Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say Rejoice - Philippians 4:4-7

What do we have to rejoice about?

We rejoice because we have been redeemed by Jesus and His sacrifice for us.  It is the fulfilled promise that we are now adopted into the many promises of God and we have access to our heavenly Father through Jesus. Why is that so important?  It is important because we now have an unbroken connection with the God of love who created us for Himself, it is this connection to the Father that is worth everything, and is something to rejoice over.

I have said it before, the Father’s love for us is so strong that He desires a connection with us to such a degree that He would rather die than go on without it, that was proved through the sacrifice and death of Jesus.  

For those of us who grew up without a physical father in our lives, or grew up with an abusive father, it can be difficult to fully comprehend what the true role of a father actually is, which is where the parable of the prodigal son comes into view.  (Luke 15:11-32)  

With a casual reading of this passage, you may focus on the son who spent his entire inheritance on riotous living and then came back to the Father empty handed begging for forgiveness and restoration.  There is a deeper story here about the boundless love of the Father who was always looking out with concern and compassion for His child but would never overstep himself, but allow His child the dignity to make his own decisions and would not intervene unless asked to do so.  

I love the part in the story when it says that when his son came to his senses and realized what he previously had with the Father and decided to return “While the son was still a long way off, his Father saw him. He was filled with tender love for his son. He (the Father) ran to him. He threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)  

This is a mature loving relationship in which the Father knew from the very beginning it wasn’t about the inheritance or the money, it was about the relationship He had with his son.  The Father gave his son everything that he had asked for, but in the end, his son knew what he longed for most was his Father’s love and his identity with his family of origin. 

When his son decided to return it says “While the son was still a long way off, his Father saw him…”  which tells me that the Father was looking for His son beforehand by keeping a watchful eye on the horizon for his return.  Our heavenly Father keeps a watchful eye out for us when we stray away from our connection with Him, even when we ask the Father for our inheritance which is in Christ.  It is too easy to get caught up in the trappings of ministry like spiritual gifts, healings, or doing things for God rather than just resting in the Father's love and basking in His connection with us. The Father is always steadfast looking out for us and calling out our name with uncompromising love always at the ready to run to us and throw His arms around us and kiss us out of His tender compassion for us when we turn to Him.

It also says that as his son began to confess his unworthiness, as he spoke his rehearsed statement stating that he wanted to just be a hired hand, the Father heard the contrition of his son's heart and knew that his son needed more, he needed his identity restored.  

The Father began rejoicing that his son had returned, and his son’s relationship with him was now being restored.  With that restoration of the relationship came the identification as an honored family member with the family ring on his son's finger and a robe which symbolized position in the family and then a feast was prepared to celebrate his return.

It is an amazing story of redemption and restoration, the Father bore the entire the cost for his son’s return.

It is this story which brings me to a deeper understanding of what the love of a father actually is.  It is about offering unconditional relationship to others without expectation and then allowing the other person to maintain their dignity to make their own choices whether right or wrong and loving them in spite of their choices. 
This way trust and respect can be built through our relationships with others just like our heavenly Father has had with us.  

We can pray that others will see our love and desire to find their way to redemption with their heavenly Father through the sacrifice of Jesus, and come to identify with Jesus which is the one who made redemption possible in the first place.

Philippians 4:4-7 and Luke 15:11-32 are excellent models of what a father looks like.

We have a whole lot to rejoice about. We have been redeemed!  And we have a lasting relationship with a loving Heavenly Father.

Be Blessed:

Stephen Barnett