thirsty, in a dry spiritual wilderness, from places of darkness and the shadow of death, and those lost in the storms and waves of the sea (v. 2-5, 10, 14, 25, 29-30). If we look at the Hebrew words and meanings of the four directions, we will see a similar picture:
West (yam)- seaward, the roaring of the surf and waves.
North (tsa phown)- hidden, obscure, dark, hidden ones, secret places, to hide, conceal.
South (negeb)- wilderness, desert region, parched, drought.
East (kedem)- ancient, before time, beginning, eternal, prevent, precede, to go before.
In Isaiah, the LORD, who identifies Himself as "your Savior", prophesies:
"Fear not, for I am with you;
I will bring your descendants from the east,
and gather you from the west;
I will say to the north, "Give them up!"
And to the south, "Do not keep them back!"
Bring My sons from afar,
And My daughters from the ends of the earth-
Everyone who is called by My name,
Whom I have created for My glory;
I have formed him, yes, I have made him." Isa. 43:5-7
The LORD also promises that His salvation (Jesus) will be seen to the ends of the earth (Ps. 98:3, Isa. 49:6, Isa. 52:10, Acts 13:47).
Jesus described those who would be saved and redeemed by Him:
"They will come from the east, and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God." Lk. 13:29
As Jesus' hands, head, and feet, were stretched out on the cross, His blood reached out and covered the four directions of the earth. That blood was demanding, "Give them up!" and "Do not keep them back!".
The Father keeps His promise to the four directions of the earth.
"Shout to the North"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctc3GqWaV3U
"God Will Restore the World" (Chinese)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSbIKFzIGII
"Mighty God" (Soweto, Africa)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl62KqAruBo
"The Whole Earth" (Spanish)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es1YWSCXPZQ
Praise, Worship (Aleut)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wltpsYWW4Q
"Resurrection Chant/Hallelujah" (Russian)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsxxJNpZtHA
"Immanuel, Immanuel" (Arabic -Cairo, Egypt)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjEehbjbIAY
"
Et Shem Yeshua" (Hebrew, Israel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUqm_N8muT0
When we think of the word "grace", we think of a spiritual condition of favor, mercy, and forgiveness from God. It is a lovely, loving gift from God's salvation. However, I would like to explore "grace" as a spiritual power and authority. In fact, the power of "grace" is one of the twelve governmental names of God (Ex. 34:6-8). In order to see the awesome, superior, spiritual power and authority of grace, we should first look at the spiritual power and authority of sin. Sin is not just something wrong that we do. It is a being of power. God first discusses sin as a being in scripture with a warning to Cain, who would become the first murderer:
"...And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." Gen. 4:7
Sin from the scripture above, is defined as "an offence (stumbling, injury, ruin, overthrow, cast down, decayed) that requires a sacrifice". Blood is required by this power of ruin and decay. As Christians, we understand that Jesus gave His blood in our place, for our sin. This power of ruin and decay lies at the door. This is not referring to the door of Cain's house, but to the wide opening or entrance of the grave. It "lies" there, meaning that it rests, or reposes there. It crouches, broods and lurks there, as an animal might do. Man was not purposed to be ruled by sin, but to rule over it (see Gen. 4:7).
The Hebrew letters of the word for sin, chatta'ah, חַטָּאָת , give us an incredible picture of the being, power, and authority of sin:
Cheth - tent wall or fence that separates
Teth- A snake, to surround, to twist. to coil
Aleph - Strong power, leader, authority
Tav - ownership, seal, mark, cross, covenant
Sin, the snake of power and authority, surrounds us and separates us from God, and seals us, marks us, and takes ownership of us. It does this legally through the covenant by which we join ourselves together with it.
We can see similarities in Paul's teaching about the beings of spiritual hierarchy and evil in Eph. 6:12. He uses terms that refer to leaders, potentates of precedence (principalities), authority, jurisdiction, physical and mental power (powers), lords and princes of this world and age, masters that take hold of, and lay siege to the earth, and its inhabitants (rulers), evil and wicked ones of depravity and malice that force labor, toil, hardship, perils, disease, great trouble and intense desire (spiritual wickedness).
The minister Jonathan Edwards, who led the move of spiritual revival called The Great Awakening, spoke of this spiritual authority and power of sin that has the right of ownership to cast an unrepentant soul into hell. There is no power that can stop or delay it except the will of God that determines the moment when He will no longer hold on to, or hold back that unrepentant soul. The second God lets go of it, that soul falls into the pit by the legal authority and power of sin in him. Edwards preached about the power of sin that causes the human soul to combust into spiritual fire so intense that it will set on fire everything nearby. Sin is a being of power and authority.
If sin is a being of spiritual power and authority, grace is even more so (Rom. 5:20). Grace is first mentioned in Gen. 6. The earth was full of wickedness, violence and evil continually, and the LORD was sorry that He ever created man. He was deeply grieved in His heart (v.5-6).
"But Noah found grace in the eyes (ayin- fountain, face, presence, experience, knowledge) of the LORD." Gen 6:8
The word "found" above means to meet, to encounter. Noah encountered Grace. Who is this person, Grace, that Noah met? John 1 tells us who Grace is:
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Jn. 1:14, 16-17
In v. 18, continuing from above, John reveals that Jesus, the Son, is in the bosom of the Father. So Noah, who sought knowledge of, and found the presence (eyes) of God, would also encounter His Son, Grace, who is within the Father.
The Hebrew letters of the word grace, chen, חֵן ,also give us a powerful picture:
Cheth - Tent wall, fence, that separates
Nun - Heir to the throne, son
So, instead of being separated by and to the snake authority of sin (see "sin" above), Grace, separates us by and to, and of the Son, the Heir to the Throne of God. The root meaning of the Hebrew word for grace is "to pitch a tent, to encamp, to dwell, to abide". Grace doesn't leave, and it doesn't retreat. Grace is by far the superior power and authority to sin, and we can certainly understand this because it is the Person of the Son. Grace is not just a condition or gift of mercy and forgiveness. It is the spiritual authority and power of the Son of God. Sin reigns in death, but Grace reigns in eternal life through Jesus (Rom. 5:21).
Let us look at some scriptures that show us the spiritual power and authority of Grace:
In speaking about "The King", Psalm 45 says,
"You are fairer that the sons of men; Grace is poured upon Your lips; Therefore God has blessed You forever. Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One, with Your glory and Your majesty." (v. 2-3)
Above, Grace is associated with Kingly spiritual authority (lips) and power (sword).
In Prov. 4:9, Wisdom (whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor; whoever sins against me wrongs his own soul and loves death -Prov. 8:35-36), will place an ornament (wreath) of grace, and crown of glory on your head (ruling, kingly authority and power).
By shouting "Grace, Grace" to it, Zerubbabel is instructed to destroy an obstructing spiritual power, so large and high, it is described as a mountain. The power and authority of that Grace is far superior to the obstructing "mountain", or any natural power of man (Zech. 4:6-7).
Paul explains that he ministers, speaks and writes through the power and authority of Grace (Acts 4:33, Rom 1:4-5, Rom. 11:5, Rom 15:15). He describes himself as a "master builder" through the power and authority of Grace (1 Cor. 3:10).
The spiritual gifts (gifts denoting extraordinary powers; root-person under the divine authority of grace) and purposes of believers in the Body of Christ are given by Grace (Rom. 12:6, 2 Cor. 9:14-15).
A true spiritual remnant of believers is chosen by the election authority of Grace (Rom. 11:5)..
Believers stand, even through tribulation, by the spiritual power of Grace (Rom. 5:2).
When Paul was being beaten and buffeted by a demonic power, the Lord told him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9). Jesus instructs Paul that His grace, which He equates with His strength, is "sufficient". The English word sufficient doesn't really describe the fullness of meaning here. It is the Greek word arkeo, which means "to be possessed of unfailing strength, to ward off, to defend". Its root meaning is "to take by force, to raise up". The Grace referred to here is the unlimited authority, strength and power of God and Christ.
Grace is indeed lovely, but make no mistake, it also has the power and authority to knock the devil's block off.
The Father, and the Son are full of Grace and Truth.
"Grace to Overcome"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkQ5ZfVIXw8
