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Chariot November 2005 - Norm Wakefield

The Father of Jesus Christ is our Father!

    In the past months we've focused on four identity principles, having considered each principle as it relates to our earthly fathers and then how each one relates to our identity in Christ. For our review, here are the four principles again.

1. Identity has to do with who we belong to or are connected to.
2. Identity has to do with power.
3. Identity has to do with who shapes our lives: the one(s) we want to be identified with.
4. Identity has to do with what our father did or didn't do.

    In this last article on our identity in Christ, I want us to consider our relationship with the God of the universe, the Father of Jesus Christ. Everyone has a relationship with God, however, not everyone is His son or daughter. How does one know if he or she is a son or daughter of the Father of Jesus Christ? By what the Father has done and is doing in one's life.

Our Lives Are Shaped By Our Fathers

    Fathers for generations shape our lives in ways we don't realize. All of us have become acculturated by successive generations of fathers who have shaped our lives by what they did or didn't do. This goes all the way back to our first father, Adam! When he sinned, sin entered into the world and has infected every generation since (Rom. 5:12). The culture in which you live and have your identity bears the affects of the curse and its accompanying iniquities.

    Your fathers determined the philosophies of life, religions, work habits, and family patterns of every nation – its culture. I'm not ignoring the impact of women, but their place in each culture is determined by what the men did or didn't do. In order to be identified with your people and have the power of their acceptance, your fathers (the men in your society) and you have allowed the culture to shape your lives. The only exception to this is when someone desires to identify with another father, people, or culture. Isn't this true?

    This is not always good. To the degree that your fathers have identified with the God of the universe, the Father of Jesus Christ, and honored His revelation (the Bible) your culture will be righteous. To the degree it has identified with the god of this world (Satan) and honored his empty philosophies, your culture will be unrighteous. The differences between the two fathers (God and Satan) and the two cultures (righteous and unrighteous) have always produced conflict and an ultimate decision-you can't be friends with both because they are both masters. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that no man can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). The apostle James emphasized this point in his letter, "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).

    This spiritual conflict gives insight into Jesus' calling to his disciples. "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). In affect, Jesus called the sons and daughters of God to identify with His Father and with Him to the sacrifice of their identity with their national culture. This call to discipleship hasn't changed. The radical nature of Jesus' call is the same today as it was 2000 years ago!

True Believers are Sons of God and are His Workmanship

    A believer's identity is established by God, the Father as He works in his or her heart by the power of His Spirit. Remember the fourth identity principle: our identity is determined by what our father does or doesn't do. The apostle Paul taught the Galatians that the presence and work of the Holy Spirit is proof-positive they belong to Him and He is their father. "Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" (Galatians 4:6). He encouraged the Corinthians of God's work in them. "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:30). The beloved apostle John rejoiced, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are" (1 John 3:1).

God, the Father, adopted us through Jesus Christ

     Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us (Ephesians 1:2-8).

We are God's workmanship 

      But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:4-10).

    If God had not loved us first, the apostle John says we would never have loved Him (1 John 4:19). Luke recorded the Holy Spirit's application of this fourth identity principle when He spoke to Zacharias regarding his new son, John, later to be called "the Baptist". When fathers' hearts are turned to their sons, the sons' hearts are prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:17). When the heavenly Father's heart turns to His children, He does something. He sends His Spirit to them and their hearts turn to Him! The Holy Spirit described this work as the Spirit and power of Elijah.

To Whom Do You Belong?

Who is Your Power Source?

Who Shapes Your Life?

Who is Your Father and What Has He Done?

    The answers to the above four questions describe your identity. If you have the Holy Spirit in you, then God is your father. You belong to Him. He is your power source. He shapes your life. Being sons and daughters of the father of Jesus Christ should be the defining relationship and power in our lives. Believers should be "peculiar" to their neighbors, work associates, and friends, who are living to identify with their culture. Certainly there are some similarities, however, if they are in step with the mainstream of the nation surrounding them, what hope and good news do they have to share? Apart from their public profession and church attendance what distinguishes them from everyone else? God's children are to be a people of vision and light with a generational mindset because our Father has revealed His vision for us in every area of life. The Father makes the difference!

Application Exercise

    As you look at your lifestyle–your values, time management, financial stewardship, marriage, child-training and education, and relationships–does it primarily reflect an identity with the fathers of your culture or with your heavenly Father? Are your children different in vision and values from their peers who are not believers in Jesus Christ? Are you more afraid of being radical to your culture or displeasing your Father in heaven? If you were to identify with Jesus and His Father, what do the Holy Spirit and God's Word indicate would have to change?

    Sometimes we get caught in the culture current and fail to think about what we are doing and why we are doing it. This exercise is designed to encourage you to think about living your lives connected to, empowered by, and shaped by the Heavenly Father. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your thinking by God's Word as you fill in the chart below (make your chart on a piece of paper). May He give you wisdom in what you are to do with what you have learned.

Area of Life          My Culture's Way  My Church's way  My Father's Way

Time management

Financial stewardship

Marriage relationship

Your role in family

Discipline of children

Education of children

Relationship with children

Moral Purity

Helpful Resources for Your Family 

    The Spirit and Presence of Christ: Wondrous Gifts for the Father's Pleasure  

    This book is an excellent resource for your family in thinking more about the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit's role in your life. The author is a very close friend of mine, Jerry White, who has been a spiritual mentor to me for many years. The book is available on our website here.

Would you like to be on the Elijah Ministries Prayer Team?

    The backbone of Elijah Ministries is the prayer team who pray diligently for God to turn the hearts of men to Himself, their wives, and their children. Before I leave to speak, I send out a prayer team invitation to those who will intercede for God to work for His glory in us as a team for the Kingdom. Not only is it a blessing to those whom I speak and myself; but it is also a reminder to the team about the direction of their own hearts. If you would like to enter into the labor together with me, you may go to my website and click on "Prayer Team".

    If you haven't visited our website, www.spiritofelijah.com, please stop by sometime. You'll find:

*   Resources to equip you and your family

*   Previous Chariot articles

*   Norm's speaking schedule

*   Free MP3 downloads  

*   Various pages translated and available in Spanish  

*   An online store to purchase resources and make tax-free contributions by credit card