Our Father in Heaven: The Source of All Goodness

Introduction

In the previous passage (James 1:12–15), James told us God is not the source and author of sin and temptation, for God is untemptable, and he does not tempt anyone. Man is tempted by the lusts of his own heart. When lust seduces fallen man, she conceives sin; and when sin is full-grown, she gives birth to eternal death. Therefore, we must stop blaming the holy God for our sin. We must stop blaming others, and we should even stop blaming the devil. Instead, let us cry out to God, saying, “Have mercy upon me, a sinner.” He will forgive our sins and justify us. For God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, has become for us righteousness holiness, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). So repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that you may be saved.

Now, in James 1:16–18, James speaks of the nature of our heavenly Father.

The Divine Command: Don’t Be Deceived

First, James commands his beloved brothers to stop being deceived (v. 16). He later says, “If one of you should wander from the truth and someone should turn him back,” meaning back to God’s truth, “he will save him from death” (James 5:19).

Deception originates in our sinful hearts. In Hebrews 3 the Lord himself says, “That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways’” (Heb. 3:10). A person is deceived, or deceives himself, when he wanders from the truth of the gospel, when he wanders away from the straight and narrow way of the word of truth, and when he wanders away from God’s holy church, where truth is preached and taught and proclaimed.

“Be not deceived,” James commands. Today many false ministers are busily engaged in the devil’s task of deceiving. They profess to be successful because they have large congregations and budgets. Yet they preach another Jesus, another Spirit, and another gospel—a gospel that permits people to sin and enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, a gospel that entertains, not a gospel that convicts us of our sins, that we may turn to Christ for salvation. They preach a gospel of easy believism, a gospel of “contextualization,” which is really a gospel of worldliness.

Such agents of Satan were present in the early church also, and Paul pronounced an anathema on them. He told the Corinthian church, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. . . . For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve” (2 Cor. 11:2–3, 13–15).

God is commanding us this day to stop being deceived by false teachers. We have a responsibility to guard ourselves from deception. Today’s false preachers deny the true gospel, just as the devil did when he said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:4-5). Simply put, he was telling her, “You will be God,” meaning a self-determining being who does not have to come under anyone’s authority. That assertion has a certain attraction, doesn’t it? It certainly attracted our first parents. So they ate, and then they came under the control, not of God, but of the devil himself. That is what deception is. False teachers will drag, entice, and seduce even the elect, if possible.

Beware of so-called “Christian hedonists,” who mix a false gospel with worldliness. Be thoroughly immersed in the Scriptures so that you may oppose error by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of truth. Christian people are deceived when they are ignorant of the truth. So be strong in the Lord. Put on the whole armor of God. Raise the double-edged sword and fight error and errorists, saying, “It is written.”

Yet, thank God, he has a commitment to save us, and the elect of God cannot be deceived. Christ is building his church with living stones, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So Paul says, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9–11).

Paul also says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his [flesh], from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:7–8).

Do not doubt God or his promises. He fulfills all his promises. He is our Lord and Savior. Do not question God’s providence when he tests us with adversities. Kiss the rod, and turn to God, and he will comfort you with his word, his Spirit, and his holy church. And take comfort from the words of Guido de Brés, the author of the Belgic Confession, who tells us in the first article of that confession: “We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being whom we call God eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty, completely wise, just and good, and the overflowing source of all good.” This God will take care of his people.

God: The Source of All Good

God our Father is the source and giver of all good. In verse 17 James says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above [meaning heaven, God], unceasingly coming down to all his creatures, even the wicked, coming down from the Father of lights [the sun and moon and all the twinkling stars] who does not change like shifting shadows” (author’s paraphrase).

All good comes to us from our heavenly Father. Nothing good comes from the devil and his demonic hosts. In fact, Satan is a destroyer. He comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But even common grace, by which fallen men do some good things, comes from God to all sinners.

James says that our God is an ever-giving God. He gave us his very good creation. He gave us his one and only Son (2 Cor. 9:15), who lived and died, thus revealing to us the Father’s loving heart. Jesus told us that the Father loves us even as he loves Jesus himself. He loved us in his Son from all eternity. His love for us will never end. He sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us forever. He poured out his Spirit upon us plentifully, generously, richly, and overflowingly. He blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He gives us food at the proper time (Ps. 145:15). He promises to take care of all our needs: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt. 6:33).

Our gracious God gave us the truth-treasure of his holy Bible, so that we, as children of light, may walk in the light and be the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). He gave us his holy church, so that we may grow in truth, love, faith, unity, and reach maturity. He gave us God-called and God-gifted pastors and teachers to preach the gospel so that we may believe and be saved. He gave us families to live in, and parents and pastors to rule over us. He gave us natural life; he also gives us spiritual life by new birth. All these good things come down to us from above, that is, from heaven, meaning from our Father in heaven.

God’s good things come down to us without stopping, like rain and sunshine. Therefore, may we praise God for all things, especially for his unending and unsearchable riches of Christ and riches in Christ. He is the source and giver of all good things. He is our heavenly Father, the Father of glory, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles. He is truth. Jesus Christ is truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and his word is truth.

Our heavenly Father, James tells us, is unchangeable (v. 17). He is not like shifting shadows. The Shorter Catechism says, “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being.” God tells us, “I, the Lord, do not change. So you descendants of Jacob are not destroyed” (Mal. 3:6).

God promised to save us. He saved us, and he is saving us, and he will save us. He keeps his promises. So Paul writes: “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20). Man promises, but he changes his mind. He lies. He is a hypocrite. But God is truth. He cannot lie or change.

Certain popular evangelical ministers today do not believe in creationism, that God directly by his word created the universe out of nothing. (PGM) They say they believe in theistic evolution. But that is not what the Bible says. The Bible is God’s unchanging truth-word. It tells us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). The psalmist declares, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth” (Ps. 33:15). Elsewhere we read, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible” (Heb. 11:3). Christ created and sustains all things. He is sustaining us at this moment. He is the heir of all things. We live and move and have our being in God. Our God is a good God, a great God, a holy God, a loving God, a wise God, a mighty God.

Our God is the Father of the heavenly lights. He is also the light of the world. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” that is, eternal life (John 8:12).

God is our Father, not just the Father of the twinkling heavenly stars. God never changes in his goodness and perfection. In us and in others, we see change and decay. But that is not all we see in ourselves. We see God changing us from glory to glory, that we may be conformed to the image of his glorious Son.

The process theology of unbelievers says that God is ever-changing, hopefully for the better, and that he is ever-learning. But the God of the Bible, the triune God, is unchangeable, says James. Therefore, we can trust in him. How could we trust in an ever-changing God? Praise God, our God does not change! He is not like politicians, who make promises today, only to contradict them tomorrow. Our God speaks only truth. So let us believe God first, because he will never deceive us.

James also tells us that our God is a superb giver of all good things. He sends daily every good gift and every perfect (i.e., flawless) gift, for our enjoyment. He gives food to the birds and cattle, and to the wild animals like the young lions (Ps. 104:21). He gives to the wicked, who curse God daily. He gives to his people, who praise God daily for all things, especially for the gift of his Son, our Redeemer. So we read, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. . . . Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 8:9; 9:15). By his life and death and resurrection, he lifted us from hell. Now we are seated in heaven with Christ. We are the people of God, the glorious bride of Christ. God paid the highest price to redeem us from death, from the just wrath of God. What price did he pay? The blood of God.

Our Heavenly Father

James says that by God’s eternal decree, “he gave us birth [that is, new birth] by the word of truth, that we might become a kind of firstfruits of all he created” (James 1:18). This is speaking about new birth, new creation, which is the activity of our heavenly Father.

To Nicodemus, Jesus said, “You must be born again, born from above, born of water and the Spirit to see and enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, you are outside the kingdom of God. You are without hope and without the Messiah and without God. You have no spiritual sight and no spiritual life. You are dead in your trespasses and sins. You must be born again.”

How can a dead person do anything to bring about his spiritual new birth? He has zero ability to do so. By nature, man is dead, and he stinks. Only our heavenly Father can raise a dead sinner up from the dead. God alone is able to give him new birth so that he can see, enter, and enjoy the blessings of the rule of God, the kingdom of God.

Our heavenly Father gives us this new birth because of his eternal decree to choose some to be saved, as Paul tells us: “For those God foreknew” —Professor John Murray used the word “foreloved”— “he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:29–30). Paul also says, “[He] has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:9–10). Elsewhere he writes, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph. 1:11). And again we read, “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” (Rom. 11:34).

It is not our decision that saved us. It was God’s eternal decision. True, we decided. True, we repented. True, we believed in Christ. But all our actions are responsive to God’s actions and by God’s grace. He chose us to salvation in eternity by his own will.

We read about this in the book of Acts: “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). Because of our Father’s eternal decree to save us, in time he sent his Son to accomplish redemption by his death on the cross, that the gospel of salvation, the word of truth, may be preached to all and effectually to the elect. So James says, “Our heavenly Father gave us birth,” like a mother gives birth to her child. He gave us birth by the word of truth.

If a church does not preach the gospel, no divine regeneration takes place, for there can be no divine regeneration without the preaching of the gospel. Paul writes, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13). That is the first mark of a true church—the preaching of the word of truth by a preacher sent by God. So if a church does not preach the true gospel, it is a synagogue of Satan. It is a death trap. If you are in such a church, I urge you to get out and go to a true church.

Paul writes, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ . . . Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:14–15, 17). The preacher preaches, and what you hear is the word of Christ. And if the Father gives you new birth, he will guide you to a true church, where the pastor who is called and sent by God powerfully preaches the true gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe.

We must be born again, and this new birth is the work of God the Father. Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17). Peter says, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. . . . ‘The word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you” (1 Pet. 1:23, 25). John says we are “children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:13). We also read, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezek. 36:26–28). God’s people, the Father’s new creation, shall live with God in a new heaven and a new earth, where sin shall not be, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Then James says that the people born of the Father by the word and by the Holy Spirit are “a kind of firstfruits of all he created” (v. 18). In the Old Testament, firstfruits of people, cattle, and produce of the land belonged to God. Believers are called metaphorically firstfruits here. The firstfruits that people brought to the Lord were the best. They were holy, and they were to be possessed by God himself.

The Lord declares that we are his firstfruits: “Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them” (Jer. 2:3). We are God’s firstfruits: the best fruits, holy fruits, owned by God himself. So we read, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. 19:5–6).

Paul says, “[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14). Peter says the same thing in: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:9).

Yes, we are beloved of the Father. We are the Father’s children in the Son. We are the best in his sight. We are holy in his sight. We belong to the Father, and he belongs to us. So we pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be thy name.” We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. In God we possess all good things and so we lack nothing. The Lord is our shepherd and we lack nothing. We are secure and indestructible. No devil, no death, nor the world, or the flesh can snatch us away from God. We are in God and in his love. Let us praise God for loving us and electing us for this eternal salvation. Let us thank God for the miracle of new birth, which is evidenced by our repentance and faith, by our obedience to the word of God and God’s delegated agents—parents, teachers, pastors, and so on.

Understand this: The kingdom of God is the rule of God. Those whom God does not rule are children of the devil, whom they strictly obey. But God’s children will delight in their Father’s blessed government. Jesus tells us, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me” (Matt. 10:40). Paul writes, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise—‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth’” (Eph. 6:1–3). Elsewhere we read, “Obey your leaders [elders, pastors, overseers] and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be [harmful] to you” (Heb. 13:17).

May we be amazed at our election! God loved us because he loved us because he loved us. He loved us first in eternity. And may we be comforted by God’s undying love daily and in the hour of our death because for us, death will open the door to paradise, to the very presence of God

In summary, lust, when conceived by sinner’s will yielding to it, gives birth to sin, and sin gives birth to death. But thanks be to our heavenly Father! He has raised us from our death to everlasting life by giving us the gift of new birth by the gospel. He did this all because of his Father’s distinguishing, electing, eternal love.

Let me ask you: Is God your heavenly Father? Has Christ redeemed you? Have you truly confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and King? Do you rejoice in the rule of Jesus Christ, our Lord? May God bless you all on this last day of the 2013 retreat! Amen.