Moments of Eternal Glory (2): The Father's Role

Read Part 1 here. 

More than mere silver linings, the clouds and catches and catastrophes and joys of today are limned with eternal glory. The Christian life is supernatural from start to finish. Quotidian moments are crafted to create eternal jewels for the glory of his grace. Our sanctification glorifies his grace! We live by grace—our life is initiated, made, sustained, and completed by the Triune God and thus all is for his glory.

He has provided all—showing how desperately we need him! Will we admit it? Or do we stumble on, trying to live the Christian life in our own strength, either due to misperceptions about the character, demands, and gifts of God or misperceptions of our own strength and power?

To persevere and pursue sanctification, we must believe and trust that each member of the Triune God is for believers, having been with them in the past, turning each moment into eternal glory for himself and believers, and securing the future. Without this trust and security, we will depend on ourselves, which robs him of his glory and only produces frustration and fear in us.

There may be an implicit belief, on the practical level, that the Father created and planned, and then sat back as Christ and then the Spirit took over. Yet, in the Bible the infinite, inaccessible Father reveals himself as immanently, intimately active in believers’ lives and specifically in sanctification.  God’s gracious provision points to our need for him in each and every moment of sanctification. And sanctification is a daily thing, crafted out of whines and whims.

How is the Father involved? What is the Father’s role in sanctification? The Father calls us. The Father’s effectual call is not only to salvation, but to sanctification. What he begins, he will complete (2). He is the Grand Glory-Planner, decreeing every moment of believers’ lives.

Secondly, he is the Sender of the Son and the Spirit (3). The two most closest to his heart—he gave. This is his character, the God who does not spare his own Son. The God who gives himself. He is committed to our sanctification for his glory. How will he not give us all things? So we can trust him with our desires, surrender, trust him with our walk.

Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him’” (Jn. 14:23; cf. Jn. 17:20-26; 1 Jn. 4:12-16).

Thirdly, there is a union with the Father as well. The Father is the pattern of holiness (Mat. 5:48), and we are drawn into union with the very Holy One. The One who makes the mountains tremble by his touch, who is manifested in fire and smoke and lightning. We are drawn into union by the cleansing blood of Christ with the Holy One. What a privilege, an awe-inspiring notion to spur us into our own holy walk. As he draws us into union, we are motivated to let go of all unholiness that impedes this union.

Fourth, the Father is the Father who disciplines us out of love for a harvest of righteousness (Heb. 12:4-17). A whole harvest with eternal fruit! Fifth, God the Father is the Giver of sanctifying Truth (Jn. 17:17)—a resource, a guide, and a measure. Finally, a biblical survey shows that God is sovereign even over the hearts of all humankind; thus, even the desire, the strength, and the will to pursue sanctification must come from God.

NOTES

(1) Phil. 2:12-13; Heb. 13:20-21; 1 Cor. 1:30; Jn. 17:17; 2 Thes. 2:13-16; 1 Thes. 5:23. The Bible also speaks of his call, not only for salvation but for sanctification as well in 1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 1:7; Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:12; Col. 3:12; 1 pet. 2:9; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:9. 1 Corinthians 1:30 connects this work with the Son; 2 Thessalonians 2:13 connects it with the Spirit—it is clear that God is one God in three persons who is actively involved.

(2) Rom. 8:28-30: Phil. 1:6, Eph. 1:4: 1 Thes. 5:23-24; Jude 24-25; etc. speak of the Father’s calling and completion, but Romans 8:28-30 and 1 Thessalonians 5:23 in context present the idea of being transformed into the image of his Son, or sanctification.

(3) Although Christ is also spoke of sending his Spirit.

(4) Prov. 16:9; Prov. 16:1; Prov. 21:1; Ex. 3:21; Ex. 4:21; Phil. 2:12-13; Gen. 39:21; Ex. 11:3; Jer. 42:12; Heb. 13:21. See Mark R. Talbot, “’All the Good that is Ours in Christ”: Seeing God’s Gracious Hand in the Hurts Others Do to Us,” in Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, ed. by John Piper and Justin Taylor (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006): 31-80.