Greetings;
When we know who we are we live lives that are beyond our own personal needs. When we know who we are, we live lives of destiny. We are part of the family of God and our family destiny is a bridge to the future. Our destiny answers the questions of the human heart. I believe that it is in the heart of every person to ask four basic questions. Those questions are: Who is God? Who am I? Who are God and I together? And – What is the point of everything? These questions are in the hearts of all people. The apostle Paul recognized this when he addressed the people of Athens.
Acts 17:24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, “For we are also His offspring.”
The first three of the internal questions of humanity are revealed in these verses. Who is God? God is the one who gives life to all people. Who are we? We are an expression of God. We are a testimony of His breath. Who are God and us together? God gives us all things and when we have God in our lives we then can have all the things that have been determined for us in our preappointed times and within the boundaries of who we are. God doesn’t need anything from us. He gives life, breath, and all things to all people. We live, move, and have our being in Him. It is part of our multigenerational inheritance in the earth.
If we look at the 15th chapter of the book of Luke we find several parables spoken by Jesus. The religious society of the self-righteous Pharisees was upset with the fact that Jesus was eating and drinking with sinners and tax collectors. People of the world were being attracted to Jesus, while those in the religious system of the law were despising His ways of grace. I believe that those in the world were attracted to Jesus because He demonstrated the answer to the questions of the human heart. I believe that those questions were demonstrated in the parables that Jesus told those before Him. Jesus told a parable of ninety-nine righteous sheep and a shepherd going out to find one that was lost. Israel was the testimony of the ninety-nine righteous sheep, while the nations of the world were depicted in the redemption of the lost lamb. The lost lamb represented God’s care for all people. He gives life to each and every one.
Jesus then told the parable of the ten silver coins, the lost coin represented the one and only value of everyone redeemed human being by the blood of Christ, while the nine remaining coins represented those who already had the testimony of the Holy Spirit with them. The lost coin had the exact same value as each of the remaining nine coins and the woman was willing to sweep the floor thoroughly in search of the one coin of equal value. The coin was an expression of Him and its value was the same as the other nine. God’s gives breath to all people and He knows the value of each and every one.
The next parable told by Jesus was one of the father, the prodigal son, and the older brother. Israel was the older brother while the prodigal son represented the Father’s love for all the peoples of the world. The father wanted both the younger and the older son to be part of his purpose in life. He wanted both of the sons to know the testimony, the authority, and the inheritance of the father’s kingdom. The father’s testimony, authority, and inheritance were enough to celebrate every day with him if they desired. Our business in the world is the family business of God in connection with God as our Father. We are not making our own way, we are part of His family in the earth.
At the beginning of Luke, chapter 16 Jesus told the parable of the unrighteous manager. In this story the manager turned shrewd depicted the nations of the world that proved to be shrewder than the sons of the kingdom of Israel, by making friends with their handling of money and the things of the world. The details of the parable appear to reveal a man who made decisions with another man’s money for the sake of personal favor. The real issue was the fact that the bad manager knew that once he lost his job the only thing that would really count was having fiends. The parable isn’t about handling accounts righteously. It is about valuing the right things in life. It is about valuing friendships. This is what God was looking for through the life of His Son Jesus. Jesus was looking for those would be friends with God and see God as their friend. The Pharisees were lovers of money, though they prided themselves as not being tied to the things of the world. The story of the unrighteous manager was a stumbling block to their right and wrong mentalities. Their self-righteous attempts of fulfilling the law had blinded their eyes to seeing the need of friendship in life. They saw the principle of being right as more valuable than relationships.
These parables reveal that God cares for us. He is the Shepherd of our souls. He gives life to all people. They reveal that God knows who we are. He has declared the value of each of us as a one and only precious human being redeemed by the blood of the one and only begotten Son of God. He gives us breath and we are a testimony of Him. These stories reveal that God has a plan for our lives for He is our Father and we are His sons. He wants to include us in His purposes in the earth. It is all about Him and us in the story of life. The final question of the human heart is one that asks what is the point of it all. In the story of the manager, God revealed that His heart is for us and our righteousness is found in Him and Him alone. We were not born to be right, we were born to be loved by Him. He is our true Friend and he wants us to know and reveal His friendship in the world.
God wants to connect the generations and it is only through understanding our destiny in Christ that the generations can carry the continuity of purpose for the glory of God’s name. The children of the generations must be connected to the fathers and mothers of the past and the fathers of the faith must see the children of the unfolding generations as the testimony of the Father’s name.
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” 4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Children must seek to obey their parents. The values of the past must be embraced by the generations as a substance of strength to all that will be added. Fathers must not provoke their children to wrath. It is important for fathers to understand that the next generation will see things that are beyond where we have been. Father’s are activators, facilitators, and releasers and they must not seek to control or restrain their children from going beyond where they have been and what they have known.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
