Title: God Who Changes the Hearts of Fathers
God who changes the hearts of fathers
beautiful home 2.
“And he will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17).
I. Text Commentary
The text foretells what John the Baptist will do in the future. However, what is unusual is that among the ministry of John the Baptist, the ministry of restoring the family appears. When we look at the Gospels as a whole, what John the Baptist did is very clear. It was to convert people. His first message was, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Why is John the Baptist telling the people of Israel, who already believed that they were living in the kingdom of God, to repent as the kingdom of God is near? This meant that the people of Israel were so far removed from their relationship with God. Because they did not have a perfect relationship with God, they were in such a wrong relationship that they would be rebuked when Jesus came and the work of the Holy Spirit began. So this proclamation of John the Baptist was a fearless sermon that urged people to powerfully repent. Here, we see the relationship between the hearts of children and fathers when the people of Israel turned away from God and fell into unbelief.
II. heart of child and father
A. Natural Fatherhood
God created human beings and gave them nature regardless of sin. God's will was for humans and all creation to be fruitful and multiply to achieve the beauty that God originally had in mind when He created the world. He wanted more and more creatures to have a relationship with God and build relationships with people based on that relationship to create beautiful fellowship. Although sin entered and fell, God still gave fatherhood to all human beings and all things in nature, giving them the instinct to protect and preserve the races. But the power of sin was so powerful that it broke even the God-given nature and produced selfishness and desire. That is why the hearts of parents sometimes place their own happiness higher than that of their children, and thus become a vicious heart that does not care about their children's misfortunes. The people of Israel did just that. Even natural fatherhood is broken by human sin and greed, and even the relationship between parents and children has been broken.
B. Restored Fatherhood
III. need the power of grace
The selfishness within us is not shattered, and only the grace of God can break it. Because grace itself is the force that makes people return to God, when God's grace comes to people, they break their stubbornness and have a strong desire to return to God and a strong desire to live dependent on the Lord. That is the power of grace. The power of grace has no incurable relationship. Even though he suffered a lot from his parents, if God's grace heals his heart, he will love and forgive them. You will begin to love the children you hated passionately and repent of the sins of the parents who did not fully take care of them. We desperately need this power of grace. What we can do is to earnestly pray for unbelieving families and share the gospel with them so that they can return to the arms of God they did not know. So, instead of deeply repenting before the Lord and cherishing the wounds we received from others, we live while maintaining the emotion of grace we received from the Lord. In doing so, we come to know the true love of God.
IV. conclusion
We must preach the gospel to those who have not yet been saved so that they can return to the arms of Jesus with tears, and those who have already believed must become believers who earnestly pray and cling to God so that they return to true faith. The whole process of sacrifice that takes place to embrace broken family relationships is the process of suffering for Christ. Apostle Paul says: “It has been granted to you who believe in Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer.” God has never allowed us to suffer more than the love He has given us. Because God has always bestowed on us greater grace, greater love, and greater grace, God allows us to suffer and endure suffering so that we can use and flow the grace and love that God has received from the Lord. God remembers every moment of sacrificing and suffering for his family and is on our side. I hope that we will become believers who become a grain of wheat for the salvation of our families until we firmly believe in that fact and return the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.
2010-05-12