As a parent, it is sure nice to get beyond the stages where corporal forms of punishment are needed to teach obedience and reinforce various life lessons that are vital for the safety and maturation of our children. As Tyler, Christopher and Whitney mature into young adults; it is nice to see our relationship shifting towards more of a friend/respect bond rather than the parent-child/obedience bond we lived with for many years. It is not that they don’t still live with the parent-child/obedience model, but through empowerment and maturation our relationship has moved to a new level—one which I welcome and embrace!
I believe God feels the same way! Training up children is difficult and takes a lot of hard work. Maybe that is why the whole life process begins with something called “labor”. Discipline takes wisdom, patience, perseverance, and, well, discipline to do it well. Fortunately, God demonstrates all of these qualities throughout the Scriptures as He trains up His people to know Him and His ways. The reason these qualities are necessary is because discipline is meant to be more teaching than punishment (discipline and disciple come from the same root word)!
That brings us to the interesting situation going on in Genesis 3 when God brings forth His big stick of punishment upon the serpent and the first man and woman as a result of their disobedience. Certainly, He is teaching He is in control and must be obeyed, but what other lessons is He trying to get across through His choice of discipline? I mean, what does increased pain in childbirth and difficulty in getting the ground to produce have to do with eating fruit they weren’t supposed to? This would be like taking my car to get the brakes fixed and the mechanic working on the horn to make it louder, thinking that would solve my problem, right? It just doesn’t make sense!
Perhaps there is more here than meets the eye at first glance? This morning we will see God’s response to mankind when we mess up. It is a powerful story of love and provision as God refuses to give up on mankind. There are lessons for mankind to learn, but He demonstrates He is in this for the long haul! He will not give up on us! Have I whetted your appetite to the text we will look at this morning in the sermon? (And you probably thought I would explain it all here. Sorry, but you have to wait for the sermon to see how this all plays out.)
To listen to sermon, click How Does God Respond When We Mess Up?
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