How we view God the Father is either life giving assurance or fear based doubt. I grew up with the belief that Jesus loved me, but God hated who I was and He needed to see me through rose colored glasses. The concept that God is out to get us has been taught throughout history and even  portrayed through the artwork in many buildings around the world. No matter what religion is practiced, the fear of God is often taught. This fear, is the foundation of most works based and deeded concepts. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism all believe in the common belief or concept of reincarnation based on the doctrine of karma which is the law of cause and effect. They teach that what one does in this present life will have an effect in the next life. Many Christians believe very similarly that what we do in this life is either rewarded or punished in the next life. It is taught that Jesus is our savior, but we need to act or behave a certain way to keep our salvation. The teaching about the unpardonable “sin” is essentially the same teaching about the law of karma. 

Katy and I believe without a doubt that Jesus is who He says He is. It is this belief that shapes our theology and it is the foundation of everything we proclaim. Jesus is our friend, our savior, and our husband. God the Father is loving, kind, and the creator of all things including us. The Holy Spirit is our companion for eternity. All three give us life, freedom, joy, and the ability to see ourselves as they see us, which is perfect. How beautiful it is to picture the triune God in every molecule of existence! I love this imagery, it is easier for me to understamd because I see God as the all-encompassing Love and Light! God spoke it and created it all and He breathed His life into all of us. Jesus came in the flesh to show us the Father’s heart and it is He who took away the sin of the world, ultimately pouring out His Spirit, restoring us back to our original design.  

“The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be put to shame.  Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am the LORD your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”(Joel 2:24-28) I love how it states twice in this Joel passage that the Lord’s people shall never be put to shame. When the fullness of our completeness in Christ is planted in our hearts, His light that is in each one of our cells, becomes illuminated through and transforms any thought or action that may make us feel shame. In our last blog (The Secret of Success), we referenced the lie that was planted by the serpent in the garden. A lie is something we believe and it can shape ideas that we have about ourselves. The lie that they believed and was carried on through the ages was not eating the fruit and cursing the land.  They believed something that produced a works based action, as in, if you do this then this will happen. The “if thens” in our lives tend to shape how we see the Father. 

Through the life of Jesus,  we see the heart of the Father demonstrated continually throughout the gospels. We see how Jesus challenged the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes, reminding them that knowing scripture isn’t the same as knowing  the Father. We see how he removed shame and condemnation wherever he went. In short, we see the love of Christ.  The love of Christ is wider and deeper than our worldly knowledge. His love is too good to be true, but it is 100% true and the truth of His love sets us free. 

I spent years not knowing anything about the Father, because what I thought I knew was wrong. I feared God the Father with every ounce of my being, BUT here is what Jesus said about our Father.  “If you had known me for who I really am, you would have immediately recognized my Father in me. Now, with me bringing you back face to face with the Father, you will certainly know him and become fully acquainted with him.” Phillip responded to him, “Lord, show  us the Father, then we will be satisfied.” Jesus responded to “Phillip, I have been with you for a long time, and yet you haven’t really known me? To see me is to see the Father! How can you still say, “Show us the Father?” “Are you not convinced that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? We are in seamless union. The words that I speak to you are not my independent opinion or ideas; the Father in me addresses you; this conversation then translates into the Father’s action unveiled in my doing. The fact that the Father seems distant or invisible to you does not mean that he is absent. In me he is very present with you! You cannot claim to know me while you ignore him -we are inseparable. Humanity, I dare you to believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me -if it seems far fetched, then believe me because of what I have done and what I am about to do. It is the Father in me who defines me. My works exhibit his resolve. I want you to be fully convinced about this, anyone whose belief concludes in who I am will also do the works I do. And because of my going to my Father the works that the believer will do will be of greater proportion and of global influence; the Father is as present in you as he is in me because of my going to do what I am about to do. And whatever you desire in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the son. Your sonship is endorsed in my sonship.” (John 14:7- 13)  

A beautiful thing begins to happen when we rest in His love and begin to see ourselves as He sees us.  The truth is He sees us as perfect, righteous, holy, loved, and highly favored. The more we rest in these truths the more our eyes of understanding begin to be opened. We begin to see Jesus and ourselves in all of the freedoms that Christ reminds us of.  Kurt’s heartbeat and my heartbeat is for all the cosmos (world) to see themselves the way God the Father sees them! 

We are the bride of Christ,  all of us have His blueprint! Jesus came to remind us of who we are and how much he loves us. “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.” The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”(Isaiah 40:1-5) The unbelievers are Jerusalem, His people are all of creation and all of us get to cry out to all of humanity that the wages of death are over because they have been pardoned. We can turn all the question marks into explanation points and lay out the playing field of what binds us all together vs what we believe about ourselves that separates us. Did you know that our oneness with God happened before the foundation of the world? More powerful than that, when we begin to proclaim what is right with humanity vs what is wrong with humanity, God’s trinity echoing in all creation will begin to echo, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess because they will begin to experience love vs shame! As God’s love overwhelms us we will respond in awe. What his name unveils will persuade every creature of their redemption! Every knee in heaven and upon the earth and under the earth shall bow in spontaneous worship! Also every tongue will voice and resonate the same devotion to his unquestionable Lordship as the Redeemer of life! Jesus Christ has glorified God as the Father of creation! This is the ultimate conclusion of the Father’s intent! (Philippians 2:10-11)

There is no unpardonable action we can take, we have been set free to live and enjoy life in His love, favor, and kindness. God is love, and He loved all of mankind from the foundation of the world. He loves us without conditions and without limits. 

The other day I was listening to William Paul Young, who wrote the book  “The Shack” and he said, “Jesus is the only way into the Father’s heart, because he is the Father’s heart.” If we see Jesus as our savior, our friend, and our lover, we see who the Father is and what His heart is. 

Blessings in Love,

Kurt & Katy Adkins