Truth of the Spirit with Patti Brunner continues the God’s Plan series with Child of God Blueprint of God’s Plan. The revelation of God as our Father was hidden in the Old Testament and revealed by Jesus, the Son of God. In Him we, too, can call God “Father” because we are adopted by him through the grace of the Holy Spirit. For the video, audio or the script please continue reading.
We are sons and daughters of God by blood and water, His children by adoption; which scripture shows our adoption? Which calls you a child of the most high? Where is the blueprint?
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. I am your host Patti Brunner. Today we look for the Blueprint of God’s Plan for us to be a Child of God.
According to the Gospel of John Chapter 20:17, right after Jesus resurrected from the dead he spoke to Mary Magdalene and said, “‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”” NRSV My Father and your Father—my God and your God! Jesus was giving them a blueprint in a nutshell!
In our last episode we quoted 1 Corinthians chapter 13[i] . Paul reminds us that we know partially but “when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” “At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face.” When God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, and said, “You will be my people and I shall be your God,”[ii] the people had no idea what that would ultimately mean. For now you see in part, hear in part, but in the heavenly realm you shall know God and be one with Him.
In 2 Samuel Chapter 7 the Lord God, speaking through the prophet Nathan, promised King David that one of his descendants would one day not only build a temple but the Lord said, “13b I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. 14a I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.” NRSV King David did not fully understand that the promise was to be fulfilled in Jesus. David wrote in Psalm 68, a song for the choirs to sing in the temple, which calls the Lord the “Father of orphans” and calls the people his “family”.
These are the first times that the Old Testament hints at God as a Father to us. When God revealed his name to Moses it was, “I Am who Am”. God’s name was so sacred that the writers only used the initials of it that came to be known as Yahweh. He was called by his actions such as Jehovah-Rappa, Jehovah-Jireh which mean “the God who heals” and “The God who provides”. The people of the Old Testament would never assume a filial relationship with the Lord. “The expression God the Father had never been revealed to anyone. When Moses himself asked God who he was, he heard another name. The Father’s name has been revealed to us in the Son, for the name “Son” implies the new name “Father.” [Tertullian 2nd century]
The blueprint was set in detail by Isaiah’s prophecies of the Messiah. In Chapter 62 Isaiah shares, “5 Like a young man marrying a virgin, your rebuilder will wed you, and as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.” In Isaiah 63 “16 For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us; you, O Lord, are our father; our Redeemer from of old is your name.” NRSV And in Isaiah 64 “7 There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. 8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” NRSV
How can we be allowed to call the most supreme creator of the universe father? Catechism Paragraph 2777 tells us that “Only Jesus could cross that threshold of the divine holiness, for “when he had made purification for sins,” he brought us into the Father’s presence: “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” 27
St. Peter Chrysologus wrote “Our awareness of our status as slaves would make us sink into the ground and our earthly condition would dissolve into dust, if the authority of our Father himself and the Spirit of his Son had not impelled us to this cry . . . ‘Abba, Father!’ . . . When would a mortal dare call God ‘Father,’ if man’s innermost being were not animated by power from on high?” 28 Calling God “Abba” is the same as calling him “Daddy”. Think about this: During the Agony in the Garden, Jesus called out “Daddy!” [Mark 14:36]
Jesus taught us to pray “our Father”. The “Our Father” also known as “The Lord’s Prayer” is the greatest prayer known to mankind. St. Thomas Aquinas called it the “most perfect of prayers.” St. Augustine wrote “Run through all the words of the holy prayers [in Scripture], and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained and included in the Lord’s Prayer.”[iii] Catechism #2761 tells us that “The Lord’s Prayer “is truly the summary of the whole gospel.” [Tertullian]” Today’s episode addresses our call to pray the first two words of that blueprint scripture prayer. Catechism #2786 reminds us that “”Our” Father refers to God. The adjective, as used by us, does not express possession, but an entirely new relationship with God.”
Catechism #2787 “When we say “our” Father, we recognize first that all his promises of love announced by the prophets are fulfilled in the new and eternal covenant in his Christ: we have become “his” people and he is henceforth “our” God.”
Catechism Paragraph 2779 says, “Humility makes us recognize that “no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him,” that is, “to little children.” 30” “To pray to the Father is to enter into his mystery as he is and as the Son has revealed him to us.”
The base line is that in Catechism Paragraph #2780 “We can invoke God as “Father” because he is revealed to us by his Son become man and because his Spirit makes him known to us. The personal relation of the Son to the Father is something that man cannot conceive of nor the angelic powers even dimly see: and yet, the Spirit of the Son grants a participation in that very relation to us who believe that Jesus is the Christ and that we are born of God. 32”
The Gospel of John Chapter 1 reminds us that Jesus has always been one with the Father. “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then he writes, “9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.” NRSV The letter 1 John adds, “1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God, and whoever loves the father loves the son.”
Catechism #2782 says, “We can adore the Father because he has caused us to be reborn to his life by adopting us as his children in his only Son: by Baptism, he incorporates us into the Body of his Christ; through the anointing of his Spirit who flows from the head to the members, he makes us other “Christs.”” That seems beyond believable until you realize that the word “Christ” means “anointed one”. Part of the ritual of the Catholic sacrament of Baptism is the anointing of our body with blessed chrism, blessed oil. That anointing takes place during Confirmation, too. At the same time we receive a supernatural anointing—the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem wrote, “God, indeed, who has predestined us to adoption as his sons, has conformed us to the glorious Body of Christ.” He has predestined all of mankind—if we accept him! “So then you who have become sharers in Christ are appropriately called “Christs.”” 34 And St. Ciprian, another early Church Father, wrote, “The new man, reborn and restored to his God by grace, says first of all, “Father!” because he has now begun to be a son. 35
Catechism #1265 says “Baptism not only purifies from all sins, but also makes the neophyte “a new creature,” an adopted son of God, who has become a “partaker of the divine nature,” 69 member of Christ and co-heir with him, 70 and a temple of the Holy Spirit. 71”
St. Paul wrote to the Romans Chapter 8:14-16 “14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Daddy! “16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God”. NRSV
Ephesians 1 “ 4 Just as the Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” NSRV
2 Corinthians Chapter 6 lays out truth. “16 b For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’” NRSV
We have God’s word for it: 16b “‘I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God,” “18 I shall be father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the almighty Lord.” NRSV
My brothers and sisters, you are God’s lovely child and ‘adopted’ son or daughter. You have been given the full benefits of the Son. You have the rights and the responsibilities of this divine family of all its members. And your inheritance is more than enough. For your Father’s treasure is greater than gold or silver, or land or ‘stuff’, your inheritance is to live ever more at His side in heaven, the kingdom of God, where the dreams and visions are reality.
Catechism #2799 says “The Lord’s Prayer brings us into communion with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. At the same time it reveals us to ourselves (cf. GS 22 § 1).”
Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father who art in heaven”. To understand that deeper we glean from Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Corinthians, Philippians and Hebrews as we turn to Catechism #2796. “When the Church prays “our Father who art in heaven,” she is professing that we are the People of God, already seated “with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” and “hidden with Christ in God;” 60 yet at the same time, “here indeed we groan, and long to put on our heavenly dwelling.” 61 [Christians] are in the flesh, but do not live according to the flesh. They spend their lives on earth, but are citizens of heaven. 62
Citizens have rights and responsibilities. What are the rights and responsibilities of the citizens of heaven? What are the rights and the responsibilities of this divine family of all its members? Romans Chapter 8 tells us “16 It is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” NRSV
Romans 8 says, “28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.” NRSV
Isn’t it great to belong to such a large family! Romans 8 continues, “30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?” NRSV
In Paul’s estimation, Romans 8, “18 the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” NRSV
If God’s blueprint is for us to be His adopted children why was it hidden so long? And why do so many throughout the ages seek other gods rather than their loving Father God? Paul explains in Chapter 2 of Ephesians. “1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ*—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” NRSV
The Gospel of John Chapter 1 describes the mystery. “9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.” NRSV
Jesus is quoted as he also describes the problem in the world in John Chapter 8. “43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. 44 You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” NRSV We don’t want the devil to be our father, do we! We want God to be our father.
John describes the big reveal, Chapter 1 “14 The Word became flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that he has from the Father as only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” RJB
Another clarification comes later in the Letter of 1 John Chapter 3: “1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” NRSV
St. Paul also clarifies it in his Letter to the Galatians Chapter 3 and 4 by explaining what faith has brought us. “22 But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.” NRSV “24 The Law was serving as a slave to look after us” NJB “25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” NRSV Chapter 4. “My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; 2 but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” Daddy! “7So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.” NRSV By God’s own act!
Again, we have family responsibilities. Catechism #2784 teaches: “The free gift of adoption requires on our part continual conversion and new life. Praying to our Father should develop in us two fundamental dispositions: First, the desire to become like him: though created in his image, we are restored to his likeness by grace; and we must respond to this grace. We must remember . . . and know that when we call God “our Father” we ought to behave as sons of God. 38 You cannot call the God of all kindness your Father if you preserve a cruel and inhuman heart; for in this case you no longer have in you the marks of the heavenly Father’s kindness. 39 We must contemplate the beauty of the Father without ceasing and adorn our own souls accordingly. 40”
Catechism #2820 says, “By a discernment according to the Spirit, Christians have to distinguish between the growth of the Reign of God and the progress of the culture and society in which they are involved. This distinction is not a separation. Man’s vocation to eternal life does not suppress, but actually reinforces, his duty to put into action in this world the energies and means received from the Creator to serve justice and peace. 93”
And now, the blueprint of God for us to be his children and him to be our Father has been revealed. Catechism #2823 “He has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ . . . to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will.” 98 We ask insistently for this loving plan to be fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven.”
You have been listening to Truth of the Spirit and “Child of God Blueprint of God’s Plan”. You can find the link to this episode at PatriarchMinistries.com/173. Then come back for more. With the Holy Spirit there’s always more! Amen.
[i] 1 Corinthians 13 “9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly,* but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” NRSV
[ii] Jeremiah 30:22 “And you shall be my people and I will be your God.” NRSV
[iii]Catechism of the Catholic Church #2774 “The Lord’s Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel,” 24 the “most perfect of prayers.” 25 It is at the center of the Scriptures.
