Powerful Revelation: Father & Son - Separate Beings, Own Identity

Had a powerful revelation during my 21-day fast:

Jesus surprised me in the Garden. In that place, I saw my own son. Jesus was holding J with His right hand and holding me with His left. I was pretty puzzled why I wasn't holding my own son.

This is when He spoke, "Do you not know that your son and you are separate beings? His identity is in Me and your identity is in Me. Your son is not supposed to be a reflection of you. He is meant to be a reflection of Me. You cannot father his heart. You can only provide an atmosphere for him to grow in Me and let Me father his heart."

This is so powerful to me.

We see so many parents building their identity in their child. When their child performs well, they feel proud. When the child doesn't, they get upset. They want their child either to be a reflection of them or completely different from them (if they ain't good models).

Parents who build their identity in their child often feel embarrassed if their child behaves inappropriately in the public. Ever wondered why they don't feel embarrassed if the child behaves the same way at home? Because we are afraid of how others may think about us by simply looking at the response of our child. It's self-serving, self-image and nothing to do with the good of the child. Tracing back to the root, it is all about tying our identity to our child. We think that how our child behaves points to our character as parents.

Nothing is further from the truth.

Disclaimer: I guess I need to be careful to say that as parents, if we are not parenting our child, either due to neglect or abuse, then it does have a significant impact on our child's character and behaviours.

There are some sincere parents who have tried their best to parent their child, yet the child turns out wayward. This is when the parents should not carry the weight of the child's character. Because his identity has nothing to do with your identity. Both parents and child are "separate".

My son has to build his identity in Christ. So do I as a parent. He builds his. And I build mine. Just like I can't change anyone's heart, I can't change his heart. I cannot expect his heart to conform to what I want to see.

If I think that I can father my son's heart, I become God and I have just removed Jesus from the whole parenting equation. Jesus must hold my son with His right hand and hold me with His left. We must remain separate beings. For my son's identity is in Christ and mine is in Christ.

My role, as a father/parent, is therefore, to provide an atmosphere for my son to encounter and know Jesus so that Jesus can hold his hand and father his heart. For God has no grandchildren.

This means that I must represent the Father well (as much as I can), so that my son will desire to know the perfect Father personally.

I can never be as intimate with my son as Jesus is. The perfect union with God in Spirit is the most intimate relationship my son can ever have. It's above ALL relationships. My role as an earthly father is simply to help my son cultivate the seed so that it can grow and bear fruit.

Let Jesus father our child's heart and identity. #revelation #fathering101

Dealing With Tantrums

When our child throws tantrum, it means they lost self-control.

When we resort to threatening, manipulating or even raising of our voice, it means we have lost self-control. We react to our child's out-of-control by being out-of-control, which will never control the situation.

To reason with our child when he is throwing tantrum is to reason with one who has already lost self-control. No reasoning will work.

The way to counter out-of-control is to release peace that crushes the tantrum.

Reflecting back, I realised the most effective way to crush tantrum is to hug my son right when he is crying and screaming. When he has calmed down, reasoning then works.

When truth is released with love, it is well received.

https://www.facebook.com/brightside/videos/1033291780108692/

Did God Forsake Jesus On The Cross?

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

Logically looking at Psalm 22, we will think that God did not forsake Jesus on the Cross when He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me." How can God forsake God (Jesus)? It sounds illogical.

Besides, Psalm 22:24 says, "For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard." 

This is a prophetic writing by King David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to point to the crucifixion of Christ. It seems apparent that when Jesus cried out to God on the Cross, God did not hide His face from Him. God heard Jesus. Based on this, it is logical to say that God could not have forsaken Jesus.

However, Old Testament is never used to unveil New Testament. The wrong sequence can result in a wrong interpretation. The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed. The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

First, Jesus is God who does not lie. Second, this is the first time Jesus called His Father "God". He never ever called Him that before.

What really happened on the Cross that Jesus cried out the truth which caused many differing views?

We might need to look at how Old Testament concealed the New Testament.

John 3:14 - And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

Because of the sin of Israel (murmuring and complaining), God sent serpents to judge them.

Numbers 21:6 - So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

Well, there are some people who say that it wasn't God who sent, but Satan, because they deem that the writer did not have a revelation of Jesus yet. So they say that you need to interchange "the Lord" with "Satan" whenever death/judgment is involved. If we don't understand the Law and the covenant Israelites were bound to, we will logically think that it could not be God who sent the fiery serpents. We will even quote New Testament Scripture John 10:10 to justify why God couldn't be the One to send the serpents. Anyway, this takes another explanation.

God sent the fiery serpents. Period.

The Israelites repented and asked Moses to pray to God to take away the serpents (Num 21:7). And Moses did.

Num 21:8 - Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

Moses made a bronze serpent. Whoever saw the bronze serpent on the pole was set free from the deadly bite.

When the Israelites saw this bronze serpent on the pole, they understood full well, because they knew the Law.

Deut 21:23 - ...for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

Bronze speaks of judgment. The serpent was judged/cursed on the pole. When the Israelites saw the serpent on the pole, they knew that God heard Moses' prayer and He judged the very thing that killed them.

Let the New interpret the Old.

John 3:14 - And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.

Jesus was hung on the Cross. But God did not judge/curse Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible says that. But the Bible tells us that Jesus became sin (2 Cor 5:21). He became SIN so that we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 3:13 tells us "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)."

Because Jesus became sin (curse), God judged sin. He had to judge sin because He is perfect love. And perfect love means absolute righteousness.

Psalm 89:14 - Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.

God did not judge Jesus. He judged sin in Jesus, because Jesus became sin.

Rom 8:3-4 - God condemned sin in the flesh (Jesus' body), that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.

God literally judged the very thing that is killing mankind - SIN. This is why Jesus had to die on the Cross to save us. He could have died elsewhere but it wouldn't save us. Under the Law, accursed is the one who is hung on the Cross. Jesus had to be hung there, so that sin could be accursed. Because the Law was given by God Himself.

So now, when we look at the Cross, we know that we are free from sin and free from judgment. Therefore, we cannot suffer any sin's penalty or effect. Sicknesses and diseases (death) only came through sin (Rom 5:12). Now that we are redeemed, we can walk without any sickness and disease.

Coming back to why Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Jesus, on the Cross, became SIN. And God had to judge SIN in Jesus' flesh (Rom 8:3-4). It was that period (when God judged sin) where Jesus literally faced separation from the Father, not because of who Jesus is, but because of what SIN is. Sin was imputed (upon) on Him.

The judgment/wrath of God upon sin had to be fully satisfied on the body of His beloved Son. This is why Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt 27:46).

When the judgment was over, Jesus cried out, "It is finished!"

John 19:28-30 - After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished... said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

After the judgment was finished, after that period of separation was over, Jesus addressed God as "Father" again.

Luke 23:46 - And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.

After He died, He went down the earth to disarm him who had the power of death. (Heb 2:14).

Make no mistake. Jesus was forsaken (at the point where God judged sin in His flesh), so that you and I can never ever be forsaken by God. He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me" to reveal to us that sin was so serious that it caused separation between God and mankind.

Note: I used past tense because when Jesus took our sin on the Cross, the veil of the temple was torn apart, heaven was rent opened and is left opened for you and I to have relationship with God. Sin is no longer an issue for God. Now faith is.

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, He took that separation so that you and I can never be separated from God in Christ (Romans 8:38-39).

Attached is a video done by New Creation, which I thought explains it well.

J's Outreach

He slid from the seat beside Mama to the uncle and said, "Hello, Uncle :)"

Then he continued, "Are you going home? I came from church."

Then he started a conversation with him. Pure stranger. Amazing. #outreach

Before God & Before Men

Jesus brought me to the Father. I sat beside Him at His throne and I was drinking baby milk. He said to me, "When you are before Me, be a child and remain child-like. When you are before men, be a son and walk Son-like."

We are both a child and a son.

Growing Up

Son understands the significance of being 4 years old. We have prepared him for a long time.

Some traditions say that a toddler is terrible two and ferocious four. I beg to differ. The toddler is who you see him to be. J was awesome at two and he will remain awesome at four.

I remember the movie "Courageous" where a group of men sat down to talk. One of them asked, "When did you feel that you are a man?" Everyone had a different answer. But the 'snake king' said, "When my father told me that I am."

We impart identity to our child. We prepare them to succeed.

Today, J woke up surprising me with what he did. 

He did not look for Mama (breast-feed baby syndrome, cos he latched all these while).

He switched off the aircon in the room on his own.

He took out his pants and put on a new set on his own.

He came into my study room (I was there) and showed me what he has already done. Then he asked, "Papa, can you make milk for me?"

When we reached school, he smiled happily and said, "I'm happy today. Because my birthday was yesterday and today it is no more."

He is 4. And he knows. #fathering101 #identity

P.S: Let's see how he eats his dinner tonight.

Birthday

This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.

Since the day you were born, we know that you are chosen by God to bring healing, deliverance and salvation to many lives. You are His divine providence!

I'm absolutely proud of who you are. 

May God give you a heart to know Him, behold Him and become like Him.

Happy 4th birthday to you, J! Papa and Mama love you always! 😘😘😘