25.3 For Father's Sake
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
Giving thanks at all times, speak good grace for the sake of all things in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, to Him who is God and Father, submitting to one another inside the fear of Christ (Ephesians 5:20-21 – JSV). I had at first titled this lesson “Submission.” The topic is the same, but now I understand the focus.
It would be quite easy for the human mind to interpret the conclusion of Lesson 25.1 Spirit Led as a horrific and powerless bondage to the whims of others. To take absolute faith in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, always fulfilling Father’s will, into such a bondage would be to depart from Father. We walk in liberty.
Only One Thing. Yet our liberty from such bondage does not remove the Godly conclusion of being led by the Spirit, that if I am so led, then my brothers and sisters are as well. Only one thing allows absolute liberty and faith-filled submission to flow seamlessly together. And, although this lesson is primarily about submitting to one another inside the Community of Christ, we will weave through it at least a glimpse of the most glorious reality I have seen thus far.
I have said “For Father’s Sake” many times as the only reason for anything, the only reason for all that we desire. Yet now I am beginning to see what it is Father needs.
The Place of Man. If “Adam was not deceived” is the most horrific statement in the Bible, here is what could be a close second. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Romans 11:29).
David, Paul, Isaiah, and the writer of Hebrews placed God’s command to Adam to subdue at the heart of the completed salvation of Christ. That gift and calling of God in Genesis 1 at first seems limited to the earth, but Hebrews and then Isaiah present it as unlimited. You crowned him [man] with glory and honor and have appointed him over the works of Your hands. You have put all in subjection under his [man’s] feet.” Indeed, to subject all to him, He left nothing not subject (Hebrews 2:7-8 – JSV).
You Command Me. Then God speaks an extraordinary directive through Isaiah. Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands, you command Me. I have made the earth, and created man on it. I—My hands—stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; he shall build My city and let My exiles go free {set creation free}” (Isaiah 45:11-13 – JSV).
And Paul adds a most weighty line. For since by man death, by man also the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:21). The translators want to make this “man” Jesus only. It is certainly referring to Jesus, now fulfilled in us.
God Cannot. There are many, many things that God cannot do. God cannot sin. That means that God cannot murder or steal. God cannot rape or lie. But it’s much more than “cannot,” of course. Rather, it’s that these things never come to God’s mind; He does not know them.
God set man as His go-between, His connection with His own creation. And God cannot remove that place held only by man; God cannot get to His creation except through man. Death came to all through man; life can come to all only through man. We humans continue to hurt God more than we hurt anything else.
Man Is in Charge. Man is in charge of all the evil afflicting the universe, not the serpent. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:22).
Consider Jesus. Though He rose from the dead, yet death has continued from then until now in all outward appearance. You and I are His body, the fullness of Jesus who fills all in all (Ephesians 1). That means, we are Jesus’ outward appearance. Right now, you and I stand as Jesus in us upon this earth inside the creation as God’s only doorway through. Without us, Father continues to be hurt.
Father’s Heart. Every tear shed, every shame felt, every loss, every failure, every hurt, Father carries inside His own heart, sharing all for all. And Father cannot do anything about it; such a thing never comes to His mind. Why? Because God cannot sin; God cannot remove from man the gift and calling into which He placed us. If God is to bring an end to the hurt, He can do so only through man, only as we allow Him to live through us.
There is a very real sense in which God is afraid of man. Have we not brought such hurt to His creation and do we not continue to break His heart? Man is in charge; man is the master; and that will never change. Life or death comes only through man.
Knowing Father. Let’s look, then, at these three things, for Father’s sake, inside the fear of Christ, and submitting one to the other, as we are turned around. As we are turned around, God is no longer “superior” in the sense of arrogance, nor does God “control” anything. God has placed all control in the hands of man, and we continue to abuse our place.
Yet God is Heart; and we have hurt God’s Heart above all.
Knowing Father as the weeping One AND the laughing One changes our perception of God, especially as we cast down the image of the arrogant “Christ.” Father alone has won our hearts.
Our Commitment. For that reason, when we say, “All commitment,” we are referring to our own individual and personal decision to bind our own hearts together with Father’s Heart. Our commitment is to Father, for His sake.
Yes, as we walk together, there is a commitment to one another that is found inside of friendship. That commitment is the commitment of loyalty and grace, but we never build anything on the commitment of friendship. Loyalty to one’s friends is never perceived as bondage. And never do we commit to a “group.”
Because we are committed to Father, to knowing, containing, and revealing His Heart, that commitment is known by others as a rock upon which they also can find safety.
The Fear of Christ. Then we see the “fear of Christ” also as we are turned around. The fear of Christ is the awesome and overwhelming responsibility placed upon us, that we are the ones through whom either death or life comes to all.
Father receiving His creation restored back to Himself is dependent entirely upon us.
This gives us a new understanding of the insistence of the writers of the New Testament that Jesus is a MAN, for if Jesus ceased being human, He could no longer be God’s connection with His creation. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). In this new light, let’s look at a verse that I have long pondered.
With Loud Crying and Tears. Who [Jesus], in the days of His flesh, having offered both heart-felt prayers and an olive branch [of peace] towards the [One] being able to save Him out from death, with loud crying and tears, and having been heard from seizing the good [Godly respect, or highly regarding the good], though being a Son, He learned submission to what was spoken {submission to Word} by the action [of circumstances, good or bad] upon Him. And having been brought to full completion and perfection, He became the Author of age-unfolding salvation to all who are hearing Him (Hebrews 5:7-9 – JSV).
Jesus is placing Himself as MAN, God’s go-between. Age-unfolding salvation, age-unfolding life, it’s all, now, coming out from us.
Submission. The fear of Christ means grappling with the overwhelming responsibility placed upon our shoulders. Now, in this same turned around view, we are able to see the third part of this threesome as it really is – submitting to one another inside the fear of Christ.
Let me define submission as we once understood it under the image of the arrogant Christ. I will be crass in my definition, but this is really how it was. “Because I am closer to God than you are, with a greater knowledge of His will, and because you are prone to fleshy rebellion against God, if you do what I say, then you will be submitted to God’s will. But if you refuse to submit to me, God will punish you.”
He Learned Submission. And thus “submission” was always perceived as: “Since you are wayward and low, submitting to God (by submitting to us) is the only way you will escape death.”
Now, my wording of Hebrews 5 is the actual wording of the writer of Hebrews. I leave it a bit clumsy now so you can see what was actually written, though I may adjust that some in the final text of the JSV. Though being a Son, He learned submission to what was spoken {submission to Word} by the action [of circumstances, good or bad] upon Him. Submission to Word is one thing only – “Let it be to me according to all that You speak” – absolute faith in Christ.
Submitting to One Another. And thus, if “inside the fear of Christ” is the recognition of the immense responsibility God has placed upon us in that we alone are in charge of His Heart, so “submitting one to the other” is, then, the highway for our God, that He might enter Himself into His creation to touch and to heal.
Submitting to one another is the practical expression of our high regard for one another, that is, our high regard for Christ, that is, our high regard for Father’s Heart. Submitting to one another is our acknowledgement of each other as the master over all the works of God’s hands, the one through whom our Father either blesses or weeps. Submitting to one another is sharing heart with God.
Opportunity to Follow. As I said before, the largest amount of conflict in life together comes inside the work we do together. It is here that “my way is better” causes so much harm. Yet we see now why it is so important that “a child shall lead them,” that each one be given the opportunity to be “the boss,” and each one be given the opportunity to follow in submission the directions of someone “less gifted” than they. We, together, are sharing Hheart with Father.
“I would love to do it your way this time.”
And when we are the boss, though we are responsible to see that the work is done productively, still, our greatest value is one another. The joy of each one is our treasure and wealth.
Money and Ownership. No manual of life together can be complete without bringing in the topic of money and ownership, and there is no better place into which to fit that topic than here, inside of submitting to one another inside the fear of Christ.
Private property and respect for private property is 100% Biblical. Sharing all things together as the family of God is 100% Biblical. Both are all and all; neither one reduces the other. Only one model shows us how these two fit together, and that is the model of family. My wife and I share all income together. Yet what is hers is hers and what is mine is mine. We extend much to our children; what we give them and what they earn is theirs. Yet the costs of life we all bear together – family.
Owning the Community Property. The subject of community money I have pondered for many years, something which, in fact, Father has spoken to me His intention for me.
First, the ownership of the community property is a tricky proposition because people come and go. One approach is for one individual to own the property and then lease it perpetually to the Church, but with the clause that, if the Church should no longer need the property, it would revert back to the owner. Yet the owner cannot ever remove the Church while the property is a Community. It is a bad idea for each family to own small properties in conjunction with each other. If one family leaves and sells their property to an unbeliever, the life of the remaining Community is harmed. Neither would I make the land the property of a non-profit corporation, for such property by law belongs to the entire public.
No “Tragedy of the Commons.” There are other approaches to property ownership that are bad ideas and others that might work, none of which I will go into now. Yet the property must be “owned.” So-called “public property” is always abused – something called “the tragedy of the commons.”
If a community has a woodshop, I would be sure that one individual “owns” that woodshop, in the sense that they see it as “theirs.” Yes, it is available for family use, but only with training, permission, and accountability, directed by the brother to whom the woodshop “belongs.” The same concept applies to all buildings and spaces of the community, an important part of regarding one another.
One Family Account. Here is what I want to set before the community I would be a member of, that all moneys coming in would go into one large family bank account. This includes government or retirement checks, insurance payouts, investment income, profits from business, and earned wages. The only moneys excluded would be personal gifts to a family member, that is, if Johnny gets a ten-dollar bill from his grandpa, it does not go into the family bank account.
Then, the money in the family bank account would be divided in three ways. First, money would be allocated to pay the bills of life together. Second, money would be invested in two directions – into capital for productivity or into ministry. (In essence, I see these two investments as fully compatible with each other).
The Family Fund. Third, and of equal importance, a portion of the total moneys coming in would be placed in the “family fund.” Some of the money in the family fund would remain in reserve for individual emergency need. But the majority would be divided up among the families and individuals of the community. Each head of household would receive money to meet household expenses, parents for children, and each individual would receive money for personal needs and interests. The moment that money passes from the family fund to the individual, it becomes entirely that individual’s property. And everything they purchase with it is their property or their individual family’s property alone.
Then, when an individual or a family leaves the community to take a next step in God’s seasons for their lives, I would like to see a significant portion of money be “returned” to them from Community investments, a certain amount for each year they have contributed to the Community. Everyone should go out with provision for their next step.
Bear One Another’s Value. This is not how we did it in the move communities in which I lived. How we did it there left a certain measure of inequity as well as a lack of togetherness, which I will not go into here.
This concept I would like to try is something I believe the Lord gave me as I was pondering these very things. In fact, the Lord gave me this approach for Blair Valley Christian Community, the last community in which we lived, but I did not bring it up. If we had applied this approach there, the difficulties we faced would have been answered and the community would not have been closed. The truth is, we did not bear one another’s burdens, that is, we did not consider the great weight of value each one was to us.
For Father’s Sake. It is in work first and money second that the issues found in submitting to one another either bring healing or destruction. And inside of submitting one to the other is where an assembly of people either becomes a family to life and joy – or a cult to bondage and hurt.
And this is why I will never join with any community not coming out of Father’s Heart and desire – through Christ our only life – into regarding one another, each little one, in the highest of respect and the deepest of care.
It is Father who wants to be known; it is Father who wants to heal and to bless.
All that we are, all that we do, is for Father’s sake.