John 1:14-17 “And the Word was made 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. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, he that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 12:6-11 For whom the lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
Isaiah 5:16 “But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.”
In “The Problem of Pain” C.S. Lewis wrote the following about society’s skewed perspective of our Lord:
“What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, ‘What does it matter so long as they are contended?’ We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven – a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves’, and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, ‘a good time was had by all’. Not many people, I admit, would formulate a theology in precisely those terms: but a conception not very different lurks at the back of many minds.”
Modern secular society is satisfied with a grandfatherly deity – one who is characterized by senile benevolence and is seeking general human contentment. That is not our God!
He is a mix of grace and truth. He chastens us because He loves us and has taken the responsibility seriously to guide us into growth to be partakers of holiness. His correction is to be viewed as joyous not grievous as it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO REVEAL TO OUR SECULAR SOCIETY THE FATHERLY CARE AND CORRECTION OF OUR LOVING AND JUST GOD. The Lord is molding us through his loving correction. He is an active participant in our growth and maturity, and not a deity characterized by senile benevolence.
