"Our Loving Father" - Too

 "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." (John 20:17 KJV) 

  "[Young Woman] Oh, I wish you were my brother, who nursed at my mother's breasts. Then I could kiss you no matter who was watching, and no one would criticize me. I would bring you to my childhood home, and there you would teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, my sweet pomegranate wine. Your left arm would be under my head, and your right arm would embrace me. Promise me, O women of Jerusalem, not to awaken love until the time is right." (SONG OF SONGS 8:1-4 NLT)

 Just call it, 'A work in progress'; if you don't totally get the point, then you can keep looking up; hopefully His return is much sooner, than later! Besides the death thing, which was pretty amazing, we also have this, "Brother," aspect of the whole situation! Not to discount His Godliness, but He did come in the form of a man, dying as a man, but rising up from the dead, as the First of many, to be risen also! 

 Thus, He can boldly and humbly proclaim, "My Father, and your Father; my God, and your God!" This might be one of those mysteries of Heaven, as we have no idea what we will be, except to know that we will see Him, and will the realize who we really are, as we are transform into His image! (1 John 3:2)

 In Psalm 22, which is the Psalm that shows much of what takes place during the crucifixion, there is a portion of that Psalm where many believe is the time of His death, at which time He ministered to those who had been waiting in Paradise; the resting place for those looking towards Heaven. We see this taking place in verse 22; just so happens, it is 22:22, where it says, "I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will praise you among your assembled people." (NLT) 

 Yesterday, on my way to church, I heard this message from Pastor Robert, as he was sharing about the original sin, where Adam had eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It really took a turn, as he began showing the two sides of this, Good and Evil, as if they were one of the same. To put it in some practical illustration, God want us to see Him, not good or evil! 

 That might not grab you right away, but you cannot see evil unless you have seen good; which is the knowledge part of the tree, both are illustrated as choices; but God wanted man to have only one choice, which was to just do as He says, not to be disobedient, to one command! Having the knowledge of good or evil, gives us many choices; He just wanted us to be enjoying life by living as if His love and care was the only thing we needed to have. 

 You might not get it now, but when we all are with Him in Heaven, we will totally and completely understand! Besides that, Pastor Rick spelled that out yesterday, by illustrating the portion of Scripture, Jeremiah 29:11. We tend to look at it as if God is putting the focus us, as we see "you," and then proclaim it is the reason for His promise. But it is the, "I," that matters the most! God's the one that makes the plan; He develops it, and He completes it; we are a part of His glorious masterpiece! 

 As we go into this new year, I hope we, the church, can stay alert and pay attention to the way we treat one another. Remember that we are all members of His body, no part is more glorious than the Head, which is Christ Jesus; and we all need each other, we smallest to the greatest; the weakest to the strongest! We are all brothers and sisters in Christ...

"God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation. So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. For he said to God, "I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters. I will paise you among your assembled people." He also said, "I will put my trust in him," that is, "I and the children God has given me." Because God's children are human beings - made of flesh and blood - the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying." (Hebrews 2:10-15 NLT)