I hope that all you fathers out there had a great Father’s Day yesterday. I trust everyone took time to wish a Happy Father’s Day to our Father in heaven. My Father’s Day got rather depressing on Sunday afternoon after I talked to a buddy of mine who was predicting that if the current leadership, (Obama and the Senate majority) get re-elected it will be the end of our great country and he’s going to cash out and move to New Zealand.
I asked him, “And do what be a sheep farmer? I say better to stay here and go down fighting for freedom in this great nation”. He thought about it for a moment and reluctantly grunted his agreement.
Then I reviewed the raunchy gloom and doom news on the Internet and all of the Sunday talk shows that I recorded on my DVR. It was disgusting and I went for a long ride in my pickup truck trying to clear my head of negative cobwebs and bad vibes. Uncharacteristically even peaceful and serene Honey Lake Plantation could not cheer me up.
Finally I resolved my dilemma by opening my Bible and studying the gospels for several hours. I picked the gospels for good reason. You may or may not know that the biblical definition for “Gospel” literally means “good news” or a “good and joyful message”. That is just the medicine I needed, and it went down a heck of a lot smoother than Meet the Press and a slug of pink Pepto Bismol.
Interestingly the four gospels were written after the death and Resurrection of Jesus, but the message of hope and eternal life was actually determined prior to life on this planet beginning. Note what it states in Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.”
The “gospel,” the “good news” or “good and joyful message” is telling all of us who will listen that God promised eternal life before the dawn of earth. It came in the form of a Messiah.
In Isaiah 61:1 is the proclamation, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”
Jesus said in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” – Or better, I am divinely inspired. There can be no doubt that the passage in Isaiah was referring to the Messiah and Jesus directly applied it to himself with great specitivity in this passage.
In Matthew 5:1 we can see the fulfillment of God’s promise through His Son Jesus Christ our Messiah, “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Jesus was announcing that the new day that was “acceptable to the Lord” referred to in Isaiah was being ushered in beginning with His birth, life, death, and Resurrection!
Whew! What a great Dad! He promised eternal life and delivered through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. That is indeed good news and indeed a good and joyful message. In fact I would take that a step further, it is outstanding, great, enormous, grand, wonderful, marvelous, tremendous, fabulous, incredible, awesome, terrific, remarkable, out of the world, superb, awe-inspiring, colossal, superb, magnificent news. In other words I like it (and so does Mikey)…
I’m so glad in fact that I told God thanks for being the greatest Father ever on Father’s Day yesterday as I’m sure that you did?
What? You forgot to tell Him happy Father’s Day yesterday!
No problem. Just tell Him you’re sorry and ask His forgiveness. He won’t be mad. You see He’s the kind of Father that all of us would love to be. He forgives and forgets because He holds no grudges. In fact the Bible states that God is love. Listen as the Spirit describes what we can only dimly see, but one day will fully realize in our loving Dad. He is the very essence of love and this description fits Him perfectly.
1 Cor. 13:4
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.