When our children were small, we were farming, night and day. We had very little free time, so they spent a lot of time in the fields with us. One day we were walking across the hay fields and I saw our son following behind his dad. He was imitating Dave’s every step. He would stop and look at the fields each time Dave stopped. He took the same giant leap to cross the irrigation ditch that his dad did. That is a moment I will never forget.
God wants us to be the same way with Him. He wants us to imitate Him. He is our loving heavenly Father!
“Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.” Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG
Life, in general, is constantly evolving. We are growing from infancy to the grave. We develop in our relationships and maturity. We have numerous jobs from youth to retirement.
In God’s eyes we are in a multifaceted role as well. Our first position being that of unbeliever but after accepting Jesus as Savior, we take on the life of believers in Christ.
As a follower of Christ, we have many callings. The Bible says we are sons, joint heirs, the righteousness of God, conquerors, overcomers, the body of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. These are only a few of our many facets. Through this teaching we will see from God’s Word the requirements and instructions that go with each one.
Let’s open our hearts to learn from the Lord as we go through the pages of this book.
“Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask you to open my spirit so that I may receive instructions from Your Word. Let me use what the Holy Spirit reveals to make my life conform to You in a greater way than it has up to this time. I desire to be an imitator of you as Jesus was. Amen.”
Our first relationship (facet) to develop is that as “sons”.
“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, who was born from a woman and lived under the law. 5 God did this so that he could buy the freedom of those who were under the law. God’s purpose was to make us his children.
6 Since you are now God’s children, he has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. The Spirit cries out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are not slaves like before. You are God’s children, and you will receive everything he promised his children.” Galatians 4:4-7 ERV
We are children who have a very loving Father. This is a special family relationship. Originally, we were born with a sin nature and Jesus said that the devil was acting as our father and we lived in a kingdom of darkness.
“You don’t understand the things I say, because you cannot accept my teaching. 44 Your father is the devil. You belong to him. You want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning. He was always against the truth. There is no truth in him. He is like the lies he tells. Yes, the devil is a liar. He is the father of lies.” John 8:43-44 ERV
Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth was to give us a new heritage. We no longer have to belong to an evil father. The relationship with God that mankind had was lost in the Garden of Eden through Adam’s disobedience, was restored when Jesus came. God’s plan was to give us a new Father and a new family relationship.