Christian Living

INTERACTION

by paul hoffmaster
09/22/19
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Jesus’ relationship with His Heavenly Father was a human/divine interaction that began in the early part of His earthly life.  At the age of twelve, Jesus spent over three days sharing with the learned religious leaders in the Temple.  He was so zealous of God’s Word that He did not even realize that His earthly family had left for home after the conclusion of the Feast of the Passover.  When Mary and Joseph realized Jesus was not among the family caravan, they returned to Jerusalem where they found Jesus in the midst of the doctors of the Law.  After being rebuked for causing His parents to worry, Jesus simply told them that He must be about His Father’s business.  For the next eighteen years, Jesus submitted unto His parents while growing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:41-52)  Ever wonder why Jesus didn’t start His ministry earlier?  Why wait until He was thirty years old?  The calling and commissioning of a servant is all in God’s timing.  I believe that preparation precedes presentation.  Many of the problems in Christianity today are a result of self-initiation instead of waiting on the Lord.  Many ministries are ill-prepared to present Divine Truth and, as a result, preach pleasing messages to the itching ears of their flocks. (II Timothy 4:3)

The success of Jesus’ ministry was directly related to His interaction with His Heavenly Father.  He was so much in sync with God that He would say to Philip, “…He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.” (John 14:9)  I wonder how many people see Jesus in us.  He was so attached to God that He acknowledged that He could do nothing left to Himself.  Can we make that same claim today?  It is amazing what can be achieved when we acknowledge that it is God that works in us, both to will and to do his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)  Jesus saw God in every situation.  He saw God touching the eyes of the blind.  He saw Him opening the ears of the deaf.  He saw afflictions flee the bodies of people.  He saw the dead raised.  It was all possible for He knew the compassion of God.  When Jesus was with God and in God (John 1:1) He saw the needs of the people and God responding.  When God saw and heard the cries of the children of Israel who were in bondage in Egypt, He stated that He would come down and set them free. (Exodus 3:7, 8)  He did, but it would be through Moses. (Exodus 3:10)  God told Moses that He would be with him. (Exodus 3:11)  In effect, Moses saw God working, so it was his position to act on what God had already declared.  In the same way, Jesus would be the representative figure of God to the people.  As God saw the Jews bound not only by Roman oppression but also by religious “slavery,” He sent Jesus.  What Jesus did, in reality, was what God was doing through His love for the world. 

During those eighteen years of preparation, Jesus would consume the Divine will of God.  He would picture God’s pre-ordained plan and put it into action.  He saw God’s will and became the physical fulfillment of what He saw.  How do we see God in this world?  Do we see Him working?  Do we see His compassion?  Do we hear Him acknowledging man’s call for help?  If we do, when are we going to reach out as the hands of our Creator and bring deliverance?  More and more, I am seeing that our vision is limited to the problems of life instead of the solution to life.

Many Christians are so addicted to negative news that their spiritual temperature has plummeted.  Jesus saw God’s actions and duplicated it.  We need to see what Jesus’ did and duplicate His works.  The reason we are not seeing more evidence of God’s presence is we are not evidencing what our spiritual eyes are showing us.  The field is ripe for harvest.  How is your vision?  What are we waiting for!