Hope and Our Covering
(part 4)
Copyright © 2004 ~ Gary W. Crisp
Hope Causes Us To Not Be Ashamed
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom also we have access by faith into this Grace wherein we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the Glory of God. We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works out patience; patience produces experience; and experience brings about hope. And hope does not make us ashamed, because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Who is given unto us.” (Romans 5:1-5)
Looking once more at this passage of scripture, let us take a moment to understand the dynamics or the driving force of being justified by faith. If we truly feel justified by faith, it means we have fully experienced being made right with God, or being made to feel innocent, holy and just in His Eyes. It is not something we can conjure up within ourselves; it must be realized and felt in the spirit, and it must come from the Lord. If He has caused our hearts to rest in His Righteousness, then we are truly at rest in His Righteousness. The Blood of Jesus cleanses from all unrighteousness, cleansing from every sin, washing us completely (1 John 1:7; 1 John 1:9). And Hebrews 10: states -- “(19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holiest (Place) by the Blood of Jesus, (22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies (meaning our entire being: body, soul, spirit) washed with pure water.”
I will not venture into the Holiest Place, mentioned in v.19, if I feel unworthy or shameful. The Holiest Place refers to the Holy of Holies, the Innermost Court in the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temple. The high priest was the only one that could enter into that Place, and then only with blood. Hebrews 10:12 tells us, “But this man (speaking of Jesus), after He had offered One Sacrifice for sins for ever (that being Himself), sat down on the Right Hand of God”, and this is now the Holy of Holies -- in Heaven, at the Father’s Right Hand, with Jesus being the Heavenly High Priest. He had offered His own Body and Blood as the sacrifice, so that we are now cleansed and made whole.
It is because of this Sacrifice of Jesus Christ that I am now able to “enter in” with boldness and draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. When I feel unworthy or have a guilty conscience, or if I have been unfaithful in any way, I cannot enter in...not because He won’t allow it, but because “my conscience” will not let me go in. That is what guilt does to a human heart; like Adam and Eve, we “hide” when we feel guilty; we feel “uncovered”. Being justified by our faith in Him sets us free. Free from guilt, fear, separation, rejection; free from anything and everything that has ever plagued us or caused us to fear . And, when we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace within our own hearts will help to produce peace within the lives of our families, our loved ones, and our spouses...and peace in our hearts will give us access by faith into the Wonderful Grace of God.
When all is well with our souls; when we are at peace with ourselves and our God, then we find easy access, or an Open Door to His Grace. Grace is a wonderful thing; never take even a touch of His Grace lightly; always thank Him for it. What is Grace? Simply put, Grace is God’s Great Unmerited, Unearned Favor...there’s nothing you can do to get it; there’s nothing you can do to get away from it...when He wants to give it, He gives it. That’s what Grace is...unearned and undeserved. As we taste His Grace, we can begin to rejoice in Him and in His Hope that He gives to us.
Enjoying and appreciating His Grace, we can then begin to rejoice in hope, rejoicing in the Glory of God. It is when we have learned the secret of rejoicing in Him, in His workings and dealings in our lives, that we can finally begin to glory in tribulations also, having finally learned that tribulation works out patience; patience produces experience; and experience brings about hope. We can do all of this, because we have now learned to Trust Him. We always thought we trusted Him, but as time passed and we grew wise in our own conceit, we have to learn to really trust Him...again.
And so it is with our families...and our spouses...things happen, we fall out of trust with them, and we have to rebuild or re-establish our relationships. It happens in nearly every relationship; tests, trials, provings, and then when you mix in other variables, it can really get tricky, trying to stay focused and in sync. As we have looked at Romans 5:1-5 again, we can see that there are several things that must be “in motion” or “realized”, before we can expect to be walking in true and sincere unashamed hope in the Lord. Many people “fake it” and fake it well, but they are only hurting themselves and, ultimately, their own families; even the children will suffer if we do not learn how to walk in peace with God, rejoicing in His Grace and in His Hope.
As we mentioned earlier, one of the problems in the homes of America, including Christian homes, is a growing lack of respect. What follows is not a blanket indictment against all children, husbands and wives, but it is a rapidly growing problem. Children do not respect their parents or authority figures, including police and teachers; husbands do not respect their wives, many times ignoring them, by replacing “love of job” above “love of family”; and wives do not respect their husbands, for various reasons. I would like to address this latter area, concerning wives having a lack of respect for husbands, because it may very well help us husbands learn how to prevent such a thing from entering into our families and our homes.
As with anything, including jobs, school or church, respect can be a very fickle thing. We may respect someone because of their position of authority, but when it comes to respecting that person for themselves, that is another thing altogether. Let me give an example: I respect my boss as a position of authority, because he is the one assigned to “rule over me” in that particular area of my life. But, I may not respect him as a person, depending on what kind of an individual he is. At any rate, as Paul said in Ephesians 6:5-8 --
Now, we don’t have to be slaves to allow this simple Principle to work in our lives -- if we respect those in authority over us, all will go much smoother in our lives; maybe not perfect, but it will go better. And, we’re to do it as unto the Lord (“in singleness of heart, as unto Christ.”). It isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but if we at least try, we have half the battle won.
Looking at verse one, we see another part of family instruction, given here by Paul. Children, obey your parents, and Paul adds that it is the first commandment with a promise, meaning that this commandment brought with it a wonderful result, if obeyed...the result? Long life...“that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.” I often wonder why children struggle so much in some families, many times even though they may have better surroundings, more money, more opportunities, and more going for them in a general, overall sense. Verse 4 may just be the answer to that...
“And, you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” This happens far too often in the families of America, and, once again, even in the Christian families. Am I being cynical? Am I seeing the proverbial glass “half empty”, rather than “half full”? Am I being too judgmental? No, not at all...for I have seen all of this going on for over twenty-five years now, and even in the best churches in America. No one, no denomination, and no household is immune to the sting of family strife and division. It is only by God’s wondrous Grace that any parent can raise up a child “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
Some children, quite honestly, have difficulty respecting and obeying their parents, because the parents have “provoked” them, hindering them and leading them astray, as it were. Before we go any further, let me state -- rather emphatically -- that when I say “provoked”, I am not suggesting that we provoke our children by “upsetting” them or “disagreeing” with them. Provoked is a much stronger word. First, the word translated as “father” in verse 4, can also be rendered as “parent”, so both parents come under the scrutiny of Paul’s words on this point. Secondly, the word “provoked” is a rather intense word, meaning “to anger alongside (as if standing beside someone, chiding them), causing them to be enraged with anger, provoked to wrath; become exasperated; passion, (as if breathing hard) with fierceness.”
Some of you parents may have seen or experienced some of these preceding words, and I’m not saying that each and every one of you “provoked” your child to behave in this manner, but this is one of the reasons the youth of today act the way they act, doing some of the things they do. Provoking to wrath can produce some pretty devastating results. A couple of years ago, in Richardson, Texas (where we used to live), two teenagers met at an athletic field at midnight to “fight it out”; the end result? One teenage boy “poked the eyes out” of the other boy, blinding him for life. Dear saints of God...that boy had some “wrath” in him, to gouge out the eyes of another human being. Where and how he got that anger, God only knows.
We wonder, at times, why kids and young people do the things they do. They are exasperated and frustrated...oftimes by their very own parents. Even as they try to move forward, making some achievement or reaching some new goal in their lives -- or as they are striving to develop their creativity and gifts God has placed in them -- we, as angry parents, are standing “alongside them, chiding them, enraging them with anger; and...we provoke them to wrath.” I have seen this happen, time and again; I have seen Christian parents thwarting the very lives of their very own children. God will not hold us guiltless in these matters, saints of God. We will be accountable...both fathers and mothers.
I mention this here, concerning our children, because much of the problems in our homes is centered on, or around, the children. How do we address this situation? Paul clearly states that we are to raise a child “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Nurture means “tutorage; i.e. education or training (but more than just attending school); even disciplinary correction, including chastening and chastisement.” Admonition, on the other hand, means “calling attention to a matter; by implication, a mild rebuke or warning; admonition.” We can sum up the two words, “nurture and admonition”, as disciplinary correction and gentle persuasion, neither of which will destroy a child’s spirit or discourage a child’s hopes.
The trouble with most corrective measures used on our children is we tend to go from “one extreme” to the “other”. We are either too lax, allowing our children to basically decide for themselves their own individual growth advancement, their learning and maturing rate, their guidelines and boundaries, and even their own punishment. Or, we tend to be too brutal, drawing multiple boundaries and creating strict guidelines that are unreasonable; we also set distant goals that are simply unreachable; and we even render swift and unjust punishment, when many times our confusing boundaries and guidelines have created such apparent “disobedience”. It’s as if we stand back, watching our children, hoping they might fail or make a miscue (I have personally known of parents that do this). While we would certainly never claim such a thing to be true, I have seen this, nonetheless...even in Christian homes.
If we could just use disciplinary correction and gentle persuasion mixed with a good, healthy dose of Godly, agape love, our children would do better, feel better about themselves and their parents, as well as other authority figures, AND our kids would also grow up with a very healthy respect for the LORD! The very positive “up side” to all of this is when they do get old enough to begin thinking about a spouse, they will already have a built-in respect and honor towards those whom they might marry, thus ending a very terrible lack of respect in the homes and churches of America.
I do not like to refer to worldy songs; I do not listen to them in my “spare time”, but many worldy songs merely reflect what the Bible has already clearly stated. Teach Your Children Well was an old song from the seventies (or was it the 60s?), and what it basically said was that we must do our best to raise our children, making them strong, responsible youths, then finally mature adults. But this is only taking scripture and putting a lively, worldly tune to it, for Proverbs 22:5 & 6 tells us -- “Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward; he that keeps his soul shall be far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The word, froward, is defined as “obstinate, crooked or perverse; also distorted or perverted”. And do we see “thorns” again? They, according to Proverbs, are all along the way of the froward, hindering them and keeping them from enjoying and fulfilling their lives.
My dear parents...we do not want to be “thorns” in the paths of our children’s lives, hindering them, keeping them from their full potential in the Lord. Neither do we want to be responsible for creating within them a heart that is “obstinate, crooked, perverse, distorted or perverted”. We must bless them, encourage them, instruct them, lead them, be an example for them, pray for them and rejoice in their victories and advancements in the Lord. However, we will be unable to do any of these wonderful things, dear saints, if we, as husbands and wives, are at odds with one another.
Blessing, encouraging, instructing, leading, being an example, praying for and rejoicing over our children is a noble and righteous endeavor; it is also a very real sacrifice. Not only should we strive to do this for our children...we should also make this an important aspect of our union in marriage. And this is that of which Paul spoke when he said that “men ought to love their wives as their own bodies”, and the “women needed to reverence and respect their husbands...(Ephesians 5:28)”. This was not to make the woman a subservient, cowering slave to the oversight of her master-husband; it was so that the two equals could be “one”, thus providing a home and covering of safety for their children and families. And if they are childless, then they can provide a safety and comfort for the different members of the Body of the Lord.
As already mentioned, my search to discover what part I played in the Kingdom of God drove me or led me to realize what and how I was to love my wife...and I found out what I was to do...in one word: SACRIFICE! Sacrifice is not an easy word, but neither is it an ugly word; it is the same way God manifested His Love toward us in that, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). So, sacrifice has nothing to do with worth or even being deserving; as a matter of fact, the greatest sacrifices generally come when no one is deserving of them. I sometimes wonder how it will be, as we all stand before the Throne of Jesus, at His Seat of Judgment, giving account of our words and deeds. Many we thought to be worthy and “special” may just have to wait, as the Lord tends to those “hidden ones”, who did all of their service unseen, unknown, and without any prejudice and with no ulterior motives or hidden agendas.
Real value or real worth cannot be measured by the hearts of men; only the Lord will be able to determine what is truly valuable, and He will do just that. But, in this world, now...our spouses are very capable of measuring what is worthy and what is not. Both men judging their wives, and the women judging their husbands. It is for this reason that man has such a great need for a Higher Covering.
Genesis 3 tells the story of Eve’s sin, Adam’s failure as a proper covering, and the ultimate need for “the LORD God to make coats of skins, and clothe them both.” Why did they need skins to cover them? Because, in Gen. 3:7-11, we see --
And, of course, the answer to that question was yes. Adam and Eve both had a wonderful, intimate relationship with God, walking and talking with Him daily; communicating and sharing with Him from their hearts and minds. God was their Covering at this point in time; they had no need to be concerned for any other type of covering. What went wrong? Among other things, temptation, sin, disobedience, guilt, and fear, followed by a need for God to create for them a new covering. Had Adam correctly informed his new helpmate of this one strict rule: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall not eat of it -- for in the day that you eat of that tree, you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:16 & 17)? Had he mis-communicated? Had she willfully disobeyed Adam? I do not know; nor do I know that the particulars really matter here. They were in this dilemma together; in this sense, they were certainly “one.”
Genesis 2:18 speaks of the LORD God deciding, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet.” First, as we look at the word “alone”, we find that it primarily means “separation”, implying a “part of the body”, as if not complete. God took a look at this lonesome man and said, “This is not good.” What He basically was saying was, “This is not best...We can do better.” Lest you think I exaggerate, take a look at the New Testament Church, spoken of by Paul at great lengths as the Body of Christ. While I will not even hint at the thought that anything about Jesus Christ could even be suggested as imperfect, I find it simply amazing that God could ordain the possibility of we humans as being a part of His Body...and yet He did, and we are!
In other words, Christ, by Himself, was not “complete”. It may be difficult to understand, but we, as parts of His Body, bring about the Divine “Completion” of the Body of Jesus Christ. And lest this sounds as heresy to some of you, let us look at 1st Corinthians 12:27 & 28 -- “Now you are the Body of Christ, and members in particular. And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues...” Members here signifies “a limb or part of the body” -- “alone”, in Genesis 2:18, also means “a limb or branch of a tree”. There are many similarities to Adam and his help meet and Christ and His Body...both would not be complete without their respective “counterparts”. And, the man, the husband, is not complete without his counterpart...the woman, his wife.
Also, we are said to “fill up that which is lacking of Christ’s sufferings”...Colossians 1:24 -- “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body’s sake, which is the church”. That which is behind means that which is lacking, but let me more fully explain what I am saying...I do not mean, even in the tiniest, smallest, most minute way, that anything about Jesus Christ is incomplete or unfinished. Hebrews 5:9 very plainly and firmly states, “And being made perfect, He (Jesus Christ) became the Author of Eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him.” He is Perfect; He lacks nothing; when He declared “IT is finished”, IT was finished. Signed, sealed and delivered to the Throne of Heaven, by the Blood of the Lamb, carried there by the Hand of Jesus Christ Himself.
But if it were truly “finished” in our sense of the understanding of “finished”, there would have been no further souls saved after Calvary, and here is were that “tricky” word, predestination, comes into play. God has foreordained, predetermined, set a particular standard that has not yet been reached, and until it has been reached, there will be more additions to the Body Of Christ, more filling up of that which lacks of His sufferings and afflictions, and even more fulfilling of His prophecies, which we have not even slightly touched upon (for fear of getting greatly side-tracked!).
Speaking of side-tracked, where were we...? Now, back to “help meet”; what does help meet mean? It comes from the Hebrew word, neged (neh’-ghed), meaning “a front, i.e. part opposite; specifically a counterpart, or mate; presence, the other side; to surround, protect or aid; help, succour.” So, a “help meet” is a “help mate”, and yet that still doesn’t sound very flattering. But when you see that it also means “a front, a counterpart; someone to surround, protect or aid; someone who will help and succour”, then the role of a “help meet” takes on another, fuller, more meaningful calling -- and I do not use that word lightly. And, when we see what Ecclesiastes 4: tells us --
The bottom line was...Adam was not full and complete until God made Eve. It is better when two walk together; it is better when two pray together; it is so much better when there are two hearts united as one, and that is the difficult part...being united together as one.
We continue this teaching here, with “Why Some Women Don’t Respect Their Husbands”. We will also try and explain “What Men Are Doing Wrong” to create this atmosphere of disrespect. So please...do continue on for the next part of Covering.
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