The Kidnapping of God's Kids
By Barry Adams
2 Timothy 2:24-26
24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. NIV
24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. NIV
The tragedy of Genesis 3 tells the story of a diabolical plan from the enemy of our souls to deceive humanity's first couple into believing a lie. Revealing himself in the form of a serpent, the devil tricked Adam and Eve into questioning the goodness of God and baiting them with the thought that if they disobeyed God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they could become more like God.
Of course this was a trap set by the father of lies (John 8:41-44) who was masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and his sole purpose was to strike a blow to the heart of God by hurting the ones whom God loved. And unfortunately, his divisive schemes worked.
In that moment, when both Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the wrong tree, the eyes of their human reason were opened and for the first time in their lives, they felt shame. This self awareness of their own nakedness caused them to run and hide from God and sew fig leaves together to hide their new found vulnerabilities.
We often talk about the devastation that affected mankind at this moment, and rightly so. Because when they made this unholy alliance with the one who hated all that God loved, the capacity to sin entered into the human heart. And from that moment until today, we have seen hurting people hurt people with every generation that has passed.
But what did this act of disobedience do to the heart of Father God? After all, Adam and Eve were the firstborn (Luke 3:38) of a family that He dreamed about before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-6). Even though God anticipated their disobedience by providing the once and for all sacrifice of His Son before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), this must have wounded His Father's heart.
Knowing full well that if Adam and Eve would have lived forever in their fallen state, if they then ate from the tree of life, in an act of fatherly love and mercy, He banished them from the garden. Though Adam and Eve's hearts had changed in that moment, God's Fatherheart never did. And as a foreshadow of the sacrifice that would be needed to secure humanity's redemption, God covered their nakedness with animal skins that He provided.
Though sin had now brought a separation between us and God (Isaiah 59:1-2) God had not separated Himself from us, for He has always been our ever present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). And throughout the Old Testament, He sent prophets and poets, judges and kings and many others as messengers of His heart until the day that He sent His only begotten Son (Hebrews 1:1-3).
When Jesus came to planet earth, He came to seek and to save those who were lost (Luke 19:10). When you think of something or someone being lost, what comes to mind? If I lose my car keys, I have to find them and restore them back to being in my possession.
If a child wanders away from their original home, the parents search for them until they are found. If you think of the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, you will see a story of a son who left his home and entered into a state of being lost, and his father celebrated his return by declaring that he was lost but he was now found (verse 32).
In the same way, Jesus came two thousand years ago to restore the broken relationship that humanity had with the Father through His once and for all sacrifice. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 tells us that God has reconciled the entire cosmos to Himself in Christ, not counting our sins against us!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. NIV
The word reconciled mean to restore a broken relationship that pre-existed. That's what the Father did for us by sending His one and only Son who destroyed the enemy of our destiny (Hebrews 2:14-18) when He vanquished the power of sin, death and the devil.
Think of it this way... If you had a child who was kidnapped at birth, what would you do to rescue them? I'm guessing the heart of every loving father and mother would do everything in their power to seek and to save your lost little one. If we have this heart as earthly parents, how much more does our heavenly Father desire to rescue His offspring (Acts 17:28) from the clutches of the deceiver and fully redeem us back to our intended place as His beloved children?
As my friend, James Jordan says... The Bible is simply the story of a Father who lost His children in a garden ...and a Son who came to get us back.
Hebrews 2:9-11
9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. NIV
Of course this was a trap set by the father of lies (John 8:41-44) who was masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and his sole purpose was to strike a blow to the heart of God by hurting the ones whom God loved. And unfortunately, his divisive schemes worked.
In that moment, when both Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the wrong tree, the eyes of their human reason were opened and for the first time in their lives, they felt shame. This self awareness of their own nakedness caused them to run and hide from God and sew fig leaves together to hide their new found vulnerabilities.
We often talk about the devastation that affected mankind at this moment, and rightly so. Because when they made this unholy alliance with the one who hated all that God loved, the capacity to sin entered into the human heart. And from that moment until today, we have seen hurting people hurt people with every generation that has passed.
But what did this act of disobedience do to the heart of Father God? After all, Adam and Eve were the firstborn (Luke 3:38) of a family that He dreamed about before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-6). Even though God anticipated their disobedience by providing the once and for all sacrifice of His Son before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), this must have wounded His Father's heart.
Knowing full well that if Adam and Eve would have lived forever in their fallen state, if they then ate from the tree of life, in an act of fatherly love and mercy, He banished them from the garden. Though Adam and Eve's hearts had changed in that moment, God's Fatherheart never did. And as a foreshadow of the sacrifice that would be needed to secure humanity's redemption, God covered their nakedness with animal skins that He provided.
Though sin had now brought a separation between us and God (Isaiah 59:1-2) God had not separated Himself from us, for He has always been our ever present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). And throughout the Old Testament, He sent prophets and poets, judges and kings and many others as messengers of His heart until the day that He sent His only begotten Son (Hebrews 1:1-3).
When Jesus came to planet earth, He came to seek and to save those who were lost (Luke 19:10). When you think of something or someone being lost, what comes to mind? If I lose my car keys, I have to find them and restore them back to being in my possession.
If a child wanders away from their original home, the parents search for them until they are found. If you think of the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, you will see a story of a son who left his home and entered into a state of being lost, and his father celebrated his return by declaring that he was lost but he was now found (verse 32).
In the same way, Jesus came two thousand years ago to restore the broken relationship that humanity had with the Father through His once and for all sacrifice. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 tells us that God has reconciled the entire cosmos to Himself in Christ, not counting our sins against us!
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. NIV
The word reconciled mean to restore a broken relationship that pre-existed. That's what the Father did for us by sending His one and only Son who destroyed the enemy of our destiny (Hebrews 2:14-18) when He vanquished the power of sin, death and the devil.
Think of it this way... If you had a child who was kidnapped at birth, what would you do to rescue them? I'm guessing the heart of every loving father and mother would do everything in their power to seek and to save your lost little one. If we have this heart as earthly parents, how much more does our heavenly Father desire to rescue His offspring (Acts 17:28) from the clutches of the deceiver and fully redeem us back to our intended place as His beloved children?
As my friend, James Jordan says... The Bible is simply the story of a Father who lost His children in a garden ...and a Son who came to get us back.
Hebrews 2:9-11
9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. NIV